Vivian Howard’s Sweet Potato, Kraut and Bacon Chowder
This cozy Sweet Potato, Kraut and Bacon Chowder recipe by Vivan Howard is the perfect comfort food to make on a chilly winter evening.
Nathan Lambrecht
Ingredients
- 12 ounces bacon, cut into bite-size 1-inch squares
- 2 leeks, light green and white parts only, sliced into ½-inch rounds
- 1 cup celery, sliced
- 2 tablespoons ginger, minced
- 4 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
- ½ teaspoon red chili flakes
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 6 cups sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-inch cubes
- 3 cups white potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-inch cubes
- 3 cups sauerkraut, drained of its juice
- 8 cups chicken broth
- 2 cups heavy cream
Instructions
- In a 6-quart Dutch oven, render the bacon until crispy or until it’s the way you enjoy it on top of soup. Take the bacon out of the pan but leave the bacon fat.
- Add the leeks, celery, ginger, garlic, chili flakes and salt. Sweat that over medium heat for about 5 minutes. Add the sweet potatoes, the white potatoes, kraut, broth, cream and milk. Cover and bring all this up to a hard simmer. Cook for about 30 minutes, or until the potatoes are beginning to fall apart.
- Uncover and simmer another 10 minutes. Put a little less than half the soup in a blender or food processor and blend till smooth. Add it back to the pot and stir to incorporate. (An immersion blender will also work. Alternately, if you don’t feel like breaking out your blender or you’re happy with the consistency of the soup as is, you can use a potato masher or a ladle to encourage the potatoes to break up.)
- Serve warm topped with lots of bacon.
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One Comment
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Thank you for posting this recipe – this is a very bizarre combination but a very delicious, hearty soup. Cutting it in half still makes ample amount for 4 and leftovers. The first time I made it just as the recipe is given. The second time, I didn’t have everything on hand and made a few substitutions without sacrificing taste. For celery, used celery seed (1 tsp), for leeks, used yellow onion (sauteed in regular oil and then used bacon bits on top), for fresh ginger, used ground ginger (1 tsp). And last, for cream, used milk. I feel if you didn’t have sweet potato but had a carrot or two and extra potato, that would substitute well. PS = 3 cups of sauerkraut is the equivalent of 2 cans. Give the recipe a try; it is a family favorite now!