Today’s soup is not going to be everyone cup of tea, but we love it. As you probably know, on keto every fermented food is beneficial. Actually fermented food is always good, on any diet, but in keto it helps to grow good bacteria and heal the intestines. Sauerkraut and its juices, are made from naturally fermented cabbage. It’s very popular in the country I come from, and also very underrated from it’s health benefits. Sauerkraut juice is rich in natural lactic acid, which stops the growth of undesired intestinal bacteria and encourages the growth of good bacteria. You can read some more about sauerkraut juice we make, and other rules we follow, on this page.

Anyway, as I said this soup it’s not everyone cup if tea. Especially if you’re not used to fermented food. But we love it for its sour taste and warming properties.

You can find sauerkraut in Polish shops or in the most of the markets on a shelf with Polish food. Germans also make sauerkraut, but I’ve never tried any. Most of the times you can buy it in a glass jar, sometimes in a plastic bag. I prefer glass, it’s definitely more healthy, plastic from the bag goes in reaction with acid from the sauerkraut. You can also find two types of sauerkraut, one plain, one with carrot. I prefer the one with carrot, it adds some sweetness to taste, and it’s also great as a side salad.

To prepare this soup you’ll need to squeeze the excess juice. If you don’t the soup will be very sour, too sour even for me 🙂 So try it first, different brands makes slightly different sauerkraut so it’s always better to check. You can squeeze the excess juice or even rinse it under running water. Usually squeezing is enough. It also depends how sour you like it to be. We are used to this taste, so we like it quite sour. But if you make it for the first time, you might need to start with less sour taste. After making it a few times, you’ll find the best way for you and the best level of sourness.

Other very important thing is the base for the soup. I’ve used one part of beef bones broth (it’s quite condensed) and one part of ozonated water. If you don’t have beef broth, you can use pork ribs to make it. Pork ribs and sauerkraut goes great together. If you have a slow cooker, you use this recipe – directions below.

Sauerkraut soup is a great warmer. Especially if you add a good pinch of pepper. Addition of garlic makes it even more healthy. You can serve it any time of the day. If you feel cold in the morning or you struggle with cold hands and cold feet, this soup will warm you up for sure. Actually any warm soup eaten in the morning will help if you feel cold. According to Chinese theory of five flavours, respectively prepared soups with certain condiments, cooked for few hours have a giant energy power and strong healing properties. It also makes your jang higher – it means your heat and energy. So feel free to use slow cooker to make this soup.

 

keto sauerkraut soup

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 l beef bones broth
• 1 l water
• about 800 g sauerkraut (with or without carrot)
• 200 g smoked sausage
• 1 large brown onion
• rock salt to taste
• good pinch of coarse pepper
• 3 leaf bay
• 3-4 garlic cloves
• 1 tbsp dried marjoram

DIRECTIONS

Start with chopping onion, slice sausage in quarters. Heat a large pot and put the sausage first. Let it fry for a while on a small heat, then add onions and bay leaves. Fry until onion starts going golden brown. In the meantime squeeze sauerkraut from excess juice and chopp it in smaller pieces. Add to the pot. Then add pepper, some salt and chopped garlic.

Pour your beef bones broth and water, stir and cook for about an hour. In about 20 minutes before the end add 1 tablespoon of dried marjoram for better digestion (add it always at the end of cooking, because it gets bitter when cooking to long). Check if it’s salty enough, add some more if you need. Serve hot any time of the day – especially if you feel cold – it’s very warming.

SLOW COOKER DIRECTIONS

You can prepare this delicious soup using a nice big piece of pork rib. Cut it in smaller pieces, so it will be easier to tranfser to a plate. Sizzle the onion and sausage first and place it in the slow cooker, add ribs, squeezed and chopped sauerkraut and all the spices, apart from marjoram (add it in last hour of cooking, because they will get bitter when cooking for too long). Cook on “low” for 6-8 hours or about 4 hours on high.

Enjoy!