Although sauerkraut is probably not what you sometimes consider as breakfast fare, this tangy, sharp, and peppery condiment really pairs completely with smoky sausage and mild-mannered eggs and potatoes. This smoked sausage and sauerkraut skillet is a grown-up tackle consolation meals that presents an uncommon and hearty choice for these searching for a satisfying high-protein technique to begin the day. 

This dish is closely impressed by German-American meals. Sauerkraut, which accurately means “bitter cabbage” in German, arrived in America with German immigrants within the late nineteenth century. Although fermented cabbage itself is just not strictly German, and will be discovered anyplace from China to Poland, it’s as strongly related in American tradition with German delicacies as schnitzel and, because the second part of this dish suggests, sausage. Meat and sauerkraut additionally pair nicely with caraway seeds and mustard, as is clear within the nice German American sandwich, the Reuben.

No stranger to pairing fermented substances with hearty fare for my Jap European recipes on On the Immigrant’s Desk, I wished to mix these flavors with eggs and potatoes to melt the sharp flavors. The mustard makes its look in a creamy remoulade sauce that provides smoothness to the dish and helps carry the whole lot along with a briny end.

To assemble the breakfast skillet, you will want butter, diced onions, the smoked sausage of your selection, recent or frozen hash browns, drained sauerkraut, caraway seeds, eggs, and salt and pepper to style. The hash browns, which have grow to be a really broad time period for a wide range of breakfast potato preparations, will be cubed or grated, as per your choice.

For the sauce we’ll serve on the facet, you will want bitter cream, whole-grain mustard, apple cider vinegar, garlic, and salt and pepper to style. The mustard can be a powerful German or Russian mustard with a kick to it, although we do just like the textural factor that whole-grain mustard provides to the sauce.

Warmth 1 tablespoon of butter in a big skillet over medium-high warmth.

Add the onions and cook dinner for 12-Quarter-hour till golden brown. Switch to a plate.

Add the remaining butter to the skillet. Add the sausage and cook dinner for five minutes till browned.

Take away to a plate with the onions.

Add the hash browns to the skillet and cook dinner for 8-10 minutes till crispy, stirring often.

Return the sausage and onions to the skillet. Stir within the sauerkraut and caraway seeds. Prepare dinner for two minutes.

Make 4 wells within the combination. Crack 1 egg into every nicely. Cowl the skillet and cook dinner for 5-7 minutes till the eggs attain your required doneness and season with salt and pepper.

Whisk collectively the bitter cream, mustard, vinegar, and garlic. Season with salt and pepper.

Serve the skillet with the sauce on the facet.

Smoked sausage is without doubt one of the central parts on this dish, and the sort you select can drastically affect its taste. From the standard to the funky, we’re right here to give you some smoked sausage options on your skillet.

The commonest sausage to make use of on this recipe is the standard Polish kielbasa, which is a pure bedfellow for the sauerkraut. If you wish to keep strictly German, a bratwurst or a knockwurst will give the dish an ideal peppery kick that actually enhances the remainder of the robust flavors on this recipe.

If you need your sausage to have a milder taste, attempt a smoked turkey sausage, which is leaner and fewer dominant. To provide the dish an actual funky edge, attempt the New Orleans favourite, smoky andouille sausage, which will certainly grow to be the dominant taste within the dish. No matter selection you select, ensure that it is one which slices neatly and does not collapse when the casing is reduce. There are many choices on grocery retailer cabinets, or you possibly can ask your favourite butcher for his or her suggestions.

There are some variations and variations you can also make to offer this dish a special spin with out altering its taste too drastically. From enjoying round with the sausages, which we already coated, to altering up the greens and even the presentation of the dish, the choices for this brekkie are limitless. First off, you positively could make this dish for a vegetarian. Sub the smoked sausage for a good vegetarian sausage of your selection, of which there are many choices as of late, and even smoky tempeh bacon. You may add extra veggies, like bell peppers or mushrooms, to offer it extra physique and heft.

If you happen to’re not a fan of caraway seeds, which will be fairly aromatic, exchange them with the subtler dill seeds. We additionally love including recent dill, parsley, and chopped scallions proper earlier than serving, to offer the dish extra freshness.

For the sauce, a thimbleful of horseradish would actually add zing, as would a squeeze of lemon. Recent herbs would do nicely as an addition right here, and we additionally love including a splash of buttermilk, like in a buttermilk potato salad. When prepping forward, we have typically even portioned out the skillet in massive tortilla wraps with the sauce, in a German spin on a breakfast burrito. Any method you select to serve it, this smoked sausage and sauerkraut skillet is a superb choice for beginning your day.