Gänsebraten
A whole goose roasted for 3 hours with apples, onions and marjoram until the skin is crisp, the German Christmas roast.
Photograph credit: 20241225105DR Dresden Gänsebraten mit Klößen by Jörg Blobelt · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons · this resized copy is shared under the same licence
A table of eight at Christmas and a bird that does most of the work in the oven. Gänsebraten is the German Christmas goose, stuffed with apples, onions and marjoram, and the point is the crisp skin and the fat that runs off in the roasting tin.
A goose is mostly fat under the skin, which needs to escape. Prick the skin all over with a fork, being careful not to cut the meat, and rub the bird with salt, pepper and marjoram inside and out. Fill the cavity with quartered apples, onions and more marjoram. Roast it breast up on a rack in a tin with a little water in it. Pour off the fat every 45 minutes and keep it, as it makes the best roast potatoes.
Roast at 160°C / 320°F for about 3 hours, until the juices run clear when the thigh is pierced and the skin is deep brown. Turn the oven to 220°C / 430°F for the last 15 minutes to crisp the skin. Rest the goose for 30 minutes, covered loosely with foil. Make the gravy from the tin juices. Serve with red cabbage and potato dumplings.
What People Ask
How long does Gänsebraten take to make?
30 minutes of preparation and 3 hours of cooking, plus 30 minutes of resting, so allow 4 hours from start to finish. The recipe serves 8.
Gänsebraten: Step by Step
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Heat the oven to 160°C / 320°F. Prick the goose skin all over. Rub inside and out with the salt, pepper and half the marjoram.
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Fill the cavity with the apples, onions and the remaining marjoram.
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Set breast up on a rack in a roasting tin with the water. Roast for 3 hours, pouring off the fat every 45 minutes.
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Turn the oven to 220°C / 430°F and roast for 15 minutes until the skin is crisp.
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Rest for 30 minutes under foil. Skim the tin juices, add the stock and cornflour mixed with water and simmer for 5 minutes for the gravy.
Tips That Matter
- Prick the skin without piercing the meat.
- Pour off the fat during roasting.
- Rest the goose for 30 minutes.
Serve It With
Red cabbage · Potato dumplings · Roast potatoes · Red wine
Leftovers and Storage
Keeps for 3 days in the fridge. Save the goose fat for roasting.
Gänsebraten Nutrition
No nutrition figures are given for this recipe: they cannot be worked out reliably from its ingredient list (some ingredient lines cannot be read). Why some recipes have none.
Your notes on this recipe
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Compiled by Turab
Checked by script for timings, diet labels and nutrition arithmetic. How the recipes are checked.
First published ; last changed .
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