Mom’s Recipes – A New Year’s Tradition – Pork Roast with Sauerkraut

It is a tradition in our family, as far back as I can remember, to serve pork roast with sauerkraut for dinner on January 1. We had our seafood feast on New Year’s Eve while we watched the ball drop in Times Square, and our pork roast with sauerkraut on New Year’s Day. I remember asking my father why we had to eat the same thing every year on New Year’s Day and he replied:

A hog cannot look backwards, they root forward, so they are always facing forward and never walk backwards or root backwards. Our German ancestors believed that they also ward off evil, and cabbage is a symbol of luck – so that is why we have pork roast with sauerkraut every year.

I always thought it was a bit “strange” as traditions go. My husband, being from the South, absolutely cannot let New Year’s Day go by without having a serving of black-eyed peas. To each their own traditions, right?

Print Recipe

Mom's Recipes - Pork Roast with Sauerkraut

Calories: 786kcal

Ingredients

• 3 to 4 pound pork roast
• 1 large onion chopped
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• 2 pints fresh sauerkraut
• 2 quarts water
• 1/4 cup of brown sugar

Instructions

• Place pork roast in roasting pan
• Rub roast with brown sugar, salt and pepper
• Place sauerkraut and onions around the roast evenly
• Add 2 quarts of water
• Bake at 325 degrees for about 3 hours

So mom always cooked pork roast with sauerkraut and some homemade mashed potatoes and applesauce on the side. An absolutely wonderful dish and one I would love to share with you and yours for a new holiday tradition.