Friday, February 3, 2012

German Bratwurst Dinner in the Slow Cooker

Becca here with a super tasty "all in one" dinner for the slow cooker!  We actually had the privilege several years ago of spending some time in Germany to help celebrate the wedding of good friends from there, and had so many tasty things to eat, bratwurst of course being one of them.  Bratwurst is perhaps the most famous German food, and is actually a German word, combining the words brat, meaning "finely chopped meat", and wurst, meaning sausage.  They have records of bratwurst being made dating back to the 1300's!  So now you've had your language & history lessons for the day too!  Remember I do homeschool the children, and love to learn from everything, even if it's dinner :)

Back to the recipe, I got the idea from this month's Real Simple Magazine, which I have linked up to here.  I did change it quite a bit, but wanted to give them credit for the great idea.  Now, I know that sauerkraut isn't a super popular American food, but all three of my children ate this and the older two really liked it a lot.  By slow cooking everything together the flavor of the sauerkraut really mellows, and the flavor is amazing.  This was my first time making the recipe, but it definitely won't be my last, I'm already looking forward to making it again soon, it really was that good!  So break out of that chicken rut, and try something new today!!

German Bratwurst Dinner:  an easy slow cooker meal

Red Potatoes (approximately 2 pounds), washed & cut into chunks
1 can (15 oz) sauerkraut
1 medium onion, peeled & coarsely chopped
1 cup chicken broth (I use my easy homemade version, but bouillon would even work in a pinch)
1 package (19 oz.) bratwurst sausages (pork or turkey, your choice)
salt and pepper, to taste
Dijon style mustard, for serving

In slow cooker (I used 6 quart), stir first 5 ingredients to combine (red potatoes, sauerkraut, onion, and chicken broth).

Place bratwurst sausages on top, and push them down into the vegetables a bit to 'nestle' them into the vegetables, but still remaining on top.

Cook on high until potatoes are tender and bratwurst sausage is done, approximately 6-8 hours on high.

Serve with dijon mustard.  Enjoy!!

2 comments:

  1. Made this yesterday for dinner, it was great and had the most wonderful smells wafting thru the house all day! Thank you!

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    1. Yay! Glad you liked it! We're going to have it next week again, everyone here really liked it too :)

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