Polish Sausage and Sauerkraut Casserole (Kapusta)
"When my husband's Grandmother died, I was the designated person to bring this to all holiday dinners (even though I'm Irish!) since I learned what to do by watching her. She always used fresh rather than smoked Polish Sausage."
- Ready In:
- 1hr 45mins
- Ingredients:
- 6
- Serves:
-
8
ingredients
- 4 lbs Polish sausage, fresh if possible
- 1⁄2 lb bacon
- 1 small yellow onion
- 2 (27 ounce) jars sauerkraut
- 1⁄2 cup brown sugar
- 3⁄4 cup water
directions
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Bring sausage to boil and simmer 15 minutes; drain and set aside.
- Cut bacon into small pieces.
- Begin browning, then add diced onion.
- Saute together until bacon is almost crisp.
- Drain mixture, reserving bacon grease.
- Drain sauerkraut (do not rinse).
- Add sauerkraut and brown sugar to bacon mixture.
- Mix in about 2 Tablespoons reserved bacon grease and water.
- Place in large casserole dish.
- Cut Polish sausage into 3" pieces and place on top of sauerkraut.
- Cover and bake at 325 degrees Fahrenheit for 1 hour 15 minutes, checking sauerkraut mixture halfway through to add more water if sauerkraut appears very dry.
- Finish baking; remove from oven.
- Taste sauerkraut and, if desired, adjust flavor by adding salt and pepper, or a little more brown sugar, vinegar or bacon grease to your taste. (Note: In the old days, Busia (Grandma) would soak a cup of yellow peas overnight to soften them and would mix them into the sauerkraut. It was probably to stretch the quantity, but I don't do it anymore!).
Questions & Replies
Got a question?
Share it with the community!
Reviews
-
Oh my gosh, this is good!! I made this a little different, using the crockpot as some suggested. I made a smaller batch using l-lb. package of Kielbasa (diced), 2 cans of kraut (one regular & one Bavarian-style with the juice), 1/3 c. brown sugar, no water, black pepper and put in slow cooker at the lowest setting (#3 for my cooker). I just mixed it all up. Four hours later, I served with mashed potatoes (which by far wasn't necessary, just trying to make it more filling for my husband). There was a nice amount of juice to go with the potatoes and we didn't think this was too sweet at all (I prefer sweeter than not). THIS IS A KEEPER!! Thanks so much for posting. I love grandma recipes!! ;-) Note that I omitted step 2 since I wasn't using fresh sausage. -
I grew up eating Kapusta and this is as good as I remember. We loved it. I wished I had tripled the recipe it was so good. I'll bet this freezes well too. Thanks for such a great recipe. I can't wait to make it again. -
After reading Redheadz45's comments I just had to say that if you would like more of the flavor omit the 1/2 cup brown sugar. I've seen older Polish Women do this because they don't like the bite of sauerkraut!! -
Out dinner tonight.. grew up on this and crave it every once in awhile... serving it with potatoe and cheese pierogi! ?? -
My family loved this! I agree with other reviewers that the final product is a bit sweet, but we really enjoyed the sweetness. Personally I sometimes find sauerkraut bitter, but not this time. I also felt that the sweetness balanced the seasoning in the sausage.The prep was pretty easy and not too time consuming. Great with unsweetened applesauce and mashed potatoes.<br/><br/>I am definitely adding this to the regular rotation!
see 4 more reviews
Tweaks
-
This is great. I also use pork chops in place of sausage and can be layered in crockpot for 4 hours.
RECIPE SUBMITTED BY
I've loved Zaar for many years and the great recipes I've found here. Back when I was working and the kids were little I was an okay cook who excelled only at a few family recipes. I began "surfing" on Zaar and started making so many wonderful fast and easy recipes. As they got older and I had more time, I began making more adventurous meals. Zaar's fabulous cooks have helped me every step of the way. Thanks to the Zaar family of cooks and the enthusiasm for cooking I developed through them, I'm now considered a good cook and develop many of my own recipes.
When the kids were grown and I was no longer working, what started as a place to find new recipes turned into a community made up of varied and interesting people. After years as a "recipe surfer", I became a premium member in 2005 not only to start organizing recipes but also to participate even more in discussions, forum activities and having fun with new friends.
I am hoping you enjoy the recipes I have posted and welcome comments. I try to thank everyone who reviews one of them, but if I "drop the ball" or if you can't receive Zmail, please know how much I appreciate you taking the time to make one of my recipes.
I'm a dinosaur when it comes to taking digital photos of my recipes and getting them into my computer. Because of that, cyberhugs go out to anyone who takes the time to take/post pictures of my dishes in Zaar!
I've had vision problems plus a retina disease called retinopathy prematuria since birth, but never let it stop me until the last few years when I had to quit driving becauser of it. I moved from "sweet home Chicago" to rural San Diego County, CA, in 2004 when my husband of 35 years retired. Sadly, we are not near our children and beautiful grandchildren, who live in Florida, Minnesota and Arizona. Zaar has helped the transition from moving from the city to the country and becoming an empty nester confined to home a little more bearable.
I still love to read my grisly crime novels, play on the computer, and play blackjack at local casinos (within reason, of course??)
Even though my old friends tease that I'm a cross between a dirty old lady and a mother hen, Zaarites seem to bear with me. I think I love going to restaurants more because of reading the menus than eating the food. My best-friend says when I die I'm going to go to the big menu in the sky!
.....2/25/10.....<a href="http://www.amazingcounter.com"><img border="0" src="http://cb.amazingcounters.com/counter.php?i=2776320&c=8329273" alt="Web Counter"></a><a href="http://www.onlinecomputercoupons.com/dell-electronics.htm">.....Cheap Digital Camera</a>
<a href="http://photobucket.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w115/bugh8er/food%20and%20swaps/candy6.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"> <img src="http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y227/vjuhl/MEPcookathon.jpg"><img src="http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/susied214/permanent%20collection/IWasAdoptedfall08.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket">
<img src="http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r271/copperhorse58/Zaar%20Food%20Photos/Food%20Photos%202008/herbspicesticker.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"> <img src="http://i275.photobucket.com/albums/jj294/QueenBee49444/ZaarCasseroleDishes.jpg" border="0" alt="Zaar friends">
<a href="http://www.recipezaar.com/bb/viewtopic.zsp?p=3510511#3510511"><img src="http://i132.photobucket.com/albums/q23/vseward/Bevy/officialmemberofthebevtaggame.jpg"> <img src="http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y53/DUCHESS13/BBQParticipantBanner-Final.jpg"> <img src="http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b280/carolinamoon21/Octoberevent.jpg"> <img src="http://www.recipezaar.com/members/home/1535/CLC2.gif"> <a href=http://www.recipezaar.com/cookbook.php?bookid=119602 target="_blank"> <img src="http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y53/DUCHESS13/RSC%20Banners/RSC9-Mareeseme.jpg"></a><img src="http://i273.photobucket.com/albums/jj240/marienixon_715/kittencaljpg.jpg"> <img src="http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b280/carolinamoon21/Derfcookathon.jpg">
<img src="http://www.pickle.com/plink/ph/795B07337A4704307B51032E7C590636795E1C512307476E143E5A652E076C347C5F02307A5F0032140741682C4659712C.jpg" border="0" alt="coolmonday-particiation" title="Photo and Video Sharing"/> <img src="http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e347/Saturn6666/Other/tagforpage1.jpg">
Sharon123:
<a href="http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/susied214/calendar%20clips/347_Sharon123.jpg"target="_blank"><img src="http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/susied214/calendar%20clips/347_Sharon123.jpg"border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>
