When my husband and I go out to dinner, if Sauerbraten is on the menu I will usually order it. This traditional German pot roast is typically marinated for several days before it is cooked. So while it's delicious, it requires forethought in order to cook it. My version of Sauerbraten is a slow cooker shortcut that you can eat any time.
The slow cooker sauerbraten recipe uses the spices found in the traditional roast and results in very tender beef along with the similar flavor of the sweet and sour gravy that makes it so delicious.
I used flank steak for the short cut Sauerbraten. I usually try to slice the meat when it is still slightly frozen because it makes it easier to cut. After tossing the beef with the cornstarch, you just dump everything into the slow cooker and let it cook long and slow for the beef to tenderize and the flavors to meld together.
The ingredients for shortcut slow cooker Sauerbraten are:
- flank steak ( you can use top round)
- cornstarch
- wine vinegar ( I used pomegranate vinegar)
- red wine
- beef broth
- chopped onion
- sugar
- garlic
- ground cloves
- ground ginger
- bay leaves
- salt and pepper
Sauerbraten is usually served with Kartoffelkloesse, which are traditonal German dumplings. Since I was going for a simpler weeknight meal, I chose to make a baked potato ball, using some leftover mashed potatoes. You can just as easily use mashed potatoes as a side dish and then make the baked potato balls the next night if you have leftovers.
Most of the potato ball recipes typically fry the potato balls to get them crispy. I chose to bake mine and they came out perfectly delicious. After forming the cold mashed potatoes into a ball, they are dipped in egg and then rolled into the spiced breadcrumbs.
The ingredients for the baked mashed potato balls are:
- Panko bread crumbs
- egg
- ground ginger
- ground cloves
- olive oil spray
These potato balls were so easy to make. The breadcrumbs take on even more of the Sauerbraten's flavor by adding ginger and cloves to the crumbs.
You can easily enjoy the flavors of the traditional Sauerbraten dinner with this non-traditional shortcut slow cooker version.
Slow Cooker Shortcut Sauerbraten
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 5 hours
- Total Time: 5 ½ hours
- Yield: 6- 8 servings 1x
- Category: Dinner
- Method: Slow Cooker
- Cuisine: German
Description
An easy weeknight shortcut for Sauerbraten made in your slow cooker.
Ingredients
- 2 lbs. flank steak, sliced thin (you can use top round steak)
- ¼ - ⅓ cup cornstarch
- ¾ cup wine vinegar (I used pomegranate vinegar)
- ½ cup red wine
- 1 ½ cups beef broth
- 1 large onion, chopped
- 3 tablespoons sugar ( if your wine is on the drier side, add another tablespoon of sugar to taste)
- 1 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1 ½ teaspoons ground ginger
- 1 teaspoon garlic
- 2 -3 whole bay leaves
- salt and pepper to taste
Potato Balls
- 1 ½ cups Panko bread crumbs ( you can use regular breadcrumbs)
- ½ teaspoon ginger
- ½ teaspoon cloves
- 1 beaten egg
Instructions
- Coat sliced beef in cornstarch ( use a large. bowl or ziplock bag)
- Pour all ingredients into the slow cooker. Mix to combine
- Cook on low for 5-6 hours until beef is tender.
- While beef is cooking, prepare the potato balls
- Preheat oven to 375°F,
- Add ginger and cloves to breadcrumbs.
- Form mashed potatoes into a golf ball sized balls
- Roll potato balls in the egg and then into the breadcrumbs.
- I repeated rolling in crumbs until the potato balls were fully covered.
- Spray a parchment lined baking sheet with olive oil spray and place potato balls on it.
- Spray them with the olive oil spray to help with crispiness.
- Bake for approximately 20 minutes, turning the potato balls after 10 minutes.
- Bake for a few more minutes if you'd like them extra crispy.
Keywords: Slow Cooker Shortcut Sauerbraten
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