Active time: ~30 minutes | Total time: ~2 hours | Serves: 6 | Difficulty: Easy
Quick Overview
- Simmer pork ribs into a broth with onion, bay leaves and peppercorns
- Scald the millet and start the potatoes in the strained broth
- Fry the onion, carrot and garlic, then stew the sauerkraut with them
- Simmer everything together until the millet is soft
- Adjust the sourness with a little brine and let the pot stand before serving
What Kapusniak Is
Kapusniak is Ukrainian sauerkraut soup: fermented cabbage, potatoes and a handful of millet, most often cooked on a pork broth. The Encyclopedia of Ukraine names it as one of the things sauerkraut is used for,1 and an illustrated ethnographic reference on Ukraine’s past ranks it second only to borshch among Ukraine’s soups, recording older names for it such as kapusta zasypana and kapusta z pshonom, “cabbage with millet.”2 The sourness comes from the cabbage itself, with a splash of its brine at the end if the pot needs more.3
There is no one fixed recipe. Cooks use rice or buckwheat instead of millet, or no grain at all, add tomato juice or leave it out, and make the soup with meat or without it.4,3,5
History and Cultural Roots
The same reference describes how the soup was made in the village. The sauerkraut was finely chopped, covered with boiling water and cooked with potatoes, carrots and millet; onion fried in salo, cured pork fat, went in at the end and the pot was brought back to the boil. Kapusniak cooked on a broth of fatty pork, brisket or ribs, was valued most of all, and it was made most often in the winter miasnytsi, the meat-eating weeks that follow Christmas.2
Fasts and seasons changed the recipe. During fasts the same soup was made lenten, with oil instead of meat or fat.2 In spring and summer, once the stored sauerkraut ran out, kapusniak was cooked with fresh cabbage and soured with syrivets, a homemade bread kvass. Tomato is a later arrival: The reference dates tomato juice in kapusniak to the first half of the 20th century, when tomatoes began to be grown,2 and many recipes still add it.5,6
The soup also changes from region to region. Kapusniak is often thickened with flour, while the Boyko version from the Carpathians uses no thickener at all.7 In the Hutsul highlands, the local kapusniak, rosivnytsia, is made with smoked pork, cornmeal and sour cream.8 A version recorded in the village of Stebliv in the Cherkasy region adds fresh cabbage to the sauerkraut and mashes the potatoes into the soup.5
Traditional Kapusniak Recipe
This recipe was compiled by Heritage Healthy Kitchen from a comparison of published recipes; the sources are listed at the end of this article. Figures that are Heritage Healthy Kitchen’s own estimates rather than taken from a published source are marked as such.
The published recipes agree closely. For one pot they use from 400g of pork to 1kg of ribs, 400–500g of sauerkraut, about 100g of millet and four or five potatoes, or about 500g.5,9,10 The millet is rinsed in hot water or scalded first,5,9 and the pork simmers for anywhere from 40 minutes to about 2 hours.10,9 Some cooks stew the sauerkraut with the fried onion and carrot before it goes into the pot,9,4 others add it straight to the broth.5,10 The amounts below sit inside those ranges. The weights of the onions and carrot, the cooking times for the potatoes and the finished soup, and the storage times are Heritage Healthy Kitchen’s estimates.
Ingredients (serves 6)
For the broth
- 700g (about 1½ lb) bone-in pork ribs
- 2.5 liters (about 10½ cups) water
- 1 onion, halved
- 2 bay leaves
- 8–10 black peppercorns
For the soup
- 100g (½ cup) millet
- 450g (1 lb) potatoes, 4–5 medium, peeled and diced
- 2 tablespoons sunflower oil
- 1 onion, finely chopped
- 1 large carrot, coarsely grated
- 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
- 500g (about 3½ cups, drained) sauerkraut, brine reserved
- Salt and black pepper
To serve
- Chopped dill and parsley
- Sour cream and rye bread (optional)
Method
- Make the broth. Put the ribs, water, halved onion, bay leaves and peppercorns in a large pot. Bring to a boil, skim off the foam and simmer gently for about an hour, until the meat is tender.10,9
- Take out the meat. Lift out the ribs, pull the meat off the bones and cut it into pieces. Strain the broth and discard the onion, bay leaves and peppercorns.
- Scald the millet. Pour boiling water over the millet, leave it for 5–7 minutes and drain.9
- Start the potatoes. Bring the broth back to a simmer, add the potatoes and the millet and cook for about 10 minutes.
- Stew the sauerkraut. Meanwhile fry the onion in the oil until soft, add the carrot and garlic and fry until golden.10 Add the sauerkraut, cover and stew for about 10 minutes.9
- Simmer together. Stir the sauerkraut and vegetables into the pot and simmer on low heat for about 15 minutes, until the millet and potatoes are soft.10 Return the meat to the pot.
- Season. Taste, add a little of the reserved brine if you want the soup sourer,3 and season with salt and pepper. Go easy on the salt, since the sauerkraut already brings plenty.
- Rest and serve. Take the pot off the heat, cover and leave it for 20–30 minutes.10 Serve with dill and parsley, and with sour cream and rye bread if you like.10,5
Lenten Kapusniak with Dried Mushrooms
On fast days kapusniak was made without meat or animal fat, with oil only.2 Published lenten recipes keep the potatoes, millet and fried vegetables, often mix the sauerkraut with fresh cabbage, and get their depth from a small amount of dried mushrooms, with beans as an optional addition.4,7,6 For four servings they use about 10g of dried mushrooms, 200g each of sauerkraut and fresh cabbage and 50g of millet;7,4 the amounts below scale that up to six. The scaling, the soaking time and the use of the mushroom cooking water are Heritage Healthy Kitchen’s estimates.
Ingredients (serves 6)
- 15g (½ oz) dried mushrooms, porcini if you can get them
- 2.5 liters (about 10½ cups) water
- 450g (1 lb) potatoes, 4–5 medium, peeled and diced
- 3 bay leaves and a few black peppercorns
- 75g (⅓ cup) millet
- 2 tablespoons sunflower oil
- 1 onion, finely chopped
- 1 carrot, coarsely grated
- 300g (about 2 cups, drained) sauerkraut, brine reserved
- 300g (about 4 cups) fresh white cabbage, finely shredded
- Salt
- Chopped dill, to serve
Optional:
- 100g (½ cup) dried white beans, soaked overnight and boiled until tender
Method
- Prepare the mushrooms. Soak the dried mushrooms in cold water for about an hour. Bring them to a boil, drain, cover with fresh water and bring to a boil again.7 Lift out and chop the mushrooms, and keep the second cooking water.
- Cook the potatoes. Put the potatoes in a large pot with the 2.5 liters of water, the bay leaves and the peppercorns and simmer for 20 minutes.7,4
- Stew the cabbage. Fry the onion in the oil for 3–4 minutes, add the carrot and fry 3 minutes more, then add the sauerkraut and fresh cabbage and stew on low heat for 10 minutes.4
- Simmer together. Scald and drain the millet as for the meat version. Add the mushrooms, their strained cooking water, the stewed cabbage, the millet and the beans, if using, to the pot and simmer for about 10 minutes, until the millet is soft.4
- Season and rest. Season with salt, add a little brine if needed, and serve with dill. Without sour cream, this is a fasting dish; the soup can also stand for a few hours before serving.7
Kitchen Tips
Millet can taste slightly bitter. Rinsing it in hot water or pouring boiling water over it before it goes into the pot takes the bitterness away.4,9
Sauerkraut varies a great deal in sourness. If yours is very sharp, rinse it, or swap part of it for fresh cabbage; more fresh cabbage gives a milder soup, more sauerkraut a sourer one.5,4 Add the reserved brine only at the end, a little at a time.
For a thicker soup without flour, boil the potatoes separately, mash them and stir the mash into the pot.5,6 For a different grain, rice, buckwheat or pearl barley all work; soak the barley in cold water for an hour first so it cooks in time.4
Give the soup time. Left to stand covered for an hour, its taste evens out.5
Nutritional Information
Traditional kapusniak, per serving (one sixth of the recipe, without sour cream):
- Calories: approximately 343–419 kcal
- Protein: 18–22g
- Total fat: 17–21g, of which saturated about 5g
- Carbohydrates: 30–37g
- Fiber: 6–7g
- Sodium: 750–920mg
Lenten kapusniak, per serving (one sixth of the recipe, without beans):
- Calories: approximately 171–209 kcal
- Protein: 4–5g
- Total fat: about 5g, of which saturated under 1g
- Carbohydrates: 30–36g
- Fiber: 6–7g
- Sodium: 500–610mg
Nutritional values are estimates based on standard ingredient databases (USDA FoodData Central). They vary with the cut of pork, the sauerkraut and how much salt goes in. A tablespoon of sour cream adds about 30 kcal.
Sauerkraut itself is low in calories and supplies vitamin C and vitamin K, along with about 660mg of sodium per 100g, so the sauerkraut you buy decides much of the salt in the bowl.11 Raw, naturally fermented sauerkraut carries live cultures,12 but cooking temperatures may kill them,13 so in a simmered soup it brings flavor, fiber and vitamins rather than probiotics. Millet is gluten free and adds fiber and magnesium.14
Storage and Reheating
Kapusniak keeps in the refrigerator for up to 4 days in a covered container. It freezes for up to 3 months, though the potatoes can turn slightly grainy after thawing. Reheat it gently on the stove, stirring now and then, and add a splash of water if the millet has thickened it. These storage times are Heritage Healthy Kitchen’s estimates.
Traditional Kapusniak
Ingredients
For the broth
- 700g (about 1½ lb) bone-in pork ribs
- 2.5 liters (about 10½ cups) water
- 1 onion, halved
- 2 bay leaves
- 8–10 black peppercorns
For the soup
- 100g (½ cup) millet
- 450g (1 lb) potatoes, 4–5 medium, peeled and diced
- 2 tablespoons sunflower oil
- 1 onion, finely chopped
- 1 large carrot, coarsely grated
- 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
- 500g (about 3½ cups, drained) sauerkraut, brine reserved
- Salt and black pepper
To serve
- Chopped dill and parsley
- Sour cream and rye bread (optional)
Instructions
- Broth: Simmer the ribs in the water with the halved onion, bay leaves and peppercorns about 1 hour, skimming the foam. Take out the meat, strip it from the bones and strain the broth.
- Millet: Pour boiling water over the millet, leave 5–7 min and drain.
- Potatoes: Simmer the potatoes and millet in the broth about 10 min.
- Sauerkraut: Fry the onion in the oil, add the carrot and garlic, then the sauerkraut; cover and stew about 10 min.
- Simmer: Stir into the pot and simmer on low heat about 15 min, until the millet is soft. Return the meat; add brine, salt and pepper to taste.
- Rest: Cover and leave 20–30 min. Serve with dill and parsley, and sour cream and rye bread if you like.
Lenten Kapusniak with Dried Mushrooms
Ingredients
Ingredients
- 15g (½ oz) dried mushrooms, porcini if you can get them
- 2.5 liters (about 10½ cups) water
- 450g (1 lb) potatoes, 4–5 medium, peeled and diced
- 3 bay leaves and a few black peppercorns
- 75g (⅓ cup) millet
- 2 tablespoons sunflower oil
- 1 onion, finely chopped
- 1 carrot, coarsely grated
- 300g (about 2 cups, drained) sauerkraut, brine reserved
- 300g (about 4 cups) fresh white cabbage, finely shredded
- Salt
- Chopped dill, to serve
Optional
- 100g (½ cup) dried white beans, soaked overnight and boiled until tender
Instructions
- Mushrooms: Soak about 1 hour, bring to a boil, drain, cover with fresh water and boil again. Chop; keep the water.
- Potatoes: Simmer in the 2.5 liters of water with the bay leaves and peppercorns 20 min.
- Cabbage: Fry the onion in the oil 3–4 min, the carrot 3 min more, then stew with both cabbages 10 min.
- Simmer: Add the mushrooms and their strained water, the cabbage, the scalded millet and the beans, if using. Simmer about 10 min.
- Serve: Season with salt and a little brine; serve with dill, without sour cream on fast days.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can kapusniak be made without meat?
Yes. During fasts the soup was traditionally made with oil instead of meat or fat.2 The lenten recipe above takes its depth from dried mushrooms.7
Can rice or buckwheat replace the millet?
Yes. Rice, buckwheat and pearl barley all work, and some cooks leave the grain out altogether.4,3
Can fresh cabbage replace sauerkraut?
Partly or completely. Kapusniak was traditionally cooked with fresh cabbage in spring and summer, once the sauerkraut ran out, and soured with syrivets, a bread kvass.2 Many recipes today mix the two.5,4
Does kapusniak have tomato in it?
It can. Tomato juice came into kapusniak in the first half of the 20th century,2 and some recipes add 250–300ml of it.5,6 The recipe here leaves it out.
How is kapusniak different from borshch?
Borshch is built on beets. Kapusniak takes its sourness from sauerkraut and is traditionally counted as the second soup after borshch.2
What is kapusniak served with?
Rye bread and a spoonful of sour cream are the usual companions;10,5 in the Cherkasy version it also comes topped with crisp fried salo.5
Looking for a Lighter Version?
A leaner take on the same soup is in our companion article, Healthy Kapusniak.
Further Reading & Sources
The recipe is a compilation based on the published recipes listed here; these links are provided for readers who want to explore further.
- S. Stechishin. Traditional foods. Internet Encyclopedia of Ukraine, Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies. Sauerkraut “used to make cabbage soup (kapusniak).”
- Lidiia Artiukh. Povsiakdenna i sviatkova yizha i napoi [Everyday and festive food and drink], an article from the book Ukrainska mynuvshyna: iliustrovanyi etnohrafichnyi dovidnyk [Ukraine’s past: an illustrated ethnographic reference]; reproduced on Pani Stefa (panistefa.com), 5 April 2017. Kapusniak (also kapusta zasypana, kapusta z pshonom) as the second most important liquid dish after borshch; the village method with potatoes, carrots, millet and onion fried in salo; most valued on a fatty pork broth and cooked most often in the winter (Christmas) miasnytsi; made lenten, with oil, in fasts; fresh cabbage with syrivets (bread kvass) in spring and summer; tomato juice from the first half of the 20th century.
- Yevhen Klopotenko. (24 October 2023). Kapusniak z hrybamy [Kapusniak with mushrooms]. klopotenko.com. Published recipe; kapusniak is as a rule cooked fairly rich, with pork and salo, but can be made on a chicken or mushroom broth; millet is classic, rice can replace it or the grain can be left out; about 50ml of sauerkraut brine at the end for more sourness.
- Yevhen Klopotenko. (31 July 2025). Pisnyi kapusniak [Lenten kapusniak]. klopotenko.com. Published lenten recipe (4 servings: 200g each of sauerkraut and fresh cabbage, 3 liters water, 3–4 potatoes cooked 20–25 minutes, 50g millet, 2 tablespoons oil, onion fried 3–4 minutes and carrot 3 minutes, cabbage stewed with them 10 minutes, about 10 minutes more for the millet); millet can taste bitter, so rinse it in hot water or scald it; rice, buckwheat or pearl barley instead of millet.
- Yevhen Klopotenko. (15 October 2025). Avtentychnyi retsept z Cherkashchyny. Kapusniak zi svynyachymy rebramy [An authentic recipe from the Cherkasy region: kapusniak with pork ribs]. klopotenko.com. Published recipe from the village of Stebliv (6 servings: 500g pork ribs, 2.5–3 liters water, 100g millet rinsed in hot water, 4–5 potatoes boiled and mashed, sauerkraut plus 100–200g fresh cabbage, 300ml tomato juice, 30 minutes on low heat, crackling on top); leave it to stand at least an hour; rinse very sour sauerkraut; serve with sour cream and rye bread.
- Anna Ishutina. (21 January 2025). Kapusniak z kvashenoi kapusty z pshonom [Sauerkraut kapusniak with millet]. LIGA.Life. Published meatless recipe with beans (100g beans, 200g each of sauerkraut and fresh cabbage, half a glass of millet, 250ml tomato juice; the potatoes boiled whole, mashed and stirred back in).
- Yevhen Klopotenko. (11 October 2023). Kapusniak z hrybamy po-boikivsky [Boyko-style kapusniak with mushrooms]. klopotenko.com. Published recipe from the Boyko region of the Carpathians (4 servings: 10g dried mushrooms soaked, brought to a boil, drained and boiled again in fresh water; 100g beans; 4 potatoes in 2.5 liters water for 20 minutes; 200g each of fresh cabbage and sauerkraut; lard or oil); kapusniak is often thickened with flour, the Boyko version is not; oil instead of lard for a meatless pot; can stand for a few hours.
- Yevhen Klopotenko. (21 March 2024). Rosivnytsia. Oryhinalnyi hutsulskyi kapusniak [Rosivnytsia, the original Hutsul kapusniak]. klopotenko.com. The Hutsul kapusniak, rosivnytsia: smoked pork, sauerkraut, cornmeal and sour cream.
- Solomiia Tsurenko. (4 October 2023). Sytnyi kapusniak z kvashenoi kapusty z pshonom za karpatskym retseptom [Hearty sauerkraut and millet kapusniak, a Carpathian recipe]. Novyny.live, after the YouTube channel Karpatski shkvarky. Published recipe (1kg ribs simmered up to about 2 hours, 500g sauerkraut, 500g potatoes, 100g millet scalded in boiling water for 5–7 minutes, sauerkraut stewed with the fried onion and carrot for about 10 minutes).
- Hanna Nosova. (10 December 2023). Retsept spravzhnoho ukrainskoho kapusniaka z miasom ta kvashenoiu kapustoiu [A recipe for real Ukrainian kapusniak with meat and sauerkraut]. TSN.ua. Published recipe (400g pork simmered 40 minutes, 400g sauerkraut, half a glass of millet, 4 potatoes, onion, carrot and garlic fried in oil, 15 minutes on low heat once the sauerkraut is in, 20–30 minutes standing; served with sour cream and rye bread).
- U.S. Department of Agriculture, FoodData Central. Sauerkraut, canned, solids and liquids (FDC 169279), per 100g, via MyFoodData. 19 kcal, 14.7mg vitamin C, 13µg vitamin K and 661mg sodium per 100g.
- Harvard Health Publishing. Fermented foods can add depth to your diet. Harvard Medical School. Live cultures in sauerkraut; look for “naturally fermented” on the label.
- Wellness Team, Marshfield Clinic Health System. (31 May 2024, updated 5 June 2024). Best fermented foods for gut health, plus a sauerkraut recipe. Shine365. Clinical dietitian Rochelle Triebs: high temperatures from canning or cooking “may kill off live cultures.”
- Danielle Dresden, medically reviewed by Kim Chin, RD. (11 January 2022). What to know about millet. Medical News Today. Millet is gluten free and contains fiber and magnesium.
Disclaimer
The information in this article is provided for educational and informational purposes only. Heritage Healthy Kitchen makes no representations or warranties regarding the accuracy or completeness of any content on this site. Nutritional values are estimates only and will vary depending on the specific ingredients, brands, and measurements used. This content is not intended as dietary, medical, or professional nutritional advice. Always consult a qualified healthcare provider regarding any dietary needs or health conditions. Heritage Healthy Kitchen is not responsible for any outcomes resulting from the use of recipes or information published on this site.
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