7 Store-Bought Sauerkraut Brands, Ranked Worst To Best

Keeping fermented foods in your refrigerator is always a good idea. They can add a lovely tang and saltiness to any dish they touch, and they're generally good for you, to boot. And although there's plenty of love for pickles, kimchi, and kombucha, sauerkraut all too often gets forgotten, relegated to the back of the fridge save for use in a few limited dishes. But no more. Sauerkraut deserves its time in the spotlight as a versatile, approachable fermented food that can be used in so many different ways.

So, after you learn about all the best ways to use sauerkraut in your favorite dishes (like cooking it in smoky bacon fat), you should go to the store to get some sauerkraut for yourself. But which brands are best? I've tasted seven different brands of sauerkraut and ranked them from worst to best, taking texture, saltiness, and funkiness, as well as overall flavor, into consideration. The resulting ranking may not be definitive — after all, everyone has different tastes when it comes to sauerkraut for different uses — but it can help guide you in the direction of a brand you'll love. That way, you can keep experimenting with sauerkraut to find new and flavorful ways to work it into your meal rotation. These are store-bought sauerkraut brands, ranked worst to best.

Sometimes, I do judge a product by its label, which is absolutely what I did when I saw Saverne Classic Sauerkraut's label. The relatively small jar and the well-designed font spelling out the brand's name made me confident that this was going to be one of my favorites of the sauerkraut varieties I tried. In reality, though, it ended up being my least favorite. This sauerkraut, like a lot of the brands on this list, was incredibly finely shredded, which works well when you're using sauerkraut as a sandwich topping but not necessarily when you're eating it all on its own. The texture was quite soft, which isn't always a bad thing but is admittedly less appealing than sauerkraut that has a bit of a snap to it.

The texture of this sauerkraut was my main problem with it. The overall flavor is nice, with a funkiness I didn't always find in the other brands. It's quite briny but a bit more muted than some others in a way that makes this brand seem mild and accessible. But that nice, understated flavor, in my mind, just doesn't overcome this product's less-than-pleasant texture.

When you're looking for a sauerkraut that everyone can get behind, you might want to seek out Kühne Traditional German Barrel Sauerkraut. It's quite mild and clean-tasting, without much of that funk you'd normally expect from fermented foods. It's salty, sure, but not overwhelmingly so, which leaves you with an approachable flavor that won't offend even the pickiest of palates. Texture-wise, it's slightly firmer than the Saverne, but not by much — I would prefer a crisper, fresher consistency.

Although it's clear that this sauerkraut is a slight step up from the Saverne where texture is concerned, its mild flavor profile isn't super bold or exciting. Of course, that may be what you're looking for in a sauerkraut, as people who don't tend to like briny fermented foods are still likely to enjoy this product. It doesn't have quite the intense flavor as some of the other brands on this list, though.

If you don't eat sauerkraut regularly or you're just getting some for a specific recipe, then Signature Select's canned sauerkraut may not be a bad purchase. It's quite affordable, and you can get a smaller portion in the can than you would with most jarred varieties. That being said, you're not going to be getting the best quality, at least where texture is concerned. This sauerkraut is incredibly soft, with almost none of that fresh snap that you might expect from fermented cabbage.

At the same time, this is a surprisingly tasty sauerkraut in terms of flavor. It's quite salty, but that's exactly what I'm looking for in a good sauerkraut, especially if you're using it as a sandwich or salad topping. That saltiness really makes the cabbage pop in a way that the milder varieties don't. Unfortunately, that lovely briny quality doesn't negate the fact that the texture's not the best, which is why this brand isn't ranked any higher than it is. However, considering how budget-friendly it is, it may just be worth checking out if you're using it in a recipe with lots of other ingredients and not just enjoying it on its own.

Silver Floss Shredded Kraut falls right in the middle of this sauerkraut ranking. Does it have a better texture than any of the others that rank below it? Yes. But is it a particularly good, super-fresh texture? No, not exactly. This super finely shredded sauerkraut is still quite soft, which is seemingly standard for unrefrigerated, jarred sauerkraut. Taste-wise, this sauerkraut also falls in the middle of the pack. It's nice and salty — considerably more so than several other brands — with a bright acidity that could make just about any dish more mouthwatering. That being said, the aftertaste is kind of bitter, with a boldness that's not exactly appealing.

Silver Floss is a relatively affordable brand, considering the fact that you get so much product in a single jar, and it may not be a bad purchase if you're just trying to work more sauerkraut into your diet on a somewhat regular basis. However, if you're looking for seriously high-quality sauerkraut, there may be better brands out there for you.

First, let's start with Ba-Tampte Kosher Sauerkraut's packaging. Plastic bags generally tend to be more sustainable than glass jars, so this packaging scheme is a win for Ba-Tampte. That being said, you're going to have to make sure you have an extra container to put the leftovers in, unless you're eating a lot of sauerkraut all at once.

Packaging aside, this refrigerated fresh sauerkraut is one of the best of the bunch. The flavor is super clean and fresh, with a salty brightness that's exactly what you want to taste when you're craving sauerkraut. Although this sauerkraut is shredded, like many of the others on this list, it has some bigger, thicker pieces than other brands. This gives the sauerkraut a crunchier, more enjoyable texture and makes it more enjoyable to eat both as a topping and straight from the bag. That combo of texture and flavor makes Ba-Tampte one of the better options in this ranking.

Trader Joe's kimchi just isn't that good, so I had low expectations for its sauerkraut. After all, both products are essentially just fermented cabbage, so it seems like if one wasn't that good, the other wouldn't be great either. So I was surprised when I opened a jar of Trader Joe's Sauerkraut With Pickled Persian Cucumbers and discovered that this was one of the best brands in the lineup. The texture is nice and firm, with a definitive snap that makes this sauerkraut feel quite fresh. Flavor-wise, this sauerkraut leans to the clean, not funky, side, making it approachable while still being quite bold in its pronounced brininess.

What really makes this particular brand of sauerkraut shine, though, is the addition of pickled cucumbers. They offer that same bright acidity but with a slightly different, more complex flavor profile that keeps things interesting. There aren't a ton of them in the jar, so you're definitely mostly getting sauerkraut, but there are just enough in there to enhance the overall sauerkraut-eating experience.

Cleveland Kraut Roasted Garlic already leads in the flavor department because of the fact that it's adding supplementary flavors to its recipe. This sauerkraut is incredibly garlicky — but it has that fresh garlic aroma and flavor that lets you know that the product is fresh. That garlic somewhat tamps down the intense acidity in this sauerkraut, although it's still quite noticeable.

But this sauerkraut doesn't just come in the top spots because of its delicious, bold flavor. It also tops the charts on the texture front, too. All of the other sauerkraut brands I tried on this list featured shredded cabbage, but this sauerkraut is made with cabbage that's been chopped into tiny pieces. Those pieces offer significantly more crunch than any of the other brands on this list, which, in conjunction with that garlicky flavor, is what's earned Cleveland Kraut Roasted Garlic its place at the very top of this ranking.

I tried all of these sauerkraut brands cold, straight out of the packaging, one after another with sips of water in between tastes to clear my palate. I chose the brands featured here based on availability at grocery stores in my area, and the criteria I used to rank the different brands included texture, saltiness, and flavor overall, although I also considered packaging as well.