Kale Kraut

What do you do when you have a glut of kale? Make kale kraut!

When I put the garden to bed for the winter this past November, I pulled out the spent plants, added compost, and topped off each bed with some leaves to act as a mulch. I did this to all the beds, including our in-ground garden, except for two: our perennial herb bed and our bed with dinosaur kale, scallions, and Swiss chard. I waited to finish tucking in the garden because I wanted to preserve all those greens, but somehow time flew by, laziness got the better of me, the holidays happened, and suddenly it was January! Not wanting these hardy greens to go to waste (they had already survived several hard frosts uncovered), I went out to harvest and realized I had a full blown kale forest on my hands.

Some were riddled with aphids that regrettably survived the snow and frosts, so I sorted through what was healthy and brought in what I could save. I chopped, blanched, drained, and froze two gallon freezer bags full, but still had two overflowing buckets to preserve. That’s when the idea of making kale kraut popped into my head. I recently made traditional cabbage sauerkraut, and I figured since kale is a relative of cabbage, it should work, right? Right. So that’s what I did.

The process is similar to making cabbage kraut, but this time I made it in quart jars rather than in my stoneware crock, and I added some minced garlic because it’s delicious. This recipe can work with whatever hearty garden greens you have, so feel free to mix it up. Collards, chard, and kale would be a delightful combination. Maybe I should start a “Will it Kraut?” series…

Anyway, it’s time to make some kale kraut!

Step 1: Gather your supplies and make sure they’re clean.

I used a quart and a pint jar. They were fresh from the dishwasher and I gave them a rinse in hot water just to make sure any soap residue was gone. I washed my hands and even took my rings off to make sure I didn’t introduce funky bacteria into the kraut.

You’ll need weights and lids as well. I use these glass weights and these silicone lids. They’re also called pickle pebbles and pickle pipes in the fermentation world, which I find just delightful. Both fit perfectly in/on a wide mouth mason jar.

Step 2: Next, prepare the kale.

I did a sort of slice-chop hybrid.

Step 3: Weigh the kale.

Be sure to tare the scale with the bowl on it first so you don’t include the bowl’s weight in the total.

Step 4: Calculate and weigh the salt.

Just like I did in the cabbage kraut post. You want to create a 2% brine. Take the weight of the kale and multiply it by 0.02. I had 807 grams of kale. 807 x 0.02= 16.14. I rounded up to 17. So, for my kale, I need 17 grams of salt to make the brine.

Step 5: Add salt to the kale.

In a large bowl, add half of the kale and sprinkle with half of the salt. Add the remaining half of kale and remaining salt.

Now that the kale and salt are added, it’s time to massage.

Step 6: Massage and mix the kale.

The photo on the left shows the kale after about 2 minutes of massaging. The photo on the right is after 5 minutes. It’s amazing how much it decreases in volume!

Step 7: Leave it alone for a bit.

Like me, the kale values its alone time. After about 5 minutes of massaging the kale, let it rest. I let it sit for about an hour. This allows it to continue to release liquid and create its brine. Maybe nap, or hold your cats.

Step 8: Give the kale another mix and add garlic.

I added 3 minced garlic cloves. We’re garlic lovers around here. Adjust to your tastes or omit altogether. If you omit, that’s fine, I’ll only judge you a little. The reason I’m adding the garlic at this stage is because I didn’t want to spend 5 minutes massaging garlic and kale together because then I would forever smell like garlic, which may not be a bad thing actually?

At this point, you should see a good amount of juices releasing from the kale when you give it a squeeze. It has created a brine!

Do you see the juices?? That’s what we want. Now it’s time to pack your jars.

Step 9: Pack your jars!

I used a kraut packer. It really made a difference in packing in the kale kraut nice and tightly. Once your jars are full, you want them to be submerged under a brine.

My kale didn’t produce enough brine to fully cover everything, so I topped it off with a quick brine. To make a quick brine, take 1 cup of water and add 1 heaping teaspoon of celtic sea salt. Dissolve the salt fully in the water, and use the brine to top off your ferment. Keeping everything covered is essential in mold and spoilage prevention. You can also top it off with some distilled water if you’re only using a small amount. It’s safer to use the brine though. If you have leftover brine, just stick it in the fridge and use it in another ferment.

Step 10: Add weights and lids.

Again, I used my MasonTop glass weights (pickle pebbles). I run these in the dishwasher and then rinse them with hot water. They fit perfectly inside wide mouth mason jars! Then I placed one of these silicone lids (pickle pipes!) on top of the jar and twisted on a wide mouth mason jar ring. Anyone else have hundreds of these rings around your house? We always have a lot because we do a lot of canning.

Step 11: Put your kale kraut jars on a plate

You’ll want to do this because the jars will likely overflow as they start to ferment and bubble. The next morning after making this kale kraut, some brine had bubbled out and over! This is supposed to happen and it’s a great sign that the fermentation is working!

Here’s the kale kraut on the second full day of fermenting. Notice the bubbly brine oozing out. It’s an active ferment!

Step 12: Let the fermentation magic happen.

Now we wait about 7 days. You can eat it or place it in the fridge where it should last for a good amount of time.

Once the kale has fermented, you’ll notice the color changes from a bright green to a sort of darker brown-ish green. It’s normal! We like to eat this mixed in salad or just in a bowl by itself! It’s delicious and a healthy, probiotic-loaded way to enjoy greens from the garden. Let me know if you give it a try!