Lori's Culinary Creations

Easy Baked Kraut Burgers Just Like Grandma’s Homemade

How can you say no to these Kraut Burgers? Two kinds of meat, some cabbage and Grandma’s love.


This post was originally published in March 21, 2012. Republished December 27, 2019

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Grandma's Kraut Burgers. How good were these? I almost went back for thirds

So Hubby was telling me about a dish his great grandmother used to make called “Kraut Burgers.” Now I was skeptical since he absolutely HATES sauerkraut. He said this meal is like a German calzone. Ok, I like calzones…… So I did some Internet research and found out what they were all about and I was intrigued and curious to make them. After lots of looking at pictures, recipes and blog posts & comments, I decided this was my Saturday night kitchen adventure!

And I was not disappointed.
I never had the opportunity to meet Hubby’s grandma but from what he’s told me, she was something else! Plus a good cook. He told me she would can fruits and veggies as well as whip up this dish. I was so excited to try this but wanted to make sure I stuck as close to the recipe and taste that he remembered.

They were surprisingly easy to make and full of flavor. I didn’t go with any specific recipe, but picked different ingredients from several recipes, added some of my own flavors & spices and created a Krautburger I can call my own. This recipe makes 12 burgers so if you’re not feeding a big group, you can halve it.

Kraut Burgers Ingredients. 

Makes 12

2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 pound lean ground beef
1 pound pork sausage
1/2 medium red or yellow onion, chopped
1 medium head of cabbage, chopped or sliced
1 Tablespoon Mrs. Dash Table Blend
2 cans refrigerated pizza dough
2 Tablespoons butter, melted
Salt & Pepper to taste

For nutrition information and points values, click the magic button

Directions
Cook the beef and pork in a large skillet with the garlic and  olive oil until the meat is no longer pink. Drain any excess juice and return the meat to the skillet.

Add the onion, Mrs Dash and cabbage and cook on low, covered for 15-20 minutes until the cabbage has softened. Salt and pepper to taste.

In the meantime, roll out the pizza dough until thin and cut into 12 equal squares. When the meat mix is cooked, spoon an equal amount onto the center of each dough square, then fold the corners together to seal the meat inside.

Place on a cookie sheet sprayed with Pam, sealed side down.

Brush the top with butter and bake at 350 degrees for about 20-25 minutes until the dough has been browned.

I served the burger with a small salad of fresh spinach and chopped roma tomatoes. Very simple dinner, but very tasty too. I loved the combination of the beef and pork together. I also keep the onion to a minimum since I wanted to bring out the flavor of the cabbage. This was not greasy at all and the meat stayed juicy inside the dough. Plus, the pizza dough not only added a nice flavor, but it was golden brown and crisp. No soggy dough here.
Grandma's Kraut Burgers. How good were these? I almost went back for thirds
I think this meal would be good for both adults and kids of all ages.

You’ve got the Kraut Burgers, now lets grab some sides

Craving more burgers? Check these out.

For more burger style recipes, check out my burger board on Pinterest. I found some great recipes from other home cooks and bloggers.

Products used in the creation of these Kraut Burgers

Follow Lori’s Culinary’s board Burgers & Dogs on Pinterest.

If you make this recipe, take a photo & share it to Instagram and tag me (@lorisculinarycreations) & use my hashtag #LorisCulinaryCreations. I want to see your creations!

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Comments

  3. anyonita green says

    Oh kraut. 🙂 My dad is crazy for kraut. We always had a big tupperware box of it in the fridge growing up! He would certainly approve of this recipe! Thank you so much for linking up with me this week at Tasty Tuesdays! I’ve pinned this & shared it with my followers! Please be sure to stop back by the party and check out some of the other links!

    Reply

  6. [email protected] says

    These are SOOOOOOO SOOOOOOO good — and I don’t usually like cooked cabbage either. There is a restaurant chain in Nebraska that sells these as the featured item on the menu. They call them Runzas — both the dish and the restaurants. Pinned. Thanks so much for sharing on Busy Monday!

    Reply

  11. Joybee says

    This sounds great Lori. I bet they would be great with a side of mustard and kraut (for those who like it A.K.A my husband). It may be cool to try the meat mixture sealed in a pretzel dough…now you got me thinking.

    P.S. I like the math problem captcha 🙂
    Joybee recently posted…Spiced Lamb and HummusMy Profile

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  14. Rachel Kathyg @ onlinesisterhood says

    I bet these are yummy Lori. Years ago in high school I took home EC. (do they even have that anymore:)? For our final project each student had to prepare a meal and then serve it to the class. Another student served these with some type of sour cream dipping sauce–everyone loved them. I remember they were really good. Found at friday frenzy linky. Have a great week:)
    Rachel Kathyg @ onlinesisterhood recently posted…Potato SaladMy Profile

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  16. Lori says

    Your recipe looks very close to the traditional one my family used. The Krautburgers I grew up on were made with fresh made potato bread dough. My family came from Weld county in Colorado and they were very much a local food to that area. Thanks for sharing. I now have to figure out how to make them so they are gluten free so my family can continue to enjoy them.

    Reply

  17. terri lee says

    these are actually called “runzas”, our family has made them for years.. they have restuarants in Nebraska and Iowa who sell these as a main dish

    Reply

    • Lori Hart says

      I’m not sure if they would freeze well or not. Have not tried it. I’m thinking the dought may not work well, but if you make lots of the mix, that would freeze just fine. I’d do that and make freezer portions to use later.

      Reply

  20. Michael Hodge says

    This really sucks…printing 8 pages of adds…do you know how expensive colored ink is……the recipe is good…..just cant print it out for later…..it keeps printing the comments section too…..don’t really need that

    Reply

    • Lori Hart says

      Thanks for the feedback. I’m currently going through all my recipes and upgrading to a new format which allows for printing of recipes only and not all the other stuff. Thanks for being patient through this process.

      Reply

  21. Stephanie says

    I love this recipe. I’ve used the bread recipe a few of times, but changed the filling recipe. The primary time I attempted this, it had been using an Indian cauliflower and potato recipe with a masala sauce. It had been wonderful. The dough is straightforward to form and worked very will with both filling types. Also, I used rice milk rather than dry milk. I froze the additional helpings after baking them, and so far they need been great. Thanks for sharing this great recipe.

    Reply

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