Sauerkraut with apples - step-by-step recipes with photos

Selection and preparation of main ingredients

There are three basic rules for preparing ingredients:

1. Buy tight white heads of cabbage that are flattened, dense and not too large. The stronger and juicier they are, the easier and neater it will be to cut them.
2. Choose carrots that are sweet, juicy and bright. Long carrot shavings of medium thickness are ideal for salad. Rub with sweeping movements over the entire length of the vegetable. The orange pieces will give the dish a bright color and make it more appetizing.
3. For apples, the late Antonovka variety is better suited. The fruits must be firm - then the apples will not become soggy during fermentation. They are placed whole, without being separated from the peel, or cut into two halves. Save the peel so that the pectin it contains promotes an active fermentation process.

With winter apples and fresh herbs

Cabbage with Antonovka is prepared for the winter in jars. The most difficult part is chopping vegetables, and the process of adding food itself will not take much time.

Products:

• cabbage - 3.5 kg;
• winter apples - 1.7 kg;
• dill seeds - 60 g;
• carrots - 300 g;
• cold boiled water - 3 l;
• table salt - 90 g;
• granulated sugar - 90 g.

Let's start cooking:

1. Rinse all components. Remove leaves and stalks from cabbage forks. Chop into long, thin slices. Remove the skin from the carrots and grate them for vegetable salads. Core the apples and chop into cubes.
2. Pour chilled water into a saucepan, add canning salt and granulated sugar. Stir until completely dissolved.
3. Mash the cabbage until the slices are limp. Mix with carrots and dill seeds. Layer vegetables and fruit tightly in jars until half full. Pour in 0.5 liters of brine and continue laying the ingredients, adding salty-sweet liquid from time to time.
4. It is important that there is enough brine on the surface. Place gauze on top and place under a press. Leave the contents at room temperature for 2-3 days. Then place it in a cool room for 7-10 days.
5. During this time, 2-3 times a day you need to pierce the contents to the bottom, removing foam from the surface and rinsing the gauze.
6. After the time has passed, the jars are closed with plastic lids and put away in the cellar or refrigerator.

It is recommended to serve cabbage with flavored oil or make a simple salad with boiled potatoes, onions and preparations. Apples in sauerkraut can be eaten as an independent dish or added to salads, meat, and poultry.

With apples and cranberries

Why is there an apple in the recipe?

An apple added to a sauerkraut salad will be a wonderful addition to the dish and will give it a pleasant and appetizing aroma. The apple contains a lot of useful vitamins and microelements (phosphorus, iron, zinc, potassium, etc.), which is especially important during the period of flu and colds.

With lemon

Products:

• cabbage - 9 kg;
• carrots - 400 g;
• green apples - 400 g;
• table salt - 280 g;
• lemon - 1 fruit.

Clean and rinse all ingredients. Chop the cabbage into thin slices, and grate the root vegetable for vegetable salads. Chop the apples into cubes. Cut the lemon into 2 parts and squeeze out the juice. Mix it with fruit.

Place the cabbage in a bowl, add salt and rub thoroughly with your hands or a wooden masher. Combine fruits with prepared vegetables. Transfer the mixture into a bowl, bucket or jars. Place under a press and leave in a warm place for 3 days. Poke regularly to release excess air. After the time has passed, move the workpiece to a colder place and leave for 7 days. Cabbage is ready to eat.

How to ferment cabbage with apples at home

Ingredients for the classic recipe:

• cabbage - 1.5-2 kg;
• carrots - 150 g;
• salt - to taste;
• sugar - 2 tsp.

Step-by-step cooking instructions:

1. Peel the cabbage forks and remove parts that will not be used, chop into thin strips.
2. Remove the skin from the carrots and grate them.
3. Wash the apples, cut them into two parts or put them whole. Do not remove the peel, remove the core.
4. Place cabbage and carrots in a large container, add salt and sugar for canning. Mix them with light kneading movements. Cover them and leave for half an hour so that the vegetables release their juice.
5. After 30 minutes, mash the contents and add the apple, mix everything.
6. Place the salad under a press and place in a warm place for 3 days. Every day, pierce the cabbage to the bottom of the container several times to release accumulated gases.
7. Place the salad in sterile jars, cover with nylon lids, and store in a cool place.

During the fermentation process, foam forms on the surface, which must be removed.

With apple and cranberry

Ingredients:

• cabbage - 300 g;
• apple - 1 pc.;
• cranberries - 3 tbsp. l.;
• salt - to taste.

Cooking steps:

1. Wash the cabbage, remove the stalk and outer leaves, and cut into thin strips.
2. Sort and rinse the cranberries and core the apples.
3. Peel the carrots and chop on a medium grater.
4. Place cabbage in a large container, add salt and sugar. Mash all the contents to release the juice.
5. Place the leaves in the container in which the salad will be fermented, then layer cabbage, carrots, apples and cranberries. Place the leaves on top again.
6. Leave for several days. Pierce the salad to allow excess air to escape and remove foam regularly.
7. Place the salad in a cold room, leaving it there for 1.5 weeks. Then place in sterile jars and put in the refrigerator.

With added raisins

List of ingredients:

• cabbage - 400 g;
• apple - 2-3 pcs.;
• a handful of raisins;
• salt - to taste.

Cooking process:

1. All initial steps are similar to the previous recipes.
2. When it comes to raisins, place them in a saucepan and rinse thoroughly several times. Add to the cabbage, salt and stir.
3. Cover the resulting vegetable mass with leaves and leave in a warm place to “simmer” for 3 days. Pierce the lettuce to release trapped air and remove foam, otherwise it will taste bitter.
4. Refrigerate the salad. After 2-3 weeks, the dish will be completely ready to eat.

Spiced

Ingredients:

• cabbage - 500 g;
• carrots - 4-5 pcs.;
• cloves - to taste;
• ground black pepper - to taste;
• sugar - 2 tsp.

Cooking process:

1. Rinse the vegetables. Grind the carrots on a medium grater and chop the cabbage. Combine vegetables, mix, mash to release juice.
2. Add salt, sugar, mix everything again.
3. For the brine: place spices in 2 liters of water, bring to a boil, pour in 2 tbsp. l. vinegar. Remove the brine from the heat.
4. Pour the spiced brine to the top of the vegetables.
5. Cover the container with a lid and leave until it cools, and then the salad is placed in a cool place for several days.

With honey

Honey in a vitamin salad adds a touch of piquancy, enriching its taste. Thanks to this component, the cabbage turns out incredibly crispy.

Ingredients:

• cabbage - 500 g;
• carrots - 3 pcs.;
• apple - 1-2 pcs.;
• honey - 2 tbsp. l.

Cooking method:

1. Wash a forkful of cabbage, dry it, and chop it.
2. Wash the carrots, chop them and mix with cabbage leaves.
3. Remove the core from the apples, chop and add to the vegetables.
4. Add salt and pepper, mixing everything thoroughly.
5. Cover with a plate and leave for 2 days to ferment in a warm place.
6. Pour a little brine into a separate container to dissolve the honey in it, pour the honey-cabbage brine over the vegetables.
7. Cover the salad for 2 days. During this time, the fermentation process will be completed.
8. Place the finished salad in jars and store in the refrigerator.

Pickling in jars

Don’t have a food enamel bowl or bucket at hand? The best solution is to make cabbage with apples in jars for the winter. The salad turns out no worse, the aroma and taste do not change. The main advantage is that the finished product does not need to be laid out in glass containers. Simply close it and put it in the cold.

Products:

• apples - 0.5 kg;
• cabbage - 2.7 kg;
• carrots - 0.45 kg;
• table salt - 80 g;
• granulated sugar - 80 g;
• laurel - 4 leaves;
• black peppercorns - 24 pcs.;
• allspice - 9 peas.

Procedure:

1. Rinse the cabbage forks, remove the stalk and chop into thin, long slices. Peel, rinse and grate carrots for vegetable salads. Combine the two ingredients in a large saucepan, add salt, sugar and mix with kneading movements. The main goal is for the vegetables to release their juice and the ingredients themselves to become a little softer. Add two types of peppercorns, bay leaves and stir everything again.
2. Rinse the apples, remove the seeds and chop into medium-sized cubes. In prepared clean and sterile containers, place part of the cabbage tightly on the bottom, and then the apples. Fill the container to the end in the same way. It is important to leave 4 cm from the top, otherwise the juice will leak out during the fermentation process.
3. Place jars with contents on a clean food tray. Cover the top with a gauze napkin and leave in a warm place for 3 days. Two or three times a day, pierce it all the way with a wooden skewer so that excess air comes out. Foam will also form on the surface. It needs to be carefully collected with a spoon and removed.
4. Close the jars with nylon lids and put them in a cool place for 1-1.5 weeks. After the time has passed, the cabbage is ready to eat.

Advice from experienced housewives

According to the recommendations of experienced housewives, buckets and tanks without chips and plastic containers are suitable for ripening cabbage. Do not ferment salad in aluminum containers, as lactic acid oxidizes it. This will cause the cabbage to have an unappetizing metallic taste and an unattractive gray color.

With grapes

This recipe is so unusual in its composition that the resulting snack will amaze you with its bright appearance and unique taste.

Ingredients

• 5 kg cabbage;
• 7-8 large apples;
• 800 g of seedless grapes, preferably dark varieties;
• 0.5 kg carrots;
• 5 multi-colored bell peppers;
• 100 g salt;
• 1 tsp. Sahara;
• allspice, cumin, bay leaf - to taste.

Despite the variety of components in the recipe, the preparation process is simple.

1. Wash vegetables and fruits, dry them and remove excess parts.
2. Cut the cabbage and pepper into strips, grate the carrots on a coarse grater, cut the apples into large but thin slices. Remove the grapes from the branches. For larger sizes they can be divided into two halves. Important! As a last resort, fresh grapes can be replaced with dark raisins - then take about 200 grams of them.
3. Place all ingredients in a large bowl or basin, add spices and herbs as desired and mix thoroughly but gently.
4. Cover them with a large flat plate and place a weight on it.
5. Let the workpiece stand in a warm place for at least a day for the active fermentation process to begin.
6. From the first day, remove the foam and pierce the cabbage to remove gases.
7. If the snack is prepared for immediate consumption, it is infused in the heat for 3 to 8 days, and then put into the cold.
8. To prepare salted vegetables according to this recipe for the winter, after a day or two of infusion, place them in clean and dry glass jars and send them to a cool place: cellar, balcony or refrigerator. In this case, you can try the preparation no earlier than 2 weeks after preparation.

Peculiarities

For those who decide to try fermenting these fruits for the winter for the first time, you should choose them correctly. Not all varieties of apples are suitable for this type of canning. Often, fruits of winter or autumn varieties are used for pickling :

1. anise;
2. Lithuanian;
3. saffron;
4. pippin;
5. golden

In order for the preparation to turn out not only tasty, but also to last longer, you need to rely on the following parameters of the fruit:

• sweet and sour apples with a distinct aroma;
• fully ripened, without starch and dense;
• apples must have a perfect surface without any damage;
• Before fermenting with cabbage, the fruits are kept in the dark and cold for 14 days.

When fermented, all the beneficial properties of the products are preserved . The fermentation process allows all the vitamins and elements to remain in apples and cabbage. These substances promote the health of all organs responsible for the digestive process, and also significantly improve immunity.

The technology for sauerkraut with apples is based on the fermentation of sugar. The duration of this process is from 21 to 28 days. It is necessary to ferment only at room temperature. When fermentation reaches its climax, the finished mixture is moved to a colder room. The temperature in it should not exceed 0 degrees.

How to properly marinate it with apples

Adding apples to the recipe is a popular variation on a delicious recipe for crispy, juicy cabbage. It is with this ingredient that you will get a delicate fruity taste and aroma that is impossible to resist. To make the recipe a success, strictly follow the cooking instructions and maintain the specified proportions.

To prepare you will need:

• 100 g sugar;
• 2 kg of cabbage (the best option is white cabbage);
• 3 carrots and 3 sour apples (medium size);
• 1 tbsp. l. salt;
• 1 liter of purified water;
• 70 ml vinegar (9%);
• 100 ml sunflower oil.

Step by step guide:

1. The cabbage is prepared and pickled as described above.
2. The next stage is preparing the apples. Choose fruits of sour varieties; the Simirenko variety is ideal.
3. Wash the fruits thoroughly, remove the peel, and place on a board.
4. Divide each fruit into 2 parts, remove bones and tails.
5. Cut into medium pieces.
6. Add chopped apples to the cabbage.
7. Apples and cabbage are poured with hot marinade prepared according to the classic recipe.
8. Then mix thoroughly and put under a press.
9. Place in the refrigerator for 48 hours.
10. Then remove the press and remove the bay leaf from the appetizer.
11. The dish is served at the table or closed for the winter.

Storage

Sauerkraut with apples can be stored for up to 6-8 months . In order to maintain preservation for a long time it is necessary:

• maintain room temperature 0-3 degrees;
• make sure that the cabbage does not drown in the brine;
• immediately remove any mold that appears;
• oppression periodically rinse and pour boiling water over.

If it is not possible to store this preservation in a large container, then you can resort to a trick and package the ready-made starter in bags and place it in the freezer. Then, if necessary, take out the package and defrost. Sauerkraut with apples will not change its taste, aroma, or color and will remain just as healthy.