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 (1/2 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 1/3 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 1/2 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 1/2 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.

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).

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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.