Kate's Easy German Sauerbraten

This was super easy with the slow cooker and very close to authentic Sauerbraten that my family use to make when I was young. I was not able to find juniper berries, but it did not seem to effect the recipe. I was really skeptical about the gingersnap cookies in the gravy, but it worked beautifully and produced a wonderful sauce. Will definitely be keeping this one to make for large family dinners in the future.

Terrific sauerbraten recipe. Marinated the beef for 3 days, then prepared it in the pressure cooker. (Seared meat in about 2 tbsp vegetable oil; cooked without vegetables at high pressure for 50 mins. Let pressure drop naturally; removed meat, added veggies and simmered until tender.) Served it with Grandma Jeanette's Amazing German Red Cabbage and buttered kluski noodles.

I made this recipe for a international luncheon we had at work. I won!! Best entree. This recipe is terrific. I used a rump roast instead of a chuck roast. I also made Grandma Jeanette's Amazing German Red Cabbage.

I really had high expectations for this. I used to have sauerbraten at a German restaurant in the Amana Colonies in Iowa every couple of years and for days or even weeks afterwards I would think of that meal and think to myself "Man, I really need to learn how to make that". I love sauerkraut on Reubens or brats and I always buy the good stuff that's refrigerated and not the canned junk. Somewhat unusually for me I followed the measurements to a T with the exception of juniper berries which I could not find at the store plus I added a couple of extra gingersnap cookies because they looked small to me (about the size of a half dollar). I marinated the meat for 2 & 1/2 days. I also cooked this in a Dutch oven where I browned the meat on all 4 sides first before adding the liquid and brought it just to a boil and then put it in a 250 degree oven for just under 4 hours. The meat came out almost fall apart tender. The taste of the meat was fine. As long as you got a little from the outside of the roast it had a nice little kick of sour to it's taste. My problem was with the gravy. It was way too sour and I usually like big, bold tastes. I used exactly 1 cup of cider vinegar. I ground the cookies up in a food processor and they thickened the gravy up a little too much so I was getting as much sugar from the cookies as possible. It was still way too sour in addition to being too thick so I added about a cup of water and that toned it down a tiny bit but it was still too strong.

So much like my father's recipe (which he wouldn't share, and took to his grave!) that I can't wait to try it. 2 essential ingredients that I have seen missing from other recipes are the lemon and the gingersnaps to thicken the gravy.The only thing I will do differently is sear the roast before putting it in the crockpot. I think it really helps develop the flavor. I will serve it with red cabbage, potato pancakes and my grandma's Apfel Kuchen recipe. :)

This is an authentic German recipe. At last!!!! Even has the gingersnap cookies which are needed for thickening rather than flour. Excellent! Thank you for sharing!!!

I cried and enjoy each time I chew the stew. On the side of awesome Red Cabbage. I wish to add potato salad, but look at those cook is large for two people. We thankful for to keep ourselves because it does taste like we ate the restaurant! The only thing I removed is celery, because I do not recall at the restaurant have that recipe to cook.

Not a huge fan of German cuisine, but this is very good. Followed instructions for marinade exactly, including juniper berries harvested in my yard, and let it sit for two days. Instead of a slow cooker I put it in a cast iron Dutch oven at 300 deg for about 4 hr. I believe pot roasts cooked this way are far superior to a slow cooker. And during chilly weather the heat and aroma in the kitchen are much appreciated. Served with red cabbage and noodles. Flavorful and falling-apart tender.

Fabulous!! As good or better than any I've had at German restaurants. I didn't have whole cloves, so I used powdered. Marinated mine for 5 days for a fuller flavor and it turned out perfect! Makes a wonderful gravy, though I did add a package of brown gravy mix.

GREAT!!!!!

Followed the recipe almost exactly and it was delicious! So easy.

This is very delicious. Easy recipe to do. You need a 4-5 lb piece of meat to feed more than 5 people. Very authentic taste.

I have made this twice. It is wonderful! This recipe tastes better than the Sauerbraten made at a very popular German restaurant in town. I did not have many of the spices mentioned and spices can be a little expensive, but it was well worth it. I will just have to make this recipe more often :)

The easiest, tastiest Sauerbraten ever! Quick and delicious. My son requests it for his birthday every year, and this is a pleasure to make. I follow directions exactly and it is perfect every time!

I tried this recipe and cooked the roast in the marinade... the sauce after the ginger snaps , was so strong , peppery , salty , and just not a compliment to the meal that I had to corn syrup, water , what ever i could to sweeten... Next time cook roast in water and do the marinade , ginger snaps on the stove top.... I think the 4 hrs or so with the roast made it so strong , the ginger snaps couldn't resurrect it...

Ok... Will try again lol. -- If you're looking for authentic German Sauerbraten, you MUST try this one! The flavor profile exceeds that of our local Bavarian restaurant (the owner(s) are from Bayern, Deutschland), and this recipe is sehr gute! Wunderbar!!!! The only thing I must caution ANYONE making this on... Make sure you are careful of which gingersnaps you use! It changes the gravy flavor dramatically and literally makes or breaks this dish. It's VERY critical you choose one that has a flavor you can 'live with'. Also, please don't skip the Juniper Berries - they too are critical for an authentic flavor. Remember, in Germany, just as in the US (or anywhere for that matter), there are varied ways of making any "regional dish"; and each cook adds their own 'twist' to each dish. So if you've had authentic sauerbraten before, don't knock a recipe because it isn't 'identical' to the one you tried - rate this based on it's own merit for flavor, texture, complexity of prep, etc. :-) This recipe is best served with: Rotkohl (red cabbage) und Apfelkuchen (Apple cake) für Dessert. ;-) If you're REALLY ambitious, you can add Deutsche Kartoffelsalat (German Potato Salad), Currywurst, Rouladen (Beef Rolls) and Authentic German Beer (Prost!) for a night of German culinary 'travel'. (Great for Oktoberfest) Addendum to the aforementioned review: Keep in mind this is a slow cooker recipe, so it won't have the luxurious appearance of an oven roasted meat. ;)

I made this for New Years Eve for a group of friends. We were looking for a hearty meal prior to going to a celebration downtown. I was taking a chance since it was the first time I ever made the recipe so I was pretty nervous about my meal turning out. It was awesome and everyone loved it! I did cook this in the oven on 300 degrees rather than a slow cooker like another reviewer suggested but otherwise followed the recipe minus the juniper berries which I could not find. The gravy is awesome!!

We have two very picky boys, and they ate everything. We also made hot rotkohl, and spaetzle. The sauce was great, too, but I added a little corn starch and a few more ginger snaps. Everybody was happy. :)

This sauerbraten was a bit to sour for me. I understand what sauer means,it just wasn't a dish that I'll make again.

Yes! This is the closest I've come to making sauerbraten that tastes like I used to get at the school carnival as a kid! I did add the juniper berries and followed all the directions, with one change--I added in about twice the number of gingersnaps for the gravy. Yum, yum yum! Thank you!

Marinade as follows...2 whole onions, 2 or more bay leaves, 6 cloves,12 or more peppercorns,2-3tbs. Juniper berries ...can't find berries,order on Amazon or use gin I use 1/2 c. Or more of gin (it's made with juniper berries) and 2-3Tbls of berries 2tsp. Salt, 1pt or 2cups red wine vinegar . Marinate for 3-4days, cook in marinade, remove meat and add crushed ginger snaps, as many as it takes to make a thick gravy... the sweetness will help cut the vinegar. Hope this helps those looking for authentic taste

I've made this several times and it always comes out great. I follow the recipe exactly and it's never to sour. My son requests this every year for his birthday

Added a tablespoon of sugar to the gravy and four more ginger snaps. Meat was tender and delicious!

Delicious, just like my mother used to make!

The meat was just OK--it didn't get much flavor from the marinade, though in all fairness, I did only get to soak it 36 hours. However, we loved the sauce, which was sweet without seeming like dessert. We'll probably make this again, but I'll be sure to marinate the full time, and I might poke holes in the meat so the inside might pick up more flavor. Like many others, I omitted the juniper berries, and I also left out the celery.

Made this today and WOW- A Winner!! I marinated a beef borrow round for 2.5 days and it was very tender and tasty. I served it with buttered red potatoes and roasted butternut squash ( recipe on All recipes). Will definitely make again!!

The advertisement after the first ingredient threw me off and made me actually missed the first ingredient. It still turned out OK. I'll try it again with the full recipe next time

We followed the recipe as written except no juniper berries and two extra ginger snaps to tighten the sauce to our taste. Meat was fork tender and veggies maintained their shape and texture. The house smelled so good the last two hours were agony...but it was worth the wait. Served with spaetzel and red cabbage for fully German meal.

Only change I did was to marinade it for 5 days and increase the number of gingersnaps to 12 (they were kinda on the small size).

Very, very good! Just need to get a good sear on the roast before putting in slow cooker.

I’d like to start by saying I’ve never had sauerbraten before. I had nothing in the realm of this specific roast to compare it to. But I will say that compared to a regular old pot roast with the French onion soup mix etc.- it’s fantastic. The gravy is excellent. I added a few more than eight cookies on accident, I was definitely eating ginger snaps while cooking! I tried to follow the recipe because I believe in not making a massive amount of substitutions. I’d like to see what the author of the recipe intended. That being said, I couldn’t find juniper berries and I forgot celery at the store. So all in all, I got pretty close to the recipe. And I’ll be making it again- still I’m adding extra cookies next time because the gravy was, dare I say, better than any other I have tasted. But hopefully next time I can find juniper berries and remember the celery! I was going to make potatoes but I made a huge batch of pierogis to throw on the side (and froze the other thirty!) Wonderful recipe.

This recipe out does my mothers bless her soul. the only thing that i left out were the juniper berries(could not find them where i live)guten appetit for anyone that wishes to have an authentic german meal. dont forget the pot dumplings and red cabbage and a good german beer and german bread. danke shoen

LOVE this recipe. I marinated a 3.5 lb bottom round roast for 2.5 days. I couldn’t find juniper berries for the marinade but it didn’t affect the taste. We actually looked forward to leftovers it was that good. I served it with buttered boiled red potatoes and roasted butternut squash. Since that’s what I had on hand. This is a WINNER!

FINALLY an easy and perfectly tasty way to make the Sour Beef & Dumplings I'm used to. My family and I always ate this for Christmas every year and I just found out my grandmother has been cheating the last few years by getting a platter of this from Silver Spring Mining Company Restaurant (which is also extremely phenomenal)... but I don't want to cheat anymore and wanted to make this for christmas this year. Tried this recipe out Boss Lady Debbie's Easy Potato Dumplings and it's PERFECT. i actually had to add just a little bit of red wine vinegar and cornstarch to the sauce to get it to my personal liking but.... so easy compared to these other recipes online. I also marinated the beef for 6 days.

Loved it...will make it again.

Delicious. No juniper berries, but we didn’t miss them. I followed directions exactly, except I finished it after cooking all day, then separated the liquid and refrigerated everything until the next day. Skimmed off the fat on top, then made the gravy, and warmed it all while making the mashed potatoes. YUM.

Normaly we eat it with beef 2 but traditionaly its made from horse no joke im german ! :O

I come from a family that was half German. My Grandmother (German) made this a couple times a year. While this recipie is not up to Grandmas, It has the taste and in my opinion is a worthwhile substitution. I will make it again. .

I used to have a sauerbraten recipe years ago that I've lost. This is pretty close to it so I'm so happy! I didn't have any juniper berries. I made it with potato dumplings. So delish!