These Keto sauerkraut and sausage balls make the perfect appetizer or snack. And each of these yummy fried sausage balls has just 1g net carb.
I heard about the tastiest thing yesterday.
My sister has been road tripping out West and she came across these appetizers called sauerkraut balls.
And then I was like, “Wait- what is a sauerkraut ball?”
She told me that sauerkraut balls are a kind of croquette made from a mixture of sauerkraut, cream cheese, and sausage that is breaded and fried. I was immediately sold, so I set out to make a low carb version of this bewitching appetizer.
But honestly, she had me at sauerkraut.
Is sauerkraut low carb? Is sausage Keto?
Yes to both. Sauerkraut is great to eat on a Keto or low carb diet because it’s made from fermented cabbage. Sauerkraut only has 3 grams of net carbohydrate per cup. And sausage is very low carb with just 1 gram of carbohydrate. That 1 gram comes from the sugar used to cure the sausage.
So if you can find sugar-free breakfast sausage to use, then all the better.
Plus, the sauerkraut fermentation process eats up the natural sugar.
So the amount of net carbs in 1 cup of sauerkraut is actually just 2g. And, obviously, no sane person would sit down and eat a whole cup of sauerkraut, so the amount of carbs in a normal (1 ounce) serving of sauerkraut is nearly zero.
It's a free food.
So how do you make this sauerkraut and sausage ball recipe low carb?
We are all set with the sauerkraut and sausage, and the remaining ingredients are just cream cheese and breading. Cream cheese is allowed on low carb and Keto diets, so no troubles there.
That just leaves small matter of the breading.
How do you make low carb breading?
There are a couple different ways to make low carb gluten-free breading. Breading ingredients are usually confined to: almond flour, parmesan cheese, coconut flour and ground pork rinds. So for this gluten-free sausage ball recipe, I used a mixture of parmesan cheese and super fine almond flour.
How do you cook these Keto sauerkraut balls?
Sauerkraut balls are often fried in oil, but I don’t recommend that you do that. Better to spray them with cooking oil and bake them in the oven, or cook them in an air fryer. There is a lot less fuss and quite a bit less mess when you bake them in the oven or fry them in an air fryer.
Can you make your own sauerkraut?
Absolutely. All you need is a cabbage and a container of salt and one week of your life, and homemade sauerkraut can be yours. Here’s an easy recipe for homemade sauerkraut from The Real Food Dietitians.
Any final sauerkraut and sausage ball recipe thoughts, tips, musings?
I think that just about does it. But, I’m not sure that I mentioned how delicious these low carb sauerkraut and sausage balls turned out. They are absolutely fabulous. And each ball has just 1g net carbs.
So bon appetit, everybody!
Sauerkraut and sausage balls all around.
📋 Recipe
Sauerkraut and Sausage Balls
These sauerkraut and sausage balls make the perfect appetizer or snack.
- Prep Time: 10
- Cook Time: 40
- Total Time: 50 minutes
- Yield: 20 balls 1x
- Category: Appetizer
- Method: Baked
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Gluten Free
Ingredients
- 8 oz full fat cream cheese
- 2 cups sauerkraut, drained
- 1 pound pork, turkey or chicken breakfast sausage
- 6 tablespoons grated parmesan cheese
- 6 tablespoons almond flour
Instructions
Step 1. Drain the sauerkraut well in a colander.
Step 2. In a large skillet, over Medium-High heat, cook the sausage until browned and cooked through, 4-5 minutes.
Step 3. Add cream cheese and drained sauerkraut to the pan and mix well to combine.
Step 4. Transfer to a resealable container and chill in the freezer until firm enough to scoop, 1 hour. Every 10 minutes, give it a good stir.
Step 5. Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees F and cover a large cookie sheet with parchment paper.
Step 6. Use a cookie scoop or soup spoon to scoop out the filling and place it on the cookie sheet. Then roll each scoop into a 1-inch wide ball.
Step 7. In a shallow bowl, mix together almond flour and parmesan cheese. Roll the balls in the breading and place them back on the cookie sheet. Spray the balls with cooking spray.
Oven Method: Bake for 25-30 minutes until golden brown. Allow to cool on the cookie sheet for 30 minutes before serving.
Air Fryer Method: Add sauerkraut balls to the basket of the air fryer in three batches. Fry for 8-10 minutes at 350 degrees F. Use a spoon to carefully remove each sauerkraut ball from the air fryer and place them back onto the cookie sheet. They will be delicate until they have cooled for 30 minutes.
Notes
THERE ARE STEP-BY-STEP PHOTOGRAPHS BELOW THE RECIPE
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 2 balls
- Calories: 191
- Fat: 15
- Carbohydrates: 4
- Fiber: 2
- Protein: 13
Keywords: Sauerkraut Balls, Low Carb Sauerkraut Balls, Keto Sauerkraut Balls, Gluten Free Sausage Balls
If you liked these low carb appetizers, then you might like my recipes for Korean Chicken Wings, Fried Pickles or Antipasto Skewers.
Dana says
These were delicious! I’d never heard of sauerkraut balls before. Being a lifelong vegetarian, I subbed some ground Italian-style veggie sausage for the regular, mixed the almond flour and Parmesan right in with the rest of the mixture and added some nutritional yeast. They formed perfectly without freezing and baked up beautifully in the air fryer after spritzing with oil.
Emily Krill says
Oh yum, thanks for the vegetarian recipe!
judith jones says
I have been craving sauerkraut balls, but am on a low carb diet. Hoping that someone out there had found a way to make them without bread crumbs, I searched the web and was delighted to find this recipe. I added one egg, just to help them stay together, but otherwise followed the recipe exactly. They are amazingly good, and I didn't miss the bread crumbs at all. Thank you for sharing this. It is a keeper!
★★★★★
EmilyKrill says
Great, thanks for letting me know. So glad you found it.
S B says
I beg to differ with your comment concerning people not eating a cup of sauerkraut at once. Apparently you have not observed the eating style of German, Polish, and similar heritage folks CM. I was over 60 years old before I was exposed to the idea that sauerkraut is considered by some to be a condiment.
Jess K says
I'm 1st gen Polish-American and I was thinking the same thing! My Mom even drinks the juice, which actually isn't bad since I like vinegar and pickle juice. We always have sauerkraut in the fridge. Great for the belly. Am going to make these this week, that's for sure. Great idea for a simple recipe.
★★★★★
EmilyKrill says
Great, hope you like them!
Harlan horvath says
You should add nutritional yeast as an option for those of us who stock it in our kitchen. Would have been a great addition and possibly a nice binder for the messy, loose meatballs. I enjoyed the flavor of these meatballs, but you probably need more than an hour in the freezer to get the meatballs to stay formed especially if frying. I had much better success air frying as opposed to frying in bacon grease. Also, the mixture was better after a night in the fridge. Also, I am wondering why the pork needs to be pre cooked before forming the meatballs? They want to falls apart after cooking. I have to believe a raw meatball would be more sturdy during cooking. If I do this again, I will drop the air fryer temp to cook longer without scorching the outside and try raw meatballs without pre cooking the ground meat.
★★★★
Doris says
Made these and they are delicious. I did deep fry them not bake and they held up very well. Thanks for this wonderful recipe
★★★★★
EmilyKrill says
That’s great to know that frying is an option. Thanks so much for letting me know!
Eva O says
I actually have heard to these before. So happy to find a low carb version of them.
★★★★★
EmilyKrill says
Awesome!
Denise says
Hi. Love sauerkraut balls and so excited to think I can have them on a keto diet. Confused though as to why you sprayed and baked instead of frying in oil since keto diet requires / finds desirable extra fat so why not cook in coconut or olive oil ? Is it because they would fall apart or...? And also not familiar with using the yeast, wonder if there are carbs in that & What other purposes it would have on the keto diet, like how else could it be used? Thanks so much!
EmilyKrill says
Yay! I'm so glad you are going to give the sauerkraut balls a try. And you are right about frying, I don't think that the balls would hold together in a fryer. Nutritional yeast is different than the active yeast you use in bread. It's a seasoning that gives a little punch of cheesy flavor to the sauerkraut balls. But if you don't have it, you can substitute more parmesan cheese. No biggie.
Mary Reel says
I like nutritional yeast but do not see it in this recipe...? Did you substitute parm?
EmilyKrill says
Yes, you are right. When I updated the recipe a few months ago, I took out the nutritional yeast, because it was a specialty ingredient that wasn't absolutely necessary. But here's the way the breading used to be: 1/4 cup almond flour, 1/4 cup grated parmesan, and 1/4 cup nutritional yeast. I think the old version very was very tasty too.
Thanks for noticing!