Traditional Sauerbraten

I followed the recipe to the letter and I was richly rewarded. Very tasty. Not overly sweet or sour—very smooth blend that was great with spätzle.

My mother was German plus I lived in Germany for three years. We never used cookies to make the gravy which is my favorite part of the dinner, ladled over spaetzle. It has some of the marinade and sour cream in it. While growing up, my mother made this for my birthday dinner every year.

As with all recipes, there are many variations, and this is stand up. I have always made it a bit differently, I use a 5# roast and lard it with a larding needle with salt pork. Marinate 5 days with 3 cups wine vinegar, 3-water, chopped onion, carrot, cloves, bay leaves, pepper corns & spoonful of pickling spice. Boil, cool a bit, and marinate for 5 days. When making the gravy, I add soaked golden rasins.

It was good. I have also used a recipe that marinated for three days, using cider vinegar instead of red wine vinegar, and involved rubbing the meat with a mixture of dry ground ginger and salt before putting in the marinade. One trick I learned is to brown it well on all sides, then place in a Dutch oven, pour over the marinade with spices and onions, and bake covered four hours at 300 degrees F. When done, strain the cooking liquid and save it, then chill it and the meat overnight. Slice the next day, place in a shallow pan, pour over beef broth and warm covered in a slow oven for one hour. Make the gravy with the strained and defatted cooking liquid, adding finely crushed gingersnaps by the handful and whisking them in until blended before adding more. The recipe came from a German lady who ran a deli, but the rewarming in broth step is mine. It makes the meat melt in your mouth.

Hi, this is not a german Sauerbraten. I`m german, live in Cologne and over here we cook ist different. No Ginger in a traditional Sauerbraten.

Sauer me braten,ok it’s awesome I am German and this takes me back to great just like my fathers, honestly you won that war it great!

This is so close to the recipe I have from a German lady in Germany. The main difference is once the ginger snaps are dissolved and the gravy thickened, I simmer for about an hr. I also keep the carrots and onions with it.

I didn’t like the flavor of this dish. It is a little sour and sweet with the savory meat. Had a hard time finishing the leftovers. Wish I only made one third what the recipe called for.

I make my Sauerbraten often – except I use slices of round steak about 3/4″ thick – it can shorten the marinating time if you want – and easier to serve – no crumbling slices from the ends of a big piece of meat. Used the recipe as is except not so much salt and pepper in the marinade. Cooking time is shorter too – just check tenderness and then finish in the gravy.

I go with the longer marinade time. I usually go 1 week but I prefer spicier & with authentic spaetzle which is a another recipe in itself.

My grandmother’s recipe (born in 1903), was passed down from her grandmother (Germany 1860’s), used more ginger snaps which was dissolved in the original liquid used as marinade. This prevents any lumps. She served it with knedliky, a Czechoslovakian dumpling. Also, she marinated carrots and celery along with the onions in the pot with the meat and cooked the carrots and onions in the Dutch oven in the oven at 325 for at LEAST 5-7 hours WITH THE marinade after browning the meat. This makes for a moister meat. Otherwise, the recipe looks correct. (I’m 100% German but 3rd generation American).

I made this recipe several times and it has consistently been a crowd pleaser. Excellent flavor and tender meat. It’s one of our favorite recipes!

This is exactly like my great-grandmother’s recipe. The only difference is that we use chuck roast and cut the meat into 2″ cubes. This way it only needs to marinate overnight. I also make my own gingersnaps because I can’t fine any store bought that taste good. This is an absolute family favorite!

I was great, only area I need to investigate is the gingersnaps. Really did not pickup that flavor in the gravy.

I was not able to find Ginger Snap Cookies so substituted with 1/2 package Archway Soft Batch Molasses Cookies. Sauerbraten & kartoffelkloesses is comfort food. My grandmother used to make it for us, with the help of your recipe I think I’ve done her proud

Absolutely delicious! Exactly like my mother used to make! Tender and full of flavor!

My grandma used to make Sauerbraten every year for thanksgiving. I wanted to recapture that flavor, and this did it perfectly! Tastes exactly like my childhood. I did it in my instant pot using the sauté setting first, then the slow cooker setting. It really was just perfect!

Very, very good! We followed the recipe as it was written. The only exception was adding a bit of beef broth during the simmering of the meat, and then, after slicing up the meat and dissolving the ginger snaps in the gravy, we added the meat slices to it as well. Let that go for about 10-15 minutes and all came out quite tasty. Had it for Christmas dinner and everyone raved about how good it was. Will definitely make this again. Oh, yes, have to add that finding juniper berries was challenging.

Worst recipe ever. I followed the recipe. I turned it 2x day over 3 days. Cooked 4 hours. It fell apart but was so dry. And the gravy had no flavor. Very disappointed. What a waste of time, effort and $.

so good! entire family’s comments about the meal over and over!

I made it but did not discard solids. solids make a great sauce… 4 hours simmer was not going to cut it– so intant pot pressure is the add to this recipe. served with roasted garlic mashed and red cabbage with apple.