Do you regularly eat fermented foods? If not, you may want to start. Fermented foods supply your gut with probiotic bacteria, which boost your immune system and aid your digestion. You can easily make these five foods at home instead of buying them at your local grocery store. Not only will you save money, but you can also customize the recipes to suit your taste.

Kimchi

Almost every restaurant in South Korea serves Kimchi as a side dish. This spicy dish provides your body with significant amounts of vitamin A, B1, B2, and C. You can make kimchi by fermenting Chinese cabbage and daikon radish with gochu peppers.

Here’s a basic kimchi recipe that you can make at home.

Sauerkraut

Sauerkraut is a popular food in German and Central European cuisine made from fermented cabbage. It’s also one of the easiest fermented foods to make at home. To make the most basic form of sauerkraut, all you need is salt, water and cabbage.

This recipe provides the steps to make it yourself.

Yogurt

Making yogurt at home doesn’t require any fancy equipment. The easiest way to make yogurt is by heating milk over your stovetop and adding either a starter packet of bacteria or a couple tablespoons of commercial yogurt.

To allow the bacteria to multiply overnight, you need to keep the yogurt warm. You can use your oven or a crockpot to help incubate it.

Check out this recipe for more detailed instructions.

Kombucha

Kombucha is a fermented tea thought to have originated from Eastern Asia. You can make kombucha at home by fermenting a starter colony of bacteria and yeast (known as a SCOBY) with sugar in green or black tea.

Kombucha takes between a week and a month to ferment. The longer you let it sit, the less sweet and more vinegary it will taste.

Here are instructions on how to make Kombucha.

Milk Kefir

Kefir is a fermented dairy product similar to yogurt, but it’s runnier and has a tangier taste. Instead of heating the milk like you do when making yogurt, all you need to do is add a tablespoon of kefir grains.

You can experiment with different types of milk such as coconut, almond or goat.

If you’re interested in making kefir at home, check out this recipe.

---

Looking for a fermentation kit to get you started on your way to homemade fermented foods? Read our review of the Kilner Fermentation Set.