Sauerkraut and chicken sausage stew (bigos-style)
45 min · 35 g protein · 345 cals / serving
A quick take on Poland's hunter's stew: chicken thighs and smoked chicken sausage simmered with sauerkraut, fresh cabbage, mushrooms and a few dried porcini, warmed with smoked paprika, caraway, allspice and bay. Sour and smoky in 45 minutes, and like real bigos it is even better on the second and third day.
Ingredients
- 2 cups chicken broth, hot
- 1/3 oz (a small handful) dried porcini mushrooms
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 1/2 lb chicken thigh, boneless, skinless, in 3 cm (1 1/4-inch) pieces
- 12 oz smoked turkey sausage, smoked chicken or turkey sausage (kielbasa-style), in coins
- 1 medium onion, chopped
- 9 oz mushrooms, sliced, or a pack of ready-sliced
- 2 cloves garlic, chopped
- 1 tsp paprika, smoked
- 1 tsp caraway seed
- 1/2 tsp ground allspice
- 2 tbsp tomato paste
- 3 1/2 cups (most of a 24 oz/680 g jar) sauerkraut, drained
- 1 (16 oz) bag coleslaw mix cabbage, or 1/2 small cabbage, shredded
- 2 leaves bay leaf
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 1/4 cup chopped fresh dill, or parsley
Steps
- Pour the hot broth over the porcini in a jug and leave them to soak. Heat the oil in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat and brown the chicken and sausage for 6 minutes, stirring now and then, until golden in places. Lift them onto a plate.
- Add the onion and mushrooms to the pot and cook 5 minutes, until soft and browned. Stir in the garlic, smoked paprika, caraway, allspice and tomato paste for 1 minute.
- Lift the porcini out of the broth, chop them and add them with the broth (leave the last spoonful in the jug, where any grit settles). Add the sauerkraut (rinse it in a sieve first if you are watching salt), cabbage, bay leaves, pepper, and the chicken and sausage. Bring to a boil, cover and simmer 15 minutes, stirring once or twice, until the cabbage is tender and the chicken reaches 165°F.
- Fish out the bay leaves, taste (the sauerkraut and sausage usually bring all the salt it needs) and stir in the dill. It keeps 4 days in the fridge and freezes for 3 months, and the flavour deepens every day.
Good to know
Is it gluten-free?
Everything else in the pot is, and most smoked chicken sausages are too, but some contain wheat or breadcrumbs, so check the sausage's label if it matters.
Too sour, or not sour enough?
Rinsing the sauerkraut makes a milder stew as well as a less salty one; a splash of its brine at the end gives more bite. Many Polish cooks add a few chopped prunes for a sweet note; they add sugar, so leave them out for low carb.
Can I use pork kielbasa?
Yes, it is the traditional sausage, at about 62 instead of 75.
Per
- Calories
- 75
- Protein
- (42%)
- 8 g
- Fat
- (41%)
- 3 g
- Carbohydrates
- (17%)
- 4 g
- of which sugar
- 2 g
- Fiber
- 1 g
- Sodium
- 328 mg
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Computed from the ingredients with our published formula, not yet kitchen-tested. General guidance, not medical advice. Talk to your prescriber. How
As written, 2070 kcal goes into the pot and 2960 g of ingredients comes out as about 2750 g of food: 75 kcal per 100 g. Cooking moves water and energy density is the score's biggest lever, so the dish is scored as cooked, not as an average of its parts. Every ingredient links to its food page, with the same data and score. The label's percentages are each macronutrient's share of the calories. The full formula.