Meals · Roasts, ribs & slow cooker
Sauerbraten (German sweet-sour pot roast)
The Rhineland's great Sunday roast: beef marinated for three to five days in red wine and vinegar, braised until it yields to a fork and served in a glossy sweet-sour gravy thickened with gingerbread and studded with raisins, with boiled potatoes and red cabbage. The days of marinating happen in the fridge and are not counted in the time shown.
- Time
- 230 min (40 prep + 190 cook)
- Servings
- 4
- Per serving
- 731 kcal
- Protein
- 60 g
Ingredients
Marinade
- 2 1/4 lb beef shoulder (Rinderschulter) in one piece beef shoulder or marrow-bone shank, raw, tied with string if loose
- 1 1/2 cups red wine, dry
- 2/3 cup red wine vinegar
- 1 1/4 cups water
- 1–2 medium onion, roughly chopped
- 2 medium carrots, roughly chopped
- 1 small piece celeriac, peeled, roughly chopped
- 3 leaves bay leaf
- 1 tsp juniper berries, lightly crushed
- 3 whole cloves
- 4 whole berries ground allspice
- 1 tsp peppercorns black pepper
- 1 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 tbsp canola oil
- 1 tbsp tomato paste
Red cabbage (Rotkohl)
- 1/2 medium head red cabbage, finely shredded
- 1 medium granny smith apple, cored and diced
- 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 2 1/2 tsp brown sugar
- 2 tsp butter
- scant 1/2 cup water
To serve
- 1 3/4 lb gold potatoes, peeled, halved
Sweet-sour gravy
- 1 3/4 oz gingersnaps or Soßenlebkuchen gingerbread cookie, crumbled
- 1/4 cup dark seedless raisins
- 2 1/2 tsp granulated sugar, to taste
Steps
- Three to five days ahead (this waiting time is not counted in the minutes shown): tie the bay leaves, juniper, cloves, allspice and peppercorns in a square of muslin or a tea ball. Bring the wine, vinegar, water, onion, carrot, celeriac and the spice bag to the boil, then let it cool completely. Put the beef in a snug glass or stainless bowl or a large zip bag, pour over the marinade so the meat is covered, cover and refrigerate for 3 to 5 days, turning it once a day.
- On the day, lift out the beef, pat it very dry and rub it with the salt. Strain the marinade, keeping the liquid, the vegetables and the spice bag. Heat the oil in a heavy casserole over medium-high heat and brown the beef well on all sides, about 10 minutes; the dark crust is what colours the gravy. Lift it out.
- Add the drained vegetables to the pot and cook 5 minutes, scraping up the browned bits. Stir in the tomato paste for 1 minute, pour in the marinade liquid and tuck in the spice bag. Return the beef, bring to a bare simmer, cover and braise very gently for 2 1/2 to 3 hours, turning it halfway, until a fork slides in easily. A braise like this goes far past the USDA's safe minimum of 145°F with a 3-minute rest.
- While the beef braises, put the red cabbage, apple, cider vinegar, brown sugar, butter, the second measure of water and a pinch of salt in a pan, cover and simmer gently for 50 to 60 minutes, stirring now and then, until soft and glossy.
- Boil the potatoes in salted water for about 20 minutes, until tender, and drain.
- Lift out the beef and keep it warm under foil. Remove the spice bag, add the crumbled gingerbread to the pot and blend everything with a stick blender until smooth. Simmer uncovered for about 20 minutes, stirring, until about 1.2 litres remain and the gravy coats a spoon, adding the raisins for the last 10 minutes. Taste and balance it with the sugar: it should be clearly sweet and clearly sour at once.
- Slice the beef across the grain about 3/8 inch thick and serve in plenty of gravy with the potatoes and red cabbage. It keeps 4 days in the fridge and tastes even better the next day; the beef in its gravy freezes for 3 months.
Good to know
Do I really have to marinate it for days?
Yes, this is the dish. Three days gives a clear tang and five a deeper one, and it is hands-off time in the fridge. A shorter soak leaves the meat tasting like an ordinary pot roast with a sour sauce.
Can I use a leaner cut?
Yes, leaner top round (Oberschale) also works. It has less gelatine than shoulder, so braise it very gently and slice it thin.
Can I make it without wine?
Replace the wine with beef broth for a plainer, more savoury gravy, and add a little extra vinegar to taste. It comes out at about the same score.
Alternatives
Per
- Calories
- 86
- Protein
- (34%)
- 7 g
- Fat
- (22%)
- 2 g
- Carbohydrates
- (44%)
- 10 g
- of which sugar
- 3 g
- Fiber
- 1 g
- Sodium
- 120 mg
About 5% of the alcohol remains after cooking; the label counts only that.
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Computed from the ingredients with our published formula, not yet kitchen-tested. How
As written, 2925 kcal goes into the pot and 3954 g of ingredients comes out as about 3400 g of food: 86 kcal per 100 g. Cooking moves water and energy density is the score's biggest lever, so the dish is scored as cooked, not as an average of its parts. Every ingredient links to its food page, with the same data and score. The label's percentages are each macronutrient's share of the calories. The full formula.