Cabbage rolls are a comfort food I grew up eating.

Originally Published

1/15/2021

As a little kid, I remember sitting in my great-grandmother’s kitchen, watching her and my grandma make these cabbage rolls by the dozen. I’ve only ever known them by the name Cabbage Roll, but it turns out they are also called Runza, or Bierock.

I never realized anyone else even knew what a cabbage roll was! I thought it was just a family recipe. While researching, I even found an entire article dedicated to the humble cabbage roll by a lady named Sarah Baker Hansen from the Omaha World-Herald that gives a pretty thorough history of the Runza.

She says, “Runza” is a version of the low German word runsa, which translates into “bun shape” or the soft shape of a round belly. They were a standard of the diets of field workers and families.” It makes complete sense, seeing as my great-grandparent’s last name was Brandt! 

A midwestern food of German heritage, these cabbage rolls are usually stuffed with some variant of ground beef, cabbage or sauerkraut, and onions. You would never guess such simple ingredients could be so good! I think you’re going to like these! I can never just eat one!

First things first, start by making the dough for the Cabbage Rolls!

In your Kitchenaid mixer with the dough hook attachment, pour in 2 cups of warm water and 2 tsp of sugar, and sprinkle the top of the water with 3 tsp of yeast. Just let this sit for 5 minutes so the yeast has time to activate. After the 5 minutes is up you can add in the olive oil, salt, and flour. 

This recipe calls for 6 cups of bread flour. It’s important to use bread flour and not all-purpose flour for several reasons:

1. Protein Content:
   • Bread Flour: Has a higher protein content, usually between 12-14%. The higher protein content helps to develop more gluten, which gives bread its chewy texture and helps it rise higher.
   • All-Purpose Flour: Has a moderate protein content, usually between 10-12%. It is versatile and can be used for a variety of baked goods, but it produces less gluten than bread flour.
2. Gluten Development:
   • Bread Flour: Produces more gluten, which is essential for yeast breads and other baked goods that require a chewy texture and structure.
   • All-Purpose Flour: Produces less gluten, making it suitable for a wider range of baked goods, from cookies and cakes to breads and pastries, but it may not provide the same structure and chewiness as bread flour in yeast breads.
3. Texture and Use:
   • Bread Flour: Ideal for yeast breads, pizza dough, and other baked goods that benefit from a strong structure and chewy texture.
   • All-Purpose Flour: Ideal for a wide variety of recipes, including cookies, cakes, muffins, quick breads, and some types of bread.
4. Water Absorption:
   • Bread Flour: Absorbs more water due to its higher protein content, which can affect the hydration of doughs and batters.
   • All-Purpose Flour: Absorbs less water, which can make it easier to work within a broader range of recipes.

Bread flour will give the rolls the structure and texture they need to hold all of the delicious fillings! Also, if you use all-purpose flour, your dough will be way to wet and sticky, as bread flour absorbs more water. Speaking of the stickiness of this dough. You should be able to touch the dough without it sticking to you. The dough should not be too dry and crumbly, or shaggy. You can add more flour or water depending on how it looks!

After you get the dough mixed up, move it to a large, lightly greased bowl, cover it with plastic wrap, and let it rise for at least 45 minutes. 

Now for the Cabbage Roll Filling!

I like to use one pound of ground beef, and half a pound of pork sausage. Mostly just because who doesn’t love breakfast sausage?!

Brown the meat fully, then remove it from the heat. Tip the pan up on a small dish and push all the meat up to the high side of the pan. Allow the grease to drain down the bottom, and then discard. I usually just sop it up with some paper towels. It is important to get most of the grease out of the meat, though, so your cabbage rolls aren’t super oily when you put them together.

Once you’ve got that accomplished, return it to the heat and add in your onions to sauté. This is also where I add in the salt and pepper to taste and Worcestershire. The Worcestershire adds even more pepperiness and the little bit of vinegar zing needed to brighten these up!

After the onions start to turn opaque, turn off the heat and add your cabbage mix. Like I said above, there are a lot of variations on what people like to put in. Growing up, we simply bought a head of green, and purple cabbage, washed them, and chopped them up into thin ribbons. Then we would sauté the cabbage with the meat and onions until it was wilted. This is probably the most cost-effective route. 

If you’re looking for something less labor-intensive, you can grab a bag of chopped salad from the store! You could use a broccoli slaw or coleslaw mix. I’ve used a chopped salad that contained mostly cabbage and kale in the past. Do not get a salad mix that has romaine or iceberg. These aren’t hearty enough to withstand baking and will turn to yucky mush. It needs to be heartier vegetation! 

Turn off the heat, and mix in your cabbage! You are just about ready to roll some rolls!

This recipe makes 15 cabbage rolls.

If you have a kitchen scale, just weigh your dough and divide it by 15 to get the weight of each roll. If you don’t have a scale, just eyeball it and try to get 15 even rolls.

Super simple from here on out, just roll each piece of dough until it’s 1/8″ thick, using a 1/3 measuring cup, scoop out some filling and place it in the middle of your circle, and then fold all of the edges into the center. Make sure the dough is all folded in tight and stuck to itself and then flip it right side up!

Place the cabbage roll on a large baking sheet lined with parchment paper that is lightly sprayed with olive oil. I left about a 1/2″ to 1″ between each roll so they didn’t grow together in the oven. Repeat until all 15 are on the sheet.

I egg-wash each roll and sprinkle them with sesame seeds or Everything Bagel Seasoning. This isn’t necessary. I just like how the egg wash makes them look shiny and more golden after they bake and also the Everything Bagel Seasoning adds some extra flavor and pizazz!

After this, they are ready to go in the oven! The dough doesn’t need to rise a second time because you aren’t trying to achieve a super-risen bread roll, just a tasty accompaniment to hold the filling.

Bake at 375 for 15-20 minutes, or until they are a nice golden brown color!

Print Recipe

Cabbage Rolls

Cabbage Rolls, or Runza – savory buns filled with ground beef, purple and green cabbage, onions, and carrots.

Prep Time45 minutes mins

Cook Time20 minutes mins

Course: Dinner, Lunch, Main Course, Snack

Servings: 15 rolls

Equipment

• Kitchenaid Mixer
• Measuring Cups and Spoons
• Frying Pan
• Knife
• Cutting board
• Baking Sheet
• Parchment Paper
• Kitchen Scale

Ingredients

Dough

• 2 cups water warm 473 grams
• 3 tsp yeast 9 grams
• 2 tsp sugar 8 grams
• 4 tbsp olive oil 54 grams
• 1 tsp salt 6 grams
• 6 cups Bread Flour 816 grams
• 1 egg +1 tbsp water mix to make egg wash

Filling

• 1 lb ground beef
• 1/2 lb ground pork sausage
• 1 medium onion diced about 1 cup
• 1 tbsp Worcestershire
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp pepper
• 1 cup green cabbage chopped
• 1 cup purple cabbage chopped
• 1 cup carrots shredded or matchsticks

Instructions

Dough

• In your Kitchenaid mixer with the dough hook attachment, add 2 cups of warm water, 2 tsp of sugar and sprinkle over the top of that the 3 tsp of yeast. Let sit for 5 minutes.
• Add in 4 tbsp of olive oil, 1 tsp of salt, and 6 cups of bread flour. Knead with the dough hook until the dough comes together. The dough should not be too wet and sticky or too dry and crumbly. Feel free to add 1-2 tbsp of either flour or water to adjust accordingly.
• Place the dough in a lightly greased bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Allow to rise for 45 minutes.

Filling

• While the bread dough is rising, cook the ground beef and pork sausage in a large frying pan over medium heat.
• Once the meat is finished cooking, remove from heat and prop the pan up pushing all the meat to the higher side of the pan. Let the pan sit like this for 3-5 minutes, giving the grease time to collect down in the bottom part of the pan. Scoop out and dispose of grease.
• Return the pan to the heat and add in the diced onion, Worcestershire, salt and pepper. Sauté until onion becomes opaque.
• Finally, turn off the heat, add the chopped purple and green cabbage and carrots to the frying pan, and cook for another 5-10 minutes until they're just becoming soft.

Assemble

• Preheat oven to 375.
• Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper and lightly spray with olive oil.
• If you have a kitchen scale, weigh your dough and divide it by 15. If you don’t have a scale just do your best to eyeball it. 

Once you have your dough divided into 15 pieces you are going to roll each piece out into a circle about 1/8″ thick.
• With a 1/3 cup, scoop out and place filling into the middle of the circle of dough. Go around the circle folding in all the edges to the center over the top of the filling. Place the roll seam side down on the baking sheet leaving 1″ of space between the rolls. Repeat until all 15 rolls are assembled and on the baking sheet.
• Egg wash each roll. 
After you egg wash, you can sprinkle each roll with sesame seeds or everything bagel seasoning.

Bake

• Place baking sheet in the oven and bake at 375 for 15-20 minutes or until the rolls are golden on top.
• Remove from oven and allow to cool 15-20 minutes before serving. These are fantastic with ranch, bbq sauce, mustard, hot sauce, and just about anything else you can think of to dip them in! Enjoy!

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