Hello everybody, have you always wondered how to pickle a classic German Sauerbraten? Here is a simple step-by-step recipe that has been prepared in our family for generations. Pickling an authentic “Sauerbraten” the Westphalian way is easy! There are different beef cuts that you can use to make your own Sauerbraten. The best is to use a large piece of rump or round cut. Since the meat will decrease in size due to the pickling process, it will be helpful to be generous with the amount of meat. For 6 people, I usually buy about 2 kg of
beef.
Recipe for delicious german pickled Roast beef
A perfect Sauerbraten really melts on your tongue and is a true German classic and just so delicious. For the best possible result, the right brining and the perfect seasoning are very important. The meat should remain in the vinegar brine for about 5 days. Carrot, celery, onions, bay leaves, cloves, juniper berries, allspice, black peppercorns and mustard seeds are essential for the vinegar brine.
How to make Sauerbraten:
I know that it sounds time-consuming, but I always put it in the vinegar brine for exactly 5 days, this achieves the best result for me and is totally worth the wait. You’ll be rewarded with an insanely delicious roast beef. Besides turning the meat once every day, it almost makes itself, so you won’t have too much work with it. Especially important for the vinegar brine is to take a good red wine vinegar or herb vinegar. Do not use vinegar essence – even when diluted!
Sauerbraten is a real classic of German cuisine and loved in many regions. However, the preparation varies a little depending on the region. Westphalian Sauerbraten is prepared somewhat differently than Rhenish Sauerbraten, for example. In the Rhineland, raisins are often still used, which is left out in the delicious german Sauerbraten. Depending on the region, some other ingredients of the marinade also differ. In the region of Hesse, it is common to use apple wine instead of vinegar for the marinade, and in the Aachen area,
people even use the famous “Aachener Printen” or gingerbread for the sauce. However, the basic recipe for classic Sauerbraten still remains very similar and is super simple. You can learn how to marinate it properly and then braise it until juicy in my step-by-step instructions further down the page.
TRADITIONAL GERMAN PICKLED ROAST BEEF
My grandma used to use horse meat instead of beef for the roast every now and then and always added some pumpernickel to the gravy. To sweeten it, she usually used some sugar beet syrup and no sugar. The pumpernickel and stale breads make the sauce nice and rich and give it a little more flavor. There used to be a lot of horse butchers in Westphalia – today I only know one in Dortmund. However, I would really prefer the beef roast any day. Opinions also differ on the side dishes, even at home. I prefer mashed potatoes with
Sauerbraten.
That’s because in my childhood at home, we always had the delicious Sauerbraten with the heavenly hearty sweet and sour sauce together with mashed potatoes and I can’t imagine eating it with any other side dish. My husband Christian swears by potato dumplings, red cabbage and stewed apples as a side dish with the Sauerbraten. Since the likelihood of us agreeing on this after so many years of marriage is really low, Sauerbraten is always served with different side dishes at our house, and we can both enjoy the delicious
Sauerbraten with our favorite side dish and reminisce about childhood memories.
If you have a question about the recipe or if you’ve already tried it, I’d love to hear your comment, and I’ll do my best to respond as soon as possible! I hope you enjoy reading, strolling through and trying out my cooking and baking recipes!
Pickle authentic German “Sauerbraten” the Westphalian way, following grandma’s traditional recipe. Classically pickled for 5 days in a vinegar brine with spices and classic pumpernickel in the sauce. The delicious pickled roast beef is served with red cabbage, potato dumplings and stewed apples or delicious creamy mashed potatoes.
Equipment
- 1 cutting board
- 1 large bowl
- 1 paring knife
- 1 large roaster pan
Ingredients
- 2 kg Beef (rump or round)
- 2 large bottles of vinegar (apple, herb or red wine vinegar)
- 1 large carrot
- 1 celery root
- 3 bay leaves
- 1 onion
- 2 tbsp juniper berries
- 3 tbsp mustard seeds
- 1 tbsp allspice seeds
- 6 cloves
- 2 tbsp black peppercorns
- 100 g pumpernickel or bread
- 150 g stale bread
- 2 tbsp sugar or sugar beet syrup
- 2-3 tbsp clarified butter for frying or oil
- salt to taste the sauce
- pepper to taste the sauce
- 300 ml Water
- 2 tsp cornstarch or Maizena
Instructions
- It is best to prepare all needed ingredients right at the beginning. You can do yourself a big favor by weighing and measuring your ingredients right from the start, too. First, put the vinegar in a large pot with all the spices and water.
- Then peel and dice the carrot, onion and celery. The vegetable cubes are then added to the vinegar mix. Afterwards, you also add the piece of meat to the marinade. It is very important that all the meat is covered with the vinegar brine.
- I usually start pickling the meat on Mondays and then prepare the roast on Saturdays. The sauerbraten should be in the marinade for 4 -5 days to infuse really well. You should turn the meat once every day.
- When the meat is well infused after a few days, you can remove it from the vinegar brine and pat it dry with paper towels.
- Heat up your large roaster pan and add clarified butter. Then sauté the meat well on all sides.
- Next, gradually pour the brine (as it is – with all the spices) in the roaster pan. This should be about 1 1/4 liters.
- After 30 minutes, add the bread in coarse pieces
- and the pumpernickel in crumbs to the broth.
- Let everything simmer for 100 minutes on low heat.
- After that, take the roast beef out of the liquid. Pour the roast liquid through a sieve
- and press the bread and spice mixture into the sieve with a spoon and squeeze everything well until no more liquid comes out. The mass that remains in the sieve is discarded.
- The sauce is already creamy because of the bread, if you like it a little thicker, you can thicken it with some cornstarch. Finally, season the sauce with salt, pepper and a little sugar. My grandma liked to use 2 -3 tbsp. of sugar beet syrup instead of sugar, but this choice is completely up to you.
Notes
personally like to eat the sauerbraten with mashed potatoes.
