As we've shared in the past, the traditional PA Dutch New Year's meal is... Pork and Sauerkraut! For today's Stoltzfus Eats post, we're sharing a recipe that is a new take on the classic pork and sauerkraut - Kielbasa Sauerkraut Soup!
For this recipe, we used a traditional Polish style kielbasa from our friends at Konopelski Meats. Konopelski Meats is another family owned business that has been in business since 1920 using a family recipe for kielbasa that they brought to the USA when Louis Konopelski immigrated from Poland in 1903. Konopelski's kielbasa has a delicious garlicky flavor and a great snap from the casing. You can find it at our Intercourse, PA location, near the deli case.
Substitution suggestion: When making this recipe, we used a few slices of Stoltzfus Meats bacon that we left over from our Christmas morning breakfast. If you don't have bacon on hand, you could also cube some leftover Christmas ham and use that instead!
What you'll need for this recipe:
1-2 T rendered bacon fat or olive oil, divided
8-12 slices Stoltzfus Meats original sliced bacon (or ¼ lb bacon ends), cooked and crumbled
1 lb Konopelski kielbasa, sliced
1 onion, diced
2 carrots, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 t paprika
6 cups chicken stock
2 cups sauerkraut, drained
1.5 lb baby potatoes, quartered
½ cup quinoa (optional)
salt and pepper to taste
sour cream, for serving
Directions:
1. Heat a Dutch Oven over medium heat. When the pot is hot, add 1 T bacon fat. Add the sliced kielbasa and cook until lightly golden brown on both sides, about 4-5 minutes. Remove kielbasa from pot and set aside.
2. Add the remaining bacon fat to the pot. Add the onions and carrots to the pot and cook until the onions are translucent and the carrots are tender, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and paprika and cook, stirring frequently, until the garlic is fragrant, about 1 minute.
3. Add approximately ½ cup of chicken stock to the pot and deglaze, scraping the bottom of the pan to release the brown bits. Add remaining chicken stock, potatoes, quinoa, sauerkraut, bacon, and kielbasa to the pot. Cover and let simmer until the potatoes and quinoa are tender, about 15 minutes.
4. Season with salt and pepper to taste, and serve with sour cream.
As always, if you make this recipe, we would love to hear about it. Please let us know in the comments or be sure to tag us on social media. Thanks for joining us for Stoltzfus Eats… where feeding you is our pleasure!