Creamy Sauerkraut and Sausage Chowder

We love sauerkraut and sausage made in various ways.  It’s perhaps the small part of German in me that makes me seek out new ways to satisfy that craving.  This amazing soup that has sauerkraut, sausage and potatoes in a rich, creamy broth cried out to me.  I needed to make it!  The weather outside was below zero and the snow just kept falling and blowing in drifts all over the place.  It was time for a bowl of soup.

Peel and dice potatoes into 1″ cubes. Boil in salted water until fork tender. Drain.

I still have potatoes stored in one of my guest rooms.  Not joking!  We dug a mountain of red potatoes last fall and put them in plastic tubs and store them in a room we don’t heat unless we have guests.  They are still mostly coated in dirt and must be washed before using.  I hiked upstairs to our Potato Room and carried a basket of potatoes down to the kitchen.  Scrubbed, peeled and diced, I put them into a saucepan of boiling, salted water until they were fork tender.

In large saucepan melt butter and fry onion until translucent and beginning to brown around the edges

Next I melted butter in a large saucepan and fried some diced onion until it was translucent and lightly browned around the edges.

Add flour and cook for a few minutes. Add milk and broth and stir until it is smooth.

When the onion was done I added flour to the saucepan and stirred and cooked it until it was like sand, barely turning brown.  I added the chicken broth and milk and stirred until it was smooth.

Stir until mixture thickens

I turned the heat to medium high and let the mixture cook until it thickened.

Add potatoes and sausage

When my broth had thickened I added the cooked potatoes, sausage and sauerkraut to the saucepan.  I reduced the heat to medium.

Stir in drained sauerkraut. Reduce heat to medium and heat through

The recipe had not specified whether the sauerkraut should be drained or not.  I chose to drain it and squeeze most of the liquid out of it.

Simmer until sausage is heated through

I let the soup simmer on medium for several minutes so that the sausage was heated through.

Add cheese and parsley. Stir and taste test for seasoning

The cheese and parsley were my next additions, and after stirring well I taste tested for seasoning.  I found I needed to add both salt and pepper and I added them in small amounts until I was pleased with the seasoning.

Creamy Sauerkraut and Sausage Chowder

I ladled soup into bowls for our dinner and garnished them with another sprinkling of black pepper as directed.

We really, really loved this soup!  The simple broth had a nice, creamy taste on the tongue in contrast to the seasoning of the sausage and sauerkraut.  Every mouthful was a delight and we decided we’d definitely like this soup again.  It should be in our regular rotation!

Creamy Sauerkraut and Sausage Chowder

I will note that the original recipe was a paid post for Hillshire Farms Polska Kielbasa.  That would be a great sausage to use but we had another brand on hand so didn’t use it this time.

Adapted from  Hot Eats and Cool Reads