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Easy Sauerbraten | German Braised Beef

Introduction & method

Traditional German sauerbraten is made from a beef joint marinaded for 3-10 days in spiced red wine or vinegar. This easy American version doesn't marinade the meat but uses vinegar and crushed ginger nut biscuits to give the sweet-sour flavour.

 Easy Sauerbraten | German Braised Beef Recipe

Prep


Break up the ginger biscuits into a zip-lock bag. Smash them into crumbs with a rolling pin or meat mallet. Tenderize the meat by bashing it with a rolling pin or meat mallet. Take about half of the crumbs and press them into the beef on both sides. Peel the onion, halve it, and thinly slice it.

Cook


Heat a generous amount of oil in a large frying pan on medium heat. Add the beef and cook for 2-3 minutes each side. You may need to do this in batches depending on the size of your beef slices and frying pan. Remove the beef and set aside on a warmed plate. You'll probably want to wash out the pan now because it will have burnt biscuit crumbs in it. Add more oil and whn it's hot put the onion in and cook for about 5 minutes until slightly brown. Add the stock and then transfer the pan contents to a big saucepan. Add the bayleaf, Worcester sauce, cider vinegar and some salt and pepper. Return the meat to the pan along with any juice that may have seeped out. Bring to the boil, reduce to a simmer, put a lid on the pan and cook until the beef is tender. This will probably take 2 hours. Add a couple of teaspoons of the reserved biscuit crumbs - they should thicken up the sauce. Taste it and add more salt and pepper if required.

Serve


Sauerbraten can be served with mashed potatoes, spätzle or kartoffelpuffer (potato pancakes).


The video above is from the Keef Cooks YouTube channel. Click here to see the video recipe of Easy Sauerbraten | German Braised Beef on YouTube.

 
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Ingredients & Info



 450 grams thinly sliced lean beef steak
 1 medium onion
 14 ginger nut biscuits - ginger snaps
 500 ml beef stock
 3 tbsp cider vinegar
 a splash of Worcester sauce
 1-2 bay leaf
  salt and pepper to taste
PLUS

Oil for frying.


UNITS:
Metric
US Customary/Imperial

Serves 4 
Prep time: 10 minutes.
Cooking time: 2 hours 20 minutes.
Total time: 2½ hours.