Boosting Beet Soup: Helping Picky Eaters Enjoy Sauerkraut
Written by: Dr Frannie Koe, MD, MPH
I have not always been a big fan of sauerkraut, especially as a kid, but I have also struggled to eat it as an adult. Growing up, I was the pickiest eater in my family, although my family didn’t allow my pickiness. Like many other kids in my generation, I was always told to clean my plate. My family is from Baltimore, Maryland, and we traditionally ate sauerkraut more during the holidays, especially on Thanksgiving and Christmas. For years, I thought it was the norm everywhere! Imagine my surprise when I moved to the South and discovered that sauerkraut is far from a holiday classic here.
As a kid, the only way I could enjoy sauerkraut was to smother it with savory turkey gravy and mix it with a little cranberry sauce (another thing I wasn’t a fan of!) That combination—gravy, turkey, and cranberry — made everything more palatable and was the only way sauerkraut made it onto my plate during the holidays.
Another food I used to hate? Beets. Like many gardeners, I love planting new things, so one year we planted beets but failed to plan how we’d use them. When harvest time came, we had an abundance of large, beautiful beets—but no idea what to do with them.
I’ve tried to improve my picky eating habits as an adult, and use the beet greens, but still struggled to eat the beets themselves. Reducing food waste is important to me, so I tried making a beet soup. I blended the beets with canned coconut milk and seasoned the soup with ginger. I was also making homemade sauerkraut, though I wasn’t eating it as quickly as I made it. Mixing the sauerkraut into the beet soup absolutely blew me away. The perfectly balanced flavors made it one of the best things I’d ever tasted.
When I told my daughter Holly about it, she explained why it worked so well: flavor balance. Holly is an executive sous chef in central Alabama and has taught me so much about food. She explained that we love dishes that combine sweet, sour, salty, and savory flavors. When we eat something that hits all those notes, it’s deeply satisfying.
That’s exactly what happened with the beet soup and sauerkraut combination—the sweetness of the beets, the sour tang of the kraut, the hint of salt, and the savory richness of the coconut milk and ginger all came together perfectly. Fermented foods naturally have a tangy, sour flavor that pairs beautifully with other flavors in a dish. Once you experiment with combining different tastes, you’ll look forward to every meal.
My goal continues to always be to help people find easy ways to make healthy foods taste good! Below is the recipe I created. Besides being delicious, it is nutrient rich and promotes a healthy brain-blood barrier and boosts gut health.
Gut & Brain Barrier Boosting Beet Soup
Ingredients:
3 Large beets (roasted or boiled) – Improves gut microbiome & blood-brain barrier function
1 can full-fat coconut milk – Supports gut lining & brain function
1 tbsp grated fresh ginger – Anti-inflammatory & gut-protective
2 cloves garlic (minced) – Prebiotic for gut microbiome
2 cups bone broth (or vegetable broth) – Repairs gut lining & tight junctions
1 tbsp olive oil – rich in polyphenols for blood- brain barrier support
½ tsp turmeric + black pepper – Reduces gut & brain inflammation
Sea salt & lemon juice (to taste)
Instructions:
Roast or boil the beets until tender, then peel and chop them.
In a pot, heat olive oil, and saute garlic and ginger for 1 to 2 minutes.
Add chopped beets, bone broth, turmeric, and salt. Simmer for 10 minutes.
Blend the soup until smooth, then stir in coconut milk and lemon juice.
Serve warm with fermented sauerkraut or yogurt or extra probiotics.
