Polish Sausage and Sauerkraut Casserole (Kapusta)
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When my husband's Grandmother died, I was the designated person to bring this to all holiday dinners (even though I'm Irish!) since I learned what to do by watching her. She always used fresh rather than smoked Polish Sausage.
- Ready In:
- 1hr 45mins
- Serves:
- Units:
9
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ingredients
- 4 lbs Polish sausage, fresh if possible
- 1⁄2 lb bacon
- 1 small yellow onion
- 2 (27 ounce) jars sauerkraut
- 1⁄2 cup brown sugar
- 3⁄4 cup water
directions
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Bring sausage to boil and simmer 15 minutes; drain and set aside.
- Cut bacon into small pieces.
- Begin browning, then add diced onion.
- Saute together until bacon is almost crisp.
- Drain mixture, reserving bacon grease.
- Drain sauerkraut (do not rinse).
- Add sauerkraut and brown sugar to bacon mixture.
- Mix in about 2 Tablespoons reserved bacon grease and water.
- Place in large casserole dish.
- Cut Polish sausage into 3" pieces and place on top of sauerkraut.
- Cover and bake at 325 degrees Fahrenheit for 1 hour 15 minutes, checking sauerkraut mixture halfway through to add more water if sauerkraut appears very dry.
- Finish baking; remove from oven.
- Taste sauerkraut and, if desired, adjust flavor by adding salt and pepper, or a little more brown sugar, vinegar or bacon grease to your taste. (Note: In the old days, Busia (Grandma) would soak a cup of yellow peas overnight to soften them and would mix them into the sauerkraut. It was probably to stretch the quantity, but I don't do it anymore!).
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Oh my gosh, this is good!! I made this a little different, using the crockpot as some suggested. I made a smaller batch using l-lb. package of Kielbasa (diced), 2 cans of kraut (one regular & one Bavarian-style with the juice), 1/3 c. brown sugar, no water, black pepper and put in slow cooker at the lowest setting (#3 for my cooker). I just mixed it all up. Four hours later, I served with mashed potatoes (which by far wasn't necessary, just trying to make it more filling for my husband). There was a nice amount of juice to go with the potatoes and we didn't think this was too sweet at all (I prefer sweeter than not). THIS IS A KEEPER!! Thanks so much for posting. I love grandma recipes!! ;-) Note that I omitted step 2 since I wasn't using fresh sausage.1Reply
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My family loved this! I agree with other reviewers that the final product is a bit sweet, but we really enjoyed the sweetness. Personally I sometimes find sauerkraut bitter, but not this time. I also felt that the sweetness balanced the seasoning in the sausage.The prep was pretty easy and not too time consuming. Great with unsweetened applesauce and mashed potatoes.<br/><br/>I am definitely adding this to the regular rotation!Reply
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