Pork and sauerkraut for New Year’s Day is a pork loin roast cooked the way our product page says, at 375°F for 20 to 25 minutes per pound to 145°F, served over sauerkraut warmed on the stove. The roast is the product page method, unchanged; the sauerkraut is a pot on the back burner, and no extension recipe for the pairing exists that we could find, so this is a method post, not a tested recipe.
Pork and sauerkraut on January 1 is a New Year’s Day custom in many families. We make ours with the pork loin roast from Heritage Duroc hogs, and this is the whole plan, from the freezer to the table.
What you need for pork and sauerkraut
- 1 pork loin roast, thawed in the refrigerator
- 1 tablespoon olive oil, plus salt, pepper, and rosemary, thyme, or garlic powder (the product page seasonings)
- Sauerkraut with its juice, about 1 lb for every 2 people
- Onion and apple, sliced, to taste
- Brown sugar and caraway seed, optional, to taste
- A baking dish, a large pot with a lid, and a meat thermometer
The sauerkraut amounts are to taste because we have not tested a fixed recipe; the pork amounts are whatever roast you buy, cooked by its page. Mashed potatoes are the usual third thing on the plate.
How to make pork and sauerkraut, step by step
- Heat the oven to 375°F. That is the temperature on our product page.
- Season the roast. Rub it with olive oil, salt, pepper, and rosemary, thyme, or garlic powder.
- Sear (optional). Brown the roast in a hot skillet 3 to 4 minutes per side.
- Roast. Set it in a baking dish and cook 20 to 25 minutes per pound, until the center reads 145°F.
- Warm the sauerkraut while it roasts. Put the sauerkraut and its juice in the pot with the onion and apple, and the brown sugar and caraway if you use them. Cover and warm on low, stirring now and then, until the onion is soft and everything is hot; sauerkraut is already fermented, so this step only heats it.
- Rest and slice. Rest the roast 10 to 15 minutes, slice it, and serve the slices over the sauerkraut with the pot juices spooned on top.
Steps 1 to 4 and the rest are the cooking directions on the pork loin roast product page, in their order. Step 5 is our house way of warming sauerkraut, untested as a fixed recipe, which is why the amounts are to taste and there is no recipe card on this page.
Pork is safe at 145°F with a three minute rest, per the USDA safe minimum temperature chart. A little pink at 145°F is normal for a loin.
Which cut, and why we use the loin roast
| Cut | What it is like | Method | Do we sell it? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pork loin roast | Lean meat with a fat cap; our product page calls it ideal for slow roasting | 375°F, 20 to 25 minutes per pound, to 145°F, rest 10 to 15 | Yes |
| Pork shoulder | The other common choice; fattier, cooked long and low until it shreds | Not on our product pages | No |
| Pork tenderloin | Small and fast; better as medallions than under sauerkraut | 400°F, 18 to 20 minutes, to 145°F | Yes |
We sell the loin roast, so that is the cut we cook, by its own directions. If your family tradition is shoulder, the sauerkraut pot is the same; only the meat method changes.
We compared the two loin cuts in pork tenderloin vs pork loin, and our older post on slow cooking with heritage breed pork covers the long and low side.
About the sauerkraut
Do not drain it. The juice is the cooking liquid, and it keeps the pot from going dry. If your sauerkraut tastes very sharp, pour off some of the juice; the apple and a little brown sugar soften the rest.
Bagged, jarred, or canned sauerkraut all work here, and it cooks down in the pot, so buy a little more than looks right.
Leftovers keep 3 to 4 days in the fridge, USDA’s figure for home cooked pork dishes. Sliced roast and sauerkraut reheat together in a covered pan. Every fresh cut we sell is in heritage pork fresh cuts.
Questions people ask about pork and sauerkraut
What do you put in sauerkraut and pork?
Sauerkraut with its juice, onion, apple, and if you like them a little brown sugar and caraway. The pork gets the product page seasonings: salt, pepper, and an herb.
What is the best piece of meat for pork and sauerkraut?
Loin roast and shoulder are the two common choices. We use the loin roast because we sell it and its product page gives a clear method: 375°F to 145°F.
What is good with pork and sauerkraut?
Mashed potatoes, almost always. Applesauce, rye bread, and a mustard on the table are the usual extras.
Do you drain sauerkraut before cooking?
No. Keep the juice as the cooking liquid, and pour off some only if the sauerkraut is very sharp.
Do you add water to sauerkraut when cooking?
Not in our house way; the juice, the onion, and the apple give the pot its liquid. Add a splash only if the pot runs dry.
Start the year with the roast. Pork and sauerkraut is a one oven, one pot dinner, the roast by its page and the kraut to taste, and a Heritage Duroc loin roast, raised crate free with no antibiotics ever on Iowa family farms, is the roast we put over the kraut.
Order a pork loin roast, or see every cut in heritage pork fresh cuts. It ships frozen from the farm shop.