Kielbasa and Sauerkraut is probably something that not everyone likes. Sauerkraut is “sour” and its fermented and I know some people don’t care for that. Honestly though, its a cheap meal and goes a good distance. I think my favorite part is how easy it is to make and that I can let my crockpot do most of the work.
There is a special ingredient I like to add to mine and every time I do, its a big hit! Be sure to check out the step-by-step pictures below as well as the complete recipe at the bottom.

Ingredient List

There is very few ingredients needed to make this! Its something thats very affordable too!

Polish Kielbasa
Sauerkraut
Onion
Salt & Pepper – to taste
Garlic Powder
Cinnamon

Don’t let the cinnamon freak you out! I promise this adds the most perfect sweetness to this dish! This is one of those instances where a little goes a long ways. You can easily overdo the cinnamon, so try to keep it minimal.

Can I make this on the stove?

Can I make this on the stove? You most certainly probably could make this on the stovetop. I prefer tossing it in the crockpot for a couple of hours, but that’s just a preference. If I were to cook this on the stovetop, I would probably add just a little water, it would depend on the sauerkraut though. You wouldn’t want to burn anything but you also don’t want your dish to be swimming.

How do I make this in the crockpot?

Like most crockpot recipes, this gets tossed in and you let it do its thing. The most work involved in this recipe I find is the slices of the kielbasa and the dicing of the onions. I prefer to slice and the half my kielbasa chunks, it looks like there is more there this way and then it gets evenly distributed between the sauerkraut.

Then you will want to dump in your jar of kielbasa. Don’t dump out any juices, open the jar and dump it all in. Give everything a good stir around and then season. Season with salt, pepper and garlic powder to taste. You can always add more later. Lastly, lightly sprinkle in some cinnamon! Like I mentioned earlier, don’t let this freak you out. It meshes really well!

Turn the crock pot on low for 2-3 hours. This is already cooked, so you really don’t need to cook it any more. You are mostly heating it up so the juices come out of the sauerkraut and heat up the kielbasa.

My parents made this a lot (or it seemed like a lot) as a kid and I just always loved it. Once I moved out, I kind of forgot about this dish and never made it. Flashforward to 2022 I had gotten Covid and did fine with the cold aspect of things but I really struggled with bloating. For weeks, almost a month I had extreme uncomfortable bloating, it didn’t matter what I ate. So I did a little research and had read that fermented food was great to get good bacteria back into your belly!
I took that as a chance to start making this again and I tell you what, it made a difference! Paired with yogurt with live cultures as well but I swear the sauerkraut was what made the difference!

I highly recommend if you are struggling with major bloating, give this a try! I am not a doctor and I cannot say it will work for everyone, but if you like the dish, give it a try! Drop some comments and let me know if you liked my dish! Let me know if you liked the cinnamon in the dish or if next time you would leave that out.

Much Love & Honey,
Megan