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The Best Instant Pot Pork and Sauerkraut Recipe

pork n kraut feature

My family’s traditional, New Year’s Day Meal for Good Luck is Pork and Kraut (aka Pork Roast and Sauerkraut with Hot Dogs and Kielbasa served with copious piles of creamy Mashed Potatoes, if I were to be more specific).

When I first met my husband and learned that his family shared the same tradition as mine, I was so excited. Ray loved Pork and Kraut as much as I did and that clearly solidified that our relationship was meant to be, right??

However, that’s when I learned a *slight* variation in his family’s tradition vs mine. Since my mom and grandmother ALWAYS cooked their Pork and Kraut in the pressure cooker, I just assumed that was how everyone else made it.. I learned that most people just roasted/baked their pork and kraut *GASP* for several hours.

Pressure Cooker Pork and Kraut {For New Year's Good Luck!}

It only took one time for Ray to be converted to my Pressure Cooker Pork and Kraut – the pork is melt in your mouth tender and deeply flavored with sauerkraut. And perhaps the best part is the hot dogs, yes I’m completely serious, they become puffy and butter soft. The hot dogs are the part of Pork and Kraut leftovers that we argue over who gets the last one!

Pork and Kraut was the food that started my life-long love affair with pressure cooking. I never learned to be nervous around pressure cookers and just accepted them as a necessary part of any kitchen.

I got my first pressure cooker was a hand me down from my grandmother when I was in college. It was a small aluminum 4 quart, weighted gauge with an old rubber gasket that needed many adjustments before it would properly seal. It was just big enough for a small pork roast and kraut with a 1/2 a pack of hot dogs.

While pressure cooking in an Instant Pot has become a staple in nearly every kitchen over the past few years, I’ve been comfortably and safely using a pressure cooker in mine for over 20 years! And while I’ve moved long past the days of aluminum, weighted gauge, hand me down models…. I now use a pressure cooker in my kitchen for almost daily, with the ease and quiet of the new electric models, it’s easy to become hooked on pressure cooking.

If you don’t have an electric pressure cooker in your kitchen YET – what are you waiting for?!?!

I’ve tried several different brands including Instant Pot, GoWise USA and Cosori multi function electric pressure cookers. And Yes they all work nearly identical but when it comes to options and accessories, I really do think that purchasing an Instant Pot brand is the way to go.

Here are the 3 Instant Pot Multi-Function Electric Pressure Cookers that I have in my kitchen:

If you are looking to go the traditional pressure cooking route instead of using an electric model, I recommend the Presto 6-Quart Stainless Steel Pressure Cooker to use on your stove top.

Pressure Cooker Pork and Kraut {For New Year's Good Luck!}
Pressure Cooker Pork and Kraut {For New Year's Good Luck!}

Pressure Cooker Pork Roast and Sauerkraut

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Servings: 4 servings

Ingredients

  • 2 to 3 pound pork roast I suggest a shoulder, marbled with fat
  • 2 tablespoons Coconut Oil or ghee, butter, lard, etc
  • 2 large Onion sliced or chopped
  • 3 cloves Garlic peeled & sliced
  • 1 cup Water, filtered
  • Sea Salt
  • Black Pepper
  • 4 to 6 cups sauerkraut divided
  • 1 pound hot dogs nitrate free, grass fed beef (optional)
  • 1/2 pound kielbasa nitrate free, grass fed beef (optional)

Instructions

  • Liberally season your pork roast with sea salt and pepper, set aside
    Pressure Cooker Pork and Kraut {For New Year's Good Luck!}
  • Heat a large skillet over high heat until smoking. Add coconut oil and brown your pork roast on all sides (including the edges).
    Pressure Cooker Pork and Kraut {For New Year's Good Luck!}
  • Place your browned pork roast on a rack in your pressure cooker. Add water, garlic and onions. Again, season liberally with sea salt and pepper.
    Pressure Cooker Pork and Kraut {For New Year's Good Luck!}
  • Cook under pressure for 35 minutes (high or standard pressure – on the GoWise models you can press the meat/stew button)
  • Allow your pressure cooker to naturally depressurize.
    Pressure Cooker Pork and Kraut {For New Year's Good Luck!}
  • Once your pressure cooker is depressurized, add in roughly 1/2 of your sauerkraut (we reserve 1/2 of it so that when we eat we can serve some raw to get the beneficial fermented bacteria)
  • Cook your pork & kraut under pressure for roughly 5 minutes. (if your pork is already fork tender, 5 minutes is just long enough to flavor the meat – if your pork seems a little tough, please cook for longer – up to 15 minutes under pressure)
  • CAREFULLY depressurize your pressure cooker using the quick depressurization method (i.e. turning the pressure release valve to release the pressure/steam)
    Pressure Cooker Pork and Kraut {For New Year's Good Luck!}
  • Add hot dogs and kielbasa, cook under pressure for another 5 minutes. (no longer, or your hot dogs will break apart, trust me)
    Pressure Cooker Pork and Kraut {For New Year's Good Luck!}
  • CAREFULLY depressurize your pressure cooker using the quick depressurization method (i.e. turning the pressure release valve to release the pressure/steam)
    Pressure Cooker Pork and Kraut {For New Year's Good Luck!}
  • Allow to rest/cool slightly while you finish your mashed potatoes. Serve with both cooked and the reserved raw sauerkraut. Enjoy & Happy New Year!
    Pressure Cooker Pork and Kraut {For New Year's Good Luck!}
Tried this recipe?Mention @hayley_inthekitchen or tag #hayley_inthekitchen!

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8 Comments

  1. I’m using bag sauerkraut, do you drain it or add more water when you put it in to pressure cook again?

  2. I braised my 2 to 3 pound pork roast in olive oil with onion and then put kraut around with 2 sliced apples on top with some apple juice…pressure cooking for an hr. Does this seem right?

    1. should like YUM to me! I included my recipe in the post with step by step instructions, if you are interested.

  3. So glad that I found your recipe and I’m looking forward to trying it. I to make my own sauerkraut and was very excited to see that you reserve half of yours to mix and Ross so that you don’t to kill the probiotics. Most people don’t know that and assume the canned sauerkraut they buy has the probiotics.

  4. This looks amazing. I want to print it and make it for dinner tonight. Every time I hover over the print button, the “pin it” button pops up not letting me print.

    Thanks for your recipes and being awesome.

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