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    Home > Recipes > Beef Recipes

    The Ultimate Kraut Burgers

    Published: Mar 23, 2021 · Modified: Oct 26, 2022 by Garden to Griddle · This post may contain affiliate links · 12 Comments

    Jump to Recipe Print Recipe

    From scratch German kraut burgers with a sweet dough, ground beef, cabbage, onion, cheese, and chili pepper filling, baked to golden perfection!

    kraut burgers cut open to show filling

    (This page contains affiliated links)

    There's no doubt about it, these are the ultimate kraut burgers! If you've ever eaten a kraut burger you know that they're unique, and addicting. I'm not messing around with filling for this recipe because you just can't have big air pockets of empty space!

     I used to live over a small local restaurant that sold Kraut Burgers and cinnamon rolls to die for and we took advantage. But, after a while we realized we could make them and tweek them to just how we like them.

    While they are a bit time consuming to make, it's well worth it. This batch makes 12 burgers and they can be easily frozen after baking. I prefer to individually wrap them and place them in a freezer safe container. You're safest freezing extras immediately once they cool because if you wait too long you'll likely decide that you'll just eat a Kraut Burger for each meal of the day instead of freezing them for later!

    Ingredients

    Homemade Dough: You'll of course need Flour- I have made this recipe with all white flour, and  also partial wheat flour. For white flour I use 5 ⅓ cup flour with an additional 1 tablespoon after the rise when cutting the dough into portions and rolling out the balls. For the Yeast- I use this Saf Instant Yeast and I've loved it for all my baked goods. You will also be using water, olive oil, sea salt, and white sugar.

    Ground Beef: I use lean ground beef and I wouldn't recommend replacing it with any other meat!

    Cabbage: I would recommend only using green cabbage. I have used purple cabbage when making this recipe as a pie. Take a look at my Kraut Burger Pie if you're interested.

    Yellow Onion: Yellow onion works best for a mellow flavor but you can use whatever type of onion you want. Make sure to dice them small.

    Cheese: Sharp cheddar cheese is my top recommendation for this recipe and most traditional. I have also used a blend of cheddar and aged gouda and it worked great. White cheddar cheese is also great but has a milder flavor.

    Hot Peppers: If you're wanting a spicy kraut burger I would recommend a green chili or jalapeno pepper.

    Sea Salt and Black Pepper: This recipe uses simple seasonings and the rest of the flavors will come from the meat, cheese, and vegetables!

    Butter: I recommend using unsalted butter. This will be used for brushing on the freshly baked rolls.

    Making These Kraut Burgers

    kraut burger dough in a stainless steel bowl
    kraut burger filling before cooking up close
    1. Make the dough and let it rise.
    2. While dough rises, sauté the filling.
    kraut burger filling cooked in cast iron skillet
    kraut burger filling placed in middle of dough portion
    1. Let the filling cool.
    2. Once the dough has risen, add the filling to a portion of the dough.
    beginning to gather the dough to seal off the kraut burger dough portion
    finishing the seal of the dough over the filling
    1. Seal off the burgers by pinching opposite ends together.
    2. Continue pinching all the way around the roll, and stretch the dough a little if you need to.
    dough portion sealed off over filling
    formed kraut burger on parchment paper before bake
    1. Once it's all pinched together, turn over the roll and gently rock it/press it in your palms to completely seal.
    2. Place the rolls on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper, or use olive oil to spray the pan.
    3. Baking at 350℉ for 30 minutes gives it a light golden color but you can go more until you reach your desired color. It's important to me to get a nice bake on the bottom as well so make sure to check your bottoms!
    4. Don't forget to brush on melted butter right when they come out of the oven. This is a must for color, texture, and flavor

    Marking the Burgers as Spicy vs. Regular

    Before baking you can use a toothpick and poke a hole in the top of the burger using 1 hole for regular and 2 holes for spicy.

    kraut burger baked with melted butter brushed on top
    golden brown underside of baked kraut burger
    baked kraut burger with brushed melted butter in a pile

    Reheating

    I typically reheat in a toaster oven, but for conventional or convection oven reheat at 350℉ for about 8-10 minutes.

    Enjoy with your choice of topping. Hot sauce goes well!

    Prep the Night Before

    Make the dough and after the first rise you can store it in an airtight container or plastic wrap overnight. Make the filling and store separately until ready to make the next day.

    Similar Recipes

    • Kraut Burger Pie
    • Sausage and Fingerling Potatoes
    • Cheeseburger Skillet Pizza
    kraut burgers cut open to show filling

    The Ultimate Kraut Burgers

    From scratch German kraut burgers with a sweet dough, ground beef, cabbage, onion, cheese, and chili pepper filling, baked to golden perfection!
    5 from 5 votes
    Print Recipe Pin Recipe
    Prep Time 1 hour hr
    Cook Time 1 hour hr
    Total Time 2 hours hrs
    Course Main Course
    Cuisine German
    Servings 12

    Ingredients
      

    For the Dough

    • 2 cups warm water split
    • 1 ½ tablespoon yeast
    • 5 cups flour* see recipe notes plus 1 teaspoon at a time if needed to decrease stickiness
    • ¼ cups olive oil
    • ½ teaspoon sea salt
    • ⅔ cups white sugar

    For the Filling

    • 1 tablespoon olive oil
    • 6 cups diced green cabbage
    • 2 cups diced yellow onion 1 large onion
    • 2 lbs ground beef
    • 1 ½ cups diced jalapeno or chilis optional but adds great flavor
    • ½ teaspoon sea salt
    • freshly ground black pepper to taste
    • 6 cups shredded cheddar cheese option to use some aged gouda
    • 4 tablespoon melted butter for tops of buns after bake

    Instructions
     

    Make the Dough

    • Add 1 cup warm water to a small bowl. You want to make sure the water is NOT hot or it can kill the yeast. Add 1 ½ tablespoons yeast and gently mix (use a chopstick). Let sit for about 10 minutes.
    • While the yeast is activating, in a separate large bowl, combine the flour, salt, sugar, and 1 more cup warm water. Once you can see that the yeast is activating, add the yeast mixture to your flour mixture and combine all ingredients. I prefer to mix it by hand.
    • Knead the dough until it is no longer sticky (about 3-5 minutes). Add 1 teaspoon of additional flour at a time if needed until it's no longer sticky (a bit of stickiness is okay and can be remedied after the rise).
    • Form dough into a ball and let sit in bowl covered by a cheesecloth or lid to rise and double in size (about 45 minutes).

    Make the Filling

    • Dice onion, jalapeno/chilis, cabbage, and shred cheese.
    • Heat a large skillet on low-medium heat with 2 tablespoons olive oil. Add diced onion, cabbage, 2 lbs. of ground beef, any peppers or chilis, and salt and pepper. Break apart the ground beef to avoid clumping as it cooks. Cook for 10 minutes and then decrease heat to low (covered). If you're skillet isn't big enough you can use a large pot (5 qt.)
    • Continue cooking for about 10 more minutes or until meat is cooked and vegetables are softened. Drain excess liquid (saving for other dishes because it's delicious).

    Assemble the Kraut Burgers

    • Preheat oven to 350℉ using middle rack.
    • Melt butter for brushing on top of buns after bake and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
    • Knock down dough and portion into 12 pieces. Take out 1 piece at a time, keeping the remainder in the fridge (they will likely stick back together some).
    • Lightly flour work surface to roll out dough.
    • Roll out dough ball to about 7" in diameter, keeping edges slightly thinner and the middle thicker. Layer ¼ cup meat mixture, ½ cup cheese, and another ½ cup meat mixture. This ensures that the cheese won't be on the bottom and soak through and make a soggy bottom.
    • (See images above in narrative) Pinching dough at opposite sides of the dough, gently stretch the dough and pinch ends together at the center. With one hand pinching the center together, gradually work your way around repeating this process. Once you have sealed off the burger, flip over so seal is face down and gently rock the dough under your palm to seal the burger..
    • Place burgers 1 at a time on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Repeat until you have 6 burgers to bake at a time.
    • Bake at 350℉ for about 30 minutes or until golden brown. Keep an eye on them around 20 minutes but you want the bottoms to be browning as well which takes a bit more time. Remove from oven and leave on tray for a 5-10 minutes before transferring to another surface to allow them to reabsorb some moisture.
    • Repeat process with remaining 6 dough balls to bake 6 more burgers. Use a second cookie sheet or a pizza stone. I wouldn't recommend using the same cookie sheet as the first batch because you need to let the first batch rest and you don't want to put the 2nd batch on a hot cookie sheet (this would affect the rising and you might get very large and overproved burgers.
    • Enjoy with hot sauce.

    Notes

    For the Flour:
    *If using all white flour use 5 ⅓ cup flour.
    *Option to use 4 ¼ cup white flour and ¾ cup whole wheat. With this, start with 5 cups flour total and slowly add a tablespoon at a time if needed until no longer sticky.
    * It's okay if it's a little sticky before rising, you can easily remedy that after it rises by adding flour to your work surface when rolling it out. You don't want to add too much flour so better safe with adding less up front.
    *If you're using a toaster oven to bake these you'll want to start at a higher temp (375℉) for about 5 minutes, then decrease heat and tent with tinfoil if they start to get too brown on the tops. Move rack to lower setting for toaster oven. 
    Keyword kraut burgers

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    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Bob

      October 01, 2022 at 11:44 am

      5 stars
      That is one of the best recipes/instructions I have ever read! Very thorough and very specific. Well done!

      I haven’t even made them yet, but I know they’re going to be delicious.

      Reply
      • Garden to Griddle

        October 01, 2022 at 2:46 pm

        Thank you, Bob! It's a family favorite and we put a lot of attention and love into creating that recipe. It's no a short process, but very very worth it! I hope you love them if you try them.

        Reply
    2. Myra

      October 25, 2022 at 2:08 pm

      Where does the oil come in for the dough?

      Reply
      • gardentogriddle

        October 26, 2022 at 6:09 am

        We use olive oil!

        Reply
      • Anonymous

        January 07, 2023 at 10:25 pm

        I added the 1/4 cup of olive oil in my dough mixture before the yeast and worked it in by hand . They turned out fantastic…. however i used a 1/4 cup of the meat and cabbage mixture then a bit less than a 1/4 cup of cheese and then less than a 1/4 cup of the meat and cabbage at the end. It just seemed like 1/2 cup of cheese was going to be too much . Maybe I misunderstood the amounts ….but whatever the case they were delicious and by far the best kraut burger i have ever eaten.:)
        Great recipe and instructions.

        Reply
      • Alicia

        October 30, 2023 at 11:53 am

        5 stars
        Put in bowl before placing dough in to rise, keeps dough from sticking to bowl

        Reply
    3. Paula

      January 07, 2023 at 10:32 pm

      5 stars
      This is a fabulous recipe and it was my first attempt at Kraut Burgers. They turned out amazing and delicious.
      I tested on 4 ppl all said 👍 ! They were moist and the bread was fantastic and the dough was ez to work with .
      If you follow the instructions they come out perfect.
      I added the 1/4 cup of olive oil in the dough and mixed by hand before the water and yeast .

      Reply
    4. J Morgna

      May 04, 2023 at 3:09 pm

      Umm, if it has chili in it, it’s a sort of empanada rather than a true krautburger

      Reply
      • Garden to Griddle

        May 04, 2023 at 4:38 pm

        That's an interesting perspective! Thanks for sharing!

        Reply
    5. Anonymous

      January 17, 2024 at 9:35 pm

      5 stars
      Love them!!

      Reply
    6. Gay

      February 04, 2024 at 10:34 am

      5 stars
      I made these yesterday and they came out perfect!! They are delicious! I wish I could upload my picture of them. I lived in Greeley CO where there is an establishment that makes Krautburgers that we fell in love with. We don't live there anymore so I decided to use this recipe and I'm SO happy I did! They taste just like we remember! The only difference for me was I added 3 garlic cloves and more salt to taste. I didn't even use the oil in the dough....the directions didn't mention it so I guess I missed that part but thankfully it didn't matter! Thank you! SO YUMMY!!

      Reply
      • Scott

        March 27, 2024 at 12:18 am

        Schwartz's Krautburger Kitchen is so good!!! When they just had the one place in that little building in evens they used to sling gallon zip lock bags of the cinnamon doughnuts for like nothing.

        Reply

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