Delicious and Easy Rouladen Recipe

Rouladen is a comforting German dish that's quite easy to make.

Rouladen is like a cozy hug from Germany, at least that's what I think. My late husband, who had German parents, loved this dish. His mom would cook it often. Interestingly, he didn't like pickles, so sometimes his mom would make a few without pickle relish.

Even if you skip the pickle, they still taste great. A German friend once told me, "It's not really rouladen without pickles," and she was right, but they're still tasty.

I add pickles in a different way, thanks to a chef friend named Klaus. When I visited him, he was making rouladen with a pickle spear inside the meat. It looked good, and when I tried it, it was so tasty that I had to use this trick myself.

You can use sweet pickle relish instead of a dill pickle spear. It gives a bit of sweetness, making them really delicious. However, the pickle spear adds a unique sourness that enhances the flavor of the beef rolls. I find it lightens up the taste a bit.

For the meat, you can buy thinly cut round steak at the store, but it's often more expensive. I prefer buying a whole eye of round roast and slicing it myself. I use some for rouladen and vacuum seal the rest for roast beef. Eye of round is my favorite because it's a solid piece of meat, but bottom round works well too.

 

Delicious and Easy Rouladen Recipe

Course: Main, Main Course Cuisine: German Keyword: German comfort food, Oktoberfest, rouladen, traditional German dinners Servings: 4 Calories: 418kcal

Ingredients:

• 1.5 lb thinly sliced round steak (8 slices)
• 3/4 cup finely diced onion
• 8 slices cooked bacon
• 8 dill pickle spears
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp pepper
• 1 tbs butter
• 1 tbs oil
• 1 cup beef stock
• 2 tbs flour
• 1/2 cup water

Instructions:

1. Use a meat mallet to pound round steaks until they are about 1/8-inch thick.
2. In a large skillet, melt butter and cook the onion until it's just see-through. Remove from the skillet and set aside.
3. Spread the cooked onion evenly over each pounded round steak. Place a slice of bacon over the onion and then put a dill pickle spear on top. Roll up each steak and secure the rolls with toothpicks.
4. In the same skillet used for onions, heat oil over medium-high heat. Brown the beef rolls on all sides.
5. Pour beef stock into the pan, bring it to a boil, then reduce heat to simmer. Cover and cook for 45 minutes or until the beef is tender.
6. Mix the flour and water to remove any lumps.
7. Remove the beef rolls from the pan and whisk in the flour/water mixture. Cook for 5 minutes. Add the beef rolls back to the pan and heat for an additional 5 minutes to warm through.

Notes:

"I usually start with an eye of round roast, slicing it into thin pieces and then pounding them down until they are very thin."