All I have to say about this recipe is: Don’t knock it ’til you’ve tried it.
I completely understand if you read the name of this recipe and your initial reaction was to make a face of disgust. I’m with ya. I don’t like sauerkraut. I don’t like the way it smells. I don’t like the way it tastes. I don’t even like the way it looks.
But I promise you, this dip tastes so good that you really might just pass out from the delicious flavor. It doesn’t taste like sauerkraut at all – but instead is a wonderful mix of flavor that is completely addicting. The first time I tried it, I stuffed myself so full, I could barely walk out of the kitchen. It was not cute.
I got the recipe from my friend Jen, who, for the record, does not like to cook. That may tell you something about how easy this dip is to put together. We prepped all the ingredients together one evening, then I threw everything into my crock pot the next morning for us to chow on that night. And did I mention that I stuffed myself? Seriously, whether you like sauerkraut or not, you must try this dip.
Hamburger Sauerkraut Dip
1 pound ground beef
4 tomatoes, chopped
2-3 green peppers, chopped
27 ounce can of sauerkraut, drained
12 ounces sour cream
Brown ground beef until thoroughly cooked. Stir browned meat, chopped tomatoes and peppers, sauerkraut, and sour cream into a crock pot. Cook on low for 5-8 hours. Stir occasionally. Sneak bites often. Try not to eat the entire pot. Good luck.
I’m very happy to point out the fact that I have posted all kinds of different cheese dip recipes on this site, so you must surely be very impressed that I have climbed out of my cheese dip lovin’ box to post a dip that is significantly different and exciting. See, here they are: Healthier Cheese Dip; Super Simple Chip Dip; Cream Cheese Salsa Dip; Hamburger Cream Cheese Dip. And here I am posting a dip recipe that does not include cheese – but sauerkraut. How about that?
So, are you a sauerkraut fan, or do you tend to avoid it? Any chance that if you aren’t a fan, I could convince you to try this dip anyway? I promise you won’t regret it. :)
Lisa H. says
Lacto-fermented sauerkraut is delicious! I’ve been making it for a few years now, and I could never go back to the vinegary stuff sold in the stores. I think if you do not like the canned, jarred store-bought stuff, you might just appreciate the lacto-fermented kind.
Erin Turner says
I agree with Lisa. The store stuff is so disgusting. We put over a hundred punds of cabbage into sauerkraut this year because we eat so much of it! It’s health benefits are incredible! I can’t wait to try this dip…it sounds so wonderful! Thanks!
Krisha says
Yes – what a great way to use some fermented kraut I have fromt this summer!
Amber Rogers says
What is lacto-fermented?
Lisa H. says
Lacto-fermentation happens when the sugars and starches in
fruits and vegetables are converted to lactic acid by a friendly
bacteria. The vitamin content increases with this reaction, and
a whole host of good bacteria are introduced into your gut, making
every meal more digestible. And the flavor is so real… you’re
tasting the real essence of the vegetable (I haven’t tried fruits
yet) with a mild twang…. but it isn’t overdone like the vinegared
stuff one can buy in cans and jars at stores. And the product is
also naturally preserved.
Look up lacto-fermentation; especially check out the Weston Price
Foundation for more information.
Jen says
Would love some links to some good lacto-fermented recipes!
Lisa H. says
Here are a couple of links I pulled up. These sites can lead you
to more recipes/sites:
http://www.nourishingdays.com/2009/07/the-benefits-of-
fermented-food-lacto-fermented-vegetables/
http://www.foodrenegade.com/how-to-make-sauerkraut-other-
fermented-vegetables/
Happy Fermenting!
Kristy Taylor says
Lisa H. says it well. I can only add that we made our first lacto-fermented sauerkraut last year, it’s good, and it’s easy.
Amber Rogers says
I love saurkraut. My husband and 1/2 of the kids love it, too. Especially when cooked in a bit of brown sugar!
Tracy Nault says
I LOVE saurkraut!!! This dip looks absolutely delicious!!!
Lesley Wert says
Do you serve this with tortilla chips?
Laura says
Yes, tortilla chips are great with this dip! :)
Lana says
I adore sauerkraut!
Diane says
Love sauerkaraut! Can’t wait to try it!
Kim Bever says
Love Sauerkraut…will eat it straight from the can and on reuben sandwiches. YUM!
Amy S says
We love sauerkraut. Having some German descent I grew up eating it quite a bit. In fact cabbage rolls with sauerkraut are on the menuplan tonight. This dip sounds good.
Christy says
I have some sauerkraut left over from dinner the other night – this will be a perfect way to use it up! YUM! (I pinned this)
Jackie Leyba says
I’m part German so all I had to see was the word sauerkraut and I was hooked!!!! This looks REALLY good!!! This is perfect for one of those lazy Saturdays or Sundays. Just mix it up and keep it warm in the crock pot and snack on it all day!!!! YUM YUM!!!!!
Christa says
Lazy pierogies could be done in that crockpot of yours too. Use sauteed onion with ground beef or turkey, sauerkraut and noodles. You can add some butter too. Mix it all up and enjoy. You can use fresh cabbage instead. Just make sure you sautee it with the onions and butter first. MMMM is it lunch time?
Meghan V. says
Hubby doesn’t like it but I do. Maybe I could make some for a church lunch and get him to try a bite? :)
Kim says
Ok, I have to admit. My initial reaction was a face of disgust….but I decided to read on. I don’t really like sauerkraut, except on a Reuban sandwich. After reading what you wrote, I’m actually drooling and would be interested in trying it. I even though maybe some cheese mixed it might make it extra tasty, hehehe. And I’m very interested in the lacto-fermented sauerkraut other posters mentioned above, so I may have to look into that as well. Thanks for sharing another delicious sounding recipe.
Rhoda says
Sauerkraut does not top my list of favorite foods. Doesn’t even come close (well, closer to the top of foods to feed my worst enemy!) But this recipe has me intrigued. Christa’s comment about using fresh cabbage in her recipe sounds doable. Over the past few years I have gone from non-cabbage eater, to putting it in soups, salads, (still don’t like slaw), and maybe now dip? Laura, you haven’t steered us wrong yet in good recipes, so I’ll have to give this a try.
Heather says
Just wanted to check if you put the juice in with the sauerkraut or if you drain it first. We make our own as well and have a bunch to use. I love easy, snacky dinners!
Heather
Laura says
Yes, thank you so much for mentioning that! I will edit the post to include those directions!
Sara says
I was wondering if canned tomatoes would work or is that too much juice? Sounds yummy! We love sauerkraut.
Laura says
I think that would work just fine, as long as you drain the canned tomatoes first. :)
edith says
100% Pa. Dutch. does that answer your question? pork and sauerkraut is the traditional new year’s day meal. put it on top of hot dogs. serve it as a side dsh. lots of nutricious goodness. mom always put a bay leaf on top when cooking – not sure why.
Amber Rogers says
Laura, should we drain the ground beef?
Laura says
Yes, if you feel that your ground beef needs to be drained, go ahead and do that. I forget about that step as my beef rarely needs to be drained. :)
Ami says
My mom was telling me about a skillet dinner similar to this, and I think she called it “crack” dip. I don’t love the slang…but maybe that’s a better description of how much you want to eat this dip?
Tara says
I HATE sauerkraut, but from your description I am very tempted to try this! My husband hates it too so maybe I’ll make it while he’s at work and get him to try it before I tell him what’s in it! ;)
Lisa @ Happy in Dole Valley says
Laura, I love ya, girl! But this is one recipe we’ll have to pass on… Wish I could say otherwise, but there isn’t a single person in our family who would eat it!
With all the positive feedback you got on this recipe, I really would like to at least give it a try, but I’d hate to waste the ingredients. :)
Blessings!
~Lisa
Teresa Broos says
I’m having some friends over tomorrow night,I am going to try this one out on them and me. Sounds good,although I need to know a good brand,my folks bought Bush’s but no one carries it anymore. Thank you
Aimee says
Bubbies is the best you can buy in the stores.
Char says
Oh… I am NOT a fan of sauerkraut (pickling anything is not a favorite), but I DO love the combination of beef and cabbage, so I might like this dip. Wonder if it would be just as good with regular cooked cabbage, instead of sauerkraut???
Jen says
I love it, my husband not so much ;-) maybe if I make it during a good football game this weekend he won’t notice till he realizes he likes it ;-0
Crystal says
We just had this dip for the first time for supper this evening. When I first read the recipe, I was a bit skeptical but took on your challenge to try it. While purchasing the ingredients, I was asking my husband if he thought it would make enough to feed the five of us and he said he thought it would be plenty. I was also worried about what to do if none of us liked it as it was the only thing I was serving for dinner. I figured we would still try it and that if there wasn’t enough we could get a sandwich or something and the same for anyone who didn’t end up liking it.
This dish was super easy to prepare. It smelled amazing while it was cooking. And your warnings of being careful while taste testing it were spot on. It was extremely difficult to keep from going back to the pot and tasting again! Even my husband had trouble stopping himself from tasting it.
We served it with scoop tortilla chips. We had bought the family size bag. My husband made some onion dip so we could have some of that just in case we didn’t like the other dip. We would at least have that to eat with our chips.
My family consists of 4-adults and 1-teenager. We enjoyed this dip so much that we wiped out that whole bag of chips and both dips!! (this dip tastes very good with onion dip on top of each scoop of the sauerkraut dip. Like you, we were stuffed when we were finished eating! Yes, it was that good!!
Thank you, thank you, thank you for sharing this delicious recipe. It was so yummy! We can’t wait to serve it to our friends and family. :-)
Elizabeth says
This sounds wonderful. I’m wondering if I could serve this on a sub roll or in a tortilla as a sandwich. While I woul do dip for a meal, the rest of my family would not. But sandwiches I can get away with on occation. Any thoughts?
LindseyforLaura@HHM says
I haven’t tried it. I would love to hear how it turns out!
Crystal says
I too was skeptical of doing the dip thing for a meal but there really was no need to worry. The family was fine with it. We quite often have loaded nachos for a meal and this is the same kind of thing except you load up eat chip before you eat it. We tasted this dip on saltine crackers, while waiting for it to finish cooking and it was good. It might be a bit juicy for the sub roll or tortilla. Sogginess is not very appetizing to us. The taste would probably be fine. Just my thoughts, hope this helps.
Elizabeth says
Thanks for the thoughts. I wish my family would do nachos or dips for dinner, but no way. Thanks for your thoughts. I may toast the sub rolls and drain the mixture a bit. We are going to give this a try tomorrow. So hope it works.
Carly says
Made this for our sharing group, and it was a big hit! We all really enjoyed it!
Cheryl says
Well, I made this with my favorite sauerkraut-Boar’s Head, and I used red peppers instead of green. It is good, but I think when I heat some up tomorrow for lunch I will add cheese and try a serving like that. Feels like it is missing that. But I gave over half of it to the two guys next door (it’s just me at home) and I will see what they think.
Quianna says
Could you just mix it all together and not cook it? Cooking the kraut will kill off the good bacteria and this seems like a great way to get more.