Dill Sauerkraut Recipe (2024)

Fermentation Vessel

Fermentation Weight and Airlock Lid

White Plastic Storage Caps

A Scale: MyWeigh KD-8000 Digital Scale

Himalayan Pink Salt

Quart (Liter) Jar: Wide-Mouth

The Trellis + Co. Pickle Helix Kit is strong enough to hold your ferment below the brine throughout fermentation. Its design leaves plenty of room for brine.

Use for storing your ferments or as your lid during fermentation.

You won't regret owning the "Tesla" of scales. Makes weighing your ingredients and salt a breeze.

My favorite fermentation salt. Broad range of minerals. Adds subtle flavor.

$16.49

$38.77

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FERMENTATION LENGTH: 1-4 weeks

SALT PERCENT: 2%

Why I love this recipe. Dilly Delight Sauerkraut always brings back memories of my first fermentation experiences. This was the only flavor of sauerkraut my family ate for over a year. I had purchased my first crock and on each new moon would layer in the cabbage, salt and dill, mix well, pound, cover and wait. Sometimes, connecting a task to nature's rhythms makes it easier to get the task done.

Feel free to cut back on the amount of dill used, though I like the strong pronounced flavor. For a PDF version of this recipe, including Gourmet Pairing Options, scroll to the end of this post.

4.25 from 16 votes

Course: Appetizer, Condiment, Side Dish

Keyword: Cabbage, Dill, Fermented, Paleo, Sauerkraut, Vegetarian

Prep Time: 20 minutes mins

• 1 medium head fresh green cabbage, 2 ½–3 pounds (1 kg)
• 1 tablespoon dried dill (2-3 tablespoons fresh)
• 1 tablespoon (18 grams) iodine-free salt (fine-grain)

• SET UP. Gather Supplies and Set Up Scale

  Using a scale to make your sauerkraut enables you to make up a batch that fits perfectly into your jar and also ensures that you use the right amount of salt for the bacteria to do their best work.

  You don’t want to include the weight of your bowl in your measurements, so either zero out the scale (usually done with a button on a digital scale or a knob under the tray on a mechanical scale) or write down the weight of your bowl (tare).

  

• CHOP. Prep Your Vegetables and Cabbage

  Sprinkle 1 tablespoon dried dill (or 3 tablespoons fresh, chopped) nto your bowl. Now, how simple is that?

  Discard the limp outer leaves of the cabbage, setting aside one of the cleaner ones for use during the SUBMERGE step.

  Quarter, then slice cabbage crosswise into thin ribbons. I leave the core in because I find it helps to hold the layers of cabbage together making the slicing job easier. There are many ways to slice that cabbage as reviewed in this post.

  Add sliced cabbage to your bowl until weight of dill and cabbage is 800 grams (1¾ pounds 28 ounces).

  

• SALT. Create Your Brine

  Salt pulls water out of the cabbage and vegetables to create an environment where the good bacteria (mainly lactobacillus) can grow and proliferate and the bad bacteria die off.

  Sprinkle cabbage with 1 tablespoon (16 grams) of salt and mix well.

  Then, massage the cabbage with strong hands until moist, creating the brine. You should be able to tilt the bowl to the side and see a good-sized puddle of brine, about 2–3 inches in diameter. This process can take anywhere from 2 to 5 minutes.

  

• PACK. Pack Mixture into Jar

  Once you have a small puddle of brine it is time to pack the mixture into your jar.

  Grab handfuls of the salty, juicy cabbage mixture and pack them into your quart-sized wide-mouth canning jar, periodically pressing the mixture down tightly with your fist or a large spoon so that the brine rises above the top of the mixture and no air pockets remain.

  Be sure to leave at lease 1 inch of space between the top of the cabbage and the top of the jar. Because we weighed out just the right amount of cabbage to fit in your jar, this should happen automatically.

  Pour any brine left in your mixing bowl into the jar and scrape out any loose bits stuck to the sides of the bowl or to the side of your jar.

  

• SUBMERGE. Hold Ferment Below Brine

  Now make sure your fermenting mixture is in a safe anaerobic (no air) environment. This means that you need to keep the cabbage mixture submerged in the brine while it ferments.

  Take that cabbage leaf that you saved during the SETUP step, tear it down to just fit in the jar, and place it over the surface of the packed cabbage. Forgot to save a cabbage leaf? No problem. You can fold a narrow piece of parchment paper to size or even cut an old plastic lid to size.

  Place the 4-ounce jelly jar, or other fermentation weight, on top of the cabbage leaf, right side up with its lid removed.

  Lightly (to allow for escape of CO2 gases), screw on the white plastic storage lid.

  I like to label my jars using green or blue painter’s tape and a permanent marker. I note the flavor of sauerkraut I made and the date I started fermenting.

  

• FERMENT. Ferment for 1 to 4 Weeks

  Time now for the friendly bacteria to do their work while you watch and wait. Can you wait 7 days to taste the tangy crunch?

  In this image, you see the Kraut Source Fermentation Lid in use. See my review here.

  Place your jar of fermenting sauerkraut in a shallow bowl (to catch the brine that may leak out during the first week of fermentation), out of direct sunlight. Wait for 1 week before opening to sample.

  For what to expect as your sauerkraut ferments, seeSALTY Cabbage to SOUR Sauerkraut: Fermentation Signs to Monitor

  Should the brine level fall (very unlikely) and remain below the level of the sauerkraut during this first week,

  dilute 1 Tbsp of salt in 2 cups of water

  and pour some of this brine over the sauerkraut (removing the little jar first) until it just covers the mixture. Put the little jar back in, screw the lid on lightly and let the fermentation continue.

  Don’t worry if the brine disappears after the 7- to 10-day mark. By this time, you’ve created a safe environment in which the bacteria that would cause mold or slime has been chased away by the beneficial bacteria produced during the fermentation process.

  You can ferment your sauerkraut for up to 4 weeks. The longer you ferment it, the greater the number and variety of beneficial bacteria that can be produced. One study shows bacteria levels peaking on day 21.

  

• STORE. Store in Refrigerator for Up to 1 Year

  After fermenting your sauerkraut, it’s ready to go into the refrigerator and ready to be eaten.

  Rinse off the outside of the jar. You can take the little jar out. Clean the rim if necessary (sometimes it can get sticky from the brine that overflows), and screw the lid back on tightly. Add to your label how long you fermented the contents.

  Enjoy a forkful or two of your sauerkraut with your meals. It will continue to ferment – aging like a fine wine – but at a much slower rate that before. If the flavors are too intense, leave it the jar for a month or two and then eat it. You will be amazed at how the flavors have changed.

  If successfully fermented (tastes and smells good), your sauerkraut can be kept preserved in your refrigerator for up to a year.

1. If you’re going to use fresh dill, chop just the finer stalks, tossing the thicker parts.
2. Dry herbs are three times stronger than fresh so plan on using almost a quarter cup of fresh dill in this recipe.
3. Fresh dill is available at markets during the summer and early fall.
4. The flavors of Dilly Delight Sauerkraut meld nicely with fish, like smoked salmon. Make a protein-rich salad by mixing some slices of salmon and Dilly Delight Sauerkraut with a bit of sour cream. You may need to first thin the sour cream with some cream or milk. Mix together, grind a bit of pepper over it and you’re good to go.