(Last Updated On: April 16, 2024)
Have you ever fried up some pork chops with sauerkraut for dinner? Because if you haven’t, you’re going to love this combination. It’s also so easy to make too.
These pork chops are sprinkled with a little bit of salt and pepper and cooked up so tender that you won’t need a knife to cut them. They are melt-in-your-mouth delicious!
Sometimes we have just pork chops and sauerkraut for dinner, but at other times, we make Polish potato dumplings as a side dish. Yum!
Whenever my mother-in-law made this recipe, she always made the two together, but she called it “pork chops and sauerkraut with potato noodles.”
Key Ingredients Pork Chops with Sauerkraut
- 12 pork chops
- One 32-ounce jar of Steinfeld’s homestyle sauerkraut
- 1/4 cup 100% pure Canola cooking oil
- 1/8 teaspoon of salt
- 1/4 teaspoon of pepper
How to Make Pork Chops with Sauerkraut
These step-by-step instructions are accompanied by detailed photos for enhanced clarity and guidance.
1. The Pork Chops
Cover the bottom of a large frying pan with about 1/4 cup of 100% pure Canola cooking oil, but it’s okay for you to use any vegetable oil you have in your kitchen pantry.
Put about twelve pork chops in the large frying pan with the oil and brown on medium-high. Sprinkle 1/8 teaspoon of salt and 1/4 teaspoon of pepper over the pork chops. Rotate the pork chops in the frying pan until browned.
Note: If medium-high is a bit hot for your stove, turn the burner down a bit. Also, watch out for splattering oil while cooking the pork chops.
I figure about two pork chops per person. However, you can use fewer pork chops for a smaller family, or have leftovers the next night. I always love leftovers, especially when there’s no major cooking involved. Just heat and serve. 🙂
While the pork chops are browning, little pieces of fat will accumulate in the frying pan. Remove the fat with a spoon. It’s not necessary to remove every little tiny piece of fat though, that would be too much extra work.
The photo below shows how nicely these pork chops look after they have been browned and most of the fat removed. It is now time to add the sauerkraut.
2. The Sauerkraut
We will use a 32-ounce jar of Steinfeld’s home style sauerkraut for this recipe, however, you can certainly use whichever brand of sauerkraut is your favorite.
Pour the 32-ounce jar of sauerkraut over the top of the pork chops, including the liquid, then spread it around in the frying pan to cover all the pork chops.
The sauerkraut is spread across the top of the pork chops, so leave the sauerkraut as it is with the pork chops below and the sauerkraut on top. Do not mix or stir.
3. Time to Simmer
Fill the empty sauerkraut jar with water, then pour the water into the frying pan covering just about to the top of the sauerkraut. Reduce the heat to medium-low.
This is where the 3 to 4 hour cooking time begins. Keep adding water while the pork chops ingredients simmer. The longer the pork chops simmer, the more tender they will be.
When it’s just about dinner time, stop adding water and let it simmer until almost all the water has evaporated. The pork chops will be so tender that your mouth and taste buds will thank you. Yum!!
Final Thoughts
Spoon out a generous serving of this delicious dinner onto everyone’s plate, then sit down and enjoy your dinner. For another mouth-watering treat, try our Mississippi mud pie recipe for dessert.
Recipe Card
Pork Chops with Sauerkraut
🫕 Equipment
🧂 Ingredients
👩🍳 Instructions
- Put the cooking oil and pork chops in the frying pan.
- Sprinkle the salt and pepper over the pork chops.
- Brown pork chops on medium-high. Keep turning them.
- Remove any fat with a spoon.
- After the pork chops are browned, pour the sauerkraut over the top of the pork chops. Do not mix or stir.
- Fill the sauerkraut jar with water and pour it over the pork chops and sauerkraut, covering just about to the top of the sauerkraut.
- Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer for 3 to 4 hours.
- Keep adding water while the pork chops and sauerkraut simmer.
- When it's just about dinner time, stop adding water and let it simmer until almost all of the water has evaporated.
*️⃣ Recipe Notes
- You can use fewer pork chops for a smaller family, or have leftovers the next night.
- You don’t have to simmer the pork chops for 3 to 4 hours, but the longer the pork chops simmer, the more tender they will be.
A wife, a mother to a son and a daughter, and a grandmother to three granddaughters. Flo loves sharing recipes passed down from her own mother, her mother-in-law, and her grandmother as well as new recipes created with her daughter, Tamara Ray.
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