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Sauerbraten

A pot roast marinated in vinegar, wine, and spices, then slow‑cooked and served with a gravy made from the drippings.

From the Recipes Wiki (Fandom) · 18 ingredients
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Why it works: Celery and carrot match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 10,173 recipes. Both carry myristicin, which smells spice, warm. The science ↓

Sauerbraten

Oven350°F
Time3–4 hours

Ingredients

Directions

Marinate

  1. Place the meat in a large plastic bag.

  2. In a large bowl, thoroughly combine vinegar, wine, water, onions, celery, carrots, pepper, cloves, bay leaves, sugar, and salt; pour over the meat.

  3. Fasten the bag tightly and lay it flat in a 9" x 13" pan.

  4. Refrigerate for 2–3 days, turning the bag each day. (If you like sour sauerbraten, let marinate for 4 days.)

Brown and braise

  1. When ready to cook, remove the meat (saving the marinade) and dry it well.

  2. Rub the surface lightly with flour.

  3. In a Dutch oven, heat oil and slowly brown the meat on all sides.

  4. Add 1 cup of the marinade liquid plus some of the vegetables and bay leaves.

  5. Cover tightly and simmer on the surface heat or in a preheated 350°F oven for 3–4 hours until the meat is fork‑tender.

  6. If needed, add more marinade during the cooking time to keep at least ½ inch liquid in the Dutch oven.

  7. Remove the meat and keep it warm until ready to slice.

Make the gravy

  1. Into a large measuring cup, strain the drippings.

  2. Add several ice cubes and let stand for a few minutes until the fat separates out.

  3. Remove the fat, then make the gravy.

  4. In the Dutch oven, combine the gravy ingredients, stir, and cook for about 5 minutes over medium heat until the gravy has thickened.

  5. Taste for seasonings and adjust if necessary. This makes about 3 cups of gravy.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

987Calories
41 gProtein
30 gFat
128 gCarbs

Counts 13 of 15 ingredients. The other 2 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 13 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Flour1 cup (125g) all-purpose455
Beef100g cooked250
Olive Oil1 tbsp (14g)119
Sugar1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated49
Onion1 medium (110g)44
Wine2 tbsp cooking wine (30ml)25
Carrot1 medium (61g)25
Clove1 tsp ground (2g)7
Celery1 stalk (40g)6
Vinegar1 tbsp (15ml) distilled3
Bay Leaf1 leaf (0.6g)2
Ginger1 tsp grated fresh (2g)2
Salt1 tsp (6g)0
Waternot in our table0
Drippingnot in our table0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

Recipe from the Recipes Wiki (Fandom).

Steps grouped into stages for easier reading; the method is the source's own.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Celery + carrottop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together10,173 recipes

    Shared aroma: myristicin (spice, warm).

  2. Carrot + clovetop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together5,873 recipes

    Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).

  3. Onion + carrottop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together21,601 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  4. Celery + clovetop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together4,668 recipes

    Shared aroma: gamma-decalactone (peach, creamy).

  5. Beef + oniontop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together17,092 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Beef rump or sirloin tip
Tough connective tissue softens during long braising into a fork-tender, juicy roast.
Vinegar
Its acidity tenderizes the meat surface during marinating and gives the dish its tangy flavor.
Dry red wine
Adds acidity and depth to the marinade, helping flavor the meat and the resulting gravy.
Flour
Dusting the meat helps it brown, and thickens the gravy as it cooks.
Ginger snap crumbs
Add sweetness and spice, and help thicken and flavor the gravy.
Sugar
Balances the sharp acidity of the vinegar and wine marinade with sweetness.

The step that matters

Slowly browning the meat in the Dutch oven. Gradual browning on all sides builds deep flavor through the Maillard reaction, and the meat must be dry first or it will steam instead of browning.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (beef, vinegar, red wine, celery, carrot, clove, sugar):

  1. Capsicumfits better
  2. Tomatofits better
  3. Turnipfits better
  4. Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against beef, vinegar, red wine, celery, carrot, clove, sugar. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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