Kraut Bierocks (German Beef and Cabbage Pies)

Kraut Bierocks (or Cabbage rolls) are SHOCKINGLY delicious. When I tell people about them, the picky eaters scrunch their face, but then… they try it. I have yet to make this for someone who isn’t pleasantly surprised by them! The cabbage, onion and ground beef simply seasoned with salt and pepper is one of my favorite flavors in the world. But we top that when we add sweet, buttery bread into the mix! If you’re wanting to impress anyone, MAKE THIS.

The “Cabbage Bread” I Grew Up With

You know I’m bringing up my sweet Grandma Snyder again! This whole blog should be called “Ode to Grandma Snyder,” because she influenced my homemaking ideals so much. She even served ice cream after every single meal I had at her house! (People who know me in real life know how I feel about ice cream!) She was a lady of balance, so there was always a salad with radishes and carrots, too. 🙂

Growing up as German immigrants, she and her siblings were so dedicated to their children and grandchildren knowing their lineage and heritage. Long before ancestry was a thing, the Starck siblings were working tirelessly on tracing our family line as far back as they could—without the help of the internet! Once they had that finished that, they moved onto collecting their childhood recipes for us.

I’m not sure about a lot of these recipes— quite a few of them look like the things I stay away from in the Nourishing Traditions cookbook! I do think it would be fun to cook my way through this book someday. But the one thing in here that I know, love, and don’t even need the recipe for:

Kraut Bieroch, or Cabbage Bread!

(It keeps auto-correcting to “Bierock” so I’ve given up and assume that’s the common spelling. But the way my family spelled it is with a ch.)

My grandma made my dad and his brothers lunch every single day up into her late 80’s! (Early 90’s? She kept it up for a LONG time.) One of my favorite things about summer break was getting to join the uncles for lunch at her house. Several times a year, she made her famous cabbage bread. Once I was old enough—despite my complete lack of interest in the kitchen under every other circumstance— I asked her to teach me how to make what I considered to be her best recipe.

Dough Sourcing:

I have a little cheat for anyone intimidated by making homemade bread dough. That was me back then, and she was so gracious to offer premade frozen dinner rolls as an option. Once thawed, roll them out and follow further instructions.

I have made them every way, from Rhodes rolls, to Texas Roadhouse copycat recipes, to sourdough— any soft dough that you know and love to work with will work for this. I will say, I miss the sweetness of the yeast dough with it and think I might go back to that for my next batch. I’ve used sourdough exclusively for the last several years.

If you’re looking for a recipe that is not sourdough, I love this one. And if you do sourdough, this has been my tried and true (with the exception of replacing the all purpose flour with whole wheat.)

How To make Authentic German Bierocks

Prepare your dough in advance so that it is finished with the bulk rise by the time you’re ready to prepare dinner.

While your dough rises, dice one large onion or two smaller ones and sauté in a large skillet over medium heat. Add 2 pounds of ground meat of your choice to the pot and chunk it up well. Add 6 finely chopped garlic cloves. While that is browning, finely chop an entire head of green cabbage and add to the pot. Flavor with one scant tablespoon of salt and a hefty pinch of black pepper. I use about a teaspoon. Once the shredded cabbage is wilted and the meat is browned, turn off the heat but keep it in a warm place.

My grandma’s traditional recipe made them huge— I never pull out a big enough chunk of dough to make them like her. However big of a piece of dough you use, roll it out on a floured surface. I have learned to roll it to a nice, even shape, then only roll the outer edges, leaving the center thicker. You can see in my pictures that we did not do that this time. I had the girls rolling and stuffing while I took pictures, and I forgot to tell them that trick. The top of the roll is just as fluffy as the bottom if you do it that way.

The key to successful cabbage bread is to not over stuff it.

You want the dough to have a nice seal, with no liquid dripping out. Spoon a pile of the cabbage and meat filling onto your prepared dough. Pinch up the dough around the filling, then place your little pocket seam side down on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet.

Bake at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes, or until the filled bierocks are golden brown. Once you pull them from the oven, immediately brush melted butter over them. Or, be lazy like me and rub a stick of butter over them while they are still hot.

My dad and uncles always sliced theirs in half while it was still piping hot and wedged a piece of cheddar or Swiss cheese in there. By the time it was cool enough to eat, the cheese was deliciously melted. I don’t know why she didn’t just bake it that way for them, but I always do it the “Snyder” way, too!

I hope you will give these traditional bierocks a try. Please come back and let me know if you do! If you know of anything that is a common dish in Germany, please let me know as well! I will see if it is in my little recipe book!