Rouladen - A German vegetable stuffed beef roll.

What is a Rouladen

A rouladen is a traditional German main dish. Perfect for Sunday dinner! It is best described as a vegetable stuffed beef roll that is braised so that it's extra tender and juicy!

A couple of weeks ago, one of my golf girlfriends mentioned she made rouladen.  I remember this dish from my childhood Mom made. I now know she really didn't get the recipe right.   I still remember it, from when I was 10.   The dish Ingrid was describing sounded much better. It sounded so good, I asked for the recipe and I've made it.  And, I will share it with you now.  With pictures! If you would like a fancier beef based dish, this is it!

Ingredients:

Round Steak - Enough for 6 pieces (½ inch thin, 4 x 6 inches)
Celery sticks, cut to fit roulade. 1 stick per.
Carrot stick, cut to fit. 1 stick per
Sweet Butter Chip Pickles - 2 per roulade.
Bacon - about ⅓ slice - cut to fit
Onions - sliced - more or less to taste
Bay leaves (optional - in the sauce/gravy)

I bought round steak.  It was actually a huge piece (Costco).   If you get your round steak from the grocery store, you need to eyeball it to see how much is enough.  What you want is about 6 pieces of round steak that are ½ inch thick and about 4 x 6 inches.

Directions to make Rouladen

The meat I bought was quite thick.

As you can see, I cut it in half.

I just put the meat on a plastic cutting board, cover with plastic wrap and use a kitchen mallet (not sure what the correct term is).  Or, you could use a rolling pin.  Anything heavy to pound the meat so that it is about ½ inch (or a little less) thick.

Cut the meat to pieces of about 4 x 6 inches.   Place a piece of bacon, carrot, celery, some onion, and two butter sweet pickle chips on the meat. 

Take the end and roll tightly.

Securely tie with baker's twine.  I tied the roll together and also went around the open ends, tucking any loose ends under the twine.

Each Roulade needs to be browned.  I used the dutch oven that I was going to cook them in the oven with.  I did 3 per batch because you don't want to crowd them.   Count on at least 10 minutes to brown all sides for each batch.

When all have been browned, remove and use a little wine to deglaze and scrap up the yummy bits.  Put all rouladen into duty oven or casserole dish where they are fairly snug.

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Add enough water to cover.   I actually had some beef broth in the fridge so I did half beef broth, half water.   Cover with lid and cook in oven for about 2 hours.  When you check it, make sure that the meat is super tender.  Like fall-apart tender.

Oh gosh, this tastes soooo good!   And there is tons of gravy.  If you prefer a thicker gravy, you will need to thicken it and perhaps add a little more spice (mainly salt and pepper).

Print Recipe

5 from 2 votes

Rouladen – a special, traditional, German dish

This is a wonderful old fashioned Sunday around the dinner table type meal. Detailed instructions on how to make this classic German main dish. You won't beleive how delicious it is!

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: German

Calories:

Author: Susan Moncrieff

Ingredients

• 6 Round Steaks - 6 pieces ½ thin 4 x 6 inches
• 6 Celery sticks cut to fit roulade. 1 stick per.
• 6 Carrot sticks cut to fit. 1 stick per
• 12 Sweet Butter Chip Pickles - 2 per roulade.
• 2 slices Bacon - about ⅓ slice per roulade - cut to fit
• 1 Onions - sliced - more or less to taste
• 2 leaves Bay optional

Instructions

• Purchase and prepare round steak. What you want is about 6 pieces of round steak that are ½ inch thick and about 4 x 6 inches (after you have cut meat).
• I cut through the meat to make it much thinner.   It still didn't seem that thin so I pounded it a bit more to thin it.
• Place a piece of bacon, carrot, celery, some onion, and two butter sweet pickle chips on the meat.
• Take end and start rolling tightly.
• Securely tie with baker's twine. I tied the roll together in two or three spots and also went around the open ends, tucking any loose ends under the twine.
• Each Rouladen needs to be browned. I did 3 per batch because you don't want to crowd them. Count on about 10 minutes to brown all sides for each batch.
• When all have been browned, remove and use a little wine to deglaze and scrap up the yummy bits. Put all rouladen into duty oven or casserole dish where they are fairly snug.
• Add enough water to cover. I actually had some beef broth in the fridge so I did half beef broth, half water. Cover with lid and cook in oven for about 2 hours. Check the meat and it should be really tender when done.

The finished Rouladen

The meat is really tender.  The bacon AND the pickles really add to the flavor.

This is a longer prep type meal.  I would consider a special occasion type meal.   It is really good but it does take time.   I made it on a cold, rainy Sunday.  It was perfect for that!!

Hope you enjoy!  The is something a little different.  From my German heritage.  Shared with me by my friend Ingrid.