German bierocks (or Runzas) recipe
Bierocks are a classic german meal that consists of cabbage, onion, and beef all inside of a sweet roll. If you have never had homemade bierocks, you have never lived!
That might be a bit much, but seriously they are THAT good.
Now, they are time-consuming to make, but don't let that stop you! I have easy to follow instructions to help you step by step.
What can you add to bierocks?
- cheese
- sauerkraut
What you need to make Bierocks:
Ingredients:
bierocks dough
- 1 package active dry yeast
- 2 ½ cups warm water
- 1 cup milk
- ½ cup salted butter (melted)
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 2 eggs
- 10 cups all-purpose flour
bierocks filling
- 2 pounds ground beef
- 1 large onion
- 4 cups cabbage
- 2 teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoon pepper
- 2 tablespoon butter
- 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese (optional)
How to make Bierocks
Bierocks dough
The first thing you will do is add yeast to your large mixing bowl. Then you will add in your warm water. Whisk these together for about 10 seconds and then let it set for 10 minutes until it looks frothy.
You will want to microwave the milk for 20-30 seconds or until it feels warm. Also, you will want to melt your butter and then let it set. The key to a dough that rises properly is using warm temperatures of liquid ingredients. If it's too hot, it won't rise.
When the water and yeast are frothy, you will add in the warm milk and melted butter. Mix this for about a minute.
Then, add in your sugar and eggs.
After this has been mixed well, you will begin adding flour.
Start by adding in 1 cup at a time. When the bierock dough starts getting thicker, switch to your dough hook. Keep adding in all the flour until you have used up the 10 cups.
Then, you will want to scoop this dough out onto a floured surface and knead for 2 minutes.
Kneading is when you grab the edge of the dough and fold in towards the center, pressing down. You then keep rotating the dough ball until it looks more uniform.
Form it into a ball and place it in a well-oiled bowl.
Cover the dough, and let it rise in a warm location of your house for about 1 hour.
You can then work on the bierocks filling.
Bierocks Filling
Start by chopping up your onion and cabbage. You will want to place butter into a large frying pan and then add in the shredded onion and cabbage. Let this cook for 6-7 minutes stirring often.
Next, you will want to cook your hamburger and then drain the grease.
In a large mixing bowl, you will combine the hamburger, cabbage, onion, and salt and pepper. This will make a traditional bierock filling.
What I like to do is also add in some shredded cheddard cheese! This step is certainly optional, but if you like cheese, I definitely recommend it.
You will mix all of this together.
Assembling the Bierocks
When the dough has risen for the full 1 hour, you will then separate out the dough into 18 balls of dough. Roll them each out on a floured surface.
Then you should pre-heat your oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.
The next step is to scoop approximately ½ cup of the bierocks filling into the dough.
Then fold the dough around the filling, pinching it closed.
Then place it on a cookie sheet with parchment paper, seam side down.
You will then bake these bierocks for 30 minutes. Make sure to rotate the pan half-way through cooking time.
Another optional, but equally tasty thing you can do is brush the tops with melted butter!
This recipe make approximately 18 bierocks.
Homemade Bierocks Recipe
Bierocks are a famous German dish consisting of ground hamburger, cabbage, and onion all encased in a sweet bread roll. The combination is amazing!
Ingredients
Ingredients:
Bierocks Dough
- 1 package active dry yeast
- 2 ½ cups warm water
- 1 cup milk
- ½ cup salted butter melted
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 2 eggs
- 10 cups all-purpose flour
Bierocks Filling
- 2 tablespoon butter
- 1 onion
- 4 cups shredded cabbage
- 2 pounds ground beef
- 2 teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoon pepper
- 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese optional
Instructions
Directions:
Bierocks Dough
-
The first thing you will do is add yeast to your large mixing bowl. Then you will add in your warm water. Whisk these together for about 10 seconds and then let it sit for 10 minutes until it looks frothy.
-
Then you will want to microwave the milk for 20-30 seconds or until it feels warm. Also, you will want to melt your butter and then let it set.
-
When the water and yeast are frothy, you will add in the warm milk and melted butter. Mix this for about a minute.
-
Then, add in your sugar and eggs. After this has been mixed well, you will begin adding flour.
-
Start by adding in 1 cup at a time. When the bierock dough starts getting thicker, switch to your dough hook. Keep adding in all the flour until you have used up the 10 cups.
-
Then, you will want to scoop this dough out onto a floured surface and knead for 2 minutes. Form it into a ball and place it in a well-oiled bowl.
-
Cover the dough, and let it rise in a warm location of your house for about 1 hour.
You can then work on the bierocks filling.
Bierocks Filling
-
Start by chopping up your onion and cabbage. You will want to place butter into a large frying pan and then add in the shredded onion and cabbage. Let this cook for 6-7 minutes stirring often.
-
Next, you will want to cook your hamburger and then drain the grease.
-
In a large mixing bowl, you will combine the hamburger, cabbage, onion, and salt and pepper. This will make a traditional bierock filling.
-
What I like to do is also add in some shredded cheddar cheese! This step is certainly optional, but if you like cheese, I definitely recommend it. You will mix all of this together.
Assembling the Bierocks
-
When the dough has risen for the full 1 hour, you will then separate out the dough into 18 balls of dough. Roll them each out on a floured surface.
-
Then, pre-heat your oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.
Next, scoop approximately ½ cup of the bierocks filling into the dough. Then fold the dough around the filling, pinching it closed.
-
Then place it on a cookie sheet with parchment paper, seam side down. You will then bake these bierocks for 30 minutes. Make sure to rotate the pan half-way through cooking time.
-
Another optional, but equally tasty thing you can do is brush the tops with melted butter!
Karen K
I’m not a bread maker so I’ve used Bridgford frozen rolls for the dough. But even easier and just as good is using Pillsbury Grands flakey biscuits. I separate each biscuit into 2 before rolling it out to make 16 beirocks. Half of your filling recipe makes about 16. Very good filling and I like the idea of adding cheese and maybe some celery or radishes for crunch next time
Joanne
I grew up eating these in Wyoming. We called them Cabbage Burgers and made them just like the recipe - 1-2 onions, one head of cabbage, no cheese and a shake of nutmeg in the mixture.
I needed a good dough recipe and this one was fantastic.
I made some tonight and didn’t have ground beef so used 2# sausage- one was ‘hot’. They came out great! Next time I’ll make them smaller. I found the filling to dough ratio was perfect- just prefer smaller ones. Thank you for the recipe!!
Musty
Thank you for your dough recipe first batch in oven now cannot wait to taste
Fran Horn
Lovely recipe! My husband is a “Rooskie” from Fresno and he gave these the thumbs up. I would have added more salt to the dough and more pepper to the filling, as they were on the sweet side. We both enjoyed them though!
Lynne DEATHERAGE
Did your husband ever eat at the bedrock shop in Fresno? A family friend owned it and we ate there often. I live in Oklahoma now and no one knows what these are. I made them Sunday. So many memories.
Amy
My husband and I moved from Fresno to Texas and have been craving the Mexican flavored Bierocks from the Bierock shop in CA. We used your dough recipe (perfect) and for the ground beef we used taco seasoning mix. It is a little reminder of home. I saw the comment about the Bierock shop in Fresno and knew I could trust this recipe. 10/10 would recommend.
Eric
Hi. I just made the dough and it looks great. I’m going to experiment and do a slow rise in the fridge overnight rather than the countertop rise for only one hour. Hoping this improves the complexity of the flavor and yields a highly workable finished product. I’ll report back with my results. Thanks for the recipe.
Michele Esfeld
I’m from Kansas and our hometown famous for their bierock closed to retirement. I grew up loving bierocks. I am currently teaching a friend who has never heard of bierocks how to make them today.
This recipe is by far the best! Thank you for sharing. I’m on my second batch in last 2 weeks. Baking is my therapy plus who doesn’t love a homemade bierock!
Karen
I suppose you are talking of Bierocks in Wichita Ks , if so my heart just broke. I moved away in the 90’s and they were on my list to visit. This recipe sounds good but I’m sure they used some spices or maybe sauerkraut. They had a unique flavor.
Sherry Burrow
I grew up in the center of Kansas among the Germans from Russia and these delicious bierocks were made by our wonderful school cooks! My sister, cousin and I are making them next week when we get together. Please, though, people- unless it’s dough, cabbage, ground beef and onion- don’t call them bierocks! Any alternate ingredients are still yummy, but not a bierock! One cook called hers Ranch Burgers. 🤷🏼♀️ Thanks for the recipe!
Grace K
I want to try these again sometime because of a couple things. One: I love bierocks. Two: I am pregnant, and pregnancy brain struck, so I forgot to add any salt or pepper to the filling! Three: I rolled out the dough way too thin for most of them (I tried rolling out all 18 then filling them), and it created this issue where most of the dough was gathered at the bottom, causing it to puff up like a bun and take up most of the space inside the bierocks! It was actually quite funny and didn't happen to all of them. We just sprinkled a bit of salt in the bierocks as we ate them, and all was well. I really should have looked at your pictures while cooking though lol.
This was not my first time making bierocks, but it was the first time I made the dough myself. I can't wait to try it again now that I have one attempt under my belt. We are eating the leftovers as lunches, and now I am wondering if I can make a batch of these to freeze and have as easy lunches postpartum! Let me know if you have ever tried freezing these for later. I will do my own research on it, and if I can't find a definitive answer I will experiment by freezing one or two before sticking a whole batch in the freezer. Thank you for your recipe!
Roxie Mickens
I freeze them all the time they turn out great. My mom made these often and she also froze them.
Roxie
Sandy Pavlik
I’m making them as I’m leaving this comment. I will let you know how they turn out, I usually make them with my Oldest Daughter however she now lives 6 hrs from me. So this is my first attempt by myself. I’m very excited that I found your recipe!
Joanna Stephens
Glad to hear it Sandy! Hope you enjoy these bierocks as much as my family and I do. 🙂
Laura Franco-Requejo
My mother always made bierocks as we grew up & we all loved them. She used Italian pork sausage & added shredded carrots, chopped celery, mushrooms & cheese. She also made them using pork chilie Verde & cheese or chilie colorado shredded pork meat as well. I guess it was whatever she had at the time.
The all time favorite for the family were the pork sausage ones.
She is now 95 & doesn't do much cooking, anymore. I myself have made them & will be caring on the tradition now.
Joanna Stephens
That's wonderful Laura! I remember bierocks were always a special treat because we didn't get them very often. One thing's for certain, though, bierocks are very versatile with the fillings you want to add!
Linda Gaddis
I have not made bierocks in a long time. I am a 67 yr old woman and I just quit doing a lot of stuff. But my hubby loves these, so I have my first batch baking right now. I have made a pre New Year’s resolution to start doing more. I can’t believe the dough was as easy as it was. I was worried it wouldn’t rise, but it did. I am soooo proud of myself. Thank you for this great recipe. I am sure they will taste great.
Melissa Gold
Mom would wrap in foil and off to the
drive-in we would go in the station wagon.
Gail Bernard
First time making these. I loved them!!! Filling batch didn’t match the dough batch though. I have enough lift over for half a dough batch so just froze it until next time. My girlfriends and I share recIpies so this is going out there. I don’t like a lot of bread dough so made 16. With about 1.4 oz dough.
Krissy
The recipe was honestly simple and delicious!
Only one thing I would change next time bc and that is adding a little salt to the bread maybe. But I absolutely loved how it turned out texture wise. Thank you!
Amy
Beyond stoked to find this recipe! My grandma has been gone since 2004 and my mom makes a quicker version that just doesn’t cut it. Trying this tomorrow. So glad you shared! Grandma and mom are from Hays, Ks. 🙂
Pat K
I’m from Hays as well! This is a good recipe and comes close to the one my grandmother made.
Toby Halfhill
I'm so glad you developed this recipe. Minus the cheese its exactly the same as the one my mom made for 65 years, minus the cheese. You must photo shop because you don't look that old. This is the standard German recipe that my great Gramma brought with her from Germany in the 1800's. I hope you keep developing these. So did you develop the recipe for kolaches too.
Joanna Stephens
Glad to hear it Toby! The cheese is my modern addition because my family like it with it. I haven't added kolaches yet, just because I test and retest until I find the right ratio of everything. I'm sure in time I will have a recipe for it though! 🙂
Katina
Thank you so much for this easy to follow recipe! I LOVE Bierocks—but can’t find them very often! I have been very hesitant to work with anything that requires yeast—but this recipe was perfect!!!!! Thank you so much!!
Bryan
It’s a perfectly simple recipe and absolutely Perfect!!
Caitlin
My family loved these! I didn't realize how much it made at first, so we froze what we didn't initally eat and they warmed up wonderfully. We are now trying variation fillings to freeze and take on camping trips to warm up! Thanks so much!
Debi Snyder
I grew up in Fresno, CA and had my first Bierock as a young child on a cold winter day at the local flea market. I thought I'd gone to heaven. Holding that warm pillow of deliciousness in my cold little fingers and tasting the yummy bread and filling Is one of my favorite childhood memories. I made some a few weeks ago, my filling recipe is very similar to yours;. I'll have to give your bread recipe a try.
Krissy
Shout out to Fresno!! 🙂
(My home!)
Kristy Hess
I grew up having non traditional variations of this from fried to bake to all kinds of fillings. Your dough recipe is great, but it made sooo much. Can it be frozen and at what point if so? I could make half this amount, but would be too little for kitchen aid. I did my own stuffing. A variation of shepards pie filling. Big hit!!
Joanna Stephens
I'm so glad you enjoyed my bierock dough recipe! You can definitely freeze this dough. Right after the dough rises for 1 hour, I divide them into equal sized balls. Then, any dough balls you don't use place in a freezer bag. When you are ready to use them again, let them thaw at room temperature before rolling them out. Love the idea of using a shepherds pie filling, sounds delicious!