My German Mashed Potatoes with Sauerkraut and Ham

You do NOT need to like sauerkraut to love these potatoes! In fact, if you’re not a fan of sauerkraut, these mashed potatoes might just make you a believer. Something like twenty years ago now I ate in a little German restaurant down in Oklahoma and they served what they called warm German potato salad. It was roughly mashed potatoes mixed with a lot of mustard and served warm, not hot, not cold, served deliberately just a smidge above room temperature. They were also mixed generously with cream, butter, green onions and sauerkraut. For me it seemed like the dish couldn’t decide if it wanted to be potato salad or mashed potatoes…

JUMP TO RECIPE

They were still good though and they inspired me!

With a bit of tinkering I created this recipe which is one hundred percent my most raved about (and asked for) recipe. I don’t get greeted at the door on Thanksgiving with, “Oh its great to see you!” No, I get greeted with, “Did you bring the potatoes?” And then a background cheer of, “She brought the potatoes!”

I’ve often joked that if I had known I would be peeling ten pounds of potatoes (there’s a lot of us) every holiday forever I may have reconsidered some of my life choices…

They are that good though and I rarely have leftovers but, when I do, they make a great meal all by themselves. My mom made this recipe in my stead last holiday and she converted what leftovers she had into soup with just the addition of more cooked potatoes and cream. (She said it was fabulous.)

If you’re familiar with colcannon potatoes these are along that same idea. Colcannon are mashed potatoes with butter braised cabbage mixed in and sometimes kale mixed in as well. They are very tasty! You can use instant mashed potatoes here (I won’t judge) but a more coarsely mashed potato is better for texture. I always make these from scratch because I’m taking this to Thanksgiving with the whole family and my Grandma would roll over in her grave if I used instant potatoes.

All of my life every single person in my family that I have ever seen peel a potato always did it standing at the kitchen sink. The last time I did this I had an epiphany.

I never once considered I could just go ahead and sit.

And it turns out that I’m just as good at peeling potatoes while sitting…

So I grab ten pounds of the biggest potatoes I can find, peel them and then cut them up. Whether you want to cut your potatoes up big or small the only thing that matters is that they’re all about the same size. I always rinse my cut up potatoes first before setting them on the stove to boil in cold, salted water.

(Root vegetables you start in cold water, above ground vegetables drop in to already boiling water.)

Obviously, not crowding the pot with potatoes helps them cook faster and more evenly.

While your potatoes start cooking get out a skillet and add your butter, drained sauerkraut, chopped smoked ham and the whites of your chopped up green onions. (Save the chopped up green part of the onions for later.) Also, if you really are terrified of the sauerkraut element you can rinse it besides just draining it but I wouldn’t recommend it.

The sauerkraut really adds a lovely tanginess here. I’ve always used the big can of Frank’s sauerkraut for this recipe which is 27ozs but if you can’t find that three 8oz cans of any other kind of sauerkraut will work just fine. I have no idea why Frank’s has such unique sized cans as you can also buy 14oz cans of that same brand…

In the time it takes your potatoes to finish cooking you want to cook all of your ham, sauerkraut, onions and butter down at about medium heat. This caramelizes the onions and sauerkraut and gets everybody all brown buttery. Usually this is when I black pepper the heck out of it but I don’t add any extra salt until the end.

I use salted butter, the sauerkraut is already salty and so is the smoked ham. Garlic would be a great addition here!

You know your potatoes are done when a fork slides right into one of them without the potato breaking in half. Make sure not to over cook them as water logged potatoes are just sad.

Strain your potatoes and give them a minute to really drain, then add them back to the big pot you cooked them in and then just dump your entire butter mixture right on in. Drizzle in heavy cream as you mash until you reach your ideal consistency. (It won’t take much cream.) I don’t pulverize the potatoes, I leave them pretty chunky.

Once done stir in your fresh chopped green onion tops. The other half of the onions caramelize so that’s why I add fresh ones at the end for their flavor and pretty color. At this point they are done and fabulous but, this is the full ten pound batch I made for Thanksgiving last year so I made them the night before. After they cooled I put them in bowls and in the refrigerator overnight.

In the morning I reheat the potatoes in batches before adding them to a crock pot to take to Thanksgiving. I like doing it the night before because I’m a night owl and despise having to do anything in a rush in the morning. Taking my time this full recipe takes me about two hours but, besides the peeling and chopping, it is a very easy recipe.

German Mashed Potatoes
• 10Lbs Potatoes
• 2Lbs Chopped smoked ham
• 24ozs Sauerkraut drained
• 2Bunches green onions chopped and divided
• 2Sticks salted butter
• Heavy cream as needed
• Salt and pepper to taste

Peel and cut up your potatoes, boil in salted water until cooked and then drain. In a separate pan cook all other ingredients besides half of the green chopped onions until caramelized and browned. Combine everything together and mash, adding heavy cream until desired consistency. Stir in the fresh green onions before serving.

Peel and cut up your potatoes, boil in salted water until cooked and then drain. In a separate pan cook all other ingredients besides half of the green chopped onions until caramelized and browned. Combine everything together and mash, adding heavy cream until desired consistency. Stir in the fresh green onions before serving.

German Mashed Potatoes
• 10Lbs Potatoes
• 2Lbs Chopped smoked ham
• 24ozs Sauerkraut drained
• 2Bunches green onions chopped and divided
• 2Sticks salted butter
• Heavy cream as needed
• Salt and pepper to taste

Peel and cut up your potatoes, boil in salted water until cooked and then drain. In a separate pan cook all other ingredients besides half of the green chopped onions until caramelized and browned. Combine everything together and mash, adding heavy cream until desired consistency. Stir in the fresh green onions before serving.