Runza Casserole

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This Runza casserole is beefy, hearty, and an easy-to-make family favorite. The beef is baked in a savory mushroom gravy and topped with a delicious crescent roll topping and bottom crust. It’s a Midwest favorite your family will fall in love with. Honestly, this recipe just maybe one of the best recipes you can use for ground beef. And we use a whopping 2 pounds, so you know this is going to be hale and hearty!

Our light gravy makes the filling rich and moist. While it’s not traditionally found in the original sandwich, I love its flavorful addition to this casserole. If you’re a traditionalist, please keep an open mind! You just may fall in love with this addition like I have.

My family loves beefy casseroles in our dinner rotation. My son’s favorite is hamburger casserole. We also love our taco casserole, hamburger potato casserole, and tater-tot-topped cowboy casserole.

What is Runza Casserole

It’s a casserole version of Nebraska’s favorite, world-famous sandwich, the Runza. The original recipe for a Runza is also called a bierock, krautburger, or kraut pirok. It’s a baked bread pocket filled with beef, onions, cabbage, and sometimes sauerkraut.

They were originally from Eastern Europe and eventually made their way to the Midwest.

Why You’ll Love This Casserole

• 2 pounds of Ground Beef makes this feed a hungry family with leftovers!
• Who doesn’t love double crust?
• An easy way to get your family to eat their veggies.
• The light gravy is b-o-m-b!

Runza Casserole Recipe Ingredients

• Hamburger: I use 80/20% ground beef. You can use a lean ground beef but the flavor will not be as good.
• Onions: Yellow onions are my choice.
• Salt and Pepper: The key seasoning.
• Garlic Powder: Just a hint of garlic.
• Paprika: Adds a nice warmth.
• Worcestershire Sauce: This adds a lot of subtle flavors and richness to the beef.
• Chopped Cabbage: I like using a coleslaw mix. It’s not as traditional as plain cabbage, but I like the different colors of cabbage and the little bit of carrot.
• Cream of Mushroom Soup + Golden Mushroom Soup: I like to use one of each of these “cream of” soups. When combined, they create an amazingly deep mushroom-flavored gravy to complement the beef.
• Crescent Rolls: If you can find the single sheets, I’d use that. If not, the crescents work just fine.
• Cheddar + Mozzarella Cheese: I like a combination of shredded cheddar and shredded mozzarella cheese. Feel free to switch them up. Swiss is also delicious.

Tips

Cabbage: For convenience, I love to use bagged shredded cabbage. That said, any type of cabbage works in this recipe. I love it with Savoy cabbage, but you can use red or green cabbage with great results.

Meat: You can certainly use leaner meat, such as ground turkey or ground beef.

**Delicious But Completely Untraditional Tweaks**

Apple: Again, while not traditional, I like to add a layer of peeled, cored, and thinly sliced apple to the casserole. I use Granny Smith apples.

Cream Cheese: If you want to add extra creaminess to this casserole, cut a block (8 ounces) into small cubes while it’s very cold, let it come to room temperature, then add it to the ground beef filling when you add the soup to the skillet. The heat of the ingredients should allow the cream cheese to melt. If it doesn’t completely melt, no worries. It will incorporate completely when you bake the casserole.

Cajun Seasoning: If you’re a regular reader, you know one of my favorite kitchen ingredients is Cajun seasoning (I use Slap Yo Mama). I didn’t use it in this recipe because I want to stay true to its authenticity. That said, I often use it in place of the salt and pepper.

Storing + Freezing + Make-Ahead

• How Long Can You Keep This In The Fridge? This runza casserole with cream of mushroom soup will keep for 4 days in the fridge. Before putting it in the fridge, place it in an airtight container or cover it tightly with cling wrap.
• Can You Freeze This? Yes, you can freeze this crescent roll runza casserole. Store it in an airtight container and thaw it in the refrigerator overnight before serving.
• Food Safety: Here’s an article by the USDA on food safety and storage.

What To Serve With Runza Casserole 

This is delicious with my KFC coleslaw, pineapple coleslaw, carrot salad, macaroni salad (my fav!), brown sugar glazed carrots, crisp air fryer green beans, or fresh strawberry spinach salad.

How to Make Runza Casserole

1. Add a layer of crescent roll dough to the baking dish.
2. Bake the crescent roll crust.
3. Brown the ground beef over medium-high heat. Add the aromatics and spices.
4. Add the cabbage. Cook until it’s tender.
5. Stir in both mushroom soups.
6. Spread the cooked beef and cabbage mixture on top of the baked crescent dough.
7. Sprinkle both cheeses over the beef mixture.
8. Spread the second package of crescent rolls over the top of the beef mixture.
9. Bake until golden brown.
10. Serve.

***See the full instructions below.

More Ground Beef Casserole Recipes

• Beef Noodle Casserole
• Sloppy Joe Casserole
• Johnny Marzetti Casserole
• Bisquick Taco Bake
• Mexican Casserole 
• Dorito Casserole
• Shredded Beef Enchiladas
• Hamburger Rice Casserole
• Cattle Drive Casserole

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Runza Casserole

The Runza casserole is a hearty, easy-to-make, and family favorite, featuring beef in mushroom gravy, topped with a crescent roll topping and crispy crust.

Prep Time15 minutes mins

Cook Time45 minutes mins

Total Time1 hour hr

Servings: 8 servings

Author: Kathleen

Ingredients

• ▢ 2 pounds hamburger
• ▢ 2 medium onions, finely chopped
• ▢ 1 1/2 teaspoons salt to taste
• ▢ 1 teaspoon pepper
• ▢ 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• ▢ 1 teaspoon paprika
• ▢ 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
• ▢ 4 cups cabbage chopped
• ▢ 1 (10-ounce) can low sodium cream of mushroom soup
• ▢ 1 (10-ounce) can golden mushroom soup
• ▢ 2 tubes refrigerated crescent rolls
• ▢ 1 1/2 cups sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
• ▢ 1 1/2 cups mozzarella cheese, shredded

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 350°F (177°C).
• Open one crescent roll package and unroll the dough (1 tube). Press into the bottom of a 9x13x2 pan and bake for 7 minutes or until brown.
  
• Meanwhile, while the crescent roll base is baking, brown and crumble ground beef (2 pounds), in a large skillet, over medium heat until beef is cooked thoroughly, about 5-7 minutes. Drain excess fat.
• Add onion (2 medium), salt (1 1/2 teaspoons), pepper (1 teaspoon), garlic powder (1 teaspoon), paprika (1 teaspoon), and Worcestershire sauce (2 teaspoons). Continue to cook over medium heat until onion is soft, about 3-5 minutes.
  
• Add cabbage (4 cups) to beef mixture, and continue to cook another 5 minutes, or until cabbage is tender.
  
• Stir in both mushroom soups (1 can low sodium cream of mushroom soup + 1 can golden mushroom soup).
  
• Spread the beef and cabbage mixture into the pan on top of the baked crescent dough.
  
• Sprinkle both cheeses (1 1/2 cups sharp cheddar cheese + 1 1/2 cups mozzarella cheese) over the beef mixture.
  
• Unroll the remaining crescent roll tube (1 tube) and spread it over the top of the beef mixture.
  
• Bake in preheated oven until the top is golden brown and the filling is bubbling, 20 to 30 minutes.
  

Fans Also Made:

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  Cabbage Roll Casserole
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  Mexican Tater Tot Casserole

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Nutrition

Serving: 1serving | Calories: 533kcal | Carbohydrates: 68g | Protein: 22g | Fat: 19g | Saturated Fat: 8g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 3g | Monounsaturated Fat: 4g | Cholesterol: 41mg | Sodium: 1419mg | Potassium: 519mg | Fiber: 4g | Sugar: 12g | Vitamin A: 516IU | Vitamin C: 17mg | Calcium: 472mg | Iron: 4mg

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