Sauerkraut substitutes

Finely shredded green cabbage tossed with white or cider vinegar, salt and an optional pinch of sugar, squeezed by hand and rested for twenty to thirty minutes until it wilts and turns translucent.

Best for

Reuben sandwiches, bratwurst and hot dogs, pork roasts, pierogi, casseroles, salads

The best all-round answer because it rebuilds the three things that actually matter: acid, salt and crunch. What is missing is the fermented funk and the faint prickle a live kraut has, so a Reuben made with it tastes cleaner and sharper rather than deep and tangy. Half a teaspoon of pickle brine or a few drops of soy sauce adds back some of that savoury depth.

Korean fermented cabbage, which is the same fundamental thing as sauerkraut, lactic-fermented salted cabbage, seasoned with chile, garlic, ginger and often fish sauce.

Best for

pork dishes, sausages, grilled cheese and Reubens, rice bowls, stews and casseroles

The only substitute that genuinely has the fermented sourness and the same crunch, which is why it works so well. It also brings heat, garlic and a distinct savouriness, so a pork roast made with kimchi tastes spicier and more garlicky and everything turns pink-orange. A brief rinse under cold water tones it down noticeably and moves it closer to kraut. Drain it well or it will water down a filling.

Sour dill pickles chopped small, with a spoonful of the jar liquid, giving you fermented or brined sourness, salt and crunch from something almost everyone has.

Best for

Reuben and Rachel sandwiches, hot dogs, potato salad, sausage plates, burgers

The acid, salt and crunch are all right and it is instant. The tells are dill and garlic, which read pickle rather than kraut, and the chunky shape, which does not drape across a sandwich the way fine shreds do, so it falls out. Chop it finer than you think you need to. Look for refrigerated fermented pickles if you want the funk too.

Latin American lightly fermented or vinegar-pickled shredded cabbage, usually with carrot, onion and oregano, sold in jars and made fresh in many Salvadoran and Mexican kitchens.

Best for

sausages and hot dogs, sandwiches, pork, tacos, as a side

Already shredded and already sour, so it is the least work of any bought substitute. It is sweeter and carries oregano and carrot, so a bratwurst plate made with it reads Latin rather than German, which is not a problem unless you mind. Drain it hard, because the jars are wet.

Shredded cabbage sweated in fat with a splash of dry white wine or cider and about 1 tablespoon of vinegar per 2 cups, cooked until tender.

Best for

pork roasts, choucroute-style dishes, casseroles, duck and goose, one-pot bakes

Genuinely good in its own right, and for a hot dish it does the same job of cutting through rich meat. You lose the raw crunch completely and get soft, sweet-sour cabbage instead, which changes the dish's character. Add the vinegar in the last few minutes so the acid survives; added at the start most of it cooks away and the cabbage just tastes sweet.

Skip the vegetable and replace only what sauerkraut was contributing chemically: acidity to cut fat and salt to season.

Best for

bean and lentil soups, sausage and potato dishes, pork braises, when the kraut was a background element

The honest minimum, and better than pretending. In a bratwurst plate or a bean soup where the kraut was there to keep a fatty dish from tasting heavy, this covers most of the function. You get none of the texture and none of the visual presence, so it is no help at all in a sandwich, where the shreds are half the point.