Bierocks (German Stuffed Rolls)
The flavorful combination of beef and cabbage stuffed in a fluffy roll makes German Bierocks the perfect hand-held food to go along with your Oktoberfest beer.
Oktoberfest in Munich
How we wish we were back in Munich right now.
Saturday marked the start of a huge, two week long celebration of German culture, heritage, and tradition.
Oktoberfest!
Some of you may be thinking, "Wait. I thought Oktoberfest was all about the beer?"
Ok, fine.
People from around the world have gathered in Munich to celebrate these things through one, much more specific thing.
BEER.
Oktoberfest: The World's Largest Fair
This 16-day festival, held each year in Munich, Germany is considered the world's largest fair, bringing over 6 million people to that Bavarian city each year.
To the locals the festival is known as "die Wiesn" after the name of the festival area "Theresienwiese" (literally "meadow of Therese").
The history of this festival goes all the way back to 1810, but we'll go into the rich history later this week.
Of the attendees, almost ¾ are from the surrounding Bavarian region, with the last ¼ being made up of visitors from all over the world.
These visitors consume liters upon millions of liters of Oktoberfest beer, which must meet special purity requirements.
Basically, it's one HUGE festival!
What are German bierocks?
We thought these bierocks would be a great way to kick off the next two weeks, since, what goes better with beer, than a hand-held all-in-one meal?
Bierocks (pronounced bee-ROK) are yeast-raised rolls that are filled with a savory filling.
They originated in Eastern Europe and are very common among German immigrants to the US.
(You can find a similar hand-held meal from Eastern Europe in the Russian piroshki.)
The bread that surrounds the cabbage, beef, and onion filling in these bierocks is dense, eggy, and so delicious that it could be a meal in itself.
But it is also a perfect complement to the savory filling.
It's sturdy enough to stand up to the filling, but soft enough that you'd swear you were eating your favorite, fluffy dinner roll.
Ingredients
There are two components to bierocks: the bread and the filling.
The bread is a basic yeast dough with milk, sugar, butter, and an egg to make it rich, soft, and fluffy.
The filling is pretty straightforward, made of sautéed beef, onions, and cabbage.
How to make bierocks
For what looks like it could be a complicated dish, bierocks are quite simple to make. The most time consuming part is the time it takes for the bread dough to rise, and that's all hands-off time.
We make use of this time to make the filling, which is just a simple sauteed mixture of beef, cabbage, and seasonings.
Once your dough is risen and ready, you simply divide it into eight portions and roll each into a ball. These balls get flattened a bit, so you can add the filling and create a pocket.
The important part is making sure the dough gets pinched tightly closed around the filling before baking.
You don't want any filling to spill out before you take a bite!
How to freeze and reheat bierocks
While fresh these rolls will keep for a week in an airtight container in the refrigerator, we like to make a double batch whenever we make them, because they freeze SO well.
We freeze them after baking and store them in an airtight container or zipper sealed bag. When we are ready to eat them, they just need to be thawed on the counter for a few hours (or in the refrigerator overnight).
Then a quick stint in the microwave is really all you need to get them nice a warm! (But they are even better warmed in an oven or toaster oven at 300F for 10-15 minutes.)
It's so handy to be able to pull a couple frozen rolls out of the freezer and reheat them for a quick meal!
What to serve with bierocks
Typically bierocks are a festival food, designed to be eaten with a beer in your other hand.
That being said, we have been known to pack them for lunch or even enjoy them for a sit-down dinner.
If we desire a side, we tend towards a green vegetable or salad. And you really can't go wrong adding a little more cabbage in the way of German sauerkraut.
Other hand pies
If you love hand-held meals as much as we do, you will want to check out these other dishes from around the world.
- Russian piroshki (very similar to bierocks)
- Egyptian hawawshi (like a hamburger stuffed in a pita)
- Panamanian carimañolas (a meat stew wrapped in a cassava dough)
- Chilean empanadas de pino (beef empanadas with a surprising flavor pop)
- Bolivian empanadas de pollo (fried chicken empanadas)
Bierocks (German Stuffed Rolls)
The flavorful beef and cabbage stuffed in a fluffy roll makes German Bierocks the perfect hand-held food to go along with your Oktoberfest beer.
Ingredients
For the Dough
- 1 c milk, warmed to 80F
- ¼ c white sugar
- 2 ¼ teaspoon active dry yeast (1 package)
- 4 c unbleached all-purpose flour
- 2 tablespoon salted butter, melted and cooled
- 1 egg, beaten
- ¾ teaspoon salt
For the Filling
- ½ lb ground beef (85-90% lean)
- ½ onion, diced
- 3 c shredded cabbage (about ¼ of a medium head)
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
Last But Not Least
- 1 tablespoon milk
Instructions
For the Dough
- In a large mixing bowl, mix milk and sugar to dissolve the sugar. Sprinkle yeast over the milk mixture and let stand for 5-10 minutes, until the yeast softens and starts to foam.
- Whisk the mixture to combine and whisk in 2 c of flour.
- Add melted butter, egg, and salt. Whisk to incorporate.
- Stir in the remaining flour ¼ c at a time, using only as much as you need to get the dough to come together. Turn the dough onto your counter and knead, for 10-15 min, until a soft, smooth dough forms, adding flour as needed. (Your finished dough should be tacky, but not stick to your hand or your kneading surface.)
- Shape dough into a round; place it in a greased bowl, turning to coat the dough. Cover the dough loosely with plastic wrap or a damp towel and place in a warm, draft-free place to rise until doubled in bulk, about 1 hour.
For the Filling
- While the dough rises, make your filling. In a large non-stick frying pan, brown meat over medium-high until mostly cooked, 5-7 min.
- Drain as much of the grease from the pan as you can, while not losing the meat from the pan. Return the pan to the heat and add onions. Cook 2-3 min, until they begin to soften.
- Add cabbage and cook 7-10 minutes, until cabbage is tender.
- Remove filling from heat and season with salt and pepper.
Putting it all together
- Knock back the risen dough and turn it onto your work surface.
- Divide dough into 8 balls (roughly 3 oz each). Flatten each ball to a circle 4-5” in diameter. (If the dough springs back, flatten as much as you can, cover, and let the dough rest for 3-5 min before attempting to flatten further.)
- Spoon 2 large tablespoons of filling onto the center of each circle, leaving the edges clear.
- Bring the edges together and pinch them to seal the dough completely. Continue until all the dough and filling has been used.
- Place the shaped bierocks on a greased baking sheet and let rise, covered 30-45 min, until roughly 1.5x their original size.
- During the last 10 minutes of rising time preheat your oven to 375F.
- Brush the bierocks lightly with milk and bake for 20-25 min, until golden brown and hollow sounding when tapped.
- Remove from oven and let cool on a wire rack.
Notes
These rolls freeze well after baking. To eat, just take them out of the freezer in the morning and they will be thaw by lunchtime. Warm them in the microwave for 1-2 minutes in 30 second increments to heat through.
Want to convert to WEIGHT measurements? Have a look at our ingredient conversion guide.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
8Serving Size:
1 rollAmount Per Serving: Calories: 362
We've updated our pictures since we first shared this recipe on Curious Cuisiniere, but we've left some originals here, in case you've found us in the past and are looking for that old, familiar image.
Sarah founded Curious in 2010 as a way to save her recipe creations and share culinary experiences. Her love for cultural cuisines was instilled early by her French Canadian Grandmother. Her experience in the kitchen and in recipe development comes from over 10 years working in professional kitchens. She has traveled extensively and enjoys bringing the flavors of her travels back to create easy-to-make recipes.
Great receipe enjoyed them
So glad you enjoyed them Shirley!
Hi!
Can these be made with dairy free milk?
I have not tried these with a dairy free milk, but from working with other breads with DF milk, they should turn out just fine. (My preference is almond or coconut, I haven't testing bread baking with other DF milks.) If you give it a try, let us know how it turns out for you!
FABULOUS website, Sarah. And you're a doll. Thanks much.
Lynne
Thank you Lynne!
Hi, can this be made without eggs?
Hi Alps. Yes, you can make this without the egg. It simply adds richness to the bread dough, but it will be delicious without as well. If you want to put some of the richness back in, you can add 2 Tbsp extra of butter in the dough in its place. (It is important to note that you may need less flour in your bread dough if you take the egg out, so add the flower slowly as needed.) Enjoy!
I made these today and they were delicious! My teenage sons, usually fussy eaters, wolved them down. The buns were perfect - soft, tasty and rich. They came out of the oven perfectly brown. Honestly the best thing that I have ever baked. I wish I could upload a photo to show you! Thank you for this recipe, and thanks as well for the conversion chart on your site which was very helpful for me, being based in the UK.
So glad you and your family enjoyed them! We're always happy for you to post pictures to Facebook or Intagram and tag us!
I have been making these for 50 years, a recipe from my Volga German grandmother. For the filling we use a chuck roast cooked in water with onions, celery, bay leaf, garlic and thyme until the meat is tender. It's cooled and coarsely chopped and added to the thinly sliced cabbage and onions which have been sauteed for 5 minutes in about 1/4 cup of oil. I add salt, pepper, celery salt and dry mustard, also season salt which is optional.
Thanks so much for sharing! Your filling sounds delicious!
My grandma made these growing up, was my dads favorite meal. We use a defrosted loaf of Rhodes white bread to make things a little simpler. I remember making them as a kid, but was fairly young when my grandmother passed away, so I did not get her recipe. These rolls are almost identical and brought back so many good memories. Delicious!
We’re so glad these rolls brought back good memories! Thanks for sharing!
My father told me about these years ago how when he was in the service stationed in Germany he would get these from a local bakery. he would get 2. 1 for each pocket to keep his hands warm as he ate each one. he could never remember what they were called. I'm so happy I found this recipe. I use ground pork, ground beef, garlic, onion, celery hearts, tiny chopped carrots, cabbage and lots of ground pepper and salt to taste. And I sometimes cheat for the bread and use Rhodes frozen dinner rolls.
So glad you found us! Great idea to use the frozen rolls for a quick version!
My husband's family (German/Russian) has been making these for years, and now I too have been making them for years with a passed down recipe. The family insists on having them for almost every holiday. In fact our recently added son in law and his family are now hooked. For their reception they asked for these and my potato salad (another family tradition) for their food. My recipe calls for added garlic to the filling, and the meat and cabbage are stewed and not fried, lots of work but well worth it! I make up BIG batches at a time and freeze. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks for sharing! Bierocks are definitely something that are easy to get hooked on!
My boyfriend and I are both from German families. Although our grandmothers call them by a German name that starts with G. I cant pronounce nor can I begin to know how to spell. I too make them using Rhodes rolls and always freeze some. We love these and I find he wants them twice a month. They are easy to make and have become a favorite do ahead meal.
These look great! I am going to make them this weekend and was wondering if these would be good dipped in a sauce and what kind of sauce would be best? Any ideas?
Hi Emily. A good, grainy mustard is probably our favorite sauce to dip these in. However, ketchup or bbq sauce could probably work too. Enjoy!
This is a wonderful recipe you can use with many different fillings. I have made this with bbq pulled pork, chili, tuna melt, ham & cheese, turkey, chicken and of course hamburger. I also make what my grandmother call "Pigs" which are stuffed cabbage roll. The original recipe was made with ground pork but when that was to expensive she used half ground pork and half hamburger until finally she just used hamburger. This mixture I also use as one of my fillings. Hamburger, rice, onions and shredded cabbage. I think you could use almost any filling that would hold up inside the bun.
All these fillings sound delicious! Thanks for sharing!
I have been making a cookbook for my 3 now older sons who keep hounding me to get done. My Great Grandmother who came over a century ago made Bierocs and I loved them so much and never thought about writing it down. I have been fudging it with buns for years. Just thought Id take a chance and entered Cabbage Biscuits in the search bar. I hope you know I had a very good cry finding this and copying it down. I will make it tomorrow if Im able as now to Im older and wish I had this and many others. THANK YOU I would love to see if you know of others.
What a wonderful treasure for your sons to have! We hope you enjoy the bierocks and they bring back fond memories!
I live in the mountains and I found that it was too much flour & not enough liquid.. This is the 3rd batch of dough as the last couple never rose. Do you think that l should adjust liquids? or flour? for the altitude. I've had these with my homemade dinner buns and they worked but wanted to try this dough recipe. Thx
Hi Joan. We don't have much experience baking at high altitudes. King Arthur Flour has a good guide to adjustments that might be necessary here: https://www.kingarthurflour.com/learn/resources/high-altitude-baking. I would say in step 4 of our recipe, like it says, add the flour slowly until your dough comes together, no need to add all the flour if your dough is already at a good consistency. If it's still not rising, could it be that your yeast is old? Or that it is rising too fast? Apparently things tend to rise much faster at higher altitudes. Let us know what you figure out!
I live in Laramie Wyoming . 7,200 feet , this recipe worked out terrific for me.
It took me 6 years to run across someone promoting beer oats as we called in Kansas. My mom and her recipe were a feature in the Coffeyville (KS) Daily Journal in 1954!
Most likely passed down from my great grandmother Goetze.
How fun! Glad you found our recipe!
Had these when I was a kid and have been looking for the recipe for a long time! Thank you so much ! Going to make some soon.
Hope you enjoy them and they bring back many fun memories for you!