Fancy Up Canned Vienna Sausages With One Tangy Addition

Canned Vienna sausages aren't exactly gourmet. They're all about convenience and simplicity, the easy comfort of always having something in the pantry for spontaneous cravings. Still, there's always room for improvement and potential to explore. You might not be able to cook up a full-on fine-dining dish with a can of Vienna sausages, but you can make it feel like one with a bit of sprucing up. Just add a bundle of colorful, tangy sauerkraut on the side, and who knows, your weeknight dinner might not be so ordinary after all.

When cabbage ferments with salt, you get the tangy, funky delight widely known as sauerkraut. This complex, probiotic-rich dish is no stranger to hearty, rich meat dishes. We've come to love pairing this German staple with pork chops for immense flavors, and canned Vienna sausages are no different.

Preserved in a brine, they're savory in the pleasant way that sausages tend to be, with a salty kick lying in the undertone. The sauerkraut's acidity slices right through all that meaty richness, adding an extra dimension to the usual one-note mundanity. And when you're biting down on the soft sausage, it's the crunchy bites from the sauerkraut that makes things surprising and interesting.

Since the sausages are already cooked, the most you'd have to do is give them a quick brown to heat them and add seasonings and condiments to intensify the flavors. Fresh off the stove, all that's left to do is lay them right over a sauerkraut bed. Or, better yet, simmer the sausages with the sauerkraut to let their flavors seamlessly meld into one another. You can do this with a simple skillet, or roast the two with onions, juniper berries, potatoes, and apples to bulk up the dish.

There are also many other amazing ways to use canned vienna sausage, and sauerkraut fits right into most of them. Send them straight into a pan of fried rice or stir-fried noodles should the meal call for something filling and easy. Need a quick, breezy game day treat? Grab a few hot dog buns and use the sauerkraut as a topping, possibly alongside pickles and mustard. Slightly more off-kilter is Vienna sausage sauerkraut tacos or burritos — a peculiar fusion that you can jazz up with Mexican chorizo, fresh avocado, and a salsa on the side. You can also take your appetizer game up a notch by wrapping the sausages in bacon before serving it over a bed of potatoes and sauerkraut.

Even just a plate of sauerkraut salad, dotted with cubes of Vienna sausage is enough to complete the meal. Really, the possibilities are endless.