Low Sodium Sauerkraut: an Honest Answer

We do not make a low sodium sauerkraut, and the reason is worth explaining rather than hiding.

Salt is not seasoning in a ferment — it is the mechanism. It draws the brine out of the cabbage, and it holds back the organisms you do not want for the few days the lactic acid bacteria need to take over and acidify the jar. Drop the salt far enough and you do not get a milder sauerkraut, you get an unreliable one. That is a food safety question, not a flavor preference.

What products labelled low sodium in this category usually are: pasteurized, with the salt reduced because heat is doing the preserving instead; or rinsed after fermenting, which takes the brine and some of the character with it.

The practical route, if you are watching sodium, is portion rather than product. A forkful — two tablespoons — is the traditional serving and carries a fraction of what a cup does. Draining the brine before serving lowers it further, though the brine is the part some people specifically want. Our jars list sodium per serving, and if you are on a prescribed restriction, that number and your doctor should decide this, not a page on our site.