Eating pork and sauerkraut on New Year's is an old Pennsylvania Dutch tradition said to bring good luck. The meal consists of roasted pork and sauerkraut served together, with sauerkraut representing luck and the pig representing rooting into the new year. It's a feel-good and flavorsome ritual. Serve with mashed potatoes or dumplings.
Ingredients
- pork roast: 1 piece (3 pound)
- salt and ground black pepper: (to taste)
- sauerkraut: 2 cans (14.5 ounce cans, to taste)
- water: 3 cups (or more if needed)
- onion: 1 piece (chopped)
- medium apple - peeled, cored, and: 1 piece (chopped)
Metric Conversion
Stages of cooking
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Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
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Place pork into a large roasting pan. Season with salt and black pepper. Mix together sauerkraut, water, onion, and apple in a large bowl until combined; pour over pork.
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Roast pork in the preheated oven until heated through, about 1 hour. Reduce oven temperature to 300 degrees F (150 degrees C). Continue roasting until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the center of pork reads at least 145 degrees F (63 degrees C), about 2 hours more; add more water as needed if sauerkraut mixture begins to look dry.
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Remove from the oven and allow pork to rest for about 10 minutes in a warm area before slicing.
