Red cabbage is a wonderful vegetable that’s packed full of vitamins like folate, vitamin C, vitamin K, potent antioxidants, and fibre. Sauerkraut is cabbage that has been fermented with salt to produce masses of lactobacilli bacteria – live microbes that do a plenty of good things for our health, hormones, and happiness! Foods containing live bacteria are known as probiotics, and they feed our microbiome. 

Our microbiome is the naturally occurring bacteria found in our gut, which interact with other body systems, like the endocrine, immune, and digestive, and brain. A healthy, diverse diet will ensure a diverse gut microbiome that’s rich in bacteria like lactobacilli, which can help to support our bodily functions; however, when we eat a narrow range of highly processed foods with very few vegetables, our microbiome becomes unbalanced in favour of more toxic bacteria, which can negatively impact our health.

When we are trying to conceive or going through IVF, we want our microbiome to be as diverse as possible to support our TTC journey; diverse bacteria produce a range of potent substances that reduce inflammation, help our endocrine systems to produce and metabolise our hormones like oestrogen, and keep our immune systems working. So, adding a tablespoon of probiotic sauerkraut that’s rich in lactobacilli bacteria to your plate every day is a great start! 

However, the sauerkraut available in supermarkets often contains vinegar, preservatives and sugar, and real sauerkraut from health food shops is very expensive, so by making it yourself, you not only save heaps, but you know exactly what you are getting! 

Recipe makes 1 jar, but you can double the recipe for 2 jars, and so on.

Ingredients
1 large organic red cabbage (buy as big as you can, one 500g cabbage will fill  a medium-sized Kilner jar – it does squish down quite a lot!)
Ground sea or Himalayan Pink salt
5 juniper berries
1/2 tsp caraway seeds

Equipment
A medium-sized Kilner jar with glass fermentation weights (one for each jar you make)
A pair of clean rubber gloves

Method
Hygiene is paramount when you make sauerkraut, so first wash your jars, lids and weights well with hot soapy water. Rinse, then put them in the oven on a medium heat (around 140°C) for about 20 minutes. This will ensure they are very clean. Then wash your hands again and rinse your cabbage with cold water. Remove two or three of the outer leaves and set aside for later.

Cut the cabbage into quarters and remove the woody white stalk from the centre, then slice up each quarter as finely as you can. This is just my preference as I don’t like big bits, but if you do, you can slice more coarsely.

Weigh the sliced cabbage; you are looking at about 500g of cabbage to fit in each medium Kilner jar, then place it into a big mixing bowl.

Put on your clean rubber gloves for this next stage as the cabbage will stain your hands otherwise. Add 10g salt per 500g cabbage and then start mixing, massaging, almost kneading it firmly with your hands for about 10 minutes. You will see the mixture becomes quite wet. Add five juniper berries and 1/2 tsp of caraway seeds per 500g cabbage and mix well.

Next spoon it into your jars, squashing it down firmly until the jar is full to the top. Then take one of your outer cabbage leaves you removed earlier and cut it into a round shape the same size as the lid and lay it over the top, snugly tucking in the edges.

Pop on the fermentation weight ,gently pushing it down; liquid will rise over the top at first, but it will go down eventually. Put the lid on the jar lid and store it into a dark cupboard. Leave it to do its thing, but be sure to gently release the lid once a week so the build-up of fermenting gases can escape, otherwise it may explode in your cupboard (yes that has happened to me before!).

Your red cabbage sauerkraut should be ready in around two weeks, but the longer you leave it the stronger its flavour. After opening keep it in the fridge where it will last about two weeks.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Mel holds a BSc (Hons) in Nutritional Therapy, an MSc in Nutritional Medicine, and has been specialising in fertility and pregnancy nutrition for over 18 years. Her career includes time spent at the Zita West Fertility Clinic, The Healthy Holiday Company, and Dr Jane Benn & Associates. Mel set up Melanie Brown Nutrition 10 years ago and currently works with clients across the globe advising them on fertility-enhancing diet and lifestyle.