Motivated by a desire to have sauerbraten, I created this recipe after debating between making meatloaf or sweet-and-sour meatballs. The gingersnaps, brown sugar and vinegar in the meatball sauce seemed like a similar flavor profile to sauerbraten, thus the birth of my new favorite dish. I love this meatloaf. It is easier and less time consuming to make than traditional sauerbraten, but it tastes very similar. Red cabbage and applesauce (not pictured) are my favorite sides for any form of sauerbraten. I also love to serve it with a starch to coat in the tasty gravy. I prefer spaetzle, but egg noodles or mashed potatoes are also great. I make a large batch of sauce that I use as both a gravy for the spaetzle or other starch and a glaze for the meat. In fact, I like to divide my meatloaf mix and make two small meatloaves instead of one larger one to speed the cooking time and have more surface area for the glaze/gravy to cover. The recipe is versatile. You can reduce the amounts for the sauce if you’d like less. You can (and should) adjust the amount of seasonings to your taste. You can adjust the amount of fillers or even change the type of fillers you use (ie. bread crumbs instead of oats). However, you need to have the gingersnaps crumbs and vinegar to have a similar dish. Don’t have any gingersnaps on hand? You can make your own version, just make up a batch of Molasses Crinkles and be sure to use the cloves.
