Kent Rollins' Oktoberfest skillet comes with his own kind of kraut
Smoked sausage, crispy potatoes and a green-apple cabbage mixture bring German-Texan cooking to the fire, while viewers share their own family food traditions.
Cowboy Kent Rollins
Story of Why this story? The video opened at a pace of 143,393 views a day, 6.1 times a normal first day on this channel (23,540).
Texas Is More German Than You Think | Oktoberfest Smoked Sausage Skillet
Things we can learn from the video
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- 0:36Brown chopped potatoes in bacon grease in a cast-iron skillet.
- 1:49Fry sliced smoked sausage and chopped yellow onion.
- 3:46Kent's sauerkraut alternative combines shredded cabbage, green apple, bacon grease, butter and apple cider vinegar.
- 4:38Rollins recounts German settlement in Texas, including John Meusebach's treaty with the Comanche.
- 5:45Add whole-grain and Dijon mustard, return the potatoes and cabbage, then pour in dark beer.
- 9:00Rollins plates and tastes the finished skillet.
Can an Oktoberfest skillet work for someone who would rather skip sauerkraut? Cowboy Kent Rollins has an answer: shredded cabbage cooked with green apple, bacon grease, butter and apple cider vinegar. He calls it "Kent's Kraut."
That personal adjustment sits at the center of "Texas Is More German Than You Think | Oktoberfest Smoked Sausage Skillet," which reached about 71,000 views in eight hours, already well beyond his usual full-day audience.
Rollins starts with potatoes browned in bacon grease, then fries sliced smoked sausage and yellow onion. Whole-grain and Dijon mustard go into the sausage mixture before the potatoes and cabbage return to the skillet, followed by dark beer. This is open-fire cooking with a tangy, mustardy turn.
Between steps, he traces German settlement in Texas, bringing Friedrich Ernst, Prince Carl of Solms-Braunfels and John Meusebach into a cooking lesson that also makes room for his own family history. Shannon, heard off-camera, prompts a childhood story about his father, hot dogs and sauerkraut.
His question about whether viewers prefer traditional sauerkraut or his alternative has brought out more than ingredient votes. Commenters recall helping grandmothers fill fermentation crocks, suggest caraway seeds or chopped apple, and remember trips through the Texas Hill Country. Several connect the dish to German, Polish or Czech family cooking.
Rollins finishes by tasting the skillet and doing a little celebratory jig. His version may sidestep fermented kraut, but it still gives cabbage a starring role.
Published on Trari
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What viewers say
Smoked sausage, sauerkraut with onion and potatoes is a classic one pot meal. I frequently cut up an apple to add to the kraut. Pork and apples is a marriage made in heaven. Thank you for the recipe. God Bless.
@richardw2566See it on YouTubeI'm in SE Michigan and grew up here. As a kid I helped my German grandmother make both homemade Sauerkraut and fermented Pickles in her big 6 gallon crocks. Man that always came out just awesome!
@edwardpate6128See it on YouTubeTeam Sauerkraut here. Mom was one of those town girls turned farmwife that cooked all kinds of foods. You had to try it about once every couple years. Me, I loved almost everything at first bite.
@dougford5259See it on YouTube
5 more comments
Yes to sauerkraut. I add caraway seeds to mine. But let’s not forget the cousin of sauerkraut kimchi. It’s good too.
@nknickerbocker5948See it on YouTubeI LOVE sauerkraut! Make my own fermented style, takes about 4-6 weeks depending on temperature.
@dianneevans5492See it on YouTubeOverwhelmed with nostalgia. Prior to the Air Force, I'd go down to New Braunfels for our Wurstfest sanctioned bicycle races. Our team would train in the Hill Country a couple times a year from Austin to Fredericksburg to San Angelo. Good times. Great people.
@rocketmanpmSee it on YouTubeReally loved this video, Kent! I'm a Texan, and my Mother was a German immigrant and even here, the German heritage and impact of the German immigrants isn't given much attention so thank you for shining light on this important aspect of Texas history and culture.
@tracywallace30See it on YouTubeI'm part German and Polish. This is right up my alley! I like cabbage anyway it is presented to me. I have Polish sausage, potatoes and cabbage already on hand. This will be dinner tomorrow night!
@biggyrat1313See it on YouTube
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- Channel
- Cowboy Kent Rollins
- Subscribers
- 3,570,000
- Channel views, last 7 days
- -1,250,951
- Channel views, pace per day
- 41,759 (on a normal day: 56,378)
- Video published
- October 14, 2026
- Video views so far
- 71,144 (less than a day online)
- Video views, pace per day
- 143,393
The numbers
The skillet passed the channel's usual first-day views within its opening eight hours. Comments also exceeded the usual full-day total.
💡 Test your knowledge
Which German city is home to the original Oktoberfest?
Oktoberfest began in Munich in 1810 as a celebration of a royal wedding.