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Homemade Freezer Runzas

By CreaseCleatsandChaos · About 18 runzas · A little over $1 each · Freezer meal for travel days

Recipe credit: Method from CreaseCleatsandChaos (@creasecleatsandch) on TikTok. Shared here with her permission. This written post and the photos are an original blog version of her freezer-batch runzas.

Runzas are the soft beef-and-cabbage pockets Nebraska already knows by heart, and this is the batch version built for a season of travel hockey. Two pounds of hamburger, one head of cabbage, shredded mozzarella, and risen dinner-roll dough turn into about 18 pockets. CreaseCleatsandChaos puts the grocery cost of that batch at about $21, which lands just over $1.15 a serving.

She bakes them, freezes them, and reheats a pocket in the air fryer with tater tots when dinner has to happen away from home. The seasoning is hers on purpose: garlic powder, onion powder, and Lawry’s seasoned salt, measured with your heart.

Photo to upload: golden butter-brushed runzas on a baking sheet, one torn open to show beef, cabbage, and melted mozzarella. Caption: Baked until the tops are deep golden and glossy, the way they finish in her video.

Ingredients

Makes about 18 runzas.

She does not use measuring spoons in the video. If you want a starting place for 2 pounds of beef, try 1 1/2 teaspoons garlic powder, 1 1/2 teaspoons onion powder, and 2 teaspoons Lawry’s, then adjust. She calls that step “measure with your heart.”

Make the filling

Photo to upload: browned ground beef in a skillet with finely shredded cabbage being folded in.

  1. Add the ground beef to a large skillet and season it with garlic powder, onion powder, and Lawry’s seasoned salt.
  2. Cook over medium heat, breaking the meat up, until it is browned and cooked through. Drain off extra grease.
  3. Shred a whole fresh head of cabbage. Add it to the hot beef a handful at a time, folding it in slowly so it wilts instead of flooding the pan. Cook until the cabbage is tender and the filling looks cohesive.
  4. Scoop the filling into a bowl and let it cool. The cheese goes in only after the filling is cool, so it stays in shreds instead of melting into the pan.

Photo to upload: cooled beef and cabbage filling in a glass bowl with shredded mozzarella on top.

  1. Fold in the shredded mozzarella. This base batch uses mozzarella. She also calls Swiss and mushroom, bacon and cheddar, and pepper Jack crowd favorites, so swap the cheese when you want a different pocket.

Fill, bake, and freeze

Photo to upload: unbaked oval runza dough pockets brushed with butter on a dark baking sheet.

  1. Let the dinner-roll dough rise until it is soft and puffy. For each runza, press two rolls together and flatten them into an oval.
  2. Spoon a generous scoop of cooled filling down the center. Fold the dough over the filling and pinch the seams closed. Set each pocket seam-side down on a baking sheet.
  3. Brush the tops with melted butter.
  4. Bake until the tops are deep golden and glossy. Her video shows the finished color and does not state an oven temperature. At 350°F, plan on about 20 to 25 minutes.
  5. Cool the runzas completely. Freeze them for travel meals. She pulls them back out in the air fryer with tater tots and calls it dinner. From frozen, 350°F in the air fryer for about 12 to 15 minutes, until the center is hot, gets you there. Add a few minutes if they are still cold in the middle.

How she varies them

Keep the beef, cabbage, and dough the same. Change the cheese, and add mushrooms or bacon when that variation calls for it.

Watch the original video and follow CreaseCleatsandChaos: Homemade Runzas on TikTok.