Polish Ribs with Sauerkraut {Żeberka w Kiszonej Kapuście}
When I first moved from Poland to the US, I was pleasantly surprised to see that Americans like and eat a significant amount of sauerkraut. I was also surprised to see that Americans eat sauerkraut uncooked. I mean, it’s most often served warm, but not cooked with any special spices, just basically warmed up. Poles would be shocked!
We all know that good bigos has to cook for a few days to get the right color and flavor, and you HAVE TO add a bunch of goodies to make it shine. I’m making my sauerkraut shine today by combining it with pork ribs. This hearty dish of żeberka w kiszonej kapuście brings two of our favorite things, cabbage and pork, together to make a stick-to-your-ribs kind of dinner, perfect for a cool fall or winter evening.
Polish Ribs with Sauerkraut
Polish Ribs with Sauerkraut {Żeberka w Kiszonej Kapuście}
Ingredients
- 1.5 lbs / 700 g of pork ribs
- Salt and pepper
- 6 oz / 170 g of thick cut smoked bacon
- 2 small onions
- 3 cloves garlic
- 3 tbs of cooking oil
- 3 tbs of all purpose flour
- 2 c / 500 ml of chicken or vege- table stock
- 2 - 14.5 oz cans / about 1 kg of sauerkraut*
- 1/2 tsp of thyme
- 5-6 allspice and peppercorns - whole
- 3 bay leaves
Instructions
Wash and dry ribs. Cut into 1 bone sections. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and set aside. In the meantime, cut bacon into cubes, chop onion and peel and mince garlic. Heat oven to 350°F / 180°C.
In a medium/large pan heat oil. Add ribs and cook until golden brown on both sides (about 10 minutes per side), remove from heat and set aside. Into the same pan add bacon, onion, garlic and sauté. When onion and bacon are golden brown add flour and chicken stock. Whisk to combine. Add sauerkraut, thyme, allspice, peppercorns and bay leaves. Mix well and heat through.
In a large baking dish place half of the sauerkraut mixture, then a layer of ribs and then again sauerkraut. Bake covered for 2 hours. Check after about 1.5 hours of cooking to make sure there is a bit of moisture left, if not, add a few tablespoons of water or stock.
Serve with bread or boiled potatoes.
Notes
* Consider rinsing sauerkraut before cooking if you don't like it too sour. Personally, I like it
sour!
* if you’re using homemade sauerkraut [my recipe here] that happens to be extra sour, feel free to rinse part of it.
Enjoy with family and friends to stay connected to Polish roots.
Smacznego!
Anna
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Thank you. I was so used to preparing ribs and kapusta separately. This was sooooo good.
Awesome! Glad you liked it!
Anna,
How do I access your recipe directory.
Jim
Jim, in top menu (or sidebar on mobile) click on RECIPE INDEX then choose category.
Enjoy!
Anna
My grandmother used to make a 9×13 pan sized cheesecake with a sour cream topping. Is this a form of the polish cheesecake?
I don’t know that one, but it could be.
Hello, sounds and looks delicious!! Pardon the question but do I have to drain the sauerkraut? I have a friend who is Polish and wanted to surprise her with this dish. Thank You.
No, don’t drain… and thank you 😊
My mother always drained and rinsed the Sauer kraut. It came out less sour but delicious. I’m
going to try your recipe and let you know my results and reactions. What do you serve with your Sauer kraut and ribs?
I grew up eating ribs cooks this way, yum. We usually added carrots and potatoes ,so it was an entire meal in one pot. I moved to Kansas City in the ’70’s , so my kids grew up eating barbecued ribs. When I finally introduced them to ribs and kraut, they never went back to Kansas City style ribs. True to their Polish roots, they are third generation Polish Americans.
I love this dish with kapusta z grochem and red potatoes, also!
Wonderful recipes! My husband is Polish. I will be cooking this one this week. Thank you!
You are my absolute favorite. I shared your link with Polish Foodies group on FB. I was named for my Busia, Anastasia and her mother. We didn’t live close to her, My Auntie on a visit shared some of what she learned from her. I love your travel videos as well.
Im happy to see garlic and onions with the roast. When Busia made roast pork she would boil garlic til soft, mash with salt and pepper and rub all over the pork before roasting. Or, insert tiny slivers of garlic into the meat.
Thank you Anna for posting this. We use to have this all the time when I was growing up, it was just forgotten until now. We went ahead and made it tonight my ribs snot as big as yours but…go with what you have. I didn’t have mushrooms tho so next time it will be better. My Son’s ate it up. I added some peeled and large cut potato’s so it is a complete one pan meal. I may have cabbage left so I have some kielbasa to put in for another day.
I am hungry now for potato pancakes.
This is the second recipe that I made from PYK. It was soooo very good! The ribs were fall off the bone tender and the sauerkraut was flavored perfectly. It reminded me of a German dish my mother used to make from fresh ham with sauerkraut and baking powder dumplings. That was a family favorite that we all craved even after we grew up. It was made with creamy sauerkraut that the pork was cut up into and the dumplings were cooked in. We ate the sauerkraut gravy on both the pork and the dumplings. Yum!
This recipe looks delicious and I am hoping to make it a day ahead of time. What would be the best method for reheating so the meat doesn’t dry out?
Tender delicious porky goodness! Excellent recipe
This is delicious! I didn’t have those lovely meaty ribs on hand, but what I had was frozen leftover 3/4” thick slices of pork tenderloin from a holiday roast that I knew would reheat to be dry but I didn’t want them to go to waste. I browned them briefly and proceeded with Anna’s recipe. The meat was moist and so flavorful. Thank you, so glad I found your blog.
I made this today and it was outstanding. I cooked quartered potatoes in the pot as well and they turned out wonderful. Thank you.
I followed your recipe, but I tossed it in the slow cooker. Turned out delish! I had meaty, country-stule pork ribs. Wonderful!
We are going to a campfire cookout tomorrow and my choice is 15 lbs of ribs in a 24 quart Dutch Oven with coals top and bottom. Going to make your recipe, it sounds delicious!
We are invited to a campfire cookout tomorrow and my plan is to make ribs and sauerkraut in my 24 quart Dutch Oven. Just saw your recipe tonight and I’m going to give it a try! The hostess is from Poland as well so hopefully I’ll get it right.