Beef Braciole (2024)

Dinner Ideas

I’m excited to bring you this dish after my first time creating this Italian classic.

I was inspired to make this roulade, aka filled meat roll, after researching the differences between Braciole and Spiedini (if you haven’t checked out my Beef Spiedini post, check it out here). I learned that the difference is Braciole is cooked in a red sauce, while the Spiedini is not. While both are equally delicious, I am so glad I decided to make a Braciole because it was AMAZING 😋 and I will definitely be adding this recipe to my repertoire.

For the Braciole, I used flank steak, which I pounded out (with Dave’s help 😉) and the meat was rolled with a mixture of bread crumbs, parsley, basil, garlic and provolone cheese. The roulade became melt in your mouth tender as it cooked in the red sauce and the final plating was incredibly extremely tasty, please excuse the messy plating. I was hangry and you can certainly tell 😉!

I will mention this dish is perfect if you’re entertaining, because it feeds 6-8 people. Two, it can be made ahead of time and refrigerated until you’re ready to cook. I hope you enjoy and please don’t forget to check out the cousin to Braciole, my Beef Spiendini, cheers🥂!

Some Notes

• Preparing the Braciole Early – I made my Braciole ahead of time and wrapped it tightly in plastic wrap. By placing it into the refrigerator, the Braciole firmed up and created a more uniform roulade (which you can see below). If you take this approach during your prep, you’ll want to remove the roulade from the refrigerator 1 hour before cooking. This will allow the chill to be removed and allow for more even cook of the meat.

• Cook the Braciole in Red Sauce – My recipe includes my quick red sauce and added some time to the prep. However, if you’re short for time, you could use a frozen sauce from your freezer (check out my Italian Gravy recipe here) or a jar sauce. I suggest aiming for 3 cups of sauce when cooking your Braciole. If you have the extra time, I would encourage you to make my quick red sauce because it is perfect for this dish since it simmers with the meat and develops delicious flavor. Two, the sauce doesn’t take much effort and is made from scratch ❤, see below for my recipe.

• Cutting the Braciole – I would suggest cutting your butcher twine after you cut your roulade. I cut my butcher twine before cutting and it made for difficult and sloppy cutting 😕.

• Prep Time – The prep time captured in the recipe includes the time needed to pound the meat, create the herb mixture, roll the flank steak, sear the roulade and build the red sauce.
  • 5-10 minutes to pound out the flank steak
  • 10 minutes to create the herb and bread crumb mixture
  • 5 minutes to roll and twine the meat
  • 20 minutes to sear the roulade
  • 20 minutes to build the red sauce
• Leftovers – Braciole makes the most incredible leftovers ❤, simply fry a thin cut in a non stick pan and develop a crisp and enjoy in a sandwich. Featured below is a Braciole Fried Egg Breakfast Sammie 😋.

This red sauce was cooked in the same cast iron skillet as the Braciole because you want to develop the sauce with the meat fond, browned bits of meat stuck to the bottom of the cast iron 👍 because that’s deliciousness.

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