Bierocks with Sausage and Sauerkraut

While I have never heard of Bierocks growing up in Germany, and don't even know a German that knows this dish, I get asked all the time if I have a Bierock recipe.

I will be working on bringing a more traditional Bierock beef and cabbage filling recipe to the blog, but something in me wanted to start with this sausage and sauerkraut version.

I added some caramelized onion to balance out the sour notes in the sauerkraut and ended up with irresistible little meat pockets! For the bread portion, I recruited my Brötchen recipe to help me out. And it works so perfectly with the filling! I am already dreaming of creating a pretzel version using my Laugenbrötchen recipe as well!

Bierock ingredients

Bierocks are really not too difficult to make, especially if you decide to skip making homemade rolls. Below I am listing all ingredients needed for the rolls and my sausage and sauerkraut filling.

• Flour. You will need all-purpose flour if making homemade rolls, which are authentic German Brötchen. However, if you want to skip this step, you could purchase a can of refrigerated biscuit dough and fill it instead. 
• Yeast. I use active-dry yeast for all of my baking. Not sure about yeast? Consult my free yeast tips sheet!
• Milk. I use whole milk for the Brötchen, but lower-fat versions will work.
• Sugar. There is just one teaspoon of sugar that goes into the dough for the rolls.

• Butter. Grass-fed butter is my preferred butter.
• Onion. We will caramelize some onions by slow-cooking. You can use either yellow onion or sweet onion for this step.
• Apple. I add one green apple to my sauerkraut-sausage filling mixture, which gives it a touch of sourness and sweetness.
• Stock. You can use any stock you have on hand. I like using veggie or chicken stock.
• Sauerkraut. I love making homemade sauerkraut, but if you don't have some sitting around, canned or jarred works just great. Make sure to drain the brine before adding to the filling.
• Sausages. My favorite sausages are from the German-style butcher Schaller & Weber, and they now have Jarlsberg cheese-stuffed Frankfurter sausages that are just so good. I used the cocktail size for this recipe and added about 3 to each roll.

Who invented Bierocks?

The reason why Germans are not familiar with Bierocks is that Volga Germans, living in Russia, invented them and then took the recipe to the USA, where they became popular.

Either way, they are somewhat of a genius idea since you technically have a whole meal in a pocket. I am totally going to get behind this concept and create a few more Bierock recipes.

How to make Bierocks

Making Bierocks takes a few steps, but just know that it's going to be worth it! You can cut out significant time by skipping the bread dough making and instead using canned biscuits (the refrigerated kind).

The first step will be to make the pre-dough for your dough. This is mixed together in just about a minute and then needs to sit for 2 to 3 days before you can proceed. This makes a huge difference in developing the right texture and flavor of the rolls. And you should totally make these rolls, called Brötchen, for an authentic German breakfast sometime!

You will then mix together the remaining dough ingredients and knead it. While the dough rises a second time, you will prepare the caramelized onion and the sausage and sauerkraut filling.

Finally, you will fill the dough with the filling, brush the rolls with water, and bake them with steam according to the easy-to-follow instructions in the recipe card below. I cannot wait for you to make them and hope you stick around to see the future Bierock versions going live!