Instant Pot® Kielbasa, Sauerkraut, and Potato

  4.1 – 19 reviews  • Sausage

Delicious chocolate raspberry cake. Even though I’m a complete newbie, every time I’ve baked it, it’s come out well.

Prep Time: 15 mins
Cook Time: 40 mins
Additional Time: 15 mins
Total Time: 1 hr 10 mins
Servings: 6
Yield: 6 servings

Ingredients

  1. 2 slices bacon
  2. 2 pounds fresh kielbasa, sliced into 2-inch pieces
  3. 1 medium sweet onion, diced
  4. ¼ cup dark brown sugar
  5. 3 large yellow potatoes, chopped
  6. 2 (16 ounce) packages sauerkraut, drained
  7. 1 ½ cups chicken broth
  8. 1 apple – peeled, cored, and diced
  9. ½ cup beer
  10. ½ teaspoon sea salt

Instructions

  1. Turn on a multi-functional pressure cooker (such as Instant Pot®) and select Saute function. Add bacon; cook until crispy, 8 to 10 minutes. Pull bacon out with tongs and set in a bowl. Add kielbasa to the pot; lightly brown on all sides, 5 to 7 minutes. Remove with tongs and place in the bowl with the bacon.
  2. Saute onions in the pot until soft, 2 to 3 minutes. Crumble the bacon and add to the pot. Stir in brown sugar. Add potatoes, sauerkraut, chicken broth, apple, beer, and salt. Mix gently.
  3. Close and lock the lid. Select high pressure according to manufacturer’s instructions; set timer for 12 minutes. Allow 10 to 15 minutes for pressure to build.
  4. Release pressure using the natural-release method for 10 minutes according to manufacturer’s instructions. Release remaining pressure carefully using the quick-release method. Unlock and remove the lid.
  5. You can use yellow or russet potatoes.
  6. If you’d like to substitute liquid smoke for the bacon, melt 3 tablespoons butter in the pot before adding kielbasa. Stir in 3 drops liquid smoke before adding the broth. I suggest adding the drops to a teaspoon to avoid accidental overuse of smoke.

Nutrition Facts

Calories 767 kcal
Carbohydrate 56 g
Cholesterol 113 mg
Dietary Fiber 9 g
Protein 26 g
Saturated Fat 22 g
Sodium 2759 mg
Sugars 19 g
Fat 48 g
Unsaturated Fat 0 g

Reviews

Dr. Brandon Hampton
worked great. Will make it again for sure!
Michael Porter
Loved the addition of fresh apples to sweeten the natural acidity of the sauerkraut just a touch!!! Delicious meal, we will definitely make this one again.
Randall Brown
Very good flavor and easy to make. My German wife loves this dish, me too. We used Swiss cheese as a topper.
Steven Hall
The kielbasa lost most of its flavor –this recipe shouldn’t be cooked in an Instant Pot. The recipe omits returning the kielbasa once it has been browned and removed. I was going to give one star but since this recipe is one of the few that gives helpful Instant Pot timings, I gave two stars.
Albert Humphrey
This one was hard to rate. Mainly because I am not a Sauerkraut lover. I was debating between 3 and 4 stars. 3 because the instructions don’t tell you what to do with the kielbasa after it’s browned. Plus I likely wouldn’t make it again because it really isn’t my forte. I went with 4 stars since my husband said it totally reminded him of his German grandmothers sauerkraut with pork chops or pork hauks and he would eat again if I used chops instead of kielbasa. However, it wasn’t must have again for him.The flavour is there, and I didn’t find it mushy (make sure to cut your potatoes and apples in1″ chunks). I added the sautéed sausage after step four. I used another reviewers tip (sort of). I cooked the ingredients as instructed but after step four I added the sausage into it, set the pressure cooker to a time of 0, let it release naturally for 5 minutes and then manually released. This heated the sausage without turning it to mush.
Dawn Ortega
It was easy to make and easy to clean up. I agree with others, I would add the sausage at the end. If I made it again, I would use the instant pot to sauté. Then add the sausage to the mixture after it had been pressured cooked.
Richard Gentry
We enjoyed this! Next time I would double the onion and brown the potatoes first to add flavor; even with the sauerkraut, they were rather bland. I would also add caraway- the sauerkraut we bought didn’t have it. I suggest saving the crisp bacon to serve on top – our family doesn’t like soft bacon. But mmmmm sauerkraut! This makes a huge amount – invite some friends to join you- definitely comfort food!
Cody Mckee
I made this tonight and my husband and I enjoyed it. I didn’t have beer so I just added more broth. It was a little juicy but that added to the flavor. Thank you for sharing.
Joshua Rodriguez
First off, let me start by saying that if the recipe had of been more explicit, this may have turned out better??. It did not say when to add the sausage to the Insta pot. Over cooking sausage like that will cause it to toughen and draw up?.? I know that from experience but I’ve never used the Insta pot before so didn’t know how it would do in that. I went ahead and added it in when I put everything else in and sure enough it wasn’t good texture. It also never said what size to do the potatoes and apples so I cut them a little smaller, about 1/2” squares (bite-size) & they really should’ve been about 1”squares??. As a result, the whole thing was mushy, including the sauerkraut &? the sausage was kind of tough. It did? have a fairly decent flavor?? but I couldn’t get past the mushy part & the tough sausage?. Here is what I would do if I were to ever make this again. I would add the sausage in completely after it was done cooking in the pot. I would also cook everything else less than 12 minutes. I have never eaten yellow potatoes before so I didn’t know how they would cook up.? not a big fan of them. Sorry?
Donald Mcconnell Jr.
One of our go to suppers. I decided to make it in the instant pot instead of oven, so referred to the instructions more than the ingredients… I used Italian sausage because that’s what I had and maple syrup instead of brown sugar. I also added carrots and apple juice instead of beer. A very versatile recipe for comfort food during a storm.
Mario Contreras
I made this today and it was delicious. I only did one little thing different and that was to add 1/2 tsp caraway seeds, because I love them. Followed your directions and recipe, but I did add the kielbasa also, in step 2. I think they forgot to add that in. It was a 5 . Will make this again for special occasions also.
Mary Paul
I didn’t have bacon but used bacon grease to saute my onions in. I didn’t add the sausage till the end with the saurkraut based on other reviews. I really like it, had great flavor and didn’t take long to assemble.
Melissa Hunt
I liked this recipe. The first time I had this type of dish it was cooked for several hours. The instant pot makes it done in less than an hour. I used a tablespoon of seasoning salt instead of 1/2 teaspoon sea salt. I also used russet potatoes instead of the yellow potatoes. I substituted 1/4 cup rice wine/vinegar and additional 1/4 cup of chicken broth r for the beer . When my Polish friend’s father made it, he used beer. One for the dish and one for the cook! Great dish if you like sauerkraut!
Jacob Watts
If you want to avoid your kielbasa turning to mush what you need to do is, when you put the kielbasa back in, put it on top of everything. Then secure the lid and set the instant pot to 0 minutes. It will come to full pressure and then automatically go to the keep warm setting. Let it naturally reduce pressure for 10 minutes and then let the rest of the pressure out of the instant pot. You just have to make sure that you slice your potatoes thin enough that the 10 minutes at pressure will cook them through. 3/4 inch to one inch works fine. This keeps the kielbasa from turning to mush. Now this is only if you are using precooked kielbasa.
James Wilson
We made the recipe as written, it was pretty good, but a bit bland for our taste, maybe adding a tablespoon of Country French Dijon mustard would have hit the spot. But a very easy and tasty meal after work. Kids can easily do prep work after school.
Marilyn Johnson DDS
12-27-2018 ~Supper was not a big hit in this house tonight. This recipe’s best feature is that there is no messy, greasy stove-top to clean and just one pot. That’s where the positives end for us. There was so much liquid we had to serve this with a slotted spoon. It had an unappealing, murky look to it. Worst of all, the kielbasa took on a very strange texture. I could be kind and say it was “tender,” but in reality it was simply soft and mooshy. The flavor, overall, was fine, but the other factors I’ve described unfortunately overshadowed that. I believe this traditional dish is best prepared in the traditional manner or slow cooker where not so much liquid is required.
Kendra Pugh
I love sauerkraut but didn’t have any on hand. Instead I used the leaves from the large head of cauliflower I had. I washed, then chopped up the leaves and tossed them in the pot. It turned out delicious!
Deborah Sullivan
I have been making this for years. I also add a couple of tbs brown sugar and some caraway seed, about a tsp. You can also add pork chops or ribs on top of the sauerkraut before cooking. My family really loves this meal.
Roberta Yang
If you want it to not turn to mush, follow the instructions

 

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