Passing along food traditions to the next generation is widely celebrated in Appalachian culture. When I was first married there was considerable reliance on kitchen knowledge my mother and grandmothers had shared. A pleasant and rewarding surprise came from learning traditional foodways from my new family. My mother-in-law, Miss Cindy, taught me a deliciously easy way to cook an outstanding pork roast with a jar of kraut.
2 to 3 pound pork roast (tenderloin or butt works well)
Salt
Pepper
Flour
Butter, lard, or your preferred cooking oil
Quart of homemade kraut (store bought can also be used)
Season roast and dredge in flour. Heat pan with oil and sear roast on all sides. Transfer roast to a Dutch oven or roasting pan. Pour kraut with liquid over the roast. Cover and cook at 350 degrees until done.
TIP: Potatoes can be added before the roast finishes cooking. Goes very well with a cake of cornbread.
TP
—Celebrating Southern Appalachian Food – Recipes & Stories from Mountain Kitchens written by Jim Casada and Tipper Pressley
If I’m in a real hurry I skip the dredge step and put the pork roast right into my crockpot, pour the jar of kraut over it, and turn it on low. By the end of the day the roast makes the whole house smell so good!
When I was working outside the home this was one of the recipes I used for supper often. I didn’t get off till 5:00 p.m. so I was always in a hurry to get supper fixed. After arriving home all I needed to do was make cornbread and roast potatoes or fix some greens and we had a mighty fine meal even though I’d been at work all day.
If you’re interested in picking up a copy of Celebrating Southern Appalachian Food – Recipes & Stories from Mountain Kitchens you can find it here.
Last night’s video: We Are Grandparents Again & Bear Grease is Delicious!
Tipper
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My grandparents were from Eastern Europe, so sauerkraut and pork was often served. My grandmother would take two large slabs of pork ribs. She would pile kraut on the underside of one then top it with other, tie together and slow roast until fall apart tender. Plenty of mashed potatoes. Many people think they don’t like kraut, but that’s because it is eaten right out of the jar. I always give it a rinse and a squeeze saving some of the juice. Using large holes, I grate in one apple and a potato. A sprinkle of light brown sugar. If you want a bit more tang, add some of the saved juice. Czechs make incredible kraut which is more like a sauce.
I’ve fixed this before but it has been awhile. It’s so good though.
Here’s a couple for your Appalachian Dictionary.
Did you ever hear the word …“jessup”used ? My grandparents generation used it a lot. As in “ He’s a hard working little jessup !”,or”that little jessup is stubborn as a mule.” I’m 78 now and I don’t remember hearing it for a long time. I would be curious to know where the expression comes from.
Mark-I’ve never heard that one 🙂 Thank you for sharing it!
Yum, sounds delicious!
We ate lots of pork and sour kraut growing up. Grandpa Shuman always raised a hog for us to butcher and Dad & Mom made a 20 gallon stone jar of kraut every year. Mom would cook her kraut with pork roast, porkchops, spareribs or cold packed sausage
And here in northern West Virginia we always have to have pork and sour kraut on New Years. Mom would always remind us “if we eat chicken on New Years we would scratch for a living all year long but if we ate pork on New Years we would root for a living like a hog.”
Thanks Tipper for always reminding us of our Appalachian ways of life.
The last kraft I made ended up being 144 pint jars. I make mine the old fashion way in big crocks. I love canned pork with potatoes and kraut. I would love to have bear grease. Growing up several men in the community killed bears. But they are all gone. Be blessed
I think kraut is good for gout but I shy away from pork.
Morning everyone. My mom would layer big chunks of pork roast, rice and kraut in a casserole and bake it. I can’t remember if the rice was precooked or raw. Maybe precooked. There wouldn’t be enough liquid in it to cook the rice. Then we put sour cream on each serving. It wasn’t the prettiest dish but it was delicious. Anna from Arkansas.
This is my favorite cold-weather meal; there’s nothing as good as a pork roast and sauerkraut in the crockpot, mashed potatoes, and baked apples!
I do believe that Sunday pork roast and sauerkraut is a common dish in Appalachia. We always sprinkled a little dark brown sugar on the kraut to give it a sweet and sour flavor. Our sauerkraut was also homemade. Usually potatoes were the side dish. New potatoes in summer, storage potatoes in the rest of the year. Sometimes we had whole cranberry sauce with it too.
When buying the pork roast we always made sure there was a good fat layer so that the roast wasn’t too dry.
The meal you described brought back fond memories of my childhood. My mother often added dumplings to the pot or apples. Either way it was made mighty fine eating. Congratulations on the new grandson!
I was raised on pork and chicken that was almost always fried. The pork was served for breakfast and supper until we ran out. Mom served kraut with ribs from the freshly slaughtered hog but never made a roast that I can recall. It’s been years since I ate pork. There’s no religious or health reason why I stopped eating it. Hamburger is another meat that vanished from my grocery list ten or more years ago.
I’ve had this recipe marked in your cookbook, and I found pork shoulder on sale yesterday so I’ll be making it this week sometime! I can already smell it! Yum.
Hi Tipper,
This recipe sounds so good. My mom always made kraut with spareribs and carraway seeds.
This recipe sounds German to me but in the context of a farmstead I expect it would have been invented regardless. After all, a main idea of that lifeway is ‘use what you’ve got’. Something about that makes a body ‘rooted’ in seasons and place I think.
That looks and sounds delicious, Tipper, as well as easy to prepare. I LOVE MY COOKBOOK! I’ve enjoyed everything I made especially black walnut cake. God bless you and Jim for the beautiful compilation of Appalachian fine fare!!! Blessings to the girls and babies and Granny as well as you and Deer Hunter!
Love a good pork roast. Last night’s dinner looked delicious. Although I’m like Katie, I’d prefer the green beans over the peas.
My husband loves kraut, so I am sure he would enjoy this recipe. I love any recipe you can put in the crock pot and forget it all day.
Roast pork & sauerkraut was a recipe my Mama also handed down to me from her German Mom & Grandmom. Although a slightly different recipe, the ingredients were the same.
Salt & pepper your boneless or bone-in pork roast. Brown on all sides with some olive oil.
Place kraft & 1 diced onion in a small roast pan. Place pork on top of kraut. Tightly cover & place in a 325° oven. Roast for 2 hours.
She served it with roasted sweet potatoes & cold, sweet applesauce. Delicious!
As a child, pork roast and kraut was a mainstay in our home. My mother made it in a Pyrex roasting pan and let it cook on low heat most of the day, and it remains a favorite meal of mine to this day. We made/make it with mashed potatoes and usually lima beans mixed with corn. So good!
This is absolutely one of my favorite meals. Sometimes I like add dried apples about 1 hour before roast is done. If I don’t, then homemade applesauce is a great addition too.
I am so excited and so happy for the birth of Woodrow Scott, aka, Woody! Congratulations on your second grandchild! Thankful that all of our prayers have been answered, praise God! Your supper last night looked so good. it was a meal fit for queens and kings. Continued prayers for all your family. God bless you and yours❤❤
Hit wrong key, I was trying to write the stalks have started dying.
I have never been able to acquire a taste for kraut, although the rest of my liked it. I do love roasts.
We finally got some good rain yesterday afternoon, about 2 inches going by my rain gauge. I am very thankful. I think it was too late for the large gardens deer haven’t ate. Small gardens and raised beds can be watered but the larger gardens of several acres present a problem. I passed by some very large (field corn) corn fields yesterday that have been lost, they have already tasseled and made no ears.the stalks and leaves have st I guess the farmers may try to savage some of it by cutting it for silage.
Good Morning,
Fresh mashed potatoes from the garden goes well with Sauerkraut! We are from Pennsylvania so mashed potatoes is a staple with kraut! Congratulations to the new arrival! We enjoy your blog, you tube channel and watching your family grow! God has been good to you so just keep on doing what you are doing and things will be just fine! Blessings to all! Say hi to granny for us!