One of my family’s favourite foods to make for special occasions like Christmas or Thanksgiving are these beef birds, or rouladen, filled with stuffing and baked in tomato sauce. Think of it as an all meat version of a cabbage roll.

As with any of these family recipes that I post, like Hutzelbrot or Beet Leaf Rolls, once I research the roots of them I usually discover that our version is a bit farther removed from the original than I thought. You can go down the rabbit hole yourself, but I’ll give you the shortened version.

There are two main versions: The German and Swiss. Since our family is more German/Hungarian/Luxembourgish I assumed our version would be closer to the German one. No.

German versions tend to have bacon and dill pickles in them, whereas the Swiss version has more of a vegetable stuffing like ours does. Neither of them have the tomato sauce. However, that really doesn’t matter, because once you start researching the terms beef birds, steak birds, veal birds, or rouladen, you realize that there are probably at least 50 different versions on the Internet, and you’re just going to have to pick the one that sounds the best (and maybe easiest!!) to you.

I hope it will be mine and that you’ll love them just as much as our family does.

Beef Birds in Tomato Sauce (Rouladen)

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These rouladen take a little extra effort, but are so worth it to celebrate a special occasion. My family usually makes them for Thanksgiving or Christmas.

Prep Time 1 hour

Cook Time 1 hour 30 minutes

Total Time 2 hours 30 minutes

Ingredients

• 3-4 lbs beef roast
• 2 packages Stovetop stuffing
• 1/2 cup flour
• oil for frying
• 2 cans tomato soup
• 3/4 can of hot water
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp pepper
• 1 tsp dried onion flakes
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder

Instructions

1. Cut beef in 1/3 inch to 1/2 inch slices.
2. Tenderize each slice.
3. Wrap a small amount of stuffing in each beef slice and secure with a tooth pick. Approximately a tbsp worth, but it will depend on the size of your slice of beef.
4. Fry rolls until browned.
5. Place the rolls in a 9 x 13 sized casserole dish.
6. In another bowl, mix together soup, water, and spices. Pour over the rolls.
7. Cook at 350 degrees Farenheit for 90 minutes.
8. Serve over rice or pasta, and enjoy!

Kristen Raney

Kristen is a former farm kid turned urban gardener who owns the popular gardening website, Shifting Roots.  She is obsessed with growing flowers and pushing the limits of what can be grown in her zone 3b garden.  She also loves to grow tomatoes, but oddly enough, dislikes eating them raw.