Boiled potatoes mashed together with tangy sauerkraut, crowned with a smoked rookworst sausage and crisp bacon bits. A bracing, sharp-edged member of the Dutch stamppot family, eaten as winter comfort food.
Stamppot, the Dutch tradition of mashing potatoes together with a vegetable, has many guises, and the zuurkool version pairs the everyday potato with preserved sauerkraut for a sharp, warming winter dish. Born of the need to eat preserved cabbage through the cold months, it became a staple of the hearty one-pot meals that define Dutch home cooking from autumn into spring.
The mash is soft and starchy, shot through with the bright, sour crunch of sauerkraut that keeps it from feeling heavy. Smoky sausage and salty bacon add savoury depth, and a pool of gravy ties it together. It is sharp, warming and unapologetically rustic.
Mashing the sauerkraut into hot potato distributes its acidity and crunch evenly, while the potato starch tempers the sourness into something balanced rather than puckering. Bacon fat folded through the mash carries salt and smoke into every forkful.
Variations
with mashed-in bacon, topped with a fried egg, with mustard, with apple stirred through
On the Palate
Where Zuurkoolstamppot (Dutch Sauerkraut Mash) sits in the Dutch flavor cloud
Ingredients
Serves 4How it's made
8 steps · 20 min
- 120 min
Peel and chop potatoes, then boil in salted water until tender.
- 28 min
Meanwhile, gently warm drained sauerkraut in a pan to take off the raw edge.
Watch outWarm the sauerkraut just enough to lose its raw bite — don't cook it soft, you want that crunch to survive into the mash.
- 38 min
Fry bacon lardons until crisp and golden; set aside, keeping the fat.
- 412 min
Heat the smoked rookworst sausage in simmering water until hot through.
- 55 min
Drain the potatoes well and mash them coarsely.
Watch outMash it coarse and leave some lumps — a smooth purée turns gluey and loses the rustic stamppot texture.
- 65 min
Fold the warmed sauerkraut and a little bacon fat through the mash.
Watch outFold the bacon fat through while the potato is still hot so it melts in and carries the salt and smoke everywhere.
- 72 min
Season generously with pepper and a little nutmeg.
- 85 min
Plate the mash, top with sliced rookworst and crisp bacon, and add a well of gravy.
