Authentic Sauerbraten (pickled beef roast) Recipe - German Sauerbraten

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Ingredients for marinade:

  • 1814 g (4 pounds) of Boneless Bottom Round Roast
  • 500 ml (16.9 oz) dry Red Wine
  • 250 ml (8.45 oz) red wine vinegar or red raspberry vinegar
  • 1 teaspoon of black pepper corns
  • 6 whole cloves
  • 2-3 bay leaves depending on size
  • 1 teaspoon of mustard seeds
  • 10 Juniper berries
  • 2 teaspoons of salt
  • 2 stems of fresh majoran leaves
  • 500 g (17.63 oz) of onions
  • 2 stems of marjoram leaves

Preparation of marinade:

Wash the meat under running water and dry with a paper kitchen towel. Cut the fat away to your liking. Mix the vinegar with the red wine. Cut 500 g (17.63 oz) of onions into chunky pieces, break the bay leaves, wash the marjoram and separate the leaves from the stem while striping them from top to bottom against the grain; mix together the cloves, juniper berries, and pepper corns and crack/crush them (I used a coffee grinder). Then add the spices, salt, mustard seeds and onions cut in chunks to the vinegar/wine mix. In a saucepan bring it to a boil and cook for about 5 minutes. Let it cool down a little. Place the meat in either a bowl or in a ziploc bag with expandable bottom and zipper. Pour the lukewarm marinade over the meat. If using a bowl cover it, if using a ziploc bag close the zipper. Place in a refrigerator for 3-5 days. Make sure to turn the meat from time to time so that all sides are marinated equally.

Ingredients for meat and gravy:

  • marinated meat
  • 80 g (2.82 oz) of celery knob
  • 200 g (7.05 oz) of leek
  • 150 g (5.29 oz) of carrots
  • 300 g (10.58 oz) of onions
  • 60 g (2.11 oz) of vegetable shortening
  • 2 cubes of Knorr beef bouillion
  • 1 teaspoons of salt
  • 3 teaspoons of corn starch

Preparation of sauerbraten:

Take the meat out of the marinade and dry with a kitchen paper towel. Pour only the liquids of the marinade through a sieve into a bowl and set aside. Heat up the shortening and brown the meat on all sides. Take it out and place on a plate. Cut onions, carrots, celery knob, and leeks and add to the shortening you browned the meat in. Cook the ingredients until transparent and add the marinade to it. Place the meat back in the saucepan and if necessary add some water to cover evenly the meat. Bring to a boil and turn the heat down. Cover it and let it cook for about 2 1/2 hours. Make sure to check on the meat and if necessary fill up the evaporated liquids with water.

Click on pictures to enlarge

After the meat has cooked take out and wrap it immediately in aluminum foil to let it rest for about 10 minutes. In the meantime pass the liquids through a food mill. Measure and if necessary fill it up to 1 1/2 Liters (1.58 quarts of gravy). Return liquids to a saucepan and bring to a boil then add 2 cubes of crumbled beef bouillon into it. Dissolve 3 tablespoons of cornstarch in 4 tablespoons of red wine and add to the gravy for thickening. Spice it up with some salt and pepper to your liking.

Use an electrical knife to cut the meat in nice slices before placing them on the final plate. You can serve it with Oma’s cooked potato dumplings, half and half potato dumplings, yeast dumplings or homemade spaetzle and red cabbage.