Tenderized Beef Cutlets with Caramelized Onion Sauce
This delightful dish is both very affordable and incredibly delicious. If you enjoy beef but find prime cut options too expensive, don’t worry—many cheaper cuts can be just as flavorful with a little extra care. This recipe uses a CAB prime eye of round roast, sliced into 1 cm pieces, tenderized with a mallet, and marinated in white apple wine overnight to ensure tenderness. The method is reminiscent of making Swiss steak, but without the tomatoes. Slow-cooking the beef for about three hours allows the flavours to deepen, resulting in meat that melts effortlessly in your mouth. The end result is a truly satisfying and budget-friendly meal.
Tenderized Beef Cutlets with Caramelized Onion Sauce Recipe
By Zosia Culinary Adventures | Date: July 26, 2025 hours
Preparation Time: cutting and tenderizing: 30 minutes plus marinating overnight or at least 8 hours
Cook Time: 3 hours
Yield:12 servings
Ingredients:
1kg CAB (Certified Angus Beef) prime eye of round roast, fresh
250 ml white dry apple wine or any white dry wine
40 g all purpose flour
5 tablespoons sunflower oil or olive oil
2 large onions, sliced
2 garlic cloves, chopped fine
2 bay leaves
2 tsp fresh thyme
2 tsp fresh rosemary
10 peppercorns
2 allspice berries(pimento)
250 ml beef or vegetable broth
extra hot boiled water to top up
sea salt as needed
fresh parsley as a garnish
Instructions:
The day before cooking: Cut the beef into slices approximately 1 to 1.5 cm thick, ensuring even pieces for consistent cooking. After slicing, gently pound each piece of meat using a mallet to tenderize it and help break down the fibers. Keep in mind that beef tends to be firmer and doesn’t pound as easily as pork, so don’t be concerned if the slices don’t flatten much during this process. Once prepared, place the slices in a clay or ceramic pot and immerse them fully in the apple wine. Add fresh herbs for enhanced flavor and let the meat marinate in the refrigerator overnight or for at least 8 hours.
The next day, carefully remove the cutlets from the marinade and gently pat them dry using a clean paper towel. Be sure to carefully save all of your marinade liquid for later use. Next, sprinkle each piece evenly with a pinch of sea salt. Then, lightly dust both sides of the cutlets with flour, followed by a generous grind of fresh black pepper to enhance the flavor.
Heat the oil in the cast iron pan. Once the pan is well heated, carefully place 3-4 cutlets at a time into the pan and fry them until they are gently browned on both sides. After frying, transfer the browned cutlets to the Dutch oven. Repeat this process until all the meat has been browned.
Deglaze the pan carefully with the marinade liquid and cook it until the sauce has thickened, which should take approximately 2 minutes. Then, add all the onion and garlic, stirring them thoroughly so they blend well with the sauce. Next, pour in the beef broth, heating it briefly while stirring continuously to combine all the flavors evenly. Finally, pour this prepared sauce over the cutlets arranged in the Dutch oven.
Place the Dutch oven carefully into the preheated oven and allow the cutlets to cook slowly at 250°F or 120 °C for 3 hours. This slow cooking process helps develop a rich, deep flavor and ensures the meat becomes tender and melts in your mouth. Be sure to check the pot every hour to confirm that the liquid completely covers the meat, adding hot water as necessary to prevent the meat from drying out.
Serve tender beef cutlets alongside creamy mashed potatoes or traditional potato dumplings, accompanied by a variety of fresh side vegetables or tangy marinated beets.
Enjoy it!
