Sauerbraten is a flavorful German pot roast with a very unusual ingredient. But once you try it, you’ll wonder why you never tried it before!
When I lived in Germany, there were so many things that I had the pleasure of experiencing. Wonderful foods, fantastic culture, the architecture, the history… I loved it!
Now my elder son is getting the chance to experience all of those things.
My family heritage is primarily German and I love making traditional German dishes for my family, from pretzels to schweine schnitzel to apple pie. You’ll love this German pot roast too!
To begin, you’ll need to start this a couple days before you plan on cooking the meal. It will marinate for 2 – 3 days, preferably 3.
To make the marinade, in a saucepan combine 1/2 c dry red wine, 1/2 c red wine vinegar, 2 c water, 1 c sliced red onion, 10 juniper berries, 10 black peppercorns, 1 teaspoon salt, and 2 bay leaves. Bring it to a boil reduce the heat and let it simmer for 2 minutes. Remove it from the heat and allow it to come to room temperature.
Place a beef roast in a large ziplock bag. You can use a top round or a bottom round roast, whichever you find at a better price.
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Pour the cooled marinade into the bag with the roast. Press out as much of the air that you can and close the bag. Place the bag in a dish – in case you get a leak. Always better to be safe than sorry. Place it in your refrigerator and let it do its thing for 2-3 days. Turn the bag over a couple times a day to let the roast evenly marinate.
After 2 – 3 days, remove the roast from the bag and pat it dry with paper towels.
Pour the marinade through a sieve to strain out all of the solids. Discard them and save the liquid. You’ll use that in a bit.
In a dutch oven, heat 2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil over high heat. You want the oil hot enough to be “shimmery” but not smoking. Place the roast in the pot and let it sit for 4 minutes without touching it. Turn it over and let it cook 4 minutes on that side. You want a gorgeous sear on each side.
Meanwhile, dice a cup of red onion.
When the roast is done searing, place it in a dish and turn the heat down to low. Toss in your diced onion and cook for about 3 minutes or until the onions are just tender. Stir occasionally.
Place the roast back in the pot and pour the reserved marinade over the top. Bring this all to a boil, reduce the heat to low. Cover and simmer for an hour.
After it has cooked an hour, toss in 3 or 4 diced carrots and 2 stalks of diced celery. Cover and let this cook for 2 more hours.
When it has finished cooking for a total of 3 hours, remove the roast to a tray or cutting board. Let it rest 5 minutes, then slice.
Here comes that crazy ingredient: gingersnaps! Add 10 gingersnaps to the pot and let them cook, stirring often, until they dissolve and the liquid thickens.
Place your sliced roast back in the pot. Let it simmer for about 4 minutes on low heat.
Serve this with some cooked spätzle or egg noodles.
Enjoy!
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Traditional German Sauerbraten
Ingredients
- ½ c dry red wine
- ½ c red wine vinegar
- 2 c water
- 10 juniper berries
- 10 black peppercorns
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 red onion, (1/2 sliced, 1/2 diced)
- 2 Tb extra virgin olive oil
- 4 carrots, diced
- 2 stalks celery, diced
- 2 lb top round beef roast
- 10 gingersnap cookies
- cooked spätzle or egg noodles for serving
Instructions
- To begin, you’ll need to start this a couple days before you plan on having this. It will marinate for 2 – 3 days, preferably 3.
- To make the marinade, in a saucepan combine the dry red wine, red wine vinegar, water, sliced red onion, juniper berries, black peppercorns, salt, and bay leaves. Bring it to a boil reduce the heat and let it simmer for 2 minutes. Remove it from the heat and allow it to come to room temperature.
- Place a beef roast in a large ziplock bag. You can use a top round or a bottom round roast, whichever you find at a better price.
- Pour the cooled marinade into the bag with the roast. Press out as much of the air that you can and close the bag. Place the bag in a dish – in case you get a leak. Always better to be safe than sorry. Place it in your refrigerator and let it do its thing for 2-3 days. Turn the bag over a couple times a day to let the roast evenly marinate.
- After 2 – 3 days, remove the roast from the bag and pat it dry with paper towels.
- Pour the marinade through a sieve to strain out all of the solids. Discard them and save the liquid. You’ll use that in a bit.
- In a dutch oven, heat the extra virgin olive oil over high heat. You want the oil hot enough to be “shimmery” but not smoking. Place the roast in the pot and let it sit for 4 minutes without touching it. Turn it over and let it cook 4 minutes on that side. You want a gorgeous sear on each side.
- When the roast is done searing, place it in a dish and turn the heat down to low. Toss in your diced onion and cook for about 3 minutes or until the onions are just tender. Stir occasionally.
- Place the roast back in the pot and pour the reserved marinade over the top. Bring this all to a boil, then reduce the heat to low. Cover and simmer for an hour.
- After it has cooked an hour, toss in the diced carrots and celery. Cover and let this cook for 2 more hours.
- When it has finished cooking for a total of 3 hours, remove the roast to a tray or cutting board. Let it rest 5 minutes, then cut it into slices.
- Here comes that crazy ingredient: gingersnaps! Add 10 gingersnaps to the pot and let them cook, stirring often, until they dissolve and the liquid thickens.
- Place your sliced roast back in the pot. Let it simmer for about 4 minutes on low heat.
- Serve this with some cooked spätzle or egg noodles.
- Enjoy!
Nutrition
If nutritional values are provided for this recipe, they are an estimate and will vary depending on the brands of ingredients you use. The values do not include optional ingredients or when ingredients are added to taste or for serving. If nutritional values are very important to you, I suggest using your favorite nutritional calculating tool with the brands you use.
Unit Conversions:
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That looks so good and so unlike anything I do that I can’t wait to try it. I like your secret ingredient too!
I haven’t had sauerbraten in so long – looks good! Great your son is enjoying the ‘real’ Oktoberfest, it’s a lot of fun.
Such fun photos of your son and his wife!! My dad adored sauerbraten—I sure wish I could make him your yummy version!
How cool that you lived in Germany! Gingersnaps are certainly a surprise secret ingredient, but they make total sense – they add sweetness, a bit of spice, and help thicken the sauce.