Sauerkraut and Sausage Knoephla Skillet Dish

Cream, sausage, butter, and knoephla dumplings make up this luxuriously guilty pleasure. This Sauerkraut and Sausage Knoephla Skillet Dish is some serious German comfort food and a great single skillet dish for a weekday night or when you want something a bit special.

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In our exploration of Knoephla soup and my traditional Knoephla soup recipe, I found a German Knoephla recipe that I have fallen in love with. It is not a soup, but a skillet dish that has knoephla dumplings, sauerkraut, and sausage. This Knoephla Sauerkraut and Sausage recipe still has the creamy, buttery feel of the soup I make, but adds some other excellent German flavors. This is an easy-to-make meal and if you already love sauerkraut, this skillet dinner is totally worth a try. Enjoy our Knoephla Sauerkraut and Sausage recipe.

Knoephla Sauerkraut and Sausage Overview

Growing up, I only knew knoephla as a soup recipe. I have learned that there is much more to knoephla than the awesome soup I know and love. There are many recipes that can be made with knoephla dumplings, and it only makes sense. The dumplings themselves are tasty and can take on the flavor of whatever surrounds them.

This nice, creamy skillet dish with dumplings, sauerkraut, and cream. It is faintly reminiscent of a creamed corned beef recipe that my aunt used to feed me. No, it isn’t Irish, but there is a cabbage element with the sauerkraut. Yes, we use sausage instead of corned beef, which makes it different, but still lends to a comforting meat flavor.

Basically, we are taking some of the tasty elements of the soup I know and moving them to a skillet. Then, adding some more traditional German flavors. Oh, and butter. More butter. mmmm.

Are the Dumplings the Same As The Ones From Soup?

The dumplings in this recipe have the same ingredients from the ones we used in our traditional knoephla recipe, but I did slightly change up how they were cut. I am ok with having some fairly large dumplings in the soup, but it didn’t feel right in this recipe. I cut the dumplings quite a bit smaller to about half an inch.

Frying Knoephla Dumplings

One noticeable difference between the soup and this skillet dish is how we treat the dumplings. Instead of just boiling the dumplings, we are going to fry our dumplings in butter as one of the first steps.

We still boil them, but then also fry them to add a bit of crispness to the dumplings. The idea here is that we will get some of the little hard fry bits on the outer crust of the dumplings. I think there can be a fine line here between a nice crust and burning. Make sure to mix up your dumplings when they are frying and if it starts to get too brown, perhaps it is time to add the cream.

Can I Substitute Other Sausages for German Smoked Sausage

Yes. I would say that almost any cured sausage would be a good substitute for a package labeled as ‘German Smoked Sausage’. Sausage, in general, is pretty awesome and would be good in a kraut, cream, butter, and dumpling mix.

These are the raw dumplings before they are boiled or fried.

Here are the boiled dumplings that are in the process of being fried. Note the crisp and slight browning going on with them.

Here is all of the ingredients in the skillet cooking down to our delicious end product.

Honestly, this was an unexpected delight in this series and I found a new appreciation for both knoephla and for sauerkraut. This is an easy recipe that can be made fairly quickly. Most importantly, it is yummy as heck. So, eat up aspiring German eater… make this Knoephla Sauerkraut and Sausage Skillet Dish today! 

Products I Used In This Recipe

• Large Pot
• Cast Iron Skillet
• Chef's Knife
• Strainer

Did You Make This Recipe?

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Sauerkraut and Sausage Knoephla Skillet Dish

★★★★★

5 from 1 reviews

This dish is so German and so tasty. Sauerkraut and sausage are all that we really need to say, but then add in knoephla dumplings, cream, and butter. Heaven in a skillet. So much flavor going on in this dish.

• Author: Ben Myhre
• Prep Time: 15 minutes
• Cook Time: 30 minutes
• Total Time: 45 Minutes
• Yield: 4 servings 1x
• Category: Dumplings
• Method: Fry
• Cuisine: German

Scale 1x2x3x

Ingredients

For Dumplings:

• 2 eggs
• ½ cup milk
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 cups flour

For Skillet:

• 4 Tablespoons Butter
• All of the Dumplings
• 8 oz German smoked sausage, sliced into ½ sections or chopped
• 2 cups whole milk
• 2 cups sauerkraut, drained

Instructions

For Dumplings:

1. Mix all dumpling ingredients in a bowl and combine well
2. Divide into two pieces just to make easier to work with
3. On a lightly floured surface, roll each piece out with your hand so it is approximately ½ inch in diameter and like a rope
4. If needed sprinkle with flour to make easier to work with
5. cut into ½-inch dumpling pieces and set aside.
6. Add water to a large pot, salt, and heat to high
7. Allow to boil 3-5 minutes or until all dumplings are floating at top
8. Strain and set aside

For Skillet:

1. Add butter to large frying pan and turn to medium high
2. Once butter is melted, add dumplings and fry for about five minutes or until a golden brown crust starts to develop on dumplings. Make sure to mix with a spatula regularly.
3. add sausage and cook for another 5 minutes or until sausage is warmed
4. add milk and allow to simmer for 15 minutes
5. add salt and pepper to taste
6. Add sauerkraut and cook until warmed.
7. Serve

Nutrition

• Serving Size: ¼ skillet
• Calories: 599
• Sugar: 9g
• Sodium: 1659 mg
• Fat: 30 g
• Saturated Fat: 15 g
• Unsaturated Fat: 15 g
• Carbohydrates: 55 g
• Fiber: 4 g
• Protein: 23 g
• Cholesterol: 171 mg

Keywords: sauerkraut and sausage