I had recalled a recipe from many years ago for sauerruben when I first read Sandor Katz’s Wild Fermentation, but hadn’t thought much about it, until I started growing turnips in my garden! Turnips are one of the easiest root veggies to grow, in my experience. Just plant the seeds in the bed, and they grow with little fuss and few pests! They seem to grow quickly too.
Turnips have a naturally pungent spicy, mustard like flavor and aroma (it’s in the mustard family!)
Sauerruben is traditionally fermented turnips and rutabaga. I like using the recipe for Apple Ginger Sauerkraut, then simply swapping turnips for the cabbage. Apple adds a nice sweet counterpoint to the pungency of turnips.
I wound up making pieces a bit wider than julienne (matchsticks). You could certainly use a grater, food processor or a slicer, but I did this work with a chef knife. I like how the finished texture and crunch ended up. It has notes of mustard, and would be a great addition to a Reuben(!), on avocado toast, tossed into a green salad, or as a substitute for sauerkraut.
Sauerruben (Fermented Turnips)
Ingredients
- 2 lbs. (900 g) turnips, any variety
- 1 medium apple tart variety
- 4 teaspoons 20 g sea salt
Instructions
- Slice the apple into 1/4" (1/2 cm) pieces and cut slices into quarters.
- Scrub the turnips and remove any hairy roots with a vegetable peeler. You don't have to peel the entire root.
- Sprinkle salt (2.5% of the weight of the veggies) over the sliced veggies and mix well in a bowl until veggies begin to soften. Some brine will form, but not as much as with cabbage.
- Pack mixture into a vessel and weigh down with weight. Cover with an airlock or a clean cloth secured with a rubber band or twist tie.
- Ferment 10 to 14 days.
- When you like the taste and texture, remove weight, and replace airlock with regular lid. Transfer to the refrigerator.
- Keeps in refrigerator 1-2 months.
Author and founder of Fermenters Club. I’ve been fermenting food for 14 years.
In 2024, I published my first book, Fearless Fermenting.
When not stuffing things into jars, I enjoy permaculture gardening, cooking, yoga, writing, and studying cosmology and esoteric traditions.
