How To Decide If Canned Sauerkraut Should Actually Be Rinsed

Sauerkraut is a nutrient-packed superfood that tastes great and provides your body with probiotics, which promote gut health and may even be able to help prevent your next hangover. What's not to love? Originating in China and eaten in Europe since at least the 13th century, sauerkraut is a healthy addition to mashed potatoes, slow-cooker pork, and corned beef sandwiches. But one debate sauerkraut eaters have been having is — to rinse or not to rinse.

Wait, people rinse their sauerkraut? Yes, they do, and for a good reason. The main argument for rinsing canned sauerkraut is to reduce its sodium content and make a healthier meal. Luckily, rinsing sauerkraut is quite easy and can be done in the sink with a strainer like any other vegetable. While rinsing, make sure to mix the sauerkraut with your hands, and also, let it completely drain to get rid of as much salt as possible.

Although sauerkraut is widely regarded as a healthy food, it is fermented and preserved in a salty brine. This means that, like pickles, kimchi, and other fermented foods, it has a high sodium content. In fact, a cup of canned sauerkraut contains around 1560 milligrams of sodium which is about 68% of the average person's daily recommended intake. Rinsing the sauerkraut can help reduce sodium levels by a lot. Based on numbers from My Food Data, around half of the sodium in sauerkraut is in the brine.

Besides the sodium, another reason to rinse sauerkraut is to make the flavor milder. If you are someone who finds the taste of sauerkraut to be a little too sour or briny, rinsing it off a bit can help make it more palatable. If you usually like sauerkraut and just happened to buy an ultra-sour brand, instead of rinsing, try watering down the brine a bit until it suits your tastes better.

The main problem with rinsing sauerkraut is that it gets rid of more than just the salt. According to the Cleveland Clinic, sauerkraut brine contains beneficial probiotics. Therefore, by ditching the brine, you are dumping those beneficial bacteria down the drain. However, the majority of canned sauerkraut has been pasteurized. This means that, depending on the brand you buy, your canned kraut probably won't contain any living probiotics anyway, but that might not necessarily be all bad. According to Medical News Today, new research suggests that even dead probiotics may offer some gut benefits.

So, if you are eating sauerkraut for its nutritional value, you may want to avoid rinsing. To get the most health benefits from your canned sauerkraut, look for unpasteurized versions like those from Hampton's Brine, Oregon Brineworks, or Wildbrine. If you feel uncomfortable with unpasteurized food, try Bubbies, which uses a heating process that half-pasteurizes the sauerkraut without damaging the probiotics. Either way, for more gut benefits, start adding more sauerkraut to your life!