Make Pot Roast 10X More Flavorful By Giving It The German Treatment

Pot roast is a comforting and delicious one-pot meal that not only feeds a crowd, but is a crowd-pleaser. And while pot roast recipes encompass a wide range of seasonings, veggies, and even cooking methods, the German-style pot roast known as sauerbraten is an entirely different recipe that will amplify its flavor tenfold.

Meaning "sour roast" in German, sauerbraten features a week-long marinade that most pot roast recipes stateside don't include. The "sour" part of the German pot roast is an acidic marinade consisting of red wine vinegar, red wine, allspice, juniper berries, bay leaves, and aromatics. Germans marinate the roast with the vegetables for up to a week. A tangy, seasoned, and spiced marinade makes for a unique complement to the umami-richness of the beef and savory veggies. Furthermore, to balance a sour marinated beef, sweet ingredients like raisins or a sweet gingerbread sauce can be added to the pot. While all this is a lengthy process, it's hands-off and well worth it for the nuanced flavors and ultra-tender fall-apart beef.

Tasting Table staff member Michelle McGlinn published a recipe for German-style pot roast that uses a dry rub marinade consisting of salt, mustard, and grated garlic that coats the raw roast before sliding it into the fridge for 12 hours. Spices like juniper berries, rosemary, bay leaves, and thyme are reserved for the braising liquid as opposed to a wet vinegar marinade. A 12-hour marinade, along with slow-cooking, is sufficient for tenderizing a tough cut of beef.

McGlinn's recipe for German-style pot roast adds even more German flair with a German beer gravy as well as onions and bratwurst added to the pot roast braise. After searing the pot roast, you'll add oil to cook the onions and bratwurst before deglazing the pot with beer and adding the cooking liquid, spices, and roast. After the roast and veggies are finished braising, the beer-and-broth braising liquid is thickened with butter and flour to create the rich beer gravy. If you want to bring a tangy element, add a splash of red wine vinegar to the braising liquid. You can also garnish the pot roast with golden raisins for a burst of sweetness. This recipe cooks the roast in the oven after developing the braising liquid over the stove.

Our German-style pot roast recipe is just one way to showcase the sauerbraten preparation. However, you can give the sauerbraten treatment to other pot roast recipes. For example, since sauerbrauten is typically embellished with a sweet element, you can give the sour marinade treatment to this recipe for herb and fig pot roast. Of course, a gingerbread sauce is a traditional element to sauerbraten, and you can also bring this sweet ginger flavor to your pot roast gravy by adding ginger snap cookies! SImply let the cookies soak up all the cooking liquid, then blend them with a hand emulsifier to serve as both a sweetener and thickening agent.