Sauerkraut and Weenies
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This is an old-fashioned Southern main dish. As the name suggests, all you need is sauerkraut and weenies to make this tangy yet delicious dish.
This sauerkraut and weenies recipe was one of my dear favorite meals as a girl and still is. It is a prime example of a budget meal (very common in the South back in the day) and so very good! Oh goodness, I’m getting hungry.
Now, I realize some folks are just not sauerkraut fans. Chances are, I lost about half of you in the title of this post. But I know some folks saw that photo and your stomach started growling, and chances are pretty darn good that you’ll be having this for supper tonight. Those who don’t fit into this category, feel free to think of the rest of us as weird. We won’t mind and there will be more sauerkraut for us! Everyone has their preferences and it’s all good either way.
This is one of those meals that is great with slices of polish sausage. But I still like to cook it how Mama did growing up; just by chopping up a few weenies and cooking until the sauerkraut and weenies brown a bit. That’s all there is to it. You can add as many weenies or sausage as you like and if you’re vegetarian, just get some vegan hot dogs and keep on keeping on. If you want to take it up a notch, you can make your own sauerkraut as I do in this post. Put it on your Classic Reuben Sandwich and you will crave it every day.
Recipe Ingredients
- Sauerkraut
- Weenies
- Salt and pepper
Helpful Kitchen Tools
How to Make Sauerkraut and Weenies
Slice your weenies and put them in a large skillet.
Add in about two cups of sauerkraut.
Cook this over medium to medium-high heat, stirring often.
Season with salt and pepper to taste.
You can start with 1/4 teaspoon of salt and 1/8 teaspoon of pepper and then adjust to make it just right for you.
Cook this until your weenies and sauerkraut get a little brown or you can just cook it until everything is heated through.
Now here is a supper from the old days!
Storage
Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days. I recommend reheating on the stovetop on low heat until heated through.
Recipe Notes
- How many weenies you use is up to you. We used to have to determine this based on how many we had, so to be able to use as many as you want is a big step up nowadays.
- I have a friend from Germany ~waves to Gudrun~ who swears by the bagged sauerkraut so I started buying it and now I’m a convert, too. You can get it in the refrigerated section near the weenies usually and sometimes near the deli if they have a refrigerated section there as well. Mama likes the kind you get in a glass jar and we’ve both used the kind that comes in a can (which you get on the vegetable aisle). Overall, they are all good and there isn’t a lot of price difference so it is up to you to pick your favorite.
- As mentioned, you can use a different type of sausage with the sauerkraut. For example, sauerkraut and brats (bratwurst) is a popular dish in Germany. Kielbasa or franks also work.
- For extra flavor, add 1 diced apple to the skillet as well.
Recipe FAQs
What goes well with sauerkraut and weenies?
Here are some serving suggestions for your sauerkraut and weenies:
- Dinner rolls (with mustard)
- German potato salad
- Mashed potatoes
- Fried potatoes
- Freshly fried corn (or creamed corn or baked corn on the cob).
- Baked beans
- Broccoli salad
- Fresh green beans
- Cornbread
Do you drain sauerkraut before cooking?
If you’re using jarred sauerkraut, you’ll want to drain it before using it.
What condiment goes well with sauerkraut?
Mustard, ketchup, green tomato relish, and hot sauce (like sriracha or tabasco sauce) all pair perfectly with sauerkraut.
How do you season sauerkraut?
Besides salt and black pepper, if you want a touch of sweetness add up to a tablespoon of brown sugar. If you want a more savory flavor, add a teaspoon of caraway seeds. Alternatively, for a kick, add a dash of red pepper flakes or a teaspoon of paprika.
What food goes well with sauerkraut?
Here are some other dishes that pair well with sauerkraut:
- Hot dogs or hot dog chili
- Pork chops
- Reuben sandwich
- Grilled cheese sandwich
- Polish sausage or kielbasa sausage
You may also like these recipes:
Southern Fried Cabbage With Bacon
Ingredients
- 2-4 weenies or polish sausage
- 2 cups sauerkraut
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Slice weenies into small pieces and place them in a skillet over medium to medium-high heat.2-4 weenies or polish sausage
- Add sauerkraut. Cook, stirring often until kraut and weenies brown slightly. Salt and pepper to taste.2 cups sauerkraut, salt and pepper to taste
- Serve hot.
Nutrition
This was originally published in 2010. I updated the post and photos in 2020.
Life is really simple,
but we insist on making it complicated.
Oh my, Christy, if I had not already had supper, I would dive in and fix this. My mouth did indeed began to water when I saw this post.
Growing up dirt-poor on a farm, this meal was so divine we just drooled when we smelled it cooking. We enjoyed it with a big pone of cornbread, great northern beans, a bowl of sliced onions from the garden and fresh cold buttermilk that my Mama made. It didn’t get any better than this!!!
Thank you for stirring up some great food memories.
Have a great and blessed week.
Oh my goodness, I am drooling after reading your description of your families meal!! I hope you have a blessed week as well!!
I usually put a little bacon grease in mine to help them along. My Mama is no longer with us, but I remember her making this. It sure was good, as you said, with pintos and cornbread.
Oh my goodness, why have I never thought to add bacon grease?? Thank you for sharing Jeanette!!
Lol Christy! Mama could stretch a meal to feed unexpected company to feed a table full with one can ofBunker Hill beef in the can. She cooked diced potaltoes with onions until they were nearly done then added that one can of Bunker Hill beef. Homemade biscuits, butter and homemade strawberry preserves along with a tall glass of tea and everybody was happy.
I would have been happy too!! What a wonderful memory!!
Growing up in a military family, there were tight times but two of my favorite meals came from those days: 1) creamed eggs (like SOS but with chopped up hard boiled eggs & crumbled bacon instead of chipped beef) on white toast and 2) condensed tomato soup & condensed cheese soup (straight from the cans) combined & spread on white toast & popped under the broiler to heat. Both served with a big salad. Looking back, I realize they were budget stretchers but when we were all gathered around the table, it was as good a dinner as I could have possibly asked for and I miss it.
oh my, I am going to have to try the “soup” sandwiches!!
I can’t remember the po’ folks food we ate … but I sure do remember when we had an “uptown dinner” …. fried hamburger patties, mashed potatoes with gravy and peas from a can. While we weren’t terribly poor, we ate really good food. But, my mother could turn an ear of corn into a feast … and did many times. Sliced tomatoes, corn on or off the cob, green beans (cooked with ham slivers) were pretty typical during the season. Canned (sometimes her canning, sometimes store-bought) goods filled in the rest of the year. Meat made an appearance or two each week, but the vegetables were the high points. Her macaroni and cheese (more like a custard with cheese and macaroni) was an all time favorite.
I could dig in and be really happy with that kind of eating!!
From Georgia. Didn’t realize we were poor at the time, but looking back I see we were- things was, all our friends lived just like us! Having Chickens, we ate a lot of dishes like chicken & dumplings, chicken casseroles made with rice to stretch, fried chicken. Also Deviled Eggs which have now become sort of a delicacy according to Souther Living! My Grandma ate a Pimento Cheese sandwich everyday for lunch- another delicacy now. And living on the water, lots of Shrimp & Grits, Fish & Grits, Crab & Grits. Everything goes with Grits here.
Plus all the vegetables we grew ourselves, lots of times just those & Biscuits, no Meat.
Seemed like great food to me.
This WV gal remembers plenty of poor folks meals but a few dishes that stand out is poor man’s gravy over biscuits – gravy was made with bacon grease, flour, canned milk and water. Also – we would crumble leftover cornbread in a glass of buttermilk and eat that – my grandad loved it! My personal favorite was tomato dumplings. Rolled dumplings cooked in home canned tomatoes sweetened with a little sugar. Nothing beats poor folks country cooking !
I agree Joyce, it is just comfort food at it’s finest!