Polish Sausage and Sauerkraut Hash
Polish Sausage and Sauerkraut are a match made in heaven. Add some potatoes and onions, and you have yourself a full meal!
Polish Sausage: Kielbasa, but not Kielbasa
Polish sausage. Don't let the pre-cooked grocery store kielbasa fool you.
When many people in the States hear "Polish sausage," they automatically think of the pre-cooked and shrink-wrapped kielbasa from the grocery store.
In actuality, kielbasa is the general Polish word for sausage, but the Polish, like the German, have many types of sausage.
If you've ever had any other type of Polish sausage, you'll know why it is so sad that we Americans are, for the most part, only familiar with one type.
I'll admit, I am a sucker for American store-bought kielbasa, and I'm sure I'll always be.
But, when I tasted the smooth and herby goodness of Polish sausage of a different kind, I learned, as Tim put it, about the subtle differences that only come from a country that knows their sausage well.
Types of Polish Sausage
There are actually MANY MANY types of Polish sausage. So many, that it would just get confusing to talk about them all here.
Here are just a few common types of Polish sausage.:
- Zwyczajna - A 'regular' sausage, most popular for grilling or pan-frying. It is great with bread and mustard!
- Kabanosy - A thin and dry, often spicy appetizer sausage. (Think beef stick, but made with pork.)
- Kielbasa Krakowska - This sausage from Krakow is thick in diameter and eaten cold on sandwiches or salads.
- White Sausage (Biała Kiełbasa) - Is pale in color because it has been boiled rather than smoked. It's the kind you'll find traditionally in Polish white borscht and is often served with horseradish sauce.
- Black sausage - Also known as blood sausage, is made using pig's blood, offal, and buckwheat. It is traditionally fried or grilled with onions and potatoes.
For the most part sausage in Poland is made of pork, although you will find regional variations using beef or even turkey or lamb.
The types we listed are just a primer, as each region has their own and it's often said that no one really could name all the different types of Polish sausage because there are too many!
Polish Sausage and Sauerkraut!
And, what goes better with sausage than sauerkraut?!
For this recipe, we tossed sauerkraut into a potato hash, creating a perfect bed for serving these beautiful Polish sausages.
The potatoes and onions mellow the tart flavors of the sauerkraut, leaving its distinct flavor intact, but much more mild than if you were to simply top the sausage with kraut.
(It's the perfect intro dish for someone who's not sure how they feel about sauerkraut.)
All we know, it it's delicious!
Polish Sausage and Sauerkraut
Polish Sausage and Sauerkraut are a match made in heaven. Add some potatoes and onions, and you have yourself a full meal that is great for breakfast or dinner!
Ingredients
- 1 ½ lbs (about 2 large) russet potatoes, cleaned and cut into ½” cubes
- 1 lb Polish sausage, smoked or fresh
- 1 onion, sliced and cut into 1” pieces
- 1 c sauerkraut
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
- ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
- ¼ teaspoon salt
Instructions
- In a large saucepan, cover the potato cubes with water and boil until just slightly tender, 5-7 minutes. Drain the potatoes and set aside.
- In a large, non-stick skillet, add the Polish sausages and ½ cup of water. Cook the sausages over medium heat until the water evaporates. Then pan-fry the sausage until golden. (7-10 minutes total) Remove the sausages from pan.
- If the sausages did not release much grease, heat 1 teaspoon of butter in the pan.
- Add the onions and sauerkraut and saute until dry and golden, 3-5 minutes. Push onion mixture to one side of the pan.
- Add the remaining 2 teaspoon of butter to the empty side of the pan and add the boiled potatoes. Gently toss the potatoes in the hot butter before mixing all the ingredients in the pan together.
- Let mixture fry, stirring every 1-2 minutes, until the potatoes are golden and begin to crisp, 4-5 minutes.
- Taste the hash and season with salt and pepper, as desired.
- Return sausage to the pan and heat for 1-2 minutes. Serve hot!
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
4Serving Size:
¼ of recipeAmount Per Serving: Calories: 353
This is one of the recipes from the early days of Curious Cuisiniere. We've updated our pictures since we first made it, but we've left the original images here as a fun throwback and shout out to how far we've come. Enjoy!
Sarah founded Curious in 2010 as a way to save her recipe creations and share culinary experiences. Her love for cultural cuisines was instilled early by her French Canadian Grandmother. Her experience in the kitchen and in recipe development comes from over 10 years working in professional kitchens. She has traveled extensively and enjoys bringing the flavors of her travels back to create easy-to-make recipes.
I am going to make this on Easter as a side dish. Can I cook this in the crock pot after putting it together?
Hi Linda. I would think you could, but the potatoes would end up softer and less golden. But, if that's not an issue, definitely give it a try. Let us know what you do and how it turns out for you!
I've made this 3 times already.
Making again tonight.
Just 2 of us and there's NEVER any leftovers.
So glad you are enjoying it!
I’m sure it’s good, but it’s taking so long for my potatoes to crisp, I’m about to give up. Sauerkraut is burning while yet potatoes are still pale. Next time I will cook them in different pans.
Hi Amanda. Sorry you had trouble with this. I wonder if there wasn't enough butter in your pan? When we make it, the potatoes just start to get some crisp edges, but definitely don't crisp up like hash browns since there is moisture in there from the sauerkraut. Cooking them in different pans is definitely a way to be sure you get your desired texture, and a way to get them even crispier.
Just made this recipe tonight, I added in some hungarian wax peppers for an extra bit of kick, will definitely be making this again!
So glad you enjoyed it Evan!
I am of german origin and our family cooks this as a family tradition. The thing I do different is grill my sausage in pan, than take out and cut into thin slices. I then fry 1/2 lb bacon, add 1 finely minced onion then fry thinly sliced potatoes, When everything is fried hard load into a crock pot, add sauerkraut juice and all, and sausage, cook on simmer for approximately 2 hours.
Thanks for sharing your version Adele! It sounds wonderful!
This was great. I enjoyed it a great deal. At the grocery store I prepared to purchased a big pack of polish sausages. I love sauerkraut, but wanted something more that just sauerkraut. I quickly looked for ways to prepare the sausages (love my smartphone). I was lucky enough to find this recipe.
We're so glad you found our recipe and you enjoyed it! Thanks for sharing!
Will try your recipe this week.Cooking for forty people at our boatclub.....I’m sure it will be great !!
How fun! Enjoy!
I tried this recipe at a Boy Scout Camporee. I was looking for a recipe that the boys, as judges would like because the required ingredient for the cook off was sauerkraut. With the potato added in my entry it was the overall winner over the other entries. The boys loved it! Thanks much!
We're so glad you and the boys loved it! Congrats on your win!
Wonderful recipe. Just came back to Florida from my home town in Linden, NO. Pulaski meat market needed me to visit. I brought several keibasas home with me. Yummy dinner. Thanks.
So glad you enjoyed our recipe! You're so lucky to live near a good Polish meat market!
Your dish is soo great! I love Polish sausages' flavor very much. Can I use swede instead of potato for this recipe?
Hi Lita, Thank you for your comment. We've never tried using rutabaga in this hash. I bet it would work; it would just change the flavor slightly. But, I would think the flavor of rutabaga would go along nicely with the sausage.
Polish sausages are good, but my first love is Norwegian Polse. I ate pounds of them when my Grandm and I visited our family in Norway. They steam them and serve them the way we always served large dills from the barrell, wrapped in paper. Of course that was decades ago. I wish I could still get them!
They sound wonderful Barb! We'll have to take a look and see if we can dig up a recipe! Thanks for sharing!
Kielbasa is great and hard to find very original and good around here. My family worked in a Polish meat packing house when I was young, so I'm spoiled. I have found a Polish meat market and so far great, but only 1 type of sausage they have. They do carry homemade Kiska and Krakow. Yeah Krakow probably my favorite.
Very true Randy, it can be hard to find authentic Polish sausages. If you have found a Polish meat market, you're lucky! We can imagine all the tasty sausages you were able to try working at the meat packing house! What an interesting job that must have been.
I'm a sucker for kielbasa too! It's great in omelets 🙂
We'll have to try it in an omelet next time we have some. That sounds great!
This looks delicious! Thanks for sharing! :0)
Sauerkraut and sausages are my favourite weekend lunch 🙂