What exactly is a Runza? 🥟✨
A Runza is a beloved Midwestern comfort food with roots in German-Russian bierocks — soft baked bread filled with seasoned ground beef, cabbage, onions, and often cheese. Made famous in Nebraska, these warm handheld pockets became a go-to meal for busy families because they’re hearty, portable, and completely satisfying.
This easy version uses frozen bread dough instead of homemade dough, so you get all the cozy, nostalgic flavor with a lot less work. Perfect for weeknight dinners, meal prep, lunchboxes, road trips, or grabbing on the go when life gets busy! 🥖❤️
- 22 ounces refrigerated French bread dough
- 1 pound ground beef
- 1 cup yellow onion diced
- 2 1/2 cups green cabbage shredded
- 1 Tablespoon water
- 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
- 3/4 teaspoon ground oregano
- 3/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 1/8 teaspoon paprika
- 1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/8 teaspoon ground turmeric
- 6 ounces Fat Free Mozzarella Cheese
- Wash hands and clean all prep surfaces.
- Brown ground beef over medium heat. Drain excess fat, if needed.
- Add diced onions and shredded cabbage on top of browned beef. Cover with a lid and cook for 15 minutes over medium heat, or until vegetables are softened.
- Stir vegetable and beef mixture and add water, Worcestershire sauce, and spices. Continue to cook for a few minutes until spices become fragrant. Turn of heat and cover.
- While beef and cabbage mixture cools slightly, preheat oven to 350-degrees and prepare the bread dough.
- Divide refrigerated dough into 12 equal portions. Roll each portion of dough into thin rectangles.
- Top each dough portion with ½ oz of mozzarella cheese and beef/cabbage mixture.
- Pinch dough closed to create rectangular “loaf” shapes. Alternatively, you can shape dough into “rolls”, if desired.
- Place filled runzas seam-side down on a sheet pan and bake for 18-20 minutes, or until golden brown.
Runzas freeze well!
Make multiple batches and freeze cooked runzas for up to three months.
Don’t want to shred cabbage? Use pre-shredded packages from the produce section or drained sauerkraut instead!
Runzas are delicious hot or room-temperature!
