Reviewed: Oct. 18, 2009

These sounded good and smelled wonderful cooking. But once we started eating, it was different. I will say the meatballs were good but the sauce was overpowering and my kids 15 and 9) gave it a thumb's down. I wish they had been better...

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Kim Miller

Cooking Level: Expert

Home Town: Charlotte, North Carolina, USA

Living In: Honolulu, Hawaii, USA

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Reviewed: Sep. 17, 2009

We found these to be way too sweet.

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LazyCook

Cooking Level: Intermediate

Living In: Tampa, Florida, USA

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Reviewed: Sep. 15, 2009

These were very good! I doubled the amount of cloves and allspice, baked the meatballs (425 for 15 minutes) and thickened the sauce with crushed gingersnaps. Served over egg noodles. Hubby didn't care for this meal, but he is hard to please. I thought it was great! Thank you!

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miss margo

Cooking Level: Intermediate

Living In: Boston, Massachusetts, USA

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Reviewed: May 15, 2009

While the meatballs themselves were awesome, the sauce was too sweet...I think the next time I will tone down on the brown sugar. I did follow other reviewers suggestions and baked the meatballs instead of pan frying. I too had problems getting the flour to break up for the gravy...something I will figure out.

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bethm

Cooking Level: Expert

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Reviewed: Jan. 28, 2009

Freakin awesome!!!!Follow the directions. I made more so just tripled everything. I am so proud. Of course you need to drink beer while you are making this.

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Robbie

Cooking Level: Intermediate

Home Town: Belleville, Illinois, USA

Living In: Cullowhee, North Carolina, USA

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Reviewed: Jan. 8, 2009

Why would you put bread crumbs with Italian seasonings in a German dish? This recipe is awesome and doesn't need tweaked AT ALL! Thank you for it

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Linda K

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Reviewed: Sep. 15, 2008

The recipe was very good - it definitely had the sauerbraten taste I remember from my grandma's kitchen. I made the recipe exactly as written - except I might have left them simmering a bit longer as I finished the German Spaetzle Dumplings recipe also from this site to go with the meatballs.

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RachelB

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Reviewed: Jul. 18, 2008

I really LOVE German food (I'm German myself), but didn't care for these at all. The meatballs were bland and crumbled when I browned them (not completely, but many of mine cracked). I think the meat mixture needed more liquid. I also had problems with the sauce as others did. Mine wouldn't thicken with flour, so I added some crushed gingersnaps per other reviewers suggestions (don't remember how much - I just kept adding until the sauce appeared to thicken), but it then clumped. The recipe didn't yield much sauce either (and I like to pour a LOT of gravy over my meatballs). I guess I was also disappointed b/c I couldn't find spatzel in the grocery store, so I had to serve these with potato dumplings instead. No fault of Christine's, just bad luck all around. Thanks anyways. I'm sure you're a wonderful cook. : )

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Mickey

Cooking Level: Expert

Home Town: De Soto, Missouri, USA

Living In: Elgin, Illinois, USA

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Reviewed: Feb. 13, 2008

Very very good! My husband and I really enjoyed these a lot and we'll definitely eat these again. My hubby thought they could have been more tart/sour. My son didn't care for these although he ate anyway, he gave this 2 stars. I messed up the gravy when I added the flour/water slurry it clumped immediately and the gravy was lumpy, so I strained it and just poured it over the meatballs although it was on the thin side. I served this with egg noodles, sauerkraut, and sauteed apples. Great meal, thanks!

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~TxCin~ILove2Ck

Cooking Level: Intermediate

Home Town: Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA

Living In: Corpus Christi, Texas, USA

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Reviewed: Apr. 5, 2007

These are *wonderful*!! Thank you! As usual I had to change some ingredients - Italian bread crumbs, fresh ground ginger instead of powder, corn starch instead of flour, and I used ground sirloin. As for preparation, I drained the meatballs after cooking them and while they sat, I mixed up the liquids in a separate bowl, then added them to the hot skillet to remove the tasty "brown bits" from the pan. I had no problems with the thickener. I just substitued equal parts corn starch for flour (I don't like using flour). I did heat up the liquid to boiling after removing the meat - perhaps that was the issue for many reviewers. I knew a "simmered" sauce wouldn't thicken - this did right away. It's a *perfect* mix of sweet, spicy, and sour! I served this over spatzle noodles with [frozen] sauerkraut on the side - YUMMY!

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JulieCC

Cooking Level: Expert

Home Town: Wichita, Kansas, USA

Living In: Decatur, Illinois, USA

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Reviewed: Feb. 23, 2007

The meatballs tasted pretty good, but the "gravy" was just strange, it tasted like bay leaf flavored sugar. I would make the meatballs again, but I ended up making my own garlic white sauce, I would not make the gravy again.

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Zitronenmadchen

Cooking Level: Expert

Home Town: Lebanon, Connecticut, USA

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Reviewed: Oct. 30, 2006

We really enjoyed these, everything was going perfect until I added the flour/water mixture, it didn't seem to break down like it should. I consider myself a "sauce queen" and sort of expected trouble from thickening the sauce that way. Maybe the temp wasn't high enough; anyway this recipe is well worth the trouble to figure out a minor detail like this!

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Sharon C.

Cooking Level: Intermediate

Home Town: Knoxville, Tennessee, USA

Living In: Daytona Beach, Florida, USA

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Reviewed: Oct. 22, 2006

I prepared this dish for an Oktoberfest celebration we had at work and received loads of complements (served with kluski noodles). I set aside enough for dinner for my family...my husband and I loved it but it was not my picky 11 year old's idea of meatballs. I will make this again for a party but not for dinner at home, it was a bit time consuming.

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Kathy Stephens

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Reviewed: Oct. 12, 2006

The meatballs tasted pretty good....but the gravy needs some improvment.I'm from Germany and it does not taste like any Sauerbraten I have ever had....but it's worth a try.

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Korina M.

Cooking Level: Expert

Home Town: Ramstein, Rheinland-Pfalz, Germany

Living In: Denison, Texas, USA

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Reviewed: Sep. 18, 2006

We were not impressed with this recipe; the meatballs were much too sweet; maybe if the brown sugar was cut in half it would have been better.

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TASHA156

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Reviewed: Dec. 16, 2005

very yummy. I substituted cloves with chili and it was superb

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Joyce James

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Reviewed: Nov. 8, 2005

This was great-the only thing was mine were a little dry and I think that's because I added an egg to hold them together and I used gr. sirloin instead of hamb. Recipe called for 2 TB of water & 2TB of flour to thicken, that was like paste so I only used a drop. Next time I will use reg. hamb and bake and use the gingersnaps to thicken.

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Robin

Cooking Level: Intermediate

Living In: Saint Marys, Ohio, USA

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Reviewed: Apr. 9, 2005

No one in our family really liked these much. But it may be because we were surprised by how sour they were.

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JRRICE47

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Reviewed: Apr. 4, 2005

YUM! My changes: Step 2. Instead of just draining the fat, I moved the meatballs to a cookie sheet lined w/ paper towels & blotted them dry. I also wiped all excess oil from the pan. Step 3. I just boiled down the sauce at the end instead of adding flour. Served over store bought spaetzle with red cabbage & saurkraut. Thank you for a keeper!

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DC Girly Girl

Cooking Level: Intermediate

Home Town: Baltimore, Maryland, USA

Living In: Columbia, Maryland, USA

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Reviewed: Mar. 11, 2005

I've never had sauerbraten or anything similar, but this meatball recipe beckoned to me from among the others. Maybe it was the German...I'm not sure. But...WOW! I loved these! I made them tonight for dinner as a good friend of mine and her boyfriend came over. I followed the advice of another reviewer and thickened the gravy with gingersnap crumbs, which sounded a bit odd to me, but gave the gravy a delicious flavor. Yum. Sweet yet still tangy. I think I'm in love. And if I was a man, I'd ask you to marry me, Christine!

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