This is a recipe created by Russian German immigrants. It is very popular in the Nebraska, South Dakota region where I am from. Cabbage and ground beef are encased in a neat little bread package.
Back in Nebraska, we call these Runzas. I add a lot of pepper and paprika. My mother also throws in some bacon, sauteed mushrooms and swiss cheese. My grandmother adds Velveeta. You can add more flavor by adding sauteed peppers or adding chili pepper. These freeze really well. If you're ever in Nebraska, you can try all the varieties at the Runza restaraunts.
Read More I first had these when I lived in Lincoln, NE. I don't know why runza huts haven't caught on in other states! I used half sausage, half ground beef, shredded carrot and onion, nutmeg and worcestershire, no cheese. To my mind, the nutmeg and worcestershire sauce are the "secret ingredients". Flatten the dough out and cup it in the palm of one hand while you fill with the other, using a slotted spoon so excess liquid will drain off first. Then pinch the edges together while still in your hand. I've made these for my family for over 30 years and they beg for them. A friend has a recipe for bierocks that is an old German dish, but pretty much the same recipe except she uses sauerkraut instead of cabbage, and swiss cheese.
Read More I first had these when I lived in Lincoln, NE. I don't know why runza huts haven't caught on in other states! I used half sausage, half ground beef, shredded carrot and onion, nutmeg and worcestershire, no cheese. To my mind, the nutmeg and worcestershire sauce are the "secret ingredients". Flatten the dough out and cup it in the palm of one hand while you fill with the other, using a slotted spoon so excess liquid will drain off first. Then pinch the edges together while still in your hand. I've made these for my family for over 30 years and they beg for them. A friend has a recipe for bierocks that is an old German dish, but pretty much the same recipe except she uses sauerkraut instead of cabbage, and swiss cheese.
Back in Nebraska, we call these Runzas. I add a lot of pepper and paprika. My mother also throws in some bacon, sauteed mushrooms and swiss cheese. My grandmother adds Velveeta. You can add more flavor by adding sauteed peppers or adding chili pepper. These freeze really well. If you're ever in Nebraska, you can try all the varieties at the Runza restaraunts.
I have made the original recipe (which is delicious), but have since taken the original concept and expanded on it. I have made these with ham, swiss and mushrooms; chicken, broccoli and cheese; sauted vegetables; ruebens; and taco meat, cheese, olives and tomatoes. So many options yet to try. Thanks for a great recipe!
These were really yummy! A totally cool new dinner. I'm down south and have never heard of these, but they sounded so good. My grocery store was out of the bread dough in loaves, so I got a package of the dinner rolls instead (same dough, just in little balls). I think it may have worked even better - I rolled out two together once they had risen and it was just the right size. HOWEVER I made the brilliant choice to place the rolled out dough on pieces of waxed paper stacked together to make it easier. BIG MISTAKE! haha... the dough stuck so badly to the wax paper it wasn't even funny! But that was my mistake... I cut the recipe to 1/3 (only 3 of us in the house) and it was still way more than 6 burgers worth. Probably enough for 8-10 more! So I froze it to use next time. The flavor could have been dressed up a little, but overall I thought these things were great!
We REALLY enjoyed these! Don't be afraid to try them if cabbage isn't your favorite. My family loved them even though. I made a whole wheat bread in the bread maker to use. Later, I made a breakfast one with sausage, onion, green pepper, potato, egg and cheese...I have more ideas to try too!
These are great!! My mother-in-law makes these for her farmboys all the time. Once you've made them a few times, you can go quickly. And these freeze very, very well. Just pop them in the microwave for a nice lunch or dinner.
These are the best things ever! Don't be put off by the name. I have made these several times now and they are always a huge hit! I always seem to end up making several batches.The cabbage in the mixture is the best part... don't leave it out! I add some more garlic and onion to mine to give it a bit extra flavor. Best eaten with any type of mustard. These are time consuming to make, though. Especially at first until I got the hang of it. EXCELLENT DISH!
These were excellent. I took a reviewer's recommendation and added worsteshire sauce and nutmeg. I think this made a difference. I can see how they would be bland otherwise. I'll make these often.
Cabbage burgers are a common item in areas with Volga Deutsch (Germans from Russia) populations. My friends requested I make some and I didn't have a recipe so I turned here. I found the filling as is a tad bland, so I added some Worcestershire sauce as others suggested. That made the difference. Also, I was unsure what a "large" head of cabbage was, and was using the ones from my garden so I did equal parts of chopped cabbage to meat. Also took another suggestion, and got frozen texas rolls as my dough. Fast, easy and tasty! Have made them 4 times this summer since the first time, always with garden cabbage and even with fresh ground antelope. Quite delish. I have been wrapping them individually in waxed paper and freezing them as easy lunch box fillers. 2 minutes in the microwave at work and viola! Thanks for a great recipe.
I followed another reviewer's suggestion and added Worcestershire sauce (about 5 Tbsp) and nutmeg (about 2.5 tsp), as well as 2 tsp or so of crushed red pepper. I also doubled the onions and garlic, and with these modifications, I thought the flavor was outstanding. I made the bread dough from scratch (a slightly sweet dough with an egg in it). All in all, this was quite tasty, but it also seemed relatively labor intensive for a week night meal. It reminded me of empanadas . . . except that I still like empanadas better.
My mom makes these for my stepdad she calls them Krautbugers...glad to see it elsewhere!!!
I use this same basic recipe but use 5 loaves,and i add a little more pepper and 2 packets of onion soup mix and about a half cup of water when I'm done browning the hamburger. it gives the meat some flavor and it is not so dry. for the people writing about it being bland or needing suace or gravy.
For those of you who have lived in Nebraska, we used to call these "Runza Burgers" for the chain of restaurants that spread throughout the state! I remember these as a kid, and my mother figured out how to make them herself. She would make her own homemade bread dough, stuff them with the filling and bake them. Definitely yummy old fashioned goodness. I think I'll take a trip down memory lane this weekend and make these for the company I have coming this weekend!
I am one of the lucky ones to have found a "Runza" restaurant in my town in CO 30yrs ago. Ever after, I tried to perfect the recipe. I also use the amounts of everything except 1-1/2 lbs lean burger. I have a couple suggestions to help in the dry and bland issues. I barely brown the burger, then add the cabbage and only cook part way. This keeps the finished product moister. I use plenty of black pepper, garlic and onion salt or powder. We love them SOOOO much that I don't bother to do the chicken/mushroom or sausage ones any more. Try a food processor to shred the cabbage to speed things up. Thanks to the people with the Russian/German relatives. I also came from ND, but had lutefisk from the Swedes instead!
This recipe is wonderful! I added cheese and jalapenos to 1/3 of them, and just cheese to another 1/3. The rest I did just as the recipe specifies. They were all VERY tasty!
This is an excellent dish! My husband and I both love it! I'm going to make up a large batch of the "stuffing" and freeze it so it's not quite as much work next time! Encore!
It wasn't awful, but it was pretty bland. If you have to keep changing it by adding your own spices and other ingredients, it is not the same as the original reicpe. I had trouble with the dough, i used pizza dough, is that why?? And I had tons of the filling left over. It does have potential, but you have to tweak the recipe too much to make a difference and so, what's the point? I prefer recipes you don't have to change much.
Love these! Another way I have made them is cook the hamburger, shredded cabbage and 1 envelope dried onion soup mix(to 3lbs hamburger) all at once in 1 pan with enough water to cook the cabbage. Stir to mix well. The hamburger pieces are then smaller, more uniform. I try to gauge the liquid amount so there is not a lot left when all is done. I also use jumbo refrigerated biscuits, 2 rolled together to form a 'tortilla' appearance. I place a hunk of cheese in the middle, a spoon of the meat/cabbage mixture on top, gather the edges and pinch them shut. Flip the runza over and bake at 350 until the biscuit is golden. This variation came directly from Omaha. The cheese melted inside makes them wonderful!
I live in Nebraska and made a recipe similar to this until we started eating less red meat. I substitute turkey for the ground beef and spoon the mixture on our favorite rolls or buns. Excellent, quick, and easy. Also the mixture freezes well.
These were very delicious. We like a bit more herbs and spice, so here is what I did. I didn't use a lot of beef because we like more cabbage than meat, and I used very lean meat (won't have to drain). Cook beef with a bit of diced green pepper, lots of onion, diced tomato, imitation bacon bits, a sprinkle of red pepper (not too much), sprinkle of nutmeg, thyme, garlic powder, salt, & worcestershire sauce. When meat is brown, add a little diced carrot (do not use a lot of carrot because it will overpower with its sweet taste). Add shredded cabbage and 1 Tbs. Canola oil. Mix and cook until cabbage is done. We didn't have any frozen bread loaves, so I used some leftover freezer crescent roll dough, and they came out SOOOOO YUMMY! Next time I will try using some chopped up jalapeno peppers.
Really, really good. could maybe use a gravy of some kind in it, or some kind of sauce. But even on it's own it's really good. Even my 4 year old ate it.
These were good but a tiny bit bland. Next time I will probably add worcestershire sauce and pepper. I added a little bacon, mushrooms and swiss. It was good but needed a sauce of some sort.
Fleisch Kiechle! That's what we called this wonderful comfort food in ND--I grew up in a little town where the hearty food of the German-Russians always satisfied. There were several variations on this recipie, but this one is a favorite.
Prefece my comments with the fact that I am a picky eater. This dish looked like nothing I would've ever touched much less prepared it myself AND ate it. It was really, really good though. I used italian sausage instead of the hamburger though and added some of the vegetables & spices that other reviewers suggested. My husband and I both decided that we prefered it without the bun but it was good inside the bun too. Honestly, if you make this and look in the pan and start to wonder, eat it anyway! It's good!
Mmm Mmm Mmm. Just like my mom used to make when I lived in Nebraska. I wouldn't change a thing, except just putting some shredded cheese. Homemade runzas are just toooo good compared to actually going and buying them from Runza.
I work at Fort Robinson State Park in Crawford, Nebraska. We serve these on our menu. Recently, the person who normally prepares them didn't show up for work and the recipe exists mostly in her head. This recipe saved our butts and tasted delicious as well! Thank you!
These were awesome! Followed recipe to the letter and they could not be better. Great with spicy brown mustard. Will prepare often; even my two picky teens went after these burgers!
my elementary school made these 50 yrs. ago. they called them "german b rocks". when the ladies made these from scratch, my mother would buy my lunch. they were so good. i make them to this day, using this recipe. my husband calls them "puffs".
These were so yum. I was looking for a recipe to use a head of cabbage staring at me in the fridge. I thought these sounded interesting and I was pleasantly surprised. Excited to have compact leftovers to put in the freezer.
My father grew up in Alliance, NE and when we would go visit every summer, Grandma (German-Russian) always made cabbage burgers. I never heard them called anything else. This recipe is the same one she made. I always add a lot more spice to mine. Nothing fancy, just onion powder, garlic powder, and lots of pepper. Not sure how they came up with a prep time of 1 minute! These are actually quite time consuming to put together until you get the hang of it.
This is a great recipe. I am from the Midwest and this is a family favorite. I freeze them and use as needed.
This was great, just like my grandpa used to make. These also freeze well to make a quick meal.
This is a great recipe. I had to use 5 loaves of bread dough, probably because I wasn't patient enough to let them rise completely. My husband and I can't get enough of these, even find ourselves snacking on them in between meals!
Thought this sounded interesting so thought I would try. I seasoned my ground beef by adding seasoning salt, dried onion instead of fresh and added a few other spices (all Penzey's spices). These were very good but a little time consuming. Next time, I am sure it will be easier since I have an idea of how they are to turn out. Forgot to add some cheese as other reviewers suggested. Will try next time!
My kids actually LOVED these and asked for more! The recipe made much more meat/cabbage than my bread loaves could handle, so I made more bread the next night for leftovers.
I still remember how delicious these were when my aunt would bring them to fields durig wheat havest in western Nebraska with bbq sauce for dipping. These are far superior to the chain restaurant runza-no comparison. Thanks for bringing back a cherished food memory!
I have been searching for this recipe for YEARS! My old elementary school used to make these & all the kids would throw them away! I would take as many home as I could carry, after I ate as many as I could! Those kids didn't know what they were missing!!! The schools no longer make their own foods now & the lunch lady had retired. I didn't know anyone with the recipe. I'm going to run to the store & get the ingredients so I can make them for dinner!
I have been making this recipe for 42 plus years. It was handed down through my husbands Grandmother, a German immigrant from Russia in the early 1900s. Most of my husbands family makes these also and we all love them. In fact we have a cabbage roll festival annually where cabbage rolls are made abundantly and everyone brings a side dish or desert and we have fun family togetherness...sometimes we have more than 60 people attending, so it is a fun party. And, we are all hearty Minnesotans.
I scaled this down to four servings to use 1 pound of ground beef. Per Mels' suggestion, used frozen rolls instead of loaves. Next time, will try with one roll for bottom and one for top. It made 6 VERY large burgers. Also used preshredded packaged cabbage and no water. Hubby loved these.
Family loves these we eat them during football and baseballs games they are hand held easy eating, I've also changed it up adding sausage, peppers and cheese and my son loves or pepperoni .
i decided to make these after winding up with a ton of leftover cabbage from another recipe... turns out the are SOOOO much better than i thought they'd be! hearty and tasty: perfect for a chilly autmn evening or football nights! my only recipe changes were to add a nice handful of shredded carrots and to brush EVOO on BEFORE baking, along with a generous sprinkle of sea salt and cracked black pepper (gave a nice toasted-bagel crust/finish!). hubby loved em, too!
I make these with homemade bread dough. We like to add diced green chile and montery jack cheese. I also like to add a lot of garlic powder and onion powder
It was excellent!! First time I made it and we did well. Our only issue was having only one pan to cook the burgers on, so our dough got moist. We only "ruined" two out of 18. :)
I love these because I can freeze them and have them as quick meal anytime. Also I use drained sauerkraut instead of the cabbage.
My family really loved this recipe. We used ground turkey instead of beef. Next time I make it i think im going to try adding the worchestershire sauce. I did add more onion and lots more garlic. Prep time took longer than 1 minute lol.
These are runzas! One of my favorite nostalgia foods, it takes me back to childhood and our trips to Lincoln, NE and the Black Hills of South Dakota, getting these in stops on the way. They are very customizable. I like adding mushrooms and swiss cheese.
this used to be one of the favs when i was in school...had to hurry thru lunch line to get them before they ran out....went to school in Gering Nebraska....we called them cabbage burgers
I went with a little more flavor with some other spices, but love this recipe.
This recipe was tasteless. I will try again but doctor up the filling to add flavor and maybe use croussant rolls instead.
Delicious. I used dinner rolls and it worked great, especially if left out for a while in a warm environment.
Love these! They're called Beirrocks or cabbage rolls where I'm from in Kansas. I tried these with Italian sausage because I like them spicier. Everyone loves them!
Mom makes these. Called Shproutzic. She uses sauerkraut & cooked pork roast, chopped fine. Awesome! :)
try it with cabbage, hamburger meat, and taco seasoning. its really good
For those that asked for suggestions for flavor...with everything we make in our home, I added cajun seasoning and garlic powder in addition to the chopped garlic, onion powder in addition to the chopped onion. We love seasoning, I grew up in a home that lacked spice(we had salt, pepper, oregano and garlic salt-lol) and oh did that change when I began cooking on my own!! So for the man looking for suggestions...there is my input...I season everything from the first time I make it. We also as another reviewer dip our "burgers" in mustard. Enjoy!!!
I used one loaf of frozen bread and got 6 burgers. Added a pinch of nutmeg as suggested by another reviewer. These were enjoyed by all; served with some homemade applesauce. YUM... Thanks for sharing.
This was very good but the meat needs to be more seasoned. I added smoked paprika, seasoned salt, nutmeg and extra garlic. I will make these again but will add perhaps red peppers and cheese.
My mother (German heritage) made these and were called hamburg cabbage rolls. She made her own dough and after adding the filling she would place them on a baking sheet and let them raise for awhile before baking them. I always cut them in half and spread mayo on each half before eating (the filling is a bit dry).
These are just like the ones my mom made. I add extra spice and black pepper. We like to dip ours in assorted spicy mustards.
i just made the stuffing for these burgers, and using 5 pounds meat and 1 head of cabbage, seems like A LOT of stuffing. will this all fit into 18 sandwiches, and if not, which doesn't look like it will, what can i do with all the leftover meat. also, looks like a lot of meat with a little cabbage for something called a cabbage burger...
this was amazing! I changed it a little bit by adding flour to the meat mixture, to thicken it up a bit, I added malt vinegar and Worcestershire sauce. I also used garlic butter on the top of the dough before baking.
I make these regularly using a friend's recipe. The only difference is that I use about 1/4 as much meat and make my own bread. It sounds really hearty with these proportions, like a meal for working men on a cold day. Definitely going to add Worcestershire as one reviewer suggested.
Out here in Fresno, California we call them Beerrocks...we love them and they are so easy to make....I use ground Bison and it's fabulous.
These cabbage burgers were great I did make a couple changes but I always do. I made my own bread dough and added some dill weed to the burger and I shredded some cheddar cheese and put it inside before I sealed them up delish. My husband asked me to save this recipe. I will make these again
As is, they are rather bland but a good idea. Made own bread instead of frozen. Also, to go in a slightly different direct, season like beef goulash - look for Chef John's recipe on this site. Use a lot of paprika and other pepper, balsamic vinegar and Worcestershire sauce, and some tomato paste. Next time I'll add some shredded carrot, too. Good topped with a little sour cream.
Kind of bland in flavor, I would probably add some spices next time. I also modified half of the filling because my boyfriend doesn't like cabbage. I added dill pickle relish and shredded cheese. He thought that version was delicious. I don't know if I would make this again because it seemed like a big production to put them together and bake.
These are delicious but it is INSANE to claim you can brown the burger in 1 min prep time let alone do all the chopping and assembling!
I cut the recipe to one loaf home baked bread and one pound ground meats (equal parts veal, beef, pork ). 1/4 cabbage, splash of water, 2 T dried onion, 1/2 t nutmeg, 1/4 c a1 steak sauce, 2 cloves garlic. Really tasty, easy to assemble. My version yielded 8. Next time, I will brush each with beaten egg before baking. Thanks for the recipe.
Ugh I LOVE this recipe... We are from Nebraska and LOVE Runza..We live in Wisconsin now so we were really missing this wonderful food and now we can make it anytime!! We made it for friends and they were obsessed... next time we will try to make a homemade bread dough... that might make it more perfect!! Thanks for sharing the recipe.. I like that it is simple and doesn't have a lot of extra added spices!
This was very bland. It’s a good starter recipe, but as is it needs much more flavor.
This turned out as a hit in my house, even with my big picky eater, my husband. He originally said he wasn't going to even try them but was very suprised by them. I could not find the dough in our local commissary but just made a batch of wheat bread dough and used that. filling them did have a learning curve and half of mine turned out with twice as much bread as filling but still tasted great. The filling was a little bland but I will be trying some other add ins when I have the time to make this again.
Good- I used sauerkraut instead of cabbage and added some caraway seeds and about a tablespoon of mustard. I have made these for years and my kids loved them.
Only thing I added was a good shot of Worcestershire sauce. As written this recipe makes a TON of burgers.
Curious about the name of this burger alone so i decided to make it. I added onion soup as suggested by one reviewer and pepperjack cheese. The cabbage pretty much morphed into texture and taste of onion given combination of the other ingredients. Honestly this tasted like a really moist and tender upscale Kystal burger - Not bad but nothing really to rave about. I Tried it.. no longer curious.
I love this recipe! You can put anything in them...even chicken, veggies, etc. It is very versatile. Our family likes them with ground turkey and served with ketchup.
I wasn't sure how much salt and pepper to put in. I used 1 tsp salt and 1 1/2 pepper. Could have used more pepper.
Holy cow was looking for something fun for the family and this was a hit
I found the original recipe a bit bland and needed a flavor kick. I looked through comments and took some advice...I added Worcestershire sauce, nutmeg, mushrooms, and bacon, and voila...delicious!!!
I made these, but instead of as directed, I combined the Southern Style fried cabbage recipe (and chopped it up), and added instead of hamburger, a braised Corned Beef brisket that I chopped up. I used these as the filling since it's nearly St Patty's day. Also instead of using store bought frozen bread dough, I made my own dough using my bread machine. It came out delicious!
These are really good and pretty easy. I would give them 5 stars except that they don't have a whole lot of flavor. I used dough that I made in the bread machine, which worked very well.
We followed the recipe as written. We added nothing that wasn't listed but I wish we had. This was one of the blandest recipes I have tried. All we could taste was bread. The filling was practically tasteless. Also, the cabbage/beef mix measurements are excessive. We had just as much filling left as we used. Because I still have much filling left, I am going to add, add, and add some more seasoning to it, and try again tomorrow. If I did not have filling left I would not make this recipe again. I recommend veering from trying the recipe as written. It seems most the positive reviews are reviewing bierocks from childhood or a majorly modified recipe. I recommend everyone try one or two bierocks as written before stuffing all the bread so you can modify to taste before committing to the as written flavor on all the burgers.
Everyone loves these! They are really easy to make if you get the frozen dough rolls thawed in time. They are even really good in lunch boxes the next day, no need to reheat!
