Sauerkraut Soup with Beef and Millet – Homemade Recipe
When I was a kid, my grandmother and mom often made a simple sauerkraut soup. It was the first dish that resembled kapusniak, although it was cooked differently. It stood in for borscht: in spring, fresh cabbage was usually gone, and the young cabbage hadn't come in yet. But homemade sauerkraut was there even in that in-between season.
At home, soups were cooked on meat or chicken broth, though simplified “lenten” versions were common too. Mushroom stock was rarely used for soups. The best broth for a soup with sauerkraut is made from a beef bone, ribs, or brisket. What matters is having enough meat so the broth comes out rich and full-bodied.
Once the broth is done, the meat is taken off the bone and cut into pieces. You can blend the vegetables cooked in the broth into a purée – an interesting way to go. But as a rule, the boiled vegetables stay in pieces. A little grain goes into the soup – millet, less often rice or pearl barley. By the way, I've read that in Slobozhanshchyna, kapusniak with millet is especially common. You only need a little grain, so the soup doesn't get too thick.
To keep the sauerkraut soup from being too sour (though plenty of people like it that way), we rinse and squeeze the sauerkraut before adding it to the broth. Sauerkraut doesn't need much cooking – it's ready to eat as is. We usually add it at the same time as the millet, although you can add it a few minutes before the end if you prefer. A little tomato paste goes in to improve the color.
Since the cabbage gets boiled in the soup, there's no point hunting for perfectly crunchy sauerkraut. People often use not the best batch for cooking – tasty and good, but soft and a bit over-fermented. After rinsing, it's perfect for soup.
You can use any familiar vegetables – carrots, onion, potatoes. A piece of celery root or parsnip works well too. For aroma, we add herbes de Provence – a ready-made blend. Dried dill, parsley, and savory are also a good choice. Sauerkraut soup should be served with fresh herbs and sour cream. Traditionally, we add thinly sliced smoked salo, green onions, garlic, and dark rye bread.
Ingredients
4 servings
- Beef brisket or ribs 0.5 kg
- Sauerkraut 0.5 kg
- Carrot 1
- Onion 1
- Potatoes 1-2
- Millet 3-4 tbsp
- Tomato paste 1 tbsp
- Celery, parsnip, chili optional
- Salt, black pepper, coriander, bay leaf, herbes de Provence to taste
- Smoked salo, garlic, green onions, sour cream, fresh herbs, bread for serving
Step-by-step recipe
- For a sauerkraut soup with a deep flavor, you need a rich meat broth. The best cut for the broth is fatty beef brisket. It cooks down well and has plenty of meat. Rib cuts work too. Peel the vegetables for the soup. If the millet is good quality, you can skip rinsing it.
- Pour 2.5 l of cold water into a pot and add the beef in one piece. Bring to a boil and skim off the foam. Simmer the meat broth gently for 1.5 hours without spices or salt. This gives you a rich, clear broth, and the meat will be perfectly cooked. Then take the meat out and cut it into pieces of about 50 g.
- Cut up the peeled vegetables. Slice the onion into thick strips, preferably lengthwise – that way it falls apart less during cooking. Cut the carrot into large chunks. The potatoes, though, we dice small, so they cook down quickly and make the sauerkraut soup thicker. Add all the vegetables to the broth at once, and return the pieces of cooked meat to the pot. Season the soup with salt and pepper to taste. Add 1-2 pinches of ground coriander, a couple of bay leaves, and a pinch of dried herbes de Provence. If you like, add a pinch of chili. Cook the vegetables for 20 mins.
- Meanwhile, rinse the sauerkraut in cold water and squeeze it out thoroughly. This way the cabbage loses most of its acidity. Add the rinsed sauerkraut to the broth. When the soup comes to a boil, add the millet. Cook for 15-20 mins, until the millet is tender. The soup should simmer gently, not boil hard. It's a good idea to stir it with a spoon now and then, since millet tends to stick to the bottom of the pot.
- We always add 1 tbsp of tomato paste to the soup – it improves both the color and the flavor. You can use homemade tomato sauce, or fresh tomato pulp fried down in a pan until thick. After adding the tomato, stir the soup and cook for 5 mins. Take the pot off the heat and let the soup rest for another 5-10 mins.
- Meanwhile, get everything ready for serving. Sauerkraut soup must be served with sour cream and finely chopped dill and parsley. We also add finely chopped green onions – just the green tops. Pieces of smoked salo and garlic are the signature addition to this dish. And one more thing – the soup is delicious with fresh dark rye bread.
- The soup is served only hot, right after cooking. We always make dishes like this for one meal. Enjoy a delicious soup and treat yourself.
| Yield: | 4 servings |
| Calories: | 45 |
| Prep: | 1 h 30 mins |
| Cooking: | 1 h |
| Ready in: | 2 h 30 mins |
| Category: | Soups |
| Cuisine: | Ukrainian cuisine |
| Rating: |
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5
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