Soft butter bread stuffed with ground beef, cabbage and cheese make runzas delicious. This simplified recipe also makes them a lot quicker and easier that starting from scratch, but they are just as tasty.
Runzas, or bierocks, are a delicious stuffed bun style sandwich native to Nebraska. This recipe uses a few shortcuts that make them much easier to make.
You can use this as a base recipe and make any variation you can dream of!
Have you ever heard of a runza? I never had until my coworker started talking about them.
Perhaps that’s because I’ve never been to Nebraska. They are a regional specialty that seems to have a stronghold there.
My coworker and his family make them for Christmas almost every year. His mom made them when she was alive, so I am sure there is a strong sense of nostalgia.
He and his siblings each make a batch with various seasonings or twists on the original. He always seems to really look forward to feasting on runzas.
After hearing about them for several years, I decided to see what all of the fuss was about and make some myself. I went looking for recipes and found several.
Shortcuts to Make Easy Homemade Bierocks
As busy as life is right now, I decided to take a few shortcuts to make them more approachable. I figured you guys wouldn’t mind.
Instead of making dough from scratch, I used frozen dinner roll dough. All you have to do is let it defrost and you’re ready to go.
Instead of shredding cabbage, I used packaged coleslaw mix. That saved a lot of time and effort as well.
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Assembling the Runzas
To form the actual sandwich, you take two balls of dough and squish them together. Either roll them out or smash them with your hands to form a big flat circle.
They don’t have to be perfect. Just get them as large and flat as you can. That will help make sealing the filling inside a bit easier.
Now scoop about 1/3 of a cup of filling onto the circle of dough and top with about a tablespoon of cheese. Gold the dough over the filling and pinch it to seal the goodies inside.
Place them pinched side down on a greased baking sheet. Brush them with melted butter and bake them yo golden perfection.
We chowed down on them while watching a football game and were very happy with the results. The rest were wonderful warmed up and served alongside a bowl of soup.
Variations
My coworker still marvels over the dinner plate sized runza he had at a diner once. Mini versions would be fun appetizers as well.
Really your imagination could help take these stuffed buns in all sorts of directions. Add jalapenos for spice or cheddar for a sharper cheese flavor. Do both together, that would be delicious too!
You could even fill them with shredded left over country ribs and kraut. The possibilities really are endless
If you have a favorite runza variation, I would love to hear about it. I am thinking it’s time to make some more!
Simplified Runzas {or Bierocks}
Equipment
- OXO Non-stick Rolling Pin
Ingredients
- 24 frozen dinner roll dough balls thawed but cold
- 1 Tablespoon vegetable oil
- 1 pound lean ground beef
- 14 oz package coleslaw salad mix shredded cabbage and carrots
- ½ teaspoon granulated sugar
- 1 Tablespoon soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon pepper
- ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 cup shredded mozzarella
- 1 Tablespoon butter melted
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350° F and spray a baking sheet with cooking spray or line it with parchment paper.
- In a large skillet, brown ground beef in vegetable oil over medium heat. Drain any excess grease, reserving about 1 Tablespoon.1 pound lean ground beef, 1 Tablespoon vegetable oil
- Add shredded cabbage mix to beef and remaining grease in skillet. Sprinkle in the sugar, soy sauce, apple cider vinegar, salt, pepper and garlic powder. Sauté for about 10 minutes or until cabbage is mostly softened. Taste the filling and adjust seasoning to your taste. Remove from heat and let cool slightly.14 oz package coleslaw salad mix, ½ teaspoon granulated sugar, 1 Tablespoon soy sauce, 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar, ¼ teaspoon salt, ½ teaspoon pepper, ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
- Meanwhile, take 2 balls of cold bread dough and push them together. Roll or flatten them into a large circle. Scoop about 1/3 of a cup of filling into the center of the dough. Top with about 1 Tablespoon of cheese.1 cup shredded mozzarella
- Fold the dough over the filling, pinching to seal the dough into a ball around the dough. Place seem side down on the prepared baking sheet.
- Repeat until all of the dough and filling has been used. Brush the balls of dough with melted butter.1 Tablespoon butter
- Bake at 350° F for 30-35 minutes. The tops should should be golden brown.
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I’m a Nebraskan & my grandma made the best runzas! She used her own sweet roll dough, and would make a large pan of cinnamon rolls as well. Here, we can buy Rhodes brand sweet roll dough, or I’ve also used their “Texas-sized” frozen dinner rolls, which are quicker to defrost. For me, it’s easiest to make my filling one day & prep and bake the next day. We used to cut them open, then add butter & salt. Sometimes more butter with each bite! Haha. My family also liked them with ketchup. And since we like chili with our cinnamon rolls here, we’d often make a batch to go with our cinnamon rolls as well! Fun to see your variation & time-saving tips!
I love that so much! And a little butter and salt never hurt a thing. 😉
I’m making these for the second time. I had friend in Kansas who would make them. We moved and then I found your recipe so I can have them again.
They are so good!!! I highly recommend this recipe.
I am so glad you were able to bring them along with you!
Love run as but I live alone now and making them is a lot of work. All I need now is the coleslaw mix & I’m making some! Thanks.
Yay! This definitely makes it easier. I would almost guess you could just defrost a few balls of dough at a time and freeze the extra filling for another batch later if you wanted to just make a few at a time too.
I used to make these with frozen bread dough. I used to take them to summer concerts as they’re good at room temp and don’t need to be kept cold.
They really would be perfect for picnics and stuff too!! What a great idea
These are soooo neat! I've definitely got to give these a try. They sound delicious !
Of course you are welcome to make your own bread dough since you are the queen of bread! I can see you doing all sorts of fun things with this basic idea.
I LOVE this! First time I've seen a recipe like this and it looks amazing.
They are really tasty for sure!
I have never heard of runzas or bierocks but they sure do sound good. We love coleslaw. I am going to have to try these!!!
It is worth trying for sure
Hi Carlee, I've never heard of these, but they sound like they would go perfectly with soup. I think I'll have a go at these and see my expressions on faces as my family bite into their bread rolls!
xx
They were a perfect heartier side to soup. My husband doesn't consider soup a meal, so we have to have some sort of sandwich or something with it for him to accept it as dinner 😉
Yum. Kind of like an egg roll in a roll. Bet that's good!
Basically, with a softer buttery bread wrapper.
Too funny, I was just talking about these with a friend the other day and said I thought they were hard to make. Now I can try it, the flavors sound soooo yummy. Happy Weekend lovely!
They can definitely be more time consuming if you start with homemade dough and a head of cabbage. This way makes them more approachable!