Kielbasa Side Dishes?

[PoS]

The local deli where I go to usually places their cold cuts and sausages for sale at 50% off when they get close to expiring (seems Im the only one who buys over there since there's always a 50% sale off), and I got a full sized kielbasa for $2.29, 2 packs of Texas hot links for $1.53 each and a pack of Bavarian smoked sausages for $1.24. :mrgreen:

I dont want to go with potato salad since all that mayo in it would just be fattening, so I was looking for a side dish that would act in contrast to the smoked sausage yet healthy and refreshing. Any suggestions?

 

[Ikari]

sauerkraut

 

[Daisy]

sauerkraut

Oh yeah...sauerkraut, mashed tators and baked beans...hmmmm...

 

[sangha]

pickled beets
german potato salad
salad with mustard vinegarette
kimchee

or make kielbasa fried rice

 

[PoS]

sauerkraut

Ugh no, I hate sauerkraut. :sigh:

 

[Daisy]

Ugh no, I hate sauerkraut. :sigh:

Then we cannot be friends...:2razz:

 

[Ikari]

Ugh no, I hate sauerkraut. :sigh:

That's unfortunate, sauerkraut is delicious and the perfect side with kielbasa.

You can go baked beans, those seem relatively unoffensive. Or rice and red beans. Mashed potatoes can be a good match as well. Cooked onions & peppers.

 

[Rexedgar]

Peppers (green, red, yellow) and onions sautéed.

 

[JqYaqui]

"Fried" Red Potatoes with garlic and onions, with or without cooked cabbage?

 

[American]

The local deli where I go to usually places their cold cuts and sausages for sale at 50% off when they get close to expiring (seems Im the only one who buys over there since there's always a 50% sale off), and I got a full sized kielbasa for $2.29, 2 packs of Texas hot links for $1.53 each and a pack of Bavarian smoked sausages for $1.24. :mrgreen:

I dont want to go with potato salad since all that mayo in it would just be fattening, so I was looking for a side dish that would act in contrast to the smoked sausage yet healthy and refreshing. Any suggestions?

Oil-based potato salad or sour kraut, cooked red cabbage

 

[Grand Mal]

The local deli where I go to usually places their cold cuts and sausages for sale at 50% off when they get close to expiring (seems Im the only one who buys over there since there's always a 50% sale off), and I got a full sized kielbasa for $2.29, 2 packs of Texas hot links for $1.53 each and a pack of Bavarian smoked sausages for $1.24. :mrgreen:

I dont want to go with potato salad since all that mayo in it would just be fattening, so I was looking for a side dish that would act in contrast to the smoked sausage yet healthy and refreshing. Any suggestions?

Perogies. Into boiling water 'till they float then fried slightly brown in bacon fat.

 

[ChezC3]

Ugh no, I hate sauerkraut. :sigh:

All of it? even Bavarian style? what about rotkohl? (pickled red cabbage)

I'll usually finish the kielbasa off in a cassorole dish with caramelized onions, bavarian style kraut (it's sweeter) or rotkohl, or a combination of the two with some new potatoes all sautéed in enough butter to please any Frenchman. Foiled in a 350 oven for 30 min. Let all those flavors mingle a bit...


If not that, then usually German fries, (thin sliced new potatoes sautéed in butter until crisp with green onion and bacon bits...

 

[OlNate]

sauerkraut

The pickled red cabbage is awesome too - less sour, more sweet. This one is my favorite:

 

[rhinefire]

Grated fried cabbage in butter over a bed of cooked white rice. Dump slices of slightly browned sausage on top then stir the in the oven for 40 minutes at 300.

Chopped up with scrambled eggs.
Chopped up with mac n cheese.
Add to any soup.
Throw them on the grill

 

[tosca1]

The local deli where I go to usually places their cold cuts and sausages for sale at 50% off when they get close to expiring (seems Im the only one who buys over there since there's always a 50% sale off), and I got a full sized kielbasa for $2.29, 2 packs of Texas hot links for $1.53 each and a pack of Bavarian smoked sausages for $1.24. :mrgreen:

I dont want to go with potato salad since all that mayo in it would just be fattening, so I was looking for a side dish that would act in contrast to the smoked sausage yet healthy and refreshing. Any suggestions?

Greens salad mix with thin tart apple slices, sweet onions (vinaigrette-type dressing), and pickled artichokes.

 

[tosca1]

The pickled red cabbage is awesome too - less sour, more sweet. This one is my favorite:

View attachment 67247723

I use that brand. Goes with roast ham, too. Yes, it's good and tastes home-made!

 

[FieldTheorist]

The local deli where I go to usually places their cold cuts and sausages for sale at 50% off when they get close to expiring (seems Im the only one who buys over there since there's always a 50% sale off), and I got a full sized kielbasa for $2.29, 2 packs of Texas hot links for $1.53 each and a pack of Bavarian smoked sausages for $1.24. :mrgreen:

I dont want to go with potato salad since all that mayo in it would just be fattening, so I was looking for a side dish that would act in contrast to the smoked sausage yet healthy and refreshing. Any suggestions?

I don't know about healthy, but the correct choices for kielbasa are mashed potatoes and sauerkraut with lots of onions.

 

[Superfly]

I like to cook kielbasa on a charcoal grill with just a touch of BBQ sauce. I like it with potato salad, or pasta salad, or corn on the cob, asparagus, anything like that.

 

[americanwoman]

The local deli where I go to usually places their cold cuts and sausages for sale at 50% off when they get close to expiring (seems Im the only one who buys over there since there's always a 50% sale off), and I got a full sized kielbasa for $2.29, 2 packs of Texas hot links for $1.53 each and a pack of Bavarian smoked sausages for $1.24. :mrgreen:

I dont want to go with potato salad since all that mayo in it would just be fattening, so I was looking for a side dish that would act in contrast to the smoked sausage yet healthy and refreshing. Any suggestions?

Rice is a good side dish for any meat.

 

[OldFatGuy]

I don't know about healthy, but the correct choices for kielbasa are mashed potatoes and sauerkraut with lots of onions.

In Poland, sliced and precooked Kielbasa is served in thickened soups and porridge stews, with many available local vegetables, especially mustard greens and different squashes, turnips and parsnips. Also, with sides of boiled potatoes garnished with chopped parsley and black pepper. Sauerkraut is seen only in areas close to the German borders, and rife with caraway seeds. Thinly sliced fried kielbasa mixed with home fries and peas, topped with a fried egg or two, and accompanied by thick slices of fresh whole grain breads is a popular breakfast treat during winter months, sometimes had for dinner as well. There are different regional versions of kielbasa, some spicier, some drier, some more savory. Tho kielbasa is well known here, there are hundreds of other sausages found in Poland and not elsewhere, including sausages made from smoked fresh water fish, an acquired taste. The idea of a single serving choice for kielbasa is American, not Polish. Kind of like believing corn beef and cabbage is an Irish dish, which in reality, no one in Ireland eats.

 

[FieldTheorist]

In Poland, sliced and precooked Kielbasa is served in thickened soups and porridge stews, with many available local vegetables, especially mustard greens and different squashes, turnips and parsnips. Also, with sides of boiled potatoes garnished with chopped parsley and black pepper. Sauerkraut is seen only in areas close to the German borders, and rife with caraway seeds. Thinly sliced fried kielbasa mixed with home fries and peas, topped with a fried egg or two, and accompanied by thick slices of fresh whole grain breads is a popular breakfast treat during winter months, sometimes had for dinner as well. There are different regional versions of kielbasa, some spicier, some drier, some more savory. Tho kielbasa is well known here, there are hundreds of other sausages found in Poland and not elsewhere, including sausages made from smoked fresh water fish, an acquired taste. The idea of a single serving choice for kielbasa is American, not Polish. Kind of like believing corn beef and cabbage is an Irish dish, which in reality, no one in Ireland eats.

So I grew up in a city with a huge Polish population, and that's literally the most common way they ate kielbasa. So my comment about "the correct way" was just snarky --but it is (or was) definitely a popular way of doing things in Poland. Unless it's like marinara sauce, which is Italian-American, I would wager that at least during the 1930's in some region of Poland, it was popular. But who knows.

That being said, that sounds great and reminds me of Andouie sausage stews like gumbo.

 

[OldFatGuy]

So I grew up in a city with a huge Polish population, and that's literally the most common way they ate kielbasa. So my comment about "the correct way" was just snarky --but it is (or was) definitely a popular way of doing things in Poland. Unless it's like marinara sauce, which is Italian-American, I would wager that at least during the 1930's in some region of Poland, it was popular. But who knows.

That being said, that sounds great and reminds me of Andouie sausage stews like gumbo.

Don't get me wrong, kielbasa and cabbage, brined or not is eaten in Poland. However, more likely found in the regions bordering Germany, the regions always in dispute between Russia, Germany and Poland. My point was that the uses for kielbasa are varied dependent upon the region and time of year. Sauerkraut is a German concoction, often served with sauerbraten or sausages and boiled or mashed potatoes. The Russians claim borscht is theirs, but it originates in Poland. Same with Shav, made from sorrel. That is where many of the early Polish Americans migrated from. And as any early migrant groups has experienced, poverty dictates diet, and cabbages here have always been inexpensive. And let's not forget, the potato which these three nations love, comes from the Americas, a fairly recent arrival for their cuisines. Would we have enjoyed Vodka had not Columbus made that fateful voyage? Forensic studies of food usage can be entertaining, especially as we sample the dishes.

BTW kielbasa in English translates as sausage, biala kielbasa as white sausage or weisbraut. The difference between kielbasa and other sausages, it is only made from pork. My grandmother used to make biala kielbasa at home. She wasn't Polish, but somewhere along her paths she learned how to make it and we enjoyed it when she served it in big chunks smothered in mushrooms and gravy over mashed yams.

Whatever your pleasure, enjoy.