Healthy German Recipes

One bite of this hearty sausage casserole recipe--full of sauerkraut, apples and kielbasa--and you'll be transported to a tiny pub in the Alsace region of northern France. Serve with extra mustard if you like.

Here's a way to make better-than-store-bought pickles in under an hour. The secret is pouring the hot vinegar mixture over slices of cold, crisp cucumber. These pickles have the perfect balance of sour and sweet--though closer to a “bread and butter” taste, they still satisfy the vinegar-loving pickle crowd. In our humble opinion, there's no reason to ever buy another jar of pickles.

A silky-smooth Bavarian-style apricot cream envelops the golden sponge cake in this truly spectacular healthy cake recipe. The cream is set with gelatin to make it firm enough to hold its shape when unmolded, but the texture is more like a delicate mousse.

This wholesome sweet-and-sour soup combines beef, caraway seeds, sweet paprika and cabbage--ingredients that star in a number of German dishes. It is particularly nice served with crusty rye bread. For an even heartier soup, add diced cooked potatoes along with the cabbage. Recipe by Nancy Baggett for EatingWell.

Here's our weeknight version of choucroute garni, “dressed sauerkraut,” made with chicken sausage. The flavor of the dish will vary depending on what type of chicken sausage you choose. We like the taste of roasted garlic sausage or sweet apple sausage in this recipe. And although any type of sauerkraut can be used, we prefer the crisp texture of refrigerated kraut over canned. The recipe serves two. Serve with roasted carrots and some mustard to spread on the sausage.

This colorful cabbage sauté is the best of both sauerkraut and slaw--a mix of textures and bright, tangy flavor. Serve with assorted mustards and some toasted rye bread.

This updated take on German potato salad is a sophisticated addition to any holiday spread. Granny Smith apples are a good choice, as they hold their shape when roasted.

Sauerkraut is at the heart of this simple German-style slow-cooker pork stew.

This healthy recipe for crispy chicken schnitzel involves coating the chicken breasts with fresh whole-wheat breadcrumbs and oven “frying” using a mist of olive oil cooking spray instead of frying in lots of oil. Serve on a bed of mixed greens or with mashed potatoes.

This hearty German cabbage soup recipe is made healthy with tons of leeks, cabbage, greens, carrot and celery. If you can't find smoked bratwurst or kielbasa, chicken sausage or ham makes a good substitute.

This vinegary German-style potato salad recipe is a lighter alternative to typical mayonnaise-based potato salad. And, instead of boiling, the potatoes are simmered in the slow cooker. This healthy slow-cooker potato salad recipe tastes great when served warm or at room temperature. Fingerling potatoes make it especially pretty, but any type of yellow-flesh potato cut into 1-inch pieces will work.

Caraway and cauliflower are a match that brings to mind wursts, kraut and foamy, cold mugs of beer. Alas, not everyone loves that caraway flavor so leave out the caraway seeds if you prefer--the salad's wonderful either way.