Name: Sauerkraut Casserole with Chicken
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 150 min
Total time: 165 min
Yield: 4 -6 portions
Ingredients: 4 chicken thighs (skinless); 300 g sauerkraut; 1 large carrot (peeled, diced); 6 small/medium potatoes (peeled, cubed); 6 prunes (deseeded, halved); 1 onion (finely chopped); 2 garlic cloves (finely chopped); 4 porcini mushrooms, (rinsed thoroughly); 4 tablespoons olive oil; 1/4 cup white wine; 1 cup water; 1 bay leaf; 2 whole allspice; 1 level teaspoon caraway seeds; Sea salt and pepper to taste

This hearty Sauerkraut Casserole with Chicken is the perfect Oktoberfest dish, rainy day autumn dish, and a healthy one-pot comfort food dish that’s ideal for sharing.

Polish inspired sauerkraut casserole with chicken

This sauerkraut casserole with chicken isn’t a Polish recipe though it could very well be. Porcini mushrooms as well as prunes go extremely well with sauerkraut and are used in many Polish recipes. If you aren’t a huge fan of prunes don’t worry, after 2.5 hours in the oven prunes don’t really taste like prunes. But they do add a wonderful sweetness to this sour dish. I used a few porcini mushrooms just to add a bit more richness and depth to the overall flavour of this hearty sauerkraut chicken casserole.

Sauerkraut

If you’ve ever attended an Oktoberfest event chances are you would have tried sauerkraut.

I was first introduced to Oktoberfest years ago as a student living in Kitchener-Waterloo, Canada, a town with a sizeable German community. I seem to remember 3 vital components of the festivities: beer, sausage and sauerkraut. The beer came in a plastic cup, and the food was served on a matching plastic plate – the sausage in a big hotdog bun, with steaming hot sauerkraut on top.

I am a big fan of sauerkraut (not necessarily always in the company of beer and sausage, although admittedly they do make a delicious trio). Sauerkraut is not only delicious, but also healthy.

It is a good source of fibre, vitamins and minerals. It’s contains, however, a lot of salt. This in itself is not a great thing but you can also use it to your advantage. You simply won’t need to add any salt to your sauerkraut recipe! Another thing you can do if you find your sauerkraut too salty is rinse it (very briefly) under cold water (in a strainer).

How to make chicken sauerkraut casserole

This chicken potato casserole with sauerkraut is super easy to make. It requires very few ingredients and most of the cooking takes place in the oven so all you have to do is give it a stir every once in a while. This chicken casserole tastes even better reheated the next day, so make a big batch to enjoy over 2-3 days.

Once you’ve prepared all the ingredients putting the casserole together is a quick process (it takes about 10 minutes). Start by heating up some oil and frying the onion, garlic and spices. Then move the onion mixture aside and add the chicken. After a couple of minutes add the sauerkraut, prunes and porcini and continue cooking for 2-3 more minutes. Add the rest of the ingredients, give a stir, cover and pop in the oven for 2.5 hours.

It’s really that simple!

More sauerkraut recipes

A while ago I posted a vegetarian version of the popular Polish sauerkraut kapusniak soup, a delicious low fat comfort food recipe. (Anything with sauerkraut in it can be classed as comfort food really). See also my zesty Polish sauerkraut salad with carrot and apple. Check out also these Polish sauerkraut pierogi, a traditional Christmas Eve dish.

Sauerkraut casserole in purple bowl wrapped in red-and-white checkered cloth with casserole dish in top left corner, grey lid in bottom right and green cloth to right.

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