I’ve had such a good time brewing my own kombucha that sauerkraut seemed like a natural next step. Making healthy, probiotic-filled sauerkraut is easy and cheap -and it’s so much better for you than the chemical-filled sauerkraut you buy in the store.

INGREDIENTS

• 1 medium head fresh green cabbage, 2 ½–3 pounds
• 2 tablespoons sea salt (table salt has additives so don’t ferment with that!)
  
• 1 tablespoon dried dill

DIRECTIONS

1. Chop up your cabbage -green or purple. I will warn you that in my experience, purple cabbage needs more help fermenting so you might have to add more brine, but I’ll explain that later.

Start by discarding the limp outer leaves of the cabbage, setting aside one of the cleaner ones for use at the end. Quarter, then slice cabbage crosswise into thin ribbons. The lactobacillus bacteria needed for fermenting is found inside of the leaves, so chop it as finely as possible in order to get the most surface area. Put your chopped cabbage in a large bowl or pot. It seems like a lot, but don’t worry, because the volume goes way, way down.

2. Add your sea salt to draw the juice out of the cabbage and also to prevent unfriendly microbes from growing in your ferment. Mix well. Seriously, massage your cabbage for at least 5 minutes.

I like to add dried dill at the end, but you could use fresh dill, carrots, caraway seeds, or whatever.

3. Pack your salty, juicy cabbage mixture into a large glass container, periodically pressing the mixture down tightly with your fist or a large spoon so that the brine rises above the top of the mixture and no air pockets remain. Pour any brine left in your mixing bowl into the jar and scrape out any loose bits stuck to the sides of the bowl or to the side of your jar.

4. Now, make sure your fermenting mixture is in a safe anaerobic (no air) environment. This means that you need to keep the cabbage mixture submerged in the brine while it ferments. 

Take that cabbage leaf you saved during step 1, tear it down to just fit in the jar, and place it over the surface of the packed cabbage. (You can also fold a narrow piece of parchment paper to size or even cut an old plastic lid to size.) 

Place something clean and heavy (like a jelly jar) on top of the cabbage leaf, to weigh it down. At this point, I put a tie a clean cloth over the container to let it “breathe,” but many directions indicate that it’s okay to completely close the top.

5. Fermenting things can be somewhat intimidating at first, but allow your kraut to ferment for 1 to 4 weeks. You stop when you like the taste. I usually check every few days, just to make sure the veggies are below the water line. If you don’t have enough water, mix a teaspoon of sea salt with a 1 cup of water and pour over veggies until covered.

The longer you ferment it, the greater the number and variety of beneficial bacteria that can be produced. No need to go beyond four weeks, though.

6. Next, put your sauerkraut in smaller containers and into the fridge. If successfully fermented (tastes and smells good), your sauerkraut can be kept preserved in your refrigerator for up to a year. Mine never lasts that long, though. I eat it as a side with meals, or just straight out of the jar.