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A slice of Sauerbraten roast with a brown sauce and raisins served with Spätzle and red cabbage on a plate.
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Sauerbraten (German Pot Roast)

Prep Time30 minutes
Cook Time4 hours
marinating time5 days
Total Time5 days 4 hours 30 minutes
Servings: 8 servings
Author: Aleksandra

Ingredients

For the marinade:

  • 3 ½–4 pounds (1.6–1.8kg) boneless beef roast such as bottom round, rump, top round, or chuck
  • 3 cups (750ml/1 bottle) red wine
  • 1 cup (240ml) red wine vinegar
  • 1 cup (240ml) beef broth
  • 1 large onion
  • 3 cloves garlic
  • 3 bay leaves
  • 1 teaspoon black peppercorns
  • 1 teaspoon juniper berries
  • 1 teaspoon caraway seeds
  • 1 teaspoon coriander seeds
  • ½ teaspoon cloves
  • 5 allspice berries
  • 1 tablespoon brown sugar
  • A couple of springs thyme
  • 1-2 sprigs rosemary
  • 1 tablespoon salt + 1 teaspoon if using homemade, unsalted broth
  • Additional 1-2 onions + 3-4 carrots if your roast is large see notes

For the sauce:

  • 3-4 tablespoons clarified butter or vegetable oil
  • 1 onion
  • Small piece of celeriac or 1-2 celery ribs
  • ½ leek
  • 4 carrots
  • 1 tablespoon tomato paste
  • Lebkuchen and/or spice cookies such as gingersnaps, Biscoff, Speculaas, I used 3 ounces (85g) Lebkuchen cookies and 2 Biscoff cookies
  • 1/3 cup raisins
  • ½ tablespoon flour
  • 1 tablespoon honey
  • 1 teaspoon molasses just for the color, so you can also use honey or sugar
  • Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

Marinate the meat:

  • Prepare the meat – trim any tough silver skin and place it in a baking dish that is just a little bit bigger than the piece of meat (big enough for the meat and marinade but not too big; the meat should be covered at least ¾ of the way with the marinade, but preferably all the way).
  • Add all the ingredients for the marinade to a saucepan, bring to a boil, then simmer for 15–20 minutes.
  • Let cool completely, then pour over the meat. Cover and marinate for 3–7 days in the fridge. If the meat is not covered completely with the marinade, turn it over every 12 hours. You can also put something heavy (like a small baking dish) on top of the meat to keep it submerged in the marinade. I sometimes add some additional onions and carrots to the marinade just to keep the level of the liquid higher and cover more of the meat.

On the day of preparing the dish:

  • Preheat the oven to 300°F (150°C).
  • Take the meat out of the marinade and pat dry with paper towels.
  • Strain the marinade, discarding all the spices and vegetables.
  • Roughly chop the onions, celeriac/celery ribs, and leek; cut the carrots into large chunks.
  • Heat 2–3 tablespoons of clarified butter in a Dutch oven or another heavy pot. Brown the meat on all sides, then take it out of the pot.
  • Add the onions, celeriac/celery, and leek and another tablespoon of butter. Cook for a couple of minutes, until softened.
  • Add the carrots and stir in the tomato paste.
  • Add the meat back to the pot, then pour in the strained marinade. Bring to a boil, then cover the pot and put it in the oven.
  • Bake for 3–4 hours, or until the meat is very soft, about 2 hours per 2.2 pounds (1kg) of meat.

Make the sauce:

  • Remove the pot from the oven. Transfer the meat to a plate, cover loosely with foil, and keep warm.
  • Strain the cooking liquid into a large pot/bowl, pressing on the vegetables to extract as much liquid as possible. Discard the vegetables, except the carrots (you can serve them with the roast).
  • Pour the strained liquid back into the pot and bring to a gentle simmer.
  • Crumble the gingerbread cookies/gingersnaps/Biscoff into the pot, add the honey, and molasses, and cook for about 10 minutes, stirring often, until the cookies dissolve and the sauce thickens slightly. You can mix the sauce with a hand/immersion blender for it to be completely smooth. Then add the raisins.
  • In a small bowl, whisk the flour with a tablespoon of cold water until smooth, then slowly whisk this mixture into the simmering sauce (adding flour may be not necessary if you have used more cookies and they already thickened the sauce enough). Cook for 5–10 minutes more, stirring, until the sauce is glossy and has the consistency you like.
  • Season the sauce with salt and pepper to taste. If it’s too sour, add a bit more honey; if it’s too sweet, add a small amount of vinegar-
  • Slice the meat into thin slices against the grain and serve with plenty of sauce.
  • Enjoy!

Notes

Calories = 1 serving (1/8 of the recipe). This is only an estimate!

Nutrition

Calories: 740kcal