Use this easy dill pickle sauerkraut recipe in place of pickles on your hamburger, piled high on top of your fried egg breakfast sandwich, or nestled between the folds of your next ham dinner. This kraut tastes just like your favorite dill pickle but without all that vinegar. It’s also so simple to make with fresh dill, or dried dill from the summer harvest. 
Until I started making my own several years ago, the only sauerkraut I’d ever had was from a can. Gross.
There was simply no way on earth I was going to eat that again. I had faith, though, that homemade would be better, and I’ve been rewarded for that with delicious batches of everyone’s favorite fermented food – kraut!
If you’d simply like the Dill Pickle Sauerkraut Recipe, scroll down a bit. If you’re new to kraut making, here are some basic instructions and information.
How Do You Make Homemade Sauerkraut?
This is the basic process for making any kind of kraut from cabbage, either purple or green. I prefer green as a general rule, but purple cabbage pairs well with carrots and ginger.
For the Dill Pickle Sauerkraut Recipe, you will use green cabbage, FYI. The full recipe for that can be found by scrolling down the page a bit..
- Finely chop one washed, green cabbage.
- In a half gallon canning jar or fermenting crock, put down a hearty layer of chopped cabbage and a generous sprinkling of sea salt.
- Continue adding layers of cabbage and sprinklings of salt until you run out of cabbage.
- Allow the cabbage to sit for ten minutes so the salt can pull some moisture out of the cabbage and tenderize it.
- Pound the cabbage thoroughly with a kraut pounder or any flat, wooden instrument that will fit into the mouth of your jar or crock.
- Pound each layer and keep pounding until the resulting liquid has covered the cabbage.*
*You may need to add a bit of distilled water to finish covering the cabbage; water content of cabbage varies from season to growing practice to variety of cabbage. However, make sure that you’ve really pounded that cabbage before you settle for adding water. Your cabbage should be a darker green color than when it went into your crock and will have reduced in size by at least half.
To Finish Setting Up the Kraut for Fermenting
- Use a glass fermenting weight, a piece of window screen cut to fit or any other thing that will keep the cabbage at the top submerged under the water.
- Loosely cap your crock and place it at room temperature for at least three days, but seven is better and a month is best.
- Anything not submerged under the safety of the Lactobacillus-rich, fermenting saline solution will be subject to mold, so make sure you’ve got it all under a weight of some kind.
Eat a little kraut every day with beans, eggs, salad, steak, chips or just about anything but dessert. Each properly fermented food we consume gives our stomachs a boost of Lactobacillus health. According to Cultures for Health (and they really know their kraut),
“…Kraut has a slew of health benefits. It is rich in probiotics, vitamins, fiber, and minerals, which can contribute to better digestion and a stronger immune system. Sauerkraut can also help promote a healthy heart, stronger bones, and weight loss.”
Easy Dill Pickle Sauerkraut Recipe
This makes a simple, probiotic-rich substitute on your fat, juicy burger if pickles have started to be more trouble than their worth. (You people over 40 will know what I’m talking about – ouch, acid!)
This kraut tastes just like your favorite dill pickle but without all that vinegar. It’s also so simple to make with fresh dill, or dried dill from the summer harvest.
Here’s a quick video to familiarize you with the recipe, which is down just a bit further.
Easy Dill Pickle Sauerkraut Recipe
Ingredients
- One Medium-Sized Green Cabbage
- 3-5 Tbsps. Sea Salt
- 3-5 Tsp. Minced Garlic
- 1/2-1 Cup Fresh Dill loosely packed; OR, 1/4-1/2 Cup Dried Dill
Instructions
- Finely chop washed, green cabbage.
- In a large bowl, put down a hearty layer of chopped cabbage and a generous sprinkling of sea salt (about 1 Tbsp.)
- Add half the garlic and dill, sprinkling around the cabbage layer.
- Continue adding layers of cabbage and sprinklings of salt until you run out of cabbage.
- Add the rest of the garlic and dill to the last cabbage layer.
- Mix ingredients with clean hands or a large spoon.
- Allow the cabbage to sit for ten minutes so the salt can pull some moisture out of the cabbage and tenderize it.
- Pound the cabbage thoroughly with a kraut pounder or any flat, wooden instrument. Be careful not to bang the sides of your bowl.
- Funnel the mixture into a half gallon glass jar, or a fermenting crock.
- Continue to pound each layer and keep pounding until the resulting liquid has covered the cabbage.*
Notes
When is the Best Time to a Make Sauerkraut Recipe?
The best, most robust flavored kraut will be the result of a long, slow ferment at an even temperature of about 65F/18C – 75F/24C degrees. That usually means that winter is the best time to ferment excellent kraut.
However, summer is when I most crave sauerkraut and so I make lots of it. Just keep an eye on the kraut as it ferments, so that it doesn’t mold and so that you don’t get too strong a flavor.
Have a Kraut Party!
Be prepared to make a few bad batches of kraut along with the good. If you can’t tell the difference, ask a ferment mentor or search the Internet for fermentation troubleshooting.
Following a good sauerkraut recipe should result in a tangy, fermented flavor with good body and NO MOLD!
If you suspect mold, toss the batch and try again!
Remember that these are live cultures (as in, they’re living), and they’re going to do what they’re going to do—you just need to play nicely and make friends.
- Think of yourself as a host for the cultures and strive to provide what a host always provides for his guests—food, drink, a comfortable temperature, and a place to rest.
If you’d like to get some moral support for your fermenting efforts AND build your homesteading community, host a kraut-making party!
- Send out two basic kraut recipes to your closest, real foods friends and open your home for an evening of kraut making.
- Have your friends bring the cabbage, containers and any other ingredients, while you provide the sea salt and some refreshments.
- Everyone can chop and pound and chat while you make a month’s supply of kraut to keep in a cool, dark room.
You’ll be the crazy kraut lady on your block, but your gut will be healthy and strong.
The Spiritual Side of This Sauerkraut Recipe
Forgive me while I wax spiritual for a minute but there’s a very famous Proverb that most Christians can quote to you even if church attendance isn’t their thing.
“Trust in the Lord with all thine heart and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct thy paths for good. Be not wise in thine own eyes…It shall be health to thy navel, and marrow to thy bones.”
-Proverbs 3: 5-8
There are so many blessings to be had by trusting the Lord with all your heart, but the only one specifically cited in this scripture is “health in the navel and marrow in the bones.” For me, the journey to health was created spiritually before it was created in my body.
I had prayed to know why I was the sickest healthy person I knew. I was earnestly seeking to find a better way; a way that was right for me and my family.
- I believe I was led to various principles of health and well-being step by step as I was prepared for them.
It Looks Different for Everyone
Because the journey is personal, it won’t look the same for everyone, so I share this little bit of information in case it might be useful to you where you are on your journey right now.
I will say, that most of these principles were not what I’d been taught in school and I needed to re-learn nearly everything I thought was correct about healthy living. Hence, the injunction to “lean not unto my own understanding.”
As I’ve let myself be prayerfully led to new ideas, I’ve seen how principles of wholesome nutrition and real foods are interconnected.
- You don’t have to be worried that you’re going to miss something vital, because it’s all tied together, and you’ll come to each principle as you’re ready.
Don’t forget to bring your family with you as they are prepared—you don’t want to go anywhere without them! The journey has required lot of work and faith, but I can report that, in very real ways, this journey has been “health to [my] navel and marrow to [my] bones.”
It will be for you, too.
Fermented Food Resources
Fermented Food Resources
Can Eating Fermented Foods Help You Lose Weight? Find Out More About the Benefits of Fermentation — All Posts Healing Harvest Homestead
Fermented (naturally pickled) peppers - a step by step guide
Fermentation Weights: 10 Ideas For Keeping Your Ferments Submerged
Fermented Honey Garlic
Lacto-Fermented Pickles ~ Step by Step Guide
How to Make Kimchi (Easy Recipe You'll LOVE)
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Gurrrrl! I loved reading this recipe and all of a sudden, she flipped the script with a religious diatribe. Gave me a laugh, though! Still a great recipe.
John, thank you so much for taking time to leave a comment! I’m glad you liked the recipe. If you’re a burger guy, try this kraut at your summer grilling events.
Now for a little lesson in manners. Homestead Lady is a place where we talk about all manner of things, including the connection between our health, our happiness, and our overall ability to homestead well. If you find something here that doesn’t resonate with your beliefs, religious or otherwise, you are invited to do what this age of the Internet has so efficiently taught us all to do. Namely, scroll on by. No need to comment or deride or mock – simply move on to the next thing that has value for you.
Should you choose to return to this site and leave another comment, I will expect it to reflect a more gentlemanly manner. If not, it will be deleted.
Namaste.
Thank you for replying to John in a kindly manner…..as taught by Thumper’s mother in Bambi “If you can’t say anything nice, don’t say anything at all.’
On another note, I am excited to try your dill pickle sauerkraut. I’ve purchased the organic cabbage and just spend the morning harvesting a bumper crop of fresh dill. Thank you for sharing and for your beautiful website FULL of wisdom and inspiration!
Kindly,
Laurie 🙂
Ah, nothing better than a morning spent harvesting herbs! I hope you love the recipe – it’s one of my favorite krauts, especialy for summer.
And thank you for your kids words, I really appreciate you taking the time to share them. In this age of AI, a lot of content creators like me are trying to decide whether or not to throw in the towel given all that’s stacked against us. But human connections can’t be replaced by manufactured ones, right? Artificial will never equal real! So, thank you for being my wholesome human internet connection today.
Oh dear! I didn’t realize AI affected content creators too! NOT good! I’m so sorry to hear that 🙁 And yes, human connections cannot be replaced!!
Well I for one am VERY appreciative of your content! I was thrilled to find you and have you bookmarked!
My Dill Pickle Kraut is on the counter and looks beautiful! Thank you for the recipe!
So glad I was able to be your wholesome human internet connection today!
Have a lovely week! Happy harvesting!
Laurie 🙂
Yes, sadly. The AI monster is fed with data created by others, although we’ll never be compensated for it. There are a lot of other factors, many of which involve Google so there’s no real way to successfully pursue a positive outcome. Suffice it to say that no matter what happens in the online world, people will always, always need other people and God is great!
So glad you’re with us on the journey and enjoy that kraut!
Well, I for one do NOT use Google…..EVER!
We are meant to help one another and be kind to one another. Gathering together is great and very important!
And yes….God is good!
xxo
Enjoy your harvesting and gathering with friends and loved ones!
Thank you so much, Laurie!