Instant Pot Pork and Sauerkraut

Do you enjoy pork on New Year’s Day? Pork Roast? Tenderloins? Sausage and Peppers? Pork and Sauerkraut is our family’s go-to meal to celebrate New Year’s Day, but it’s always taken some advanced planning to make in the oven (4 hours), or in the slow cooker (low 6 hours; high 12 hours). But using an Instant Pot, the cook time is drastically reduced down to only 1 hour, and it tastes amazing!

Start by browning the boneless country-style pork ribs**. You can do this right in your Instant Pot if it has a “saute” function, or you can do it in a skillet. My IP has a saute function, but I prefer to use a skillet for this part because I’m short, and the larger surface area of my skillet means I can get the job done faster.

**2-inch cubes of pork shoulder (aka Boston Butt) can be substituted.

If browning the pork in a skillet, transfer it to the Instant Pot when both sides are brown.

Spread the sauerkraut over the browned pork. By the way, if you use an 8-quart IP, you’ll have enough room to steam some red bliss potatoes (I place them in a small stainless steel mesh basket on top of the sauerkraut).

Skillet users - don’t let all those tasty brown bits go to waste….

Turn off the heat and pour the French onion soup into the skillet. The residual heat from the pan will allow the soup to deglaze the pan (dissolve all those yummy brown bits).

Add the brown sugar too; stir everything together.

Scrape the bottom of the pan to make sure all of those tasty brown bits have dissolved.

Pour the soup mixture over the sauerkraut and give everything a mix.

On a side note, I love my cast iron skillets!

Back to the recipe, put the lid on the Instant Pot and make sure the vent is set on “sealing”.

Depending on which IP model you have, push either the “Manual” or “Pressure Cook” button.

Cook for 30 minutes on “Manual” or “High Pressure”, then allow the pressure to release naturally for 15 minutes before serving. Enjoy!

Items used to make this recipe:

(affiliate links)

• Instant Pot https://amzn.to/33cToJp

• French onion soup https://amzn.to/3ssYjOZ

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Instant Pot Pork and SauerKraut

makes 8 servings

Printable Recipe

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil

• 3 pounds boneless country-style pork ribs (or pork shoulder, Boston butt, picnic shoulder)

• 1 1/2 pounds sauerkraut, rinsed and drained

• 10 once can French onion soup

• 1/4 cup brown sugar (light or dark)

• Kosher salt and ground black pepper to taste

Directions

1. Using the saute function in your 6-quart or larger Instant Pot, heat oil, season pork with salt and pepper, and brown on all sides (see notes below if your IP doesn’t have a saute function).

2. Add sauerkraut; stir together brown sugar and French onion soup (undiluted) and add to Instant Pot.

3. Seal Instant Pot and cook on “manual” or “pressure cook” for 25 minutes; allow pressure to release naturally for 10 minutes before serving.

Notes

• If your IP doesn’t have a saute function, brown the pork in a large skillet on the stovetop. Place browned pork in IP and pour soup into skillet to deglaze all the tasty brown bits before adding to IP.

• Alternatively, a single recipe will fit in a 9x13 casserole dish and can be baked in the oven (cover with foil and bake at 350F for 4 hours). OR cook in slow cooker (6 hours on low, 12 hours on high).

• If you don't have French onion soup on hand, you can substitute an equal amount of water and 1/4 teaspoon of onion powder or minced dried onion.

Maine Seafood Chowder

Maine seafood chowder. You might be thinking, “what’s Maine seafood chowder?” In short, it’s a brothier version of the more traditional New England-style chowder, which is often thickened with flour. This chowder starts with a flavorful shrimp stock, but instead of being thickened with flour, it’s thickened with a heavy cream reduction. Chock full of tender shrimp and bay scallops, this luxurious soup is guaranteed to please the seafood lovers in your life.

Start by carefully cooking the shrimp until it’s just barely cooked through. Here I’m using shrimp that still have their shells, but you can use peeled shrimp if that’s what you have. I like to cook them in the oven, like this.

When the shrimp are cool enough to handle, remove the shells/tails and cut the shrimp into bite-size pieces; set aside.

Freeze the shells/tails to make shrimp stock at a later time.

In a large dutch oven or braiser (I use one like this), sauté the bacon until it starts to render some of its fat, then add the leeks and potatoes to the bacon and continue sautéing for about 5 minutes.

Add the shrimp stock and bring to a boil; cook until the potatoes are tender, then turn off the burner.

In a large skillet, cook the bay scallops in butter just until they’re barely cooked through. Be careful not overcook the scallops or they’ll turn rubbery.

Add the cream, reserved shrimp, and any juices that may have collected on the roasting pan.

Add the parsley and cayenne; stir well and heat until the cream starts to bubble.

Skim the shrimp and scallops from the cream and set aside while the cream reduces.

Allow the cream to boil until it reduces in volume and thickens.

Add the thickened cream to the shrimp stock.

Stir in the reserved shrimp, scallops, and optional dry sherry. Stir well to combine.

Taste and adjust seasoning with salt and pepper if necessary.

Enjoy!

Items used to make this recipe:

(affiliate links)

• enameled cast iron 5-quart braiser https://amzn.to/2LjLPmw

• half sheet pan https://amzn.to/3uUfITF

• fine mesh skimmer https://amzn.to/2PCv86z

• santoku knife https://amzn.to/2rA6x8X

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Maine Seafood Chowder

makes 12 servings

Printable Recipe

Ingredients

• 4 ounces bacon, cut into bite-size piece

• 4 cups sliced leeks, rinsed well

• 1.5 pounds red bliss potatoes, cut into 1/4-inch dice

• 8 cups shrimp stock (here’s my recipe)

• 4 tablespoons butter

• 2 cups heavy cream

• 2 pounds medium size shrimp (25-30 count), cooked and cut into thirds

• 1 pound bay scallops, fresh or thawed

• 1 tablespoon dried parsley

• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

• kosher salt and pepper to taste

• 1-2 tablespoons dry sherry (optional)

Directions

1. Cook shrimp until just barely done (directions here).

2. When the shrimp are cool enough to handle, peel if necessary and cut into thirds; set aside. (freeze shrimp shells/tails to make shrimp stock at a later time)

3. In a large dutch oven or braiser (I use one like this), sauté the bacon until it starts to render some of its fat, then add the leeks and potatoes to the bacon and continue sautéing for about 5 minutes.

4. Add the shrimp stock and bring to a boil; cook until the potatoes are tender, then turn off the heat.

5. In a large skillet, cook the bay scallops in butter just until they’re barely cooked through.

6. Add the cream and reserved shrimp to the skillet, along with any juices that collected in the baking pan.

7. Add the parsley and cayenne pepper and heat just until the cream starts to bubble around the edges of the pan.

8. Skim the shrimp and bay scallops from the cream; set aside.

9. Allow the cream to bubble away until it reduces a bit and thickens.

10. Pour the reduced cream into the shrimp stock and add the reserved shrimp and scallops; stir well and serve.