German Sauerbraten with Gingersnap Gravy in the Instant Pot (2024)

• 4 lb boneless chuck roast (bottom round is fine too) (optional marinade for 24 hours)

Brine:

• ½ cup water
• ½ cup red wine vinegar
• ½ cup dry white wine
• 1 onion diced
• 1 rib celery diced
• 1 carrot diced
• 4 Tbsp pickling spice (get one with juniper berries and bay leaves, cloves, allspice, etc. The good kind)
• 2 tsp. kosher salt
• 1 tsp ground black pepper

Slurry & Finishing:

• 8 gingersnap cookies finely crushed
• 2 Tbsp cornstarch
• 2 Tbsp water
• Kosher salt & black pepper

• Turn pot on Saute and let heat up until the pot says Hot. Make sure you have your setting on the Hi or More level. While the pot is heating, season your roast on both sides with salt and pepper.

• When your pot finally says Hot, add oil, swirl the pan to coat and add your roast. To properly sear your roast, DO NOT move it. Leave it alone and let it sear. It's going to take about 6 min per side. You will have a nicely seared and browned roast.

• When roast is fully seared on both sides, remove and set on a platter.

• Now it's time to deglaze your pot. Add water and deglaze, scraping the bottom free from the browned bits. Press cancel to stop the Saute mode.

• Now it's time to add vinegar, wine, onion, carrot, celery, pickling spice, salt and pepper in the pot. Press Saute again (it has a 30 min time limit per session anyway, so you would have needed to restart by now). Bring ingredients to a simmer for 10 minutes.

• MARINATING: If you are going to marinate this for 24 hours, let the brine cool, add the chunks of meat, and put your inner pot into the refrigerator overnight. If you are not marinating for 24 hours, then go to the next step.

• While brine is simmering, cut your cooled roast into 2"-3" chunks. I prefer the larger 3" size. Then add those back to the pot.

• Set your pot to Pressure Cook in HP for 35 min and do a full NPR.

• When your pot has cooled and NPR is done (about 20 min), release any remaining pressure and carefully open the lid. Press Cancel.

• For this dish, you are going to strain the juices to get the pickling spice out of liquid in order to make your gravy. First, carefully remove your meat chunks and set them aside. Some vegetables & seasoning will cling to the meat. Then strain the remaining liquid and save the juice only.

• Pour the strained juice back into the pot.

• Press Saute. Add crushed gingersnaps and stir. If your gravy isn't thickened enough, add your slurry and and wait for gravy to come to a bubble.

• Season with salt and pepper as desired, if needed.

• Serve with cooked cabbage and spaetzle or buttered pasta shells. Small buttered shells work out great because they are easy and have a similar mouth-feel to spaetzle.

Print Recipe

Prep Time35 minutes mins

Cook Time35 minutes mins

NPR15 minutes mins

Total Time1 hour hr 25 minutes mins

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: German

Keyword: beef, cabbage, gravy

Equipment

• Pressure Cooker

Ingredients

Instructions

Notes

Alternately, you can add