If you've followed the Weston Price Foundation dietary principles for long, surely you've come across the recommendations for adding more fermented foods into your diet to maximize the vitamins and enzymes they contain, to provide beneficial bacteria/probiotics, and to make the nutrition more bioavailable in all the foods we're eating. When it comes to lacto-fermented foods, there is nothing more popular than the ancient beloved sauerkraut!
Be aware…
Remember, this LIVE food is quite powerful and can really help your digestive or gut issues, so much so that if you're not used to eating fermented foods, if you start off with too much you could get what's called a “die-off reaction”. This means you could get some not-fun digestive upset. Just start off slow–REALLY slow if you're sensitive or prone to digestive issues anyway, and then you can work up.
Just HOW helpful could it be?
One reader friend emailed and said this: “I’m a huge believer in ferments since I learned on my own that good homemade fermented sauerkraut now totally manages my microscopic colitis. Maybe it’s cured but wouldn’t know unless I had another colonoscopy. But seriously, that was after 40 years (yes forty) of watery diarrhea, usually 5-6 times per day! The only answer from a doctor was either silly stuff that just didn’t go over well with me or a prescription for Budesonide that at the time would have cost me $1,100/month! Since insurance wouldn’t cover it I asked what they would cover, and their answer was Prednisone. NO WAY! (Too many scary long term side effects!) So I just dealt with it till I started learning real nutritional info from you and the Wise Traditions podcast!”
And she's not the first person who has seen a huge difference in their overall health after introducing raw fermented foods into their diet. There's a reason it's considered a superfood!
Go here to check out more ways to help build up your gut health/immune system:
A few more notes before the recipe…
- Read more from the WAPF about the health benefits of lacto-fermented foods.
- Another article on benefits of kraut
- Don't want to make it? You can buy kraut like this one, just make sure it's raw and has only 2-3 ingredients. That one has only “Cabbage, Kosher Salt, Caraway Seed”.
- Soon I'll be posting a recipe from Maureen Diaz for apple kraut, it's so good!
- Find this recipe and many more in the Nourishing Traditions cookbook:
Nourishing Traditions Sauerkraut
Ingredients
- 1 medium cabbage, cored and shredded
- 1 tablespoon caraway seeds
- 1 tablespoon sea salt
- 4 tablespoons whey, drained from yogurt through cheesecloth or a coffee filter
Instructions
- In a bowl, mix cabbage with caraway seeds, sea salt and whey. Pound with a wooden pounder or a meat hammer for about 10 minutes to release juices. Place in a quart-sized, wide-mouth mason jar and press down firmly with a pounder or meat hammer until juices come to the top of the cabbage. The top of the cabbage should be at least 1 inch below the top of the jar. Cover tightly and keep at room temperature for about 3 days before transferring to cold storage. The sauerkraut may be eaten immediately, but it improves with age.
If you have variations that you prefer, please share in the comments!
Photo by Kelsey Todd on Unsplash
S says
I just bought kimchi pickles at Whole Foods in case you have one near you. They were delicious. I know you can make this yourself for less but I wanted it and it would have taken some time to make it at home.
Alyssa says
Thanks for sharing this! Is it possible to use something other than whey (non-dairy) to ferment this?
KitchenKop says
Yep, you can use an extra Tablespoon of sea salt. This is straight from the cookbook. However I’d be worried that it would come out TOO salty, so maybe start with just an extra teaspoon of sea salt.
Kelly
Emily says
What yogurt do you recommend using?
KitchenKop says
Either homemade yogurt or plain whole milk organic yogurt from the store. 🙂
Kelly
Danielle Levins says
We love love LOVE our homemade sauerkraut!
Candice says
Can I use red cabbage?
Kelly the Kitchen Kop says
Hi Candice, yes you can, and it’ll be prettier, too. 🙂
Kelly