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 mouth is just watering thinking about weenies and kraut!! Grew up on it and still love it to this day! Since I picked up a huge pack of Nathan’s at Sam’s on Tuesday I guess I’ll pick up the Kraut and we will have some this weekend!
Don’t forget the “real” mashed potatoes!! No proud Pennsylvania Dutchman would have supper without them!
When we were growing up, we always had mashed potatoes with kraut and weiners. Of course, back then I wasn’t too crazy about the kraut so the potatoes helped hide the taste a little, and I still think I have to have mashed potatoes when I serve this. I am still not too crazy about the taste so I add a little margarine and a pinch of sugar to the kraut to tone it down just a little.
I loved reading all of these. I grew in between the Appalachian mtns of a coal camp in Logan co, wv and the corn fields meeting the sky on the horizon in midwest. Our grandmother and mama fed us on things like macaroni canned stewed tomatoes with a pinch of sugar….hamburger hash (just burger and diced russets)..a dinner of kraut n weenies, fried taters and cornbread is something special that makes me remember hot summer nights on front porch swings with a full belly. I hope to pass it on to my 3.
My family likes sauerkraut on occasion. My Mom used to cook boney pork pieces and then dump in the kraut. Her idea was that the bones took away some of the “sour”. And when the sauerkraut was almost done, she would pop open a can of biscuits and lay them around over the top of the kraut. Those dumplings were so darn good!!! I am putting sauerkraut on my grocery list and also a can of biscuits. And maybe I’ll fry some weenies to go along with this masterpiece. yummo!!Oh, the simple pleasures life offers us.
We had what we called taters and thickenin’. Of course nowadays it’s called potato soup. Mama could take one potato, chop it up, boil it down to nothin’ then add milk, (usually pet milk) flour, salt and lots of pepper. She would cook that down until it was thick and then we would crumble our cornbread in a bowl and pour this over it. With one potato at least four of us ate until we popped. I’ve made it for my children over the years and they love it too. They still ask for it when they come to my house.
I love kraut and weenies too!
Yep… that same soup was on our menu, too. It was always the meal my mother turned to when there was nothing else in the house. She could easily feed 6 people with just a few potatoes, an onion and a can of pet milk.
I am so with you on this. I have always felt even if I only had potatoes in the house we had something to eat. When all else fails, make potato soup and it is one of my favorites. Of course now I like to dress it up with bacon bits, cheese, and onions.
If there was any taters in thickening left over it became potato pancakes in the morning. I would so love when my mom cooked it. Took me a while to get the taters in thickening right but when I did, it was so good! I always cook too much now o I can have potato pancakes.
I was thinking about making what we called “neckbone soup” the other day. Pork neckbones, potatoes & onions in a pot and hot buttered cornbread on the side.
Ya know, it’s funny how this time of year makes me think of all the hearty, downhome meals we ate growing up.
During the Summer, I try to keep it light, with lots of grilling and fresh veggies and salads.
But as soon as the light starts to change… the evenings get a little shorter… and the nights just a bit cooler… I start to crave meals like potroast with potatoes and gravy, or mama’s ham and beans with a side of spanish cabbage.
I’ve been thinking of making a big pot of vegetable soup soon and started saving all my leftover veggies from dinner each night and putting them in the freezer in preparation. I also think of apple cake and pumpkin bread.
Yum…. I just love Fall! It won’t be long for it’s turkey & dressing time! LOL
I had this exact meal many times growing up, the only difference is I can only eat the kraut and weenies thoroughly browned. I’m glad you post recipes like these, because in today’s time a lot of people forget about them (me included) mainly because the necessity of meals like this isn’t there. But I must say, I never thought we had this meal because it was budget friendly. It probably was, I guess I just thought my mama cooked it because it was tummy friendly.
When we were growing up there were 7 children, my parents and my paternal grandfather in a 3 bedroom house. Dad was the lone breadwinner and Mom was a wizard in the kitchen. We never knew we were poor. No one told us and as far as we knew we were rich in the love and encouragement we grew up with. Mom had a gift for scanning the cupboards that looked bare to us but managed to feed a family of 10 very well. My best memories were of simple things like bean soup and a big pan of Johnny Cake being kept warm on the wood stove in the middle of the house. I only wish I had her talent for baking without ever using a measuring spoon or cup. Poor mans food? I guess so, but they were comfort foods to me.