Sheet Pan Sausage and Sauerkraut is a flavorful hands-off dinner recipe. Prep the sausage, red potatoes, and sauerkraut in minutes, then pop it in the oven.
Sheet pan dinners like Sheet Pan Cashew Chicken and Vegetables, and Sheet Pan Balsamic Chicken are the perfect way to make an entire Dinner all at once on busy weeknights. You cook the main course and the sides on a single sheet pan in less than an hour.
This German-inspired dinner is a quick and hearty Wintertime dish that tastes delicious and is made with almost no work. When it comes to weeknight meals, it’s always great to have fast and easy recipes that cut down on steps but still have amazing homecooked flavors. That’s exactly what you get with this Sausage and Sauerkraut dinner, delicious flavors the whole family will love in a simple recipe.
A big pile of smoked sausages with sauerkraut is one of those traditional recipes that you’ll find in German and Polish cuisine. It’s a budget friendly meal made with simple ingredients that have a lot of natural flavor all on their own. The savory flavor from the sausages and tangy sauerkraut with a bit of sweetness is the perfect combo. Potatoes are another staple of many rustic, traditional recipes and they round out this easy dinner with almost no extra seasoning needed.
By making roasted potatoes, sausage, and sauerkraut all at once, you get a complete meal without having to worry about separate cooking times or any complicated steps. There is almost no prep time, all you have to do is chop the potatoes and onions, toss everything in oil, and spread it all on the same sheet pan. Then you just pop it in the oven and in less than 45-60 minutes total time, Sheet Pan Sausage and Sauerkraut is ready to serve. It’s a complete meal but you can also serve it with Roasted Broccoli for extra veggies.
What is Sauerkraut?
Sauerkraut is fermented cabbage that has been a staple in Germany cooking since the 1600s. It is a simple recipe of finely sliced raw cabbage that has been fermented in a lactic acid bacteria. It has a unique sour flavor with a touch of sweetness that pairs really well with smoky, salty sausage flavors. For a more traditional recipe made with sour sauerkraut, try Old Fashioned German Sauerbraten.
What is the Difference in Smoked Sausage and Kielbasa?
Basically, kielbasa is a type of smoked sausage. Smoked sausage refers to any sausage that has been infused with a smoky flavor. Kielbasa sausage is made with ground pork and is lightly smoked and depending on the other seasonings, there are many types of kielbasa.
How to Make
- Prep: Preheat the oven and line a rimmed baking sheet with foil.
- Season: Toss the smoked sausage, red potatoes, onions, half the vegetable oil, salt, and pepper in a large bowl.
- Spread: Spread the mixture in a single layer over the baking sheet and make for the sauerkraut in 8 small wells.
- Sauerkraut: Mix the sauerkraut with the remaining vegetable oil. Spoon the sauerkraut into the prepared wells on the baking sheet.
- Baking time: Bake for until the sausage is browned and potatoes are fork tender.
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FAQs for Sheet Pan Sausage and Sauerkraut
The best sausages are already smoked and cooked like Polish sausage or Kielbasa sausage. These can stand up to the cooking time without drying out and have tons of flavor already added to them. You could even use cooked chicken varieties in different flavors too.
As long as you get a cooked smoked sausage, you don’t need to cook it before you prepare this dish. If you do get raw sausages, you will want to cook them first before slicing so they stay juicy. We recommend boiling them in beer then grilling them for the best flavor.
Sauerkraut tastes sour and salty with just a little bit of tangy sweetness depending on the acid base used to ferment it. You can get different kinds of pre-made sauerkraut that are seasoned to be spicy, sweet, or even with beet root.
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Key Ingredients
- Smoked sausage: There are lots of different sausage varieties that you could use for this one pan meal. Smoked sausage has a rich smoky flavor that is the perfect base for the other ingredients in this dinner.
- Sauerkraut: Sauerkraut is made with fermented cabbage which gives it a distinct taste that really sets this whole meal apart. It’s a bold, savory, salty, and sour taste that’s absolutely delicious. Because it’s made with cabbage, sauerkraut is also rich in vitamins and a great healthy addition to your diet.
- Red potatoes: These potatoes are the perfect filling addition to this meal. Red potatoes have a waxy texture and thin skin that is perfect for roasting. Their slightly sweet flavor offers the perfect balance to the salty taste of the sauerkraut.
- Onion: The onions add a ton of seasoning to this dish with their natural flavor. Yellow onion is the most aromatic but you could also use red onion, shallots, or sweet white onions to slightly change up the flavor.
- Vegetable oil: One of the most important ingredients that is easy to overlook is oil. The vegetable oil helps the other ingredients to cook and brown beautifully. It also enhances the rich, smoky flavors of sausage.
Can this sheet pan dinner be made ahead of time?
Sheet pan meals are already super easy but you could definitely prep the ingredients ahead of time to make it even easier. The potatoes can be cut a day ahead of time and stored covered in water in the fridge to keep them from turning brown. The sausage and onions can be sliced and stored separately for up to 2 days in sealed bags. Then when you are ready to make the dish, drain the potatoes and toss everything as usual.
Variations
- Sausage: Instead of the classic smoked sausage, you could try smoked Italian sausage, chicken sausage, or turkey sausage. Just make sure to use cooked sausage links or cook them first and drain the excess fat.
- Seasonings: Try tossing some extra seasonings or herbs in the potato, onion, and sausage mixture. Fresh parsley, garlic, onion powder, caraway seeds, dried thyme, rosemary, or crushed red pepper.
- Veggies: You can also add some extra vegetables to the sheet pan to go along with the rest of the dinner. Slice up broccoli florets, cauliflower, bell pepper, carrots, zucchini, summer squash or green beans. Whatever veggies you use, make sure they are cut to similar sizes of the potatoes so everything cooks evenly.
- Mustard: Mustard is a traditional seasoning to use in sausage recipes. It adds a tangy flavor that compliments the saltiness. Toss the meat and potato mixture with a couple tablespoons of mustard like brown mustard, grainy mustard, or ground mustard.
- Beer Brats: Instead of using smoked meat, you can boil brats in beer like you would in Beer Brats, to give your dinner an Okctoberfest kind of flavor. This would taste really good if you serve the sausage, sauerkraut, and onions in hoagie rolls with the potatoes on the side.
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How to Store
- Serve: Don’t leave Sheet Pan Sausage, Potatoes, and Sauerkraut at room temperature for more than 2 hours. Cool before storing.
- Store: If you have leftovers, you can transfer them to an airtight container to store in the fridge for up to 4 days. Reheat them on the stove top or in the oven with a dish covered with foil.
- Freeze: For more long-term storage, carefully seal the leftovers in plastic bag with the air squeezed out. Make sure to cool completely before storing. It will stay good for up to 3 months and you can reheat it from frozen or thaw overnight in the fridge first.
Ingredients
- 1 pound smoked sausage , cut into 1/2" slices
- 4 medium red potatoes , cut into 1" cubes
- 1/2 yellow onion , chopped
- 4 tablespoons vegetable oil , divided
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/4 teaspoon coarse ground black pepper
- 16 ounces sauerkraut , rinsed and well drained
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
- Toss the smoked sausage, potatoes, onion, 2 tablespoons vegetable oil, salt, and pepper together in a bowl.
- Spread onto a baking sheet.
- Make small wells of space in 8 different parts of the baking sheet.
- Mix sauerkraut and remaining 2 tablespoons of oil.
- Place small handfuls of sauerkraut into the wells on the baking sheet.
- Bake for 35-40 minutes or until potatoes and sausage are browned and cooked through.
Nutrition
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What is the proper baking temperature for this recipe?
Hi John,
Preheat oven to 375.
Enjoy,
Sabrina
Hello, enjoy your recipes. What temperature should the oven be set for this recipe? Thanks.
Hi Rhonda,
Preheat oven to 375.
Enjoy,
Sabrina
Hi-
I am just following up since I did not receive a response to my first inquiry last week. There is no temperature indicated for the oven. In addition, the recipe calls for lining the baking sheet with aluminum foil, but the photo appears to show a rack on the baking sheet. Is it one or the other or both?
Thank you. I am anxious to make this recipe, but cannot until I have the additional information.
Hello Don,
The holidays were busy! The temp is 375 and the recipe has been updated online. Thank you for bringing this to my attention.
Happy New Year
Sabrina
What temp? 350?
The temperature for the recipe is 375.