Italian Beef Braciole Recipe: Great for Cool Evenings Cooking at Home (2024)

This is a simple, straightforward recipe for beef braciole, also known as involtini. Beef braciole are made with thin cuts of steak, pounded thinner with a rolling pin, and prepared as roulades with herbs, garlic and prosciutto. The rolls are tied with kitchen twine to hold their shape, seared, and then braised slowly in crushed tomatoes and a splash of red wine. In Italian-American families, this sauce is sometimes known as Sunday gravy. Often the braciole includes cheese and breadcrumbs, but they're perfectly delicious without these ingredients.

You can think of braciole as a kind of lazy man's meatball, since there's no grinding, mixing, or portioning of the meat. This recipes calls for skirt steak because it's flavorful and already fairly thin, but you can also use flank steak, or slices of top round. Once you get the idea, you can try making braciole with all kinds of different meats and fillings.

"The beef was delicious with some pasta and a loaf crusty bread. You could easily up the crushed tomatoes for more sauce. It takes a little time to thin and roll the meat and prosciutto, but all of the steps are easy and the ingredients are not complicated." —Diana Rattray

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A Note From Our Recipe Tester

Ingredients

Steps to Make It

  1. Gather the ingredients.

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  2. Cut the skirt steak into 3 equal cross-wise pieces, parallel to the grain. Each piece should be about 6- to 7-inches long, depending on the meat.

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  3. Place one piece between two sheets of parchment paper. With a rolling pin, pound the meat to flatten it to a thickness of about 1/4-inch. Repeat with the 2 remaining pieces.

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  4. Generously season the steaks on both sides with salt and pepper.

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  5. Lay two slices of prosciutto evenly on top of each steak. Scatter the garlic and herbs evenly on top of the prosciutto.

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  6. Roll the steaks from end to end and tie them with kitchen twine to hold the roll in place. Tuck in any loose bits of steak, prosciutto or herb.

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  7. Add the oil to a large Dutch oven (or other heavy-duty pot with a lid) over medium heat. When the oil shimmers, sear the braciole on two or three sides until golden brown.

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  8. Deglaze the pan with the red wine, scraping up all the crusty brown bits stuck to the bottom. Reduce the heat to low.

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  9. Add the crushed tomatoes and stir briefly to incorporate with the pan juices and the wine. Place the lid on the Dutch oven. Simmer on low until the braciole are tender when pierced with a fork, about 90 minutes. Remove from heat.

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  10. Remove the braciole to a cutting board. Let rest 15 minutes. Remove the kitchen twine from the braciole. Slice each roll crosswise, transfer to a plate and top with sauce as desired. Garnish with parsley and serve immediately.

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Tips

  • If you don't have kitchen twine, you can secure the rolls with toothpicks or unflavored dental floss. Or try using strips of heavy-duty foil.
  • Searing the rolls adds flavor to the sauce, but you may skip this step to save time.

Slow Cooker Variation

Follow the recipe above through step 6, then brown the meat by first heating the oil over medium heat in a large skillet. Add the wine, scraping up browned bits. Transfer beef and any remaining liquid to a slow cooker. Add tomatoes, garlic, and remaining herbs. (Note: Ingredients should come about 1/2 way up the side of the meat.) Set slow cooker to HIGH. Cook for 2 hours, checking once or twice to make sure there's plenty of liquid in the pot. Add some water if you need to replenish the liquid. Remove braciole from broth and let rest for 15 minutes before removing twine and carving. Serve with the tomato sauce.

How to Store and Freeze

  • Refrigerate leftover cooked braciole and sauce within 2 hours and eat within 3 days.
  • To freeze, transfer the cooked braciole and sauce to a freezer container or resealable freezer bag. Label with the name and date and freeze for up to 3 months. Defrost frozen braciole in the refrigerator overnight.
  • To reheat leftover braciole, place it in a sauté pan. Cover and cook over low heat until the rolls register at least 165 F in the center.
Nutrition Facts (per serving)
403Calories
24g Fat
7g Carbs
38g Protein

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Nutrition Facts
Servings: 4to 6
Amount per serving
Calories403
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 24g30%
Saturated Fat 8g41%
Cholesterol 87mg29%
Sodium 1081mg47%
Total Carbohydrate 7g2%
Dietary Fiber 2g6%
Total Sugars 3g
Protein 38g
Vitamin C 11mg56%
Calcium 55mg4%
Iron 5mg26%
Potassium 783mg17%
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.

(Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate.)

Recipe Tags:

  • beef main
  • dinner
  • italian
  • boxing day

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Italian Beef Braciole Recipe: Great for Cool Evenings Cooking at Home (2024)

FAQs

What cut of meat is best for braciole? ›

To make the braciole, you'll need flank steak that has been butterflied and pounded until it is 1/4-inch thick for the base of the braciole. First, layer the steak with prosciutto, then top it with the toasted panko (toasting the breadcrumbs first means they will absorb the flavor of the roll and sauce).

Can I prep braciole the night before? ›

You can easily make braciole a day or two ahead of time, I've done that many times especially for parties. If I make them ahead of time for a party I also like to take my time removing the strings and cutting the rolls while they're cold.

Why is my braciole tough? ›

Further, if you haven't pounded the meat thin enough, it can still be tough after cooking, so make sure to pound it to an even, thin slice. Lastly, the cooking time matters, as if you cook it too short it can be tough, so make sure to cook it slow and prolonged to get a more tender result.

What does braciole mean in Italian? ›

Etymology. Italian, literally, slice of meat roasted over coals, from brace live coals, probably of Germanic origin; akin to Swedish brasa fire.

What cuts of meat are the most tender? ›

Tenderloin steak and top blade steaks ranked first and second. Top round steak ranked last. Roasts were more tender than steak counterparts.

Can I cook meat the night before? ›

Never brown or partially cook meat or poultry to refrigerate and finish later because any bacteria present would not have been destroyed. It is safe to partially cook meat and poultry in the microwave or on the stove only if the food is transferred immediately to the hot grill to finish cooking.

How do you cook beef the night before? ›

Cook your meat ahead of time, too.

And it's so easy. Preheat your oven to 250ºF, then place the roast in the oven and cook until it registers 120ºF in the center. Let it cool uncovered at room temperature for at least an hour, then stick it in the fridge (this can be done the day before).

Should you season meat the night before? ›

Salting meat ahead of time thoroughly flavors it and makes it juicier. The longer salt has to do its magic, the better. Salt most things the day before.

What is the hardest Italian food to make? ›

The complex dishes we have explored - Timballo di Maccheroni, Saltimbocca alla Romana, Suckling Pig (Porceddu), Stuffed Calamari (Calamari Ripieni), and Pasticcio di Lasagna - represent the epitome of Italian gastronomy.

Why is my meat tough after cooking? ›

If you cook at a high temperature for a short duration the meat will stay tough. 2. Contracted Muscle – Processing an animal before it has reached rigor mortis will cause the meat to contract and become more tough. This is the idea of cooking an animal immediately after harvesting will lead to a worse end product.

What is the number 1 Italian dish? ›

Pizza. Besides pasta, pizza is perhaps the most popular and recognized Italian food. Pizza is considered a national symbol representing Italy to the rest of the world, so much so that UNESCO has acknowledged pizza as an Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

What cut of meat is braciole made from in the oven? ›

If you have never had braciole, it is basically thin flank steak stuffed with a bread crumb mixture and rolled up.

What cut of meat do Italians choose? ›

beef is the king of red meat, and the most Italian cut is the bistecca alla Fiorentina, a very nice version of the T-bone steak! But you'll find stews as well. veal is also commonly seen, used quite like beef. lamb is rare (no pun intended) in the pl.

What's the best kind of meat to use for Italian beef? ›

The cut of beef used for Italian beef is typically chuck. The beef is slow cooked until fall-apart tender, then piled high in a hoagie bun with some of the meat's tasty, sloppy cooking juices.

What cuts of meat are best for Italian beef? ›

Italian Beef is chuck roast (the cut of meat used for pot roast) that is slowly cooked with savory Italian spices until it is soft and tender and easily shredded with a fork. To create the iconic sandwich, soft hoagie rolls are filled with this shredded meat, and then topped with sliced provolone and pickled peppers.

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