We prepare delicious sauerkraut with cranberries at home

Summer has passed, the harvest has been harvested, it's time to start harvesting for the winter. One of the most popular and healthy options for winter harvesting, along with pickles, is sauerkraut with cranberries. Making a treat is not difficult. In the article we will tell you what products are needed, we will share recipes with photos and advice from experienced housewives.

Selection and preparation of main ingredients

Correctly selected products are the key to successful cooking... Choose white cabbage of late or mid-season varieties. Such crops have a dense pulp with a high content of juice and sugar, which is extremely important for the correct fermentation process. Choose a dense head of cabbage with strong leaves.

Use coarse salt, without adding additional spices that are not always appropriate for the sourdough.

Another essential ingredient in the recipe is carrots. Its fructose gives the dish a sweetish flavor. Like cabbage, carrots are chosen late-ripening, large, juicy.

Fresh currant leaves, bay leaves and peppercorns are considered a good addition.

If you don't have a wooden barrel, use a large saucepan. Any metal or glass container will also work.

Important! Vegetable leaves with coarse texture or diseased leaves are not recommended. The quality and duration of product storage depends on this.

Why cranberries in the recipe

The cranberries in the dish add a spicy sourness to the appetizer. It becomes a good antiseptic for cabbage. By increasing the acidity of the product, cranberries prevent the appearance of putrefactive bacteria and mold in the salad.

Attention! Overripe cranberries lose their antiseptic properties.

The classic recipe for making sauerkraut with cranberries

This recipe will be a great help for borscht or salad. The appetizer is both healthy and tasty, combined with any dish.

Ingredients:

• cabbage - 6 kg;
• carrots - 130 g;
• salt - 150 g;
• cranberries - 130 g.

Step by step instructions for cooking:

1. Remove some of the top sheets from the head - they will be useful to us later. Remove the stump.
2. Chop the cabbage into strips.
3. Peel and chop the carrots on a coarse grater.
4. Mix vegetables, add salt.
5. Put whole leaves on the bottom of the prepared container, lay vegetables on them in layers: cabbage with carrots, then cranberries.
6. Place a large sheet on top, cover with clean gauze and place under a press.

Before you mix the cabbage with the rest of the ingredients, remember it diligently with your hands so that it lets out the juice.

Leave the appetizer to ferment for several days. Once a day pierce with a long fork or stick so that gases come out and the decay process does not begin.

After 3-4 days, the dish is ready to eat. Store the product in refrigerator or cool cellar.

Recipe variations

Sauerkraut retains all its useful properties. Similar winter blanks are very popular in Russia, so there are many recipe options. Here are some of the most popular ones.

Quick cooking

Required Ingredients:

• cabbage - 2 kg;
• cranberries - 8 tbsp. l .;
• carrots - 200 g;
• salt - 2 tsp;
• sugar - 4 tbsp. l .;
• vinegar 3% - 140.

Procedure:

1. Shredded cabbage and grated carrots are mixed with salt and sugar.
2. Add vinegar, then cranberries and mix everything.
3. Insist 30 minutes.
4. Season with vegetable oil.
5. Cooled and served.

Sauerkraut with cranberries and honey

Honey gives cabbage a unique and sophisticated flavor.

Ingredient List:

• 8 kg of cabbage;
• 6 tbsp. l. honey;
• 8 Art. l. table salt;
• 2 kg of carrots;
• 4 liters of water.

Cooking process:

1. Chop the cabbage finely, chop the carrots on a grater.
2. Stir and place tightly in a 5 liter sterilized glass jar.
3. To prepare the brine, dilute the salt in water and boil the mixture. Let cool, then add honey.
4. Pour the brine over the salad in the jar so that it completely covers the vegetables.
5. At a temperature not lower than + 18 ° C, let it brew for 2 days.
6. Make a few indentations in the salad twice a day to release any gases that have formed.
7. Close the jar with a lid and leave in a cool place for 3 days.
8. Drizzle with unrefined sunflower oil, add a little onion and serve.

With apples

This sourdough method will appeal to dieters. The appetizer with apples and cranberries is not only tasty, but also low in calories.

You will need:

• 12 kg of white cabbage;
• 300 g fresh cranberries;
• 10 small apples;
• 600 g carrots;
• 12 Art. l. salt.

Preparation:

1. Chop the peeled cabbage finely.
2. Chop apples and carrots on a grater, being careful not to turn everything into puree.
3. Mix the ingredients, salt and let sit for 30 minutes.
4. Crush vegetables with your hands for juicing, add cranberries.
5. Fill the previously selected container with salad and set for the sourdough for 2 days.
6. After a day, insert wooden sticks into the jars and move the container to a cold place. The appetizer is ready.

With cumin

It is the cumin that will help the cabbage salad become crispy. This treat is liked not only by adults, but also by children.

Ingredients:

• 3 kg of cabbage;
• 30 g sugar;
• 80 g cranberries;
• 500 g carrots;
• 30 g of cumin;
• 1 tbsp. l. salt.

Cooking method:

1. Set aside some of the top large cabbage leaves.
2. Chop the cabbage into thin strips, chop the carrots on a coarse grater, put everything in an enamel basin.
3. Season with spices, stir well. Add cranberries.
4. To extract the juice necessary for the brine, remember the vegetables with your hands.
5. Fold in sterilized jars, tamp well.
6. Scald the whole leaves with boiling water and cover the jars with them.
7. Leave the leaven for 3 days.
8. Use wooden sticks to pierce the salad daily to release excess gas.
9. After 48 hours, put the snack in the refrigerator or other cool place with a temperature of + 2 ... + 5 ° C.

Without salt

It is possible to cook pickled vegetables without using salt. To do this, you need the following products:

• 3 kg of cabbage;
• 4 things. carrots;
• 300 g cranberries;
• 4 garlic cloves;
• 2 tbsp. l. Sahara.

The cooking process is as follows:

1. Chop the cabbage, mash with sugar.
2. Grind the carrots on a coarse grater.
3. Peel and cut each garlic clove into 4 pieces.
4. Mix vegetables in a bowl, remember with your hands, add cranberries.
5. Place the mixture in the container of your choice.
6. Close with a tight lid and leave for 4 days. If the juice is not enough, then add water on the second day.

It is best to store salad without salt in the refrigerator. The appetizer will taste slightly different and will be stored much less, but try recipe worth it.

With the addition of currants

This currant dish is the perfect dressing for cabbage soup or vinaigrette.

Ingredient List:

• 5 kg of cabbage;
• 250 g cranberries;
• 250 g red currant;
• 1 kg of carrots;
• 6 cloves of garlic;
• 5 tbsp. l. salt.

Step-by-step instruction:

1. Combine chopped cabbage and grated carrots.
2. Salt the vegetables, shake your hands until the juice comes out.
3. Rinse the currants, remove the berries from the branches.
4. Put the appetizer in a container prepared in advance in several layers: first vegetables, then currants mixed with cranberries.
5. Press for 3 days.
6. Remove foam if it appears after a while.
7. Pierce the starter culture twice a day in several places with a wooden stick.
8. Close the lid, put in the cold.

This snack can be stored for up to 120 days.

With grapes

The longer the salad with the addition of grapes is, the more aromatic and tasty it becomes. Has a piquant acidity and leaves a pleasant aftertaste. Sometimes apples are added to the recipe.

Ingredient List:

• 10 kg of cabbage;
• 500 g cranberries;
• 8 heads of garlic;
• 12 pcs. carrots;
• 6 kg of grapes;
• 2 tbsp. sunflower oil;
• 2 tbsp. Sahara;
• 20 Art. l. salt;
• 30 Art. l. 3% vinegar;
• 10 liters of water.

Step by step cooking:

1. Finely chop the cabbage, cut the apples into thin strips, chop the carrots on a grater.
2. Cut each head of garlic into 6 pieces.
3. To prepare hot brine, put sugar and salt in a saucepan, add water and boil. Pour in vinegar and sunflower oil, stir thoroughly.
4. Place the salad in a large saucepan, including grapes and cranberries. Pour mixed berries and vegetables with hot brine.
5. Put the snack under the press, cover.
6. After 2 days, remove the load, put the salad in a container, store in the refrigerator.

Pickled cabbage with cranberries

Vegetable salad is not only fermented, but also pickled.

To do this, you need:

• 8 kg of cabbage;
• 200 g cranberries;
• 8 pcs. carrots;
• 4 tbsp. l. salt;
• 2 tbsp. 3% vinegar;
• 4 tbsp. l. Sahara;
• 2 tbsp. vegetable oil;
• 4 liters of water;
• 4 cloves of garlic;
• allspice and bay leaf to taste.

The cooking principle is as follows:

1. Chop the cabbage, but not too finely.
2. Cut the carrots into thin slices.
3. Combine water, salt and sugar in a saucepan. Add vegetable oil, boil. The sugar in the marinade should be completely dissolved.
4. Pour in vinegar, put bay leaf and allspice, immediately remove from heat. Refrigerate.
5. Toss the cabbage, carrots and coarsely chopped garlic. Add cranberries.
6. Tamp the salad into a prepared container, fill it with marinade, put under a press.
7. After 2 days, the treat is ready.

Terms and conditions of storage

The shelf life of a finished dish ranges from 1 to 3 months. It depends on the recipe and the fermentation technology. To increase shelf life, vegetables are pasteurized or canned.

Important! During heat treatment, products lose all vitamins and useful microelements.

When storing, pay attention to the amount of juice or brine. It is important that the liquid completely covers the product. Otherwise, the workpiece will begin to dry out, darken and deteriorate.

In most recipes, a sauerkraut is ready in 3-4 days. After that, she is removed from the oppression and removed to a cold place.

Tips from experienced housewives

If you are a beginner, take advantage of the advice of those who do winter harvesting every year. This will save you from mistakes and save your time:

1. Sugar is sometimes replaced with honey. It makes the dish more savory and aromatic.
2. Before serving, the salad is poured with olive oil and finely chopped onions are added.
3. It is not recommended to use aluminum cookware. It oxidizes, imparting a metallic flavor to the dish.
4. Iodized salt can spoil the taste of a fermented dish, it is better to refuse it.
5. If the recipe says vegetable oil, use unrefined oil, it gives a special taste and a wonderful smell.

Conclusion

In winter, sauerkraut with cranberries provides the body with vitamins, strengthens the immune system, and helps fight viral diseases. Due to its low calorie content, this dish is suitable for those who follow the figure.

The salad is used as an independent appetizer and is offered as a side dish for meat and fish. Having cooked vegetables according to one of the time-tested recipes, you will see that it is tasty, simple and inexpensive - sauerkraut works well even for those who do not know how to cook at all.