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Looking for a good recipe for a Runza sandwich

post #1 of 15
7/21/11 at 9:44am
Thread Starter 

I have been online looking for a good recipe for a Runza-type sandwich (cabbage/beef in a bun).  Does anyone have a good one that tastes like the sandwiches found in Nebraska Runza restaurants?  I ate them as a kid and remember how good they were.  Thanks for any help you can give me.

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post #2 of 15
7/21/11 at 4:47pm

Have you seen this link?

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Runza

 

It not only gives a brief history of the Runza, it also gives provides several recipes under the "External Links" section (from Nebraska!).

 

Hope it brings back the memories!

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post #3 of 15
7/21/11 at 7:59pm
Thread Starter 
Thanks for the link GourmetM. I couldn't wait of course for a reply (too anxious to eat one) so went online and printed off several recipes and studied them this afternoon. I combined 3 recipes and came up with a pretty darn good tasting end product. My 17 yr old son was my taste tester and told me when he thought my filling was right. I made 10 large sandwiches for 6 of us and they are all gone. Thanks again for the link.
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post #4 of 15
7/21/11 at 8:37pm

Sounds like success. Would you care to share your combinatorial recipe?

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post #5 of 15
7/22/11 at 6:47pm
Thread Starter 
I would be glad to but you must know my cooking style is "by guess & by golly" so I'll try to be as accurate as possible.

Filling:

1 lb of ground beef
1 medium onion, chopped

Brown the ground beef & onion together until beef is browned and onion is translucent. Drain grease & add the following:

Half of a large head of cabbage (4 cups maybe?), chopped
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper (maybe a little less)
1/2 tsp garlic powder
3 T Worstershire Sauce

Mix all together & cook down until the cabbage is steamed & limp. You might have to adjust the seasonings to your liking. I've only seen one recipe calling for the Worstershire Sauce but the guy that had it in his recipe said it really adds a good flavor. Just wish I could spell it!

You can use frozen bread dough but I didn't want to wait until it thawed out so made my own. Here's the recipe I used only I halved it for this filling recipe:

2 T yeast
1 T + 1/3 c sugar
1 c water
2 c milk, warm
2/3 c olive oil or butter cut into small bits
2 eggs, beaten
1 T salt
8 c flour

Mix the yeast, 1 T sugar, & water & let sit for 10 minutes. Then add the milk, salt, rest of the sugar , eggs & olive oil or butter. Slowly mix in the flour & knead until the dough isn't sticky. Let rise until doubled.

This is a sweet dough but is a light, good roll dough that really compliments the filling. I could have gotten maybe 12 bierocks out of the roll recipe but ran out of filling. Guess I was too generous with the filling but I wanted a substantial sandwich. I made rectangular bierocks and folded them sort of like a burrito and sealed the ends and bottom. I made an egg wash and brushed the tops. Bake at 375 for 20-25 minutes. I brushed melted butter on the tops when they came out of the oven. Like I said before just play with the spices until you get the right taste.
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post #6 of 15
7/22/11 at 7:10pm

Thank you!!

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post #7 of 15
7/23/11 at 1:58pm
Thread Starter 
Two additional things. I added some cheddar cheese to a few of my sandwiches. One recipe called for mozzerella or swiss. I guess just try different types and see what you like. I have a batch in the oven right now! I rolled my dough a little thinner so got 13 outta this batch. I also cut my salt sown a little and added some celery salt this time. My youngest son begged me to make more as his brothers, who no longer live at home, came over and pigged out on them all. Lol.
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post #8 of 15
7/23/11 at 9:17pm

Sounds like your "by guess & by golly" method works. What do you think about tossing in a small amount of jalapenos next time?

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post #9 of 15
7/24/11 at 12:57pm
Thread Starter 
Hmmmm I'd not thought of that but my hubby would love it. He throws jalepenos in everything. I will have to give that a try.
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post #10 of 15
7/24/11 at 6:01pm

Do share the outcome. I'll be tickled to hear!

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post #11 of 15
7/25/11 at 7:00am

Dimples:  Its Worcestershire, a farming county of England,  pronounced Woostershirr and often just called Woostersoss here!lol.gif

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post #12 of 15
7/25/11 at 11:23am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ishbel View Post

Dimples:  Its Worcestershire, a farming county of England,  pronounced Woostershirr and often just called Woostersoss here!lol.gif

Ishbel: Woostersoss: that's great! I remember when a British friend taught me the difference between a martini and a martini cocktail in England. Mini quiz: Do you know it? And are there any other local locutions you can think of off the top of your head? I love this stuff!
 

 

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post #13 of 15
4/11/13 at 6:54am

Can't wait to try this. I have a recipe for bierochs which is what this basically is, but it doesn't taste at all like the Runza Hut.  I've played with spices some but never thot to use worcestire sauce.  I personally LOVE their swiss and mushroom runzas so will be trying to add that.  Thanks for posting this.

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post #14 of 15
4/11/13 at 7:36am
Thread Starter 

I hope you like the recipe.  Share with us and tell us how they turn out and if you tweek the recipe, let us know.  Now I'm hungry for these!  Since the weather has decided to turn into winter AGAIN, these sound really good.  :)

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post #15 of 15
4/24/13 at 10:51am

I finally got around to trying the recipe.  I did "tweak"  LOL  First, I had no ground beef so ground venison was my meat.  I bought the coleslaw mix cause I was lazy and added some broccoli slaw also in order to get a little more veggie into my family.  I basically doubled the meat mix.  I must have rolled these super thin compared to you or made them smaller because I got 25 buns out of it and I only made a single bread dough recipe.  I don't like a lot of bread with mine.....so....  I added a dash of turmeric, a dash of cayenne pepper and some smoked paprika.  The meat mix tasted fantastic by itself!  I really think the worcestershire sauce is the key.  OMG! They are so good!  I do believe I have my recipe...Thank you sooooo much

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