Several loyal Steele’s Market customers who have purchased my cookbook love the Old-Fashioned Kraut Burger recipe, which we sold in Carol Ann’s Deli. Fall is the perfect time to make these soft, pillowy rolls, which are stuffed with ground beef, cabbage, and onions. Also known as bierocks (pronounced bee-rock) or runza, kraut burgers are a German/Eastern European treat that maneuvered their way to the American Midwest.
My first memories of kraut burgers began in none other than my school cafeteria. I grew up in the good old days where school lunches were made from scratch by lunch ladies. My school cafeteria was lucky enough to have German cooks, who made the most delicious kraut burgers. My mother didn’t allow us to eat in the school cafeteria very often—only on pizza and kraut burger days. Instead, we walked two blocks home to have lettuce and mayonnaise sandwiches, which we dunked in Campbell’s® tomato soup. It’s no wonder I loved kraut burger day! I must admit the Steele’s Old-Fashioned Kraut Burgers are just as good as the version made by the Dunn School lunch ladies.
If you are really ambitious, you can make your own bread dough from scratch. This recipe takes the simpler approach and uses frozen bread dough. Kroger’s® does sell Rhodes® White Frozen Bread Dough, which is perfect for this recipe.
Steele’s Old-Fashioned Kraut Burgers
Makes 16 Kraut Burgers
2 (1-pound) loaves frozen bread dough
Thaw bread according to package directions.
2 ½ pounds lean ground beef
4 cups shredded cabbage
1 large yellow onion, chopped
1 teaspoon dry mustard
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 ¼ teaspoons salt
½ teaspoon large grind black pepper
In a large skillet, brown ground beef over a medium heat, crumbling with a fork. When meat is almost cooked, add cabbage and onion and continue cooking until vegetables are soft. Add mustard, garlic powder, salt, and pepper and mix thoroughly.
Cooking spray for coating cookie sheet
1 egg, beaten
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Roll each loaf of bread dough into a 16 X 8-inch rectangle. Cut each rectangle into eight 4-inch squares. Spoon the cabbage mixture into the center of each dough square, bring up the diagonal points, and pinch edges closed. Spray a cook sheet with cooking spray, place kraut burgers on the cookie sheet, and let rise for 10 minutes. Using a pastry brush, coat tops lightly with beaten egg. Bake for 20 minutes, or until golden brown.
Tips on selecting cabbage: Cabbage will normally feel very heavy for its size. When buying green or Savoy cabbage, select heads with dark green leaves. As cabbage ages, its outer leaves wilt and are removed, exposing the lighter colored underneath leaves. The leaves on cabbage should be thick and crisp, not limp. A fresh cabbage will show no signs of browning. Do not buy cabbage that has a strong odor. If it smells like garbage, it probably is. Avoid purchasing this vegetable if its core is woody or split.
Tips on storing cabbage: This vegetable keeps up to 1 week in the refrigerator when placed in a reusable, paper, or plastic bag or tightly wrapped in plastic.
Tips on selecting ground beef: Some ground beef products are labeled “lean” and “extra lean”. “Lean” means that for every 100 grams of beef there are less than 10 grams of fat, 4.5 grams or less of saturated fat, and less than 95 milligrams of cholesterol. “Extra Lean” means for every 100 grams of beef there are less than 2 grams of saturated fat and less than 95 milligrams of cholesterol.
Supermarkets will also label beef according to the meat/fat ratios: 73/27; 80/20; 85/15; 92/8; 93/7; 94/4. Select the type of ground beef that is appropriate for how you will prepare the beef. Ground beef with higher fat content will yield juicier grilled burgers. Leaner ground beef is good in recipes where the meat is crumbled—like spaghetti sauce or taco filling.
Carol Ann
Carol Ann Kates is the award-winning author of cookbook, Secret Recipes from the Corner Market, and international Amazon best-selling and award-winning author of Grocery Shopping Secrets. She’s an expert in how to shop, select, and store produce for maximizing home cooking outcomes and minimizing time and money spent. As a former supermarket and deli operator, Carol Ann shares grocery-insider wisdom—the same expertise you used to receive when patronizing a mom-and-pop establishment. Contact her at CarolAnn@CarolAnnKates.com and explore her website, www.CarolAnnKates.com.
Copyright 2024 All Rights Reserved Carol Ann Kates
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