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

Italian Beef Braciole Recipe: Great for Cool Evenings Cooking at Home (1)

A Note From Our Recipe Tester

Ingredients

1 medium skirt steak, about 24 ounces
Kosher salt, to taste
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
6 thin slices prosciutto, about 3 ounces
4 medium garlic cloves, coarsely chopped
1/4 cup coarsely chopped Italian parsley, more for garnish
1/4 cup coarsely chopped fresh basil
2 tablespoons olive oil
See Also
11 Must-Try Edamame Recipes Cocoa & Chili Rubbed Pork Chops Recipe | Gimme Some Oven Homemade Taco Seasoning Recipe Perfect Pan-Seared Pork Chops Recipe
1/3 cup red wine
1 (15-ounce) can crushed tomatoes

Steps to Make It

Gather the ingredients.
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.
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.
Generously season the steaks on both sides with salt and pepper.
Lay two slices of prosciutto evenly on top of each steak. Scatter the garlic and herbs evenly on top of the prosciutto.
See Also
Sheet Pan Meatloaf and Green Beans Recipe
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.
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.
Deglaze the pan with the red wine, scraping up all the crusty brown bits stuck to the bottom. Reduce the heat to low.
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.
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.

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)
403	Calories
24g	Fat
7g	Carbs
38g	Protein

Show Full Nutrition Label

Nutrition Facts
Servings: 4to 6
Amount per serving
Calories	403
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 24g	30%
Saturated Fat 8g	41%
Cholesterol 87mg	29%
Sodium 1081mg	47%
Total Carbohydrate 7g	2%
Dietary Fiber 2g	6%
Total Sugars 3g
Protein 38g
Vitamin C 11mg	56%
Calcium 55mg	4%
Iron 5mg	26%
Potassium 783mg	17%
*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

Rate This Recipe

I don't like this at all.It's not the worst.Sure, this will do.I'm a fan—would recommend.Amazing! I love it!Thanks for your rating!