Southern Slow-Cooker Choucroute

Wow, pretty colorful reviews. Mine will be pretty boring, I followed the recipe exactly and it was delicious.

You know, if there's one thing that doesn't benefit cabbage, or any cruciferous vegetable, it's long cooking. It multiplies the sulfur compounds, making it stink, and turns it into mush. Anyone who has ever enjoyed the real Choucroute Garni can tell at a glance that this recipe ain't it. First, it has to start with sauerkraut, which is not achieved by cooking cabbage to death, but through slow, natural, fermentation, leaving it crisp, bright and tangy. Pickled, if you will. None of these elements exist in this dish, and dousing it with vinegar just won't do it. Since the French word for cabbage is CHOU, and the French word for sauerkraut is CHOUCROUTE, you might want to rename this recipe "Slow-cooked Cabbage & Sausage," so as not to disappoint.

I am a huge fan of choucroute garni, so I thought this might be a lazy man's way to do the same.
However ...
This is the foulest recipe I have ever attempted off the Internet.
After only a few bites, it all went down the toilet!
Ugghhh!

This recipe was easy and turned out great. I, as others, did not have Juniper Berries, so I just left them out. I added a bit more mustard than is called far, as we love mustard. Thank you for a quick and tasty meal.

This is a very forgiving recipe that I make once or twice a month. I use apple cider instead of an apple, fennel, caraway or other seeds, leftover ham, salami or capicola from the deli to use it up, a can of drained and rinsed white beans, or small waxy potatoes. As another commenter said, use what's in the frig or spice drawer. You can match the seeds to the sausage -fennel with Italian, etc. And always remember that a slow oven is good for this recipe, chili, soup, or any long-cooking recipe.

I've now made this 3 times, and it was a hit each time. The first time I didn't have any juniper berries...I know! Go figure! But I added a tbsp. of caraway seeds and used 1/2 smoked beef sausage and 1/2 kielbasa. Otherwise, ingredients as directed. The only practical difficulty was fitting it all in the slow cooker! I have the largest one Rival makes and when the cabbage was added, it was piled about 4 inches above the rim of the cooker. I realize that the size of a head of cabbage varies, but mine was a pretty average size, about 3 lbs. My solution was to saute about half the cabbage in a hot skillet for about 8 to 10 minutes. This reduced the volume enough to fit it into the cooker. And it was great, every time. Also, regarding the timing, I got a late start and set it on high for two hours, then switched to low for another 2. Perfect. No difference from the full 6 to 8 on low, at least in my slow cooker.

I've made this twice now. The first time, I followed the recipe exactly. The second, I used red cabbage, added 10 oz of chicken stock, and cooked on high for 4 hr (only because I forgot to turn the slow cooker on in the morning - oops). Booth times were delicious, but we've decided we like the red cabbage version a little better.

Could I make this with proper choucroute, i.e., sauerkraut? Leaving out the vinegar, I guess.

How about adding some kind of cooked beans, Great Northern, cranberry, pinto, in the last hour?

I'm without a slow cooker. Any thoughts on stove temp (and cook time?? Thanks!!

I've cooked a similar recipe on the stovetop before, with the additions of 1/2 cup white wine and 1/2 cup chicken stock, the liquid cooks off and leaves behind an awesome dinner for a cold night.

Loved this recipe but made a few changes. Used sweet Italian sausages and did not use juniper berries. Taste very subtle but delicious and extremely easy to make. Sausages are great for a quick lunch smothered with cabbage mixture too!

Delicious! Any suggestions for a side?

FIrst time using this recipe, and I just want to check -- I don't add any water? Does the cabbage just give off enough liquid to keep it from burning? Thanks!

I made this as written except I used only a teaspoon of added sugar, and while it was delicious, I still found it REALLY REALLY sweet.. So, if you're not going for a distinctly sweet sweet-sour thing, you might want to consider skipping the sugar entirely, or doing less apple, or ?? I think it might also have benefitted from a shorter slow cooking, because the kielbasa gave up most of its flavor in the alloted time. For our tastes, next time I'll skip the sugar, only do one apple, and up the mustard and vinegar. But talk about an awesome, easy peasy one pot meal! I'm so glad I tried it.

Any thoughts on whether this recipe would work with purple cabbage instead of green?

Even if I never make this (and I definitely will), that accompanying article was priceless! Thank you! And now, more than ever, I'm kicking myself for caving in and buying the America's Test Kitchen slow cooker book. Should have just checked out Food52. When will I ever learn!?

I think this recipe will save me from the torments of coming home tired, very tired, from work and having to face the contents of a fridge stocked with every condiment but not actual food and agonizing over whether I have the energy to actually prepare a meal or reduce myself to simply throwing frozen french fries in the oven. I am going to try it out tonight.