Creamy Pumpkin Caraway Sauerkraut

To be honest, pumpkin and sauerkraut are never my favorite things to eat. After years of food blogging and 10 years living in Germany, I surprise myself by developing a taste for both.  Officially worn down or converted. Whatever. It has been a long way to this Creamy Pumpkin Caraway Sauerkraut recipe. Even though sauerkraut has wonderful health benefits.

Why Your Gut Throws a Party for Sauerkraut:

Happy Belly, Happy You – Sauerkraut is loaded with probiotics that turn your gut into a VIP wellness club.

Immune System Supercharge – With all that vitamin C, this tangy crunch is basically your edible shield against sniffles.

Love Your Heart – Fiber and plant compounds team up to keep cholesterol levels from going rogue.

Snack Without Guilt – Low-cal but high-fiber, sauerkraut keeps you full without hijacking your jeans size.

Nutrient Power-Up – Fermentation unlocks extra vitamins and minerals. Also, this Creamy Pumpkin Caraway Sauerkraut is combined with other great nutrients from pumpkin.

If these two foods were not that interesting for me. So putting them together in the same dish for this Creamy Pumpkin Caraway Sauerkraut would never happen in a million years. So here I am, a grown-up food blogger with my new German palate, marrying the two in this recipe. Now the focus is on making the recipe simple and flavorful. And, wow, what a delicious result.

In this recipe, combine sauerkraut with pan-fried onions, pumpkin puree, cream, vegetable broth, and caraway seeds. That’s it.

For this recipe, I recommend making your own pumpkin puree from a roasted pie pumpkin. People. It’s so easy and takes about an hour and a half. Consequently, the excellent flavor makes all the difference.

So now Creamy Pumpkin Caraway Sauerkraut has made it to the big time in my house. Recipes have to work hard and wow me to earn a place on my Thanksgiving menu. Normally, poor sauerkraut would be laughed out of the room. Well, now this is a lesson for my sauerkraut snobby self. Consequently,  I  will serve this happily as a side dish at Thanksgiving. It’s. That. Good. The bonus is that you can make it a day or two in advance.

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Creamy Pumpkin Caraway Sauerkraut

Prep Time: 10 minutes Cook Time: 20 minutes Yield: Serves 6-8

Course Condiment, Side Dish

Cuisine German

Keyword Sauerkraut

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes

Total Time 30 minutes

Author Lora Wiley-Lennartz

Ingredients

• 1 cup roasted pumpkin Puree* recipe follows
• 1 medium-sized onion
• 2 cups of sauerkraut drained
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1 tablespoon caraway seeds plus a pinch for garnish
• 3/4 cup vegetable broth
• 1 cup 150ml heavy cream
• Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Instructions

1. Prepare pumpkin puree (See *Notes) or use canned 🙁

2. Peel and chop onion into small pieces.
3. Squeeze all the liquid you can out of the sauerkraut. When you think you are done squeeze again. Repeat and set aside.
4. Melt the butter in a skillet over medium-high heat
5. Add onions, stirring to coat them in the butter.
6. Cook stirring occasionally until the onions become transparent.
7. Add the caraway seeds and cook for a couple of minutes.
8. Mix in the pumpkin puree.
9. Add the sauerkraut and stir to combine.
   
10. Add the broth and heavy cream.
11. Bring the mixture to a boil.
12. Turn heat down to low. Simmer for 5 minutes.
13. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
14. Remove from heat, garnish with caraway seeds and serve.

Recipe Notes

*For the roasted pumpkin purée:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Place the whole pumpkin on a baking sheet lined with aluminum foil and roast for 15 minutes.

Remove from oven and carefully slice off the stem and cut the pumpkin into quarters.

Return the pieces to the oven and roast for another 40 minutes or until you can easily run a fork through the flesh and skin of the pumpkin.

Remove the pumpkin pieces from the oven and let cool completely. Scrape out the stringy flesh and seeds and set aside.

Use a spoon to scoop out the flesh and transfer to a food processor. Discard or compost the outer skins.

Purée the pumpkin flesh in the processor until smooth.

So, do you like this Creamy Pumpkin Caraway Sauerkraut side dish? Then also check out some of these other delicious recipes:

PUMPKIN MARZIPAN ICE CREAM

SAUERKRAUT SPELT HAND PIES

PARADISE KRAUT