This Polish Kapusta is a delicious family recipe perfect for any occasion. It’s an easy slow cooker kielbasa and sauerkraut dish, combining hearty flavors with minimal effort.
Table of Contents
Traditional Sauerkraut and Kielbasa
My dad is 100% Polish and 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 made our family Kielbasa Kapusta recipe for him, but with my twist! I kept the ingredients and quantities the same, but I decided to cook it in the crockpot! It’s way more convenient for my lifestyle, and I know many of you will find this cooking method helpful, too!
Another change I made was to cut the kielbasa pieces smaller. This method enhanced the dish’s flavor 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 dish we can pass to generations to come!
What is kielbasa?
Kielbasa is a staple in any Polish home. It is a type of sausage. In the USA, it is best known as any U-shaped meat with a coarse texture.
Ingredients and Estimated Costs
Per Serving Cost: $2.13
Recipe Cost: $17.06
- 2 Tablespoons butter – $0.26
- 2 Tablespoons bacon drippings – $0.50
- 2 ½ cups sweet yellow onions – $1.20
- 2 (32 ounce) cans sauerkraut – $4.36
- 1 teaspoon salt – $0.01
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper – $0.04
- ½ cup light brown sugar – $0.25
- 1 ¾ cups water – $0.00
- 3 pounds kielbasa – $10.44
NOTE: Recipe prices and the amounts needed are based on grocery store websites. Actual costs may vary depending on your ingredients.
How To Make Kielbasa and Sauerkraut
*For complete recipe instructions, scroll to the recipe card below.
- First, melt the butter and bacon drippings in a large skillet until the foaming stops, about 2 minutes.
- Next, add onions and cook, occasionally stirring, for about 8 minutes.
- Then, drain the sauerkraut at least twice, ensuring it is well-drained before putting it in the crockpot.
- Next, add the onions, salt, pepper, brown sugar, water, and kielbasa in the crockpot and stir.
- Cover it and cook on high for 1 hour.
- Finally, reduce to low and cook for an additional 6 hours, stirring occasionally. Serve and enjoy!
How to serve this Kielbasa Kapusta Crockpot Recipe
Kapusta means cabbage, so when serving this recipe of cabbage and Kielbasa (sausage), potatoes are a great option. These crispy smashed potatoes are seriously one of my all-time favorite potato recipes. For a classic choice, check out these creamy buttermilk mashed potatoes. But if you are like me and need more cheese in your life, you will want to make these 3-cheese potatoes Au gratin!
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Polish Sausage and Sauerkraut
Video
Equipment
- slow cooker
- measuring cups and spoons
- mixing spoon
- cutting board
- knife
- large skillet
- strainer
Ingredients
- 2 Tablespoons butter
- 2 Tablespoons bacon drippings
- 2 ½ cups sweet yellow onions finely chopped
- 2 (32-ounce) cans sauerkraut
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- ½ cup light brown sugar
- 1 ¾ cups water
- 3 pounds kielbasa cut into 2-inch slices
Instructions
- In a large skillet, melt butter and bacon drippings over medium heat 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 the sauerkraut is well drained.
- Add the sauerkraut to a 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.
Notes
- My dad distinctly remembers his mom using bacon drippings that she would keep in the refrigerator for this recipe. If you don’t have any on hand, substitute two additional tablespoons of butter (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!
- This recipe 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.
Storage Tips
Store: Transfer leftovers to an airtight container and store them for 3-4 days in the refrigerator.Freeze: Once cooled, transfer the kapusta to a freezer-safe container and freeze for 3-4 months.
Thaw: Thaw overnight in the refrigerator.
Reheat: Place the kapusta and kielbasa in a pot or saucepan (depending on the amount you’re reheating) and heat over medium heat until warm, about 5-10 minutes.
Nutrition
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Kielbasa Kapustka Recipe FAQs
Kapustka is a surname in the Polish language, and its literal translation is “cabbage.”
The word “kapusta” is of Slavic origin and is used in several Slavic languages, including Polish, Ukrainian, Russian, and others, to refer to “cabbage.”
In German, the word for “cabbage” is “Kohl” or “Weißkohl” (white cabbage) for the specific type of cabbage. The term “kapusta” is not used in the German language.
No, it would be best not to poke holes in the kielbasa before cooking. Poking holes in the sausage can cause the flavorful juices and fats to escape, leading to a drier and less tasty result.
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Are you of Polish Decent, or there of??? I do like this recipe, and potato pancakes would go great…Oh back track your father was 100% POLISH, I got it now.
Ye, of Polish descent. My maiden name is Jankowski. I have been working on a potato pancakes recipe for a while now and it’s not perfect yet. Hopefully, I can nail it and post the recipe soon. Thanks for stopping by!
Are you of Polish Decent, or there of??? I do like this recipe, and potato pancakes would go great…
I make something very similar to this using smoked pork chops. I also put apples in the sauerkraut. It sweetens it up a little. Very good!
Oh yum! This sounds amazing and perfect for fall! I just might have to add this to my meal plan soon!
My husband’s family is Ukrainian, and he remembers eating something very similar to this Kielbasa Kapusta growing up. His family will love this recipe!
So glad this recipe will come in handy! Thanks for stopping by. 🙂
This recipe really is the greatest! Love it for weeknight dinners!
Yummy dinner to make with traditional flavors. This is a favorite of my husbands!
So glad he loves it!
What a savory recipe! I am adding this to my dinner line up for the week! Looks amazing!
I’ve never had Kielbasa Kapusta before, but after reading through this I’ll definitely be giving it a go!
I love how easy this recipe looks, definitely am going to try this!
My grandmother was Lithuanian and we add this all the time, though I never knew what it was called! I can’t wait to try it in the slow cooker!
My mothers / grandmothers recipe is from Southern Poland at the Ukraine border and that area of the borderlands has a unique taste that is a bit different from the foods of central, eastern, western and northern Poland. I am sure its because it has some Ukraine influences. I want to try yours to see how it compares.
We don’t ever use canned sauerkraut, its too vinegary tasting, we use beef bones to simmer all day in the pot making a richer stock, along with sliced potatoes added at the end, as the beef stock then gives it a good rich flavor, along with the onions and bacon.
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!
Yum, potato pancakes would be amazing with this recipe. Thanks for stopping by! 🙂
Thanks for the authentic Polish recipe. I just went there and, WOW, they love America and Americans (at least now that Ubama isn’t undermining them to please his Russian masters.) MPGA!
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!!
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! 🙂
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!
You’re so welcome, Maureen! Just this past summer I had pierogies with prunes and I LOVED them!
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…
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.
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.
Is there a particular brand of sauerkraut that is best? This looks delicious.
I have not tested different brands, so I say just use what’s readily available in your grocery store.
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…
Good to know, thanks for the info and recipe variations!
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!
Such awesome info, thank you so much! I will definitely try your recipe variations.
I just found this recipe and haven’t tried it yet. My mom always included caraway seed. Question: there is no mention of fresh or smoked kielbasa. I’m a fresh fan. Suggestion?
I use smoked, but fresh kielbasa will work great, too!
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.
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!!
Yum, this would be so good with potatoes. I’m going to try it the next time I make this recipe!