This recipe for Kielbasa Kapusta is my family’s traditional Polish Kapusta recipe made in a slow cooker!
My dad is 100% Polish and he has been talking about his grandmother’s and mother’s Kielbasa Kapusta for decades! When my Polish grandmother passed away when I was 17, I inherited a couple of her cookbooks and her recipe tin. That recipe tin has produced fabulous gems over the years. To surprise my dad on a recent trip back home, I decided to make our family Kielbasa Kapusta recipe for him, but with my own twist!
I kept all of the ingredients and quantities the same, but decided to cook the Kielbasa Kapusta in the crock pot! It’s way more convenient for my lifestyle and I know so many of you will find this cooking method helpful, too!
Another change I made was to cut the kielbasa pieces smaller. This enhanced the flavor of the dish by releasing more of the kielbasa juices AND it allowed more surface area for the kielbasa to soak up the Kapusta juices! Is your mouth watering yet?!
While the Kielbasa Kapusta was cooking, my dad snuck into the kitchen more than once with a huge, nostalgic grin on his face saying, “This smells familiar,” and “Ooohhhh weeeee, is it dinner time yet?”
While I never tasted my grandmother’s version, my dad thought I pulled off a near match. I am SO glad I found and tried this recipe, which gave my dad and me another link to our family heritage, and produced a heartwarming treat we can pass forward to generations to come!
Cook’s Note – Kielbasa Kapusta:
- My dad distinctively remembers his mom using bacon drippings that she would keep in the refrigerator for this recipe. If you don’t have any on hand, then substitute 2 additional tablespoons of butter (for a total of 4 tablespoons) for the bacon drippings.
- I like to serve this dish with mashed potatoes (this recipe is SO good!). After all, potatoes, kielbasa, and cabbage are the holy trinity of Polish cuisine!
- The Kielbasa Kapusta is even MORE flavorful the next day! I know-hard to believe, right?!
- My family likes to eat leftovers between toasted Kaiser rolls with grainy mustard.
Cook’s Tools + Products – Kielbasa Kapusta:
- Large Skillet
- Slow Cooker (this is my 3rd slow cooker and the last one I’ll ever own, I love it so!)
- Bacon Drippings
Here’s my family’s traditional polish kapusta recipe:
Kielbasa Kapusta - slow cooker recipe!
Ingredients
- 2 Tablespoons butter
- 2 Tablespoons bacon drippings
- 2 ½ cups sweet yellow onions finely chopped
- 2 32 ounce cans sauerkraut
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1/2 cup light brown sugar
- 1 3/4 cups water
- 2 pounds kielbasa cut into 2-inch slices
Instructions
- In a large skillet over medium heat melt butter and bacon drippings until foaming subsides, about 2-3 minutes. Add onions and cook, stirring occasionally, until onions are translucent and edges begin to brown, about 8-10 minutes.
- While onions cook rinse and drain sauerkraut at least twice. Make sure sauerkraut is well drained and add it to slow cooker along with onions, salt, pepper, brown sugar, water, and kielbasa. Give everything a good stir and cover. Cook on high for 1 hour, then reduce to low and cook for an additional 6 hours, stirring occasionally. Serve.
Nutrition
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Jillian
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Linda Preston
I have been eating and making kapusta for my whole life and I, too, adopted the crockpot method of cooking my kapusta when crockpots first came out over 40 years ago. Gramma made potatoes separate and Mother threw her potatoes on top the last hour or so in the oven. And I use little red potatoes in the crockpot! Whole! I make it all winter and guests always hope kapusta’s what’s for dinner!!
Jillian
Yum, this would be so good with potatoes. I’m going to try it the next time I make this recipe!
Iza
Hi! The SKI ending in your name may suggest also the profession of your ancestors, (for example: Kowalski, very common polish name – kowal means blacksmith) Also about recipe – that’s a great, heartwarming dish and I think that here in Poland we will call it ‘bigos’ (every family has it’s own recipe). I highly recommend to add spoonful of caraway seeds, it deepens the taste and reduce bad influence of too much kapusta 😉 greetings from southern Poland!
Jillian
Such awesome info, thank you so much! I will definitely try your recipe variations.
Christine Pietrobon
Hi, my maiden last name is Kowalski. I was told the meaning of it back in 1969. Thanks. I’m working on finding out where my paternal grandparents came from. Will be trying this kapusta method in a few minutes.
justyna
this is actually called ‘bigos’. and i would definitely add more spices and herbs. you can also freeze it. and – there is a christmas version – without meat – but with wild mushrooms and prunes. aaand – you can also add red wine…
Jillian
Good to know, thanks for the info and recipe variations!
Alison
Is there a particular brand of sauerkraut that is best? This looks delicious.
Jillian
I have not tested different brands, so I say just use what’s readily available in your grocery store.
Sue
We love kielbasa and usually grill it. I wanted to try something different. When I came across this recipe …it looked so good. I was just expecting the usual kraut and kielbasa flavor… I was so wrong. This was such a nice change from the old familiar flavors. The slight sweetness put this dish over the top. I have passed this recipe on to friends along with a nice heaping sample. My only question is how much liquid is there supposed to be and is there anything I can do with it? Thanks you so much…. We loved it…
Jillian
Hi Sue, I’m so glad you liked the recipe!
I don’t usually have a ton of extra liquid in my crockpot when I make this recipe. Did you rinse and drain the kraut before placing it in the slow cooker? Maybe cut back on the water in the recipe to 3/4 cup.
Cindy
I make Kapusta with a large can of diced tomatoes & not only saurkraut but a large cabbage chopped into pieces. I keep the liquid in it & actually turn it into a stew. i add 1/2 cup of cider vinegar & fill the pot with water to cover.
Maureen
Justyna’s comment about the prunes made me smile. When my grandma made a batch of pierogis, there were always potato ones, cottage cheese ones and ones filled with a fried sauerkraut with lots of pepper (yum!)…but she always saved enough dough to make a few filled with prunes – so good! Thank you for this relatively quick & easy recipe to bring back all the good tastes and good memories!
Jillian
You’re so welcome, Maureen! Just this past summer I had pierogies with prunes and I LOVED them!
Colleen
I come from a large polish family and my great aunt and grandma made the best kapusta! I’ve always tried to recreate it on the stove and it was always still too sour or too sweet from the brown sugar because they always eye balled the ingredients and adjusted to taste. Now those women are gone in our family and so I tried this recipe because I was craving some kapusta. It tastes identical to how they made it!! I added fresh kielbasa and also like to eat it with mashed potatoes. Thank you for this recipe, now I can make it whenever I want and carry on the legacy!!
Jillian
Colleen, Your comment warmed my heart and made my day! I’m so glad that you have a little piece of your grandma and great aunt back with this recipe. Thanks for stopping by! 🙂
Mary Anne Joyal
Jillian, this recipe is so very good and exactly the way my Polish mom made it except back then, it cooked on the stove over low heat for a long time. This is a great meal particularly when it is cold or rainy and you want something to make the house smell delicious and to satisfy everyone at the dinner table. We too ate this with mashed potatoes, but today I’m trying it with potato pancakes, another amazing dish (latkes) from the Eastern European tradition. Thank you!
Jillian
Yum, potato pancakes would be amazing with this recipe. Thanks for stopping by! 🙂