Easy Overnight Sauerkraut Recipe
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My mom has been making sauerkraut for as long as I can remember. It was a staple in our house growing up and it is a very common recipe made by Russian and Ukrainian folks.
The traditional version is amazing but takes several days to make but this sour cabbage is done overnight. This sauerkraut is eaten as a side/salad and is delicious paired with mashed potatoes, buckwheat, or anything else you might eat with a pickle.
Ingredients for the Overnight Sauerkraut:
2 medium heads of cabbage (4lb)
3 carrots
4-5 large garlic cloves
Sauerkraut Marinade Ingredients:
4 cups water
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 1/2 Tbsp of sea salt
10 pepper corns
5-6 whole cloves
4 bay leaves
1/2 cup olive oil
2/3 cup white vinegar (5%)
How To Make Overnight Sauerkraut Salad:
1.Remove the outermost leaves of the cabbages, cut them into quarters and shred finely (use a mandolin to do this if you know what’s good for you ;)). Discard the core, or trim it and eat it – it’s very tasty and healthy!
Place shredded cabbage in a large mixing bowl. Grate 3 carrots and very finely dice 4 garlic cloves, add everything to the bowl with shredded cabbage.
2. In a medium cooking pot add the first 6 marinade ingredients: 4 cups of water, 1/2 cup sugar, 2 1/2 Tbsp of sea salt, 10 peppercorns, 5 cloves and 4 bay leaves)bring to a boil and simmer for 10 minutes. After the time is up, stir in 1/2 cup of olive oil and 2/3 cup of vinegar then remove the pot from the stove to let it cool for 10 minutes.
3. Remove peppercorns and bay leaves from marinate then pour in the mixing bowl with vegetables and stir everything together until well combined. Now place a weight over your mixture until if fully cools. We put a flat dinner plate over the salad then placed a large bowl of water over the top to weigh it down.
4. Transfer cooled sauerkraut to a large jar, along with the leftover juice to fully submerge it, place the lid on top and place in the fridge for 24 hours.
Easy Overnight Sauerkraut Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 medium heads of cabbage, 4lb
- 3 carrots
- 4-5 large garlic cloves
Marinade Ingredients:
- 4 cups water
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 2 1/2 Tbsp of sea salt
- 10 pepper corns
- 5-6 whole cloves
- 4 bay leaves
- 1/2 cup olive oil
- 2/3 cup white vinegar, 5%
Instructions
- Remove the outermost leaves of the cabbages, cut them into quarters and shred finely (use a mandolin to do this if you know what’s good for you ;)). Discard the core, or trim it and eat it – it’s very tasty and healthy! Place shredded cabbage in a large mixing bowl. Grate 3 carrots and very finely dice 4 garlic cloves, add everything to the bowl with shredded cabbage.
- In a medium cooking pot add the first 6 marinade ingredients: 4 cups of water, 1/2 cup sugar, 2 1/2 Tbsp of sea salt, 10 peppercorns, 5 cloves and 4 bay leaves) bring to a boil and simmer for 10 minutes. After the time is up, stir in 1/2 cup of olive oil and 2/3 cup of vinegar then remove the pot from the stove to let it cool for 10 minutes.
- Remove peppercorns and bay leaves from marinate then pour in the mixing bowl with vegetables and stir everything together until well combined. Now place a weight over your mixture until if fully cools. We put a flat dinner plate over the salad then placed a large bowl of water over the top to weigh it down.
- Transfer cooled sauerkraut to a large jar, along with the leftover juice to fully submerge it, place the lid on top and place in the fridge for 24 hours.
Natasha Kravchuk
Hi! I'm Natasha Kravchuk. Here you'll find delicious, trusted recipes with easy step-by-step photos and videos. 
Great recipe! Thank you for posting! I’m a big fan of your site and made several of your dishes. Always a success!
One question – how long the this cabbage keeps in the fridge?
I’m so glad you’ve enjoyed our recipes Alla! It does store well and can be enjoyed for at least a week and probably up to 2 weeks.
Hi Natasha, I don’t want to use Vinegar. What can I use & How would the recipe change?
Hi Yelena, I would suggest our original sauerkraut recipe which does not use vinegar.
Hey loved this salad! Gave some to my mom and she said she licked her plate! Lol. Do you know if this would work with the purple cabbage as well? And would the juice work on pickling just beets?
Hi Julia, I haven’t tested either one, but I do think it is worth an experiment! I would probably mix the purple cabbage in – maybe do half and half with green and purple cabbage. I’m not sure about the pickling beets, if it would work with the same process – I haven’t tried that so I can’t really advise.
Hello Natasha, what do you mean by 5 cloves?
Hi Yelena, it is a dry, whole spice. I have it in the tiny dish with the peppercorns if you can see them there. Here is another look at what they are/what they look like. They can be find in the spice section of most grocery stores (sometimes sold in bins by weight, like at Fred Meyer)
I’m sugar intolerant and this salad sounds amazing. Can you make it with a different sweetener, like honey or agave?
Hi Kathy, to be honest, I haven’t tried any other substitutes so I’m not sure how it would affect the flavor of the sauerkraut. If you test it out, let me know how it goes.
Natasha, do you think it would work with that red/purple cabbage?
I haven’t tried that so I’m not sure… it would be a different color that’s for sure, but I’m not sure since I just haven’t tried that. A quick search on google shows that there are some recipes for it online so it might work well. If you test it out, let me know how it goes! 🙂
Natasha –
How does it compare to the traditional 4 day recipe? Different flavor or more crunchy?
Hi Natalie, this one is more of a marinated salad while the traditional one is more of a true sauerkraut. They both taste great just different. The traditional one is probably still just as crunchy.
will ground clove work ?
Hi Oksana, I haven’t tried that so I’m not 100% sure what amount to substitute or how it would change the flavor. I do remove the cloves from the syrup so I would suggest trying it with less when using ground or it may overwhelm the syrup.
This is so so so so good!!!!! And so so Easy to make!!!!!! Ahhhh thank you Again Natasha!!! What would I do with out your recipes, I would be lost for sure!!! All your recipes are just amazing!! 😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
You’re welcome Christina! Thank you for the wonderful compliment!! 🙂
Hi Natasha! For how long can I keep this salad in the fridge before it goes bad?
It does store well and can be enjoyed for at least a week and probably up to 2 weeks.
Loved this recipe, easy & delicious! My party loved it.
Denise, thank you for the wonderful review ! 😁
Can u use this sauerkraut in soup or is this only a salad thing? Just made it and I don’t think we will eat 2 jars in a week..
Hi Oksana, I haven’t tried the overnight sauerkraut that way but I think it would work in soup. You can also add it to braised cabbage for more flavor 🙂
Natasha, what type of vinegar are you using? I was intending to try either apple cider or white wine. Didn’t know if you were using distilled white. Thanks, Nita
Oh sorry I didn’t specify. It is a distilled white vinegar (5%). You can see a photo of the bottle beneath the list of ingredients.
Natasha i have a question, would it still taste good if I don’t add the garlic? My hubby is not a big fan of garlic…
Hi Olya, yes it will be fine without the garlic, but to be honest, you can’t really sense the garlic after it’s been marinating overnight. He may not even notice it’s in there 😉
Hi Natasha,
I am a little confused regarding the liquid. You said to weigh down the sauerkraut with a plate and something heavy. When jarring the sauerkraut is the liquid removed or included? I love sauerkraut, haven’t had it in a very long time and am anxious to try your recipe. Thanks for your help.
Nancy, transfer enough liquid for the cabbage to be fully submerged. Let me know how it turns out 😀.
how long will this keep?
Anna, usually it keeps at least a week with refrigeration. Hope this helps 😃.
Do you think I could substitute sugar with honey? Or maybe xylitol?
Hi Larissa, to be honest, I haven’t tried any other substitutes so I’m not sure how it would affect the flavor of the sauerkraut. If you test it out, let me know how it goes.
Hi – Can’t wait to try this since every other recipe I’ve tried from your site has been awesome!
I have a quick question though – do you or have you tried canning this, like for later later or winter, and if so how long did you have it in a water batch?
Hi Terri, I haven’t tried canning it. As it is, it only stays good if refrigerated. I think it would have to be a completely different recipe to stay good canned at room temperature.
Natasha, I am trying to use little or no refined sugar in my cooking but I really want to make this. Do you think it would be ok in flavor if I used stevia leaves instead of the half a cup of sugar. I have some growing in my garden and the leaves are really sweet when you bite into it.
Luba, I haven’t experimented with stevia leaves so can’t really recommend it. But if you try them in this recipe, let me know how you like it, since someone else might have the same question.
Simple to make and very delicious. I have never liked sauerkraut, but I can’t get enough of this.
Martha, thank you for the great review :). Reading your comment made me crave some Sauerkraut :D.
Made this today with 4#s of Cabbage yield is 2 gal jars of cabbage and liquid.
Wow that is alot of sauerkraut! What are your plans for it?
I just made it! Can’t wait to try it tomorrow. It makes a ton! How long will it be good in the fridge?
Thanks!
Brandy, this cabbage is best used within couple weeks when stored in the fridge, that’s if you will have any left by than :).
Tastes great!
Made this like 5 times already and totally love it.
Just wanted to ask when you serve it do you squeeze out the juice a little or live it juicy.
Seems like it’s very sticky not falling apart when I serve just straight from the can
Thanks
I let it drain a little before serving, but I don’t really squeeze it out. You could if you wanted to; I don’t think it will make a difference in flavor. I like it a little juicy when I’m serving it with potatoes :).
Dumb question…is it okay to use red and green cabbage?
I haven’t tried it that way, but I think that should be fine. Let me know how it goes 🙂
Thank you for this recipe, I have made it twice and both times it was gone in two day. I also had to print my mom a copy, she loves it. Thank You again.
That’s fantastic! I’m so happy to hear that you and your Mom love it 🙂
Awesome!
Made it this Friday and today is Monday and its GONE!
YUMMY YUMMY
also made it without the cloves( didn’t have any at the time) and turned out very good 😉
Natasha, thank you for the great feedback, seems like you really liked the recipe if it’s all gone so quick.
what do you mean by 5-6 cloves for the marinade?
Tanya, cloves are spices that are used in canning and can be purchased in most of the grocery stores. Click here to read more about them.
I’ve been using the traditional recipe forever, but this one is great since you don’t have to wait that long! I love the thinly shredded cabbage on your pictures, exactly the way I like it 🙂
Thank you Lyubomira, thinly shredded cabbage is my hubby’s work :), I will let him know.
Does this cabbage only good for a few days after made or it can last longer. And for how long can it be stored for in the fridge.?
Tatyana, this cabbage is best used within couple weeks when stored in the fridge, that’s if you will have any left by than :). Hope this helps.
Thank you for the nice recipe.
This looks so delicious! What kind of a mandoline shredder did you use? Brand? Is it easy to use? I have been looking all over for a good one. Please let me know! Thanks!
Liana, we use mandoline shredder from Zyliss. It is easy to use and can be placed over large bowl while you do the work. Plus it folds in half for storage.