New Year's Amish Sauerkraut Balls

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Sauerkraut is one of those foods that seems to have been given its own holiday.  Much in the way pumpkin owns Halloween and ham owns Easter, sauerkraut is supreme on New Year's Day. 

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• 👨‍🍳New Year's Amish Sauerkraut Balls Ingredients
• 📋 Sauerkraut Ball Instructions
• 👨‍🍳Amish Recipes With Sauerkraut
• 🖨️ Full Recipe Sauerkraut Balls

The Amish have adopted this food trend as much as anyone else.  You'll see plenty of pork and sauerkraut in Amish kitchens on New Year's Day. The food signifies luck and the way the world has gone the past few years we could all use a bit of that, so if sauerkraut can help bring it, bring on the sauerkraut.

  These New Year's Amish sauerkraut balls are the ultimate way to enjoy sauerkraut as a party food because they are so portable.  Try eating sauerkraut in its juicy shredded form as you talk to party guests and you'll have a potential mouth mess.  But you can pop these into your mouth easily as you visit with people.  Add a dipping sauce, like Ranch, to make them even more awesome.

Use a heavy skillet or pot to brown the meat. Cast iron is best. But you can use stainless steel or non-stick skillet. Sausage works best in this recipe, I think, but you can use any kind of ground meat, really. You could use hamburger, venison, ground turkey, or ground ham, or, a blend of ground meats. Many Amish use a blend of venison and sausage. So, totally up to you, but if all things are equal just stick with the ground sausage.

As far as spices go, this recipe doesn't have much beyond Italian seasoning and that works well in this recipe. You're fine with just that, but if you must add more consider some rosemary, black pepper, cayenne pepper, red pepper, or even a hint of cinnamon. You can experiment to your taste.

The Amish south of Akron, Ohio, in the Holmes County area, seem to especially love this recipe!

You have a cream cheese and parsley mix that goes into the sauerkraut. Well, good luck finding cream cheese, but if you can get your hands on some, just use that. You could use a mixture of cottage cheese and half and half if you need to make your own cream cheese substitute.

You can bake these in a metal roaster, a glass baking dish, or even a pie tin in a pinch. Just get them into a hot oven and you'll be in good shape.

As to how you serve these (wish I had gotten a better photo then just these sitting on a paper towel), use your imagination. I like sauerkraut balls best with ranch, but you could dip them in blue cheese, and, geez, honey-mustard or even barbecue sauce. Really, if it is a good dipping sauce that is all that matters. But these are moist and flavorful enough that you wouldn't have to dip them in anything.

👨‍🍳New Year's Amish Sauerkraut Balls Ingredients

• 2 pounds ground sausage
• ¼ cup finely chopped onion
• 1 (14 ounce) can sauerkraut, well drained and finely chopped
• ½ teaspoon prepared yellow mustard
• ¼ teaspoon garlic salt
• ⅛ teaspoon ground black pepper
• 2 tablespoons Italian seasoned dry bread crumbs
• 4 ounces cream cheese, softened
• 2 tablespoons dried parsley flakes
• ¼ cup all-purpose flour 
• 1 egg, beaten
• ¼ cup milk
• ¾ cup Italian seasoned dry bread crumbs\
• 6 cups vegetable oil for deep-frying 

📋 Sauerkraut Ball Instructions

1. In a large skillet over medium high heat, fry pork sausage and onion until sausage is evenly brown and onion is soft, about 10 minutes.
2. Drain and allow to cool slightly.
3. Crumble sausage mixture into a large bowl and add drained sauerkraut, mustard, garlic salt, pepper and 2 tablespoons bread crumbs.
4. Combine cream cheese and parsley, and mix into sauerkraut mixture.
5. Refrigerate for 1 hour.
6. Heat oil in deep-fryer to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Shape sauerkraut mixture into ¾ inch balls. Coat balls with flour.
7. In a small bowl, whisk together egg and milk. Dip floured balls in egg mixture and then roll in remaining bread crumbs.Deep fry in batches for 2 to 3 minutes or until golden brown.
8. Drain on paper towels and serve hot.

👨‍🍳Amish Recipes With Sauerkraut

There are many ways to celebrate the season with sauerkraut, here are some more Amish recipes for this New Year's Favorite!

Sauerkraut Rounds

This is also a sauerkraut ball, but it has a splash of spice.

Sauerkraut Brownies

For people who can't stomach sauerkraut as a savory item, how about some brownies?

Stuffed Sauerkraut Mushrooms

A great way to enjoy sauerkraut!

12 Sauerkraut Recipes From Lancaster County, PA

A bunch recipes from Lancaster County!

🖨️ Full Recipe Sauerkraut Balls