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Hearty German beef rolls, the so-called “Rouladen” are a popular dish for Sunday lunch or holiday feasts here in Southern Germany. Traditional restaurants have this delicious comfort food on their menus, and although they may seem “vintage” they are a still a big hit.

When my mom made beef rolls – or Rouladen as we call them – I loved to watch her as she worked methodically, spreading mustard over thin slices of beef, tucking in bacon, onions and pickles and them rolling them into neat packages. She had been taught how to do it by her mom who had it from her mother.

Rouladen aren’t just dinner – they’re history on a plate. Back in the days when times were lean, those beef rolls were a clever solution to transform ordinary ingredients and very thin slices of meat into something spectacular.

Many families have slight variations of the recipe, but these differences are more than just tweaks, they’re family legacies and regional identities.

So, when you slice into a perfectly cooked Roulade you’re not only enjoying dinner but your’re participating in a tradition that has nourished generations!

A few weeks ago, my brother slaughtered an ox, and I—like my siblings—got a mix of meat cuts, including beef rolls. Last Sunday then, when the inevitable question of “What’s for lunch?” came up, I could tell my sons that I’d make Rouladen with Spaetzle. You should have seen how their eyes lit up and they looked at me like starving men who are offered a feast. My eldest even delayed a trip for several hours so that he could have lunch at home! As if we only had water and bread all year round…

As it was such a hit, today, I’m going to share my variation of Rouladen with you. This simple recipe for classic German beef rolls doesn’t require many ingredients and is easy to make.

Classic Rouladen are really easy to make

Making beef rolls is super simple – a lot simpler than you may think. The most important ingredient is time for chopping vegetables and cooking the meat. But believe me: it’s so worth it! It’s also a great dish to serve guests or to impress the in-laws because besides it being delicious, you’ll have plenty of time to make everything, including yourself, pretty while the beef is cooking.😉

Beef rolls go well with bread dumplings or homemade spaetzle (a kind of Bavarian pasta) as well as mashed potatoes and vegetables.

What you need to know about my beef roll recipe

In some recipes, you get an exact amount of ingredients but I find that very difficult to work with. After all, the size of the rolls differs from butcher to butcher and depends on which part of the meat they have been cut off. Please bear that in mind when you make this recipe and take more or less onions, pickles and mustard. You’ll see for yourself when the filling is too thick to roll.

There are lots of recipe variations and every family has their own, I think. This is my favourite recipe for classic Bavarian beef rolls.

Recipe: Classic German Beef Rolls

Ingredients

4 thin slices of ox or veal (loin or haunch)

salt

pepper to taste

mustard to taste, homemade quince mustard for example

For the filling:

100 g bacon or smoked ham

2 onions

parsley

2 – 4 pickled gherkins

For braising:

40 – 50 g fat

1 onion

root vegetables like carrots, celery, parsnips, roughly chopped

1 tbsp tomato puree

¼ l red wine

¼ – ½ l vegetable broth

½ – 1 tbsp flour

Instructions

Carefully flatten the beef slices with a meat tenderiser or by pressing them with a pan.

Prepare the filling: finely chop the onions, the bacon or smoked ham and the parsley. Sauté the mixture in a bit of butter or tallow.

Spread each beef slice thinly with mustard, then with the filling.

Beef rolls in preparation: left with mustard, middle with onions and bacon and right with pickles, ready to be rolled.

Quarter the pickled gherkins lengthwise or slice small ones in halves and put them onto the beef slices

Roll the filled slices carefully so the filling doesn’t spill out. Close the rolls by binding them with kitchen yarn or by fixing them with a skewer.

Salt and pepper the beef rolls and roll them in flour.

Chop the onion; heat tallow in a large pan or pot and sear the beef rolls until they are browned.

Add the onions, vegetables and tomato puree to the pot and brown them as well.

Deglaze it all with the wine and let it simmer for a few minutes. Then, add the broth and let the whole thing simmer for 1.5 hours (40 minutes if you have loin beef) or 25 – 30 minutes if you stew it in a pressure cooker.

After stewing, remove the rolls from the sauce and blend it with a hand-blender. If the sauce is too thin, mix a tbsp of flour with some water into a thin liquid and add it to the sauce. Bring it to the boil and thus thicken the sauce.

Classic Bavarian Beef Rolls go well together with Bavarian Spätzle (a kind of noodles), pasta, bread dumplings or mashed potatoes as well as steamed vegetables or salad.

German Beef rolls

Hearty German beef rolls, the so-called "Rouladen", are a popular dish for Sunday lunch or holiday feasts here in Southern Germany.

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 30 minutes mins

Cook Time 1 hour hr 30 minutes mins

Total Time 2 hours hrs

Servings: 4 people

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: German

Ingredients Equipment Method Notes

Ingredients

  

• 4 thin slices of ox or veal loin or haunch
• salt
• pepper to taste
• mustard to taste homemade quince mustard for example

For the filling:

• 100 g bacon or smoked ham
• 2 onions
• parsley
• 2 – 4 pickled gherkins

For braising:

• 40 – 50 g fat
• 1 onion
• root vegetables like carrots celery, parsnips, roughly chopped
• 1 tbsp tomato puree
• ¼ l red wine
• ¼ - ½ l vegetable broth
• ½ - 1 tbsp flour

Equipment

• 1 Pressure cooker optional

Method

 

1. Carefully flatten the beef slices with a meat tenderiser or by pressing them with a pan.
2. Prepare the filling: finely chop the onions, the bacon or smoked ham and the parsley. Sauté the mixture in a bit of butter or tallow.
3. Spread each beef slice thinly with mustard, then with the filling.
4. Quarter the pickled gherkins lengthwise or slice small ones in halves and put them onto the beef slices
5. Roll the filled slices carefully so the filling doesn’t spill out. Close the rolls by binding them with kitchen yarn or by fixing them with a skewer.
6. Salt and pepper the beef rolls and roll them in flour.
7. Chop the onion; heat tallow in a large pan or pot and sear the beef rolls until they are browned.
8. Add the onions, vegetables and tomato puree to the pot and brown them as well.
9. Deglaze it all with the wine and let it simmer for a few minutes. Then, add the broth and let the whole thing simmer for 1.5 hours (40 minutes if you have loin beef) or 25 – 30 minutes if you stew it in a pressure cooker.
10. After stewing, remove the rolls from the sauce and blend it with a hand-blender. If the sauce is too thin, mix a tbsp of flour with some water into a thin liquid and add it to the sauce. Bring it to the boil and thus thicken the sauce.

Notes

Classic Bavarian Beef Rolls go well together with Bavarian Spaetzle (a kind of noodles), pasta, bread dumplings or mashed potatoes as well as steamed vegetables or salad.