Bierocks Casserole

This easy and hearty German-inspired main dish recipe is perfect for serving up throughout the Fall and Winter months. Made with a rich dough, and filled with ground beef and shredded cabbage. If you've ever made and shaped bierocks, you'll love this far easier version! Bierocks Casserole is comforting, simple, and a great way to use up that lone head of cabbage rolling around in your fridge.

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Sometimes you want something super complicated for dinner, and sometimes you want something that is simple...but still made from scratch!

This Bierocks Casserole is perfect for those days. Simple in flavor, but made with a rich homemade dough, it's the perfect way to enjoy the simple flavors of German bierocks, but baked into a yummy casserole.

What are Bierocks?

German Bierocks are traditionally discs of buttery, rich dough, filled with ground beef and cabbage, and shaped into a seamless round shape. While they are delicious, and PERFECT for preparing for Oktoberfest, this Bierocks Casserole is a much simpler way of preparing them, while maintaining the authentic flavors and feel!

Let's get started!

Ingredients

For the Dough

• Flour
• Milk
• Sugar
• Yeast
• Butter
• Egg
• Salt

For the Filling

• Ground beef: I recommend lean ground beef for Bierocks casserole. Since it is much leaner than regular ground beef, you won't have as much shrinkage. You also won't have as much grease to drain off after browning.
• Onion: I recommend using a standard yellow cooking onion for this recipe, but you can use a sweet onion if that is what you have on hand.
• Cabbage: You will need about 6 cups of coarsely shredded cabbage for this recipe. That works out to a little less than one large head. If you're not sure how to shred cabbage, check out this post from 40 Aprons for step by step instructions.
• Salt and pepper: The seasonings for this recipe are VERY simple. Just a little bit of salt and pepper is all that is needed.
• Worcestershire sauce: While this isn't traditionally included in bierock recipes, I felt the need to add it to give a little something special! Feel free to omit if you want to make your Bierocks Casserole the more traditional way.

Instructions

How to Make Bierock Dough

In the bowl of a stand mixer, mix together the warmed milk and sugar. Stir to dissolve the sugar.

Sprinkle the yeast over the milk and sugar mixture. Stir to combine.

Add in 2 cups of scooped and leveled flour, and use the whisk attachment to mix on low speed.

Add the melted butter, egg, and salt.

Mix on low to medium speed until thoroughly combined.

Switch out the attachment on your mixer for the dough hook, and add in the remaining flour ¼ cup at a time, mixing between each addition.

Use the dough hook to knead on medium low speed until the dough is cohesive, smooth, and slightly elastic. This will take 10-15 minutes for most machines. The dough should be in a solid mass and tacky, but not sticky.

Shape the dough into a round and place in a greased glass bowl with enough room for the dough to double. Turn to coat the dough with oil.

Cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap and set in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour.

Filling

Brown the ground beef in an extra large skillet over medium heat.

Use the edge of a wooden spoon to crumble it as you cook. Drain any excess grease.

Return the browned ground beef to the skillet and add the onions. Toss well and cook for about 5 minutes, or until the onions are soft.

Add the shredded cabbage and cook for 7-10 minutes, tossing with tongs often to ensure even cooking.

Remove from the heat, season with salt, pepper, and Worcestershire sauce. Toss to coat.

Assembling

Preheat the oven to 375F.

Once the dough has doubled in size, divide it in half and form each half into rough rectangles. Roll out each half into a roughly 9X13 rectangle. If your dough is the consistency it should be, you should need minimal to no flour for rolling. If your dough is on the sticky side, you may need to add flour for rolling.

Lightly grease a glass 9X13 pan with butter or oil and place one of the rolled out dough rectangles in the bottom of the pan.

Top the dough with all of the cooked filling.

Baking

Top the filling layer with the remaining rolled out dough. Tuck it in around the edges as much as you can.

Brush the top layer of dough with 1 tablespoon of milk.

Bake in the preheated oven for 40 minutes, or until the dough is cooked through and lightly browned.

Cool for 5 minutes, then cut into 8 pieces, serve, and enjoy!

Variations and Substitutions:

Made with crescent rolls: In place of the dough, use two cans of crescent rolls. Unroll one can and place it in the bottom of the dish. Top it with the prepared filling, and then top it with the other unrolled can of crescent dough.

Without a stand mixer: If you don't have a stand mixer, you can still easily make this dough! Combine the ingredients for the dough with a Danish Dough Whisk OR with a heavy duty wooden spoon and your hands. Knead for 10-15 minutes on a lightly floured counter, and follow the same instructions for rising, rolling, and baking.

More Ground Beef Recipes

• Tater Tot and Ground Beef Casserole
• Grown Up Hamburger Helper
• Homemade Freezer Meatballs
• Loose Meat Sandwiches

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