Veggie Buns - A Spin on the Classic Bierocks Recipe
By Joe Macho
Veggie Buns - Well, what can I say? They are the product of a meatless night in the kitchen. I'm by no means a vegetarian, but if I haven't caught or hunted my proteins, then there's no meat on my table. Fulfilling meals were once hard to make with no red proteins, but with some clever thinking I've managed to give my stomach something that it can be happy with. These veggie buns are one way to forget the woes of a meatless meal.
The Big Spin:
The classic Bierock recipe originates from Eastern Europe and consists of sauteed ground beef, onions and cabbage wrapped in dough and baked to form a 'meat bun'. For the big spin, I've created a vegetarian friendly filling with broccoli, cabbage, onions and mozzarella cheese. If you're not down with eating cheese, you can leave it out, but you won't catch any coming out of my kitchen without it. As for the dough, I've left it alone as the scrumptious bread speaks for itself.
_________________________________________________________________
Veggie Bun Dough Recipe:
Ingredients:
- 3 Cups Flour
- 1 Cup Warm Water
- 1 Package Dry Yeast
- 1 Tablespoon Sugar
- 1 Tablespoon Salt
- 1/8 Cup Vegetable Oil (I use Sunflower)
Directions:
- Start off by dissolving the sugar into the cup of warm water. Add the yeast and then set the mixture aside for 5-10 minutes while you prepare the dry ingredients.
- Sift flour and salt together into a large bowl. Using the back of a fork, work in the vegetable oil. Add the yeast mixture to your flour and oil mixture and combine well, forming a dough ball.
- Knead the dough on a well floured surface for 4-6 minutes. Now is the chance to add more flour or liquid depending on the wetness of your dough.
- After kneading, place in an oiled bowl and leave at room temperature to rise for an hour. Place a towel over the bowl so that your dough doesn't dry out.
_________________________________________________________________
Key Tip:
Just slightly cooking your vegetables in this step is important. It'll help the final buns to retain crisp, not mushy vegetables.
Veggie Bun Filling:
Ingredients:
- 3 Smalls Heads of Broccoli (Rough Chop)
- 1 White Onion (Chopped)
- 1/2 Head of Cabbage
- 2 Carrots (Optional, I didn't have them at the time)
- 1 Pound Mozzarella Cheese (Shredded)
- 2 Cloves Garlic
- Handful Fresh Basil (2 Tablespoons Dry Herb)
- 2 Tablespoon Vegetable oil
- 1 Tablespoon Salt
- 1 Tablespoon Pepper
Directions:
- In a large skillet, start by sauteeing the chopped onion on medium-high heat. Use a small amount of vegetable oil to do this. Sautee for 3-4 minutes.
- Add cabbage and carrots to the onions and stir. Let the mixture cook for another 3-4 minutes.
- Finally add the broccoli and stir frequently for the next 5 minutes. Take off the heat and let cool.
- Using a food processor, blender or pestle, blend the garlic, oil, basil, salt and pepper into a paste. Spoon this onto the now cooling vegetable mixture and stir in well. Let cool to room temperature.
- Once the mixture is cooled, the shredded mozzarella cheese is added. The mixture is now ready to go.
_________________________________________________________________
Baking them Off:
Once you're caught up on your dough and filling, its time now to assemble the troops.
- Start off by preheating your oven to 400F.
- Roll your dough out to around a 1/2 inch thickness. and cut into 8 equal portions. If you're like me and want to squeeze every little bit out of the dough, roll thinner and divide into a dozen portions.
- Fill each dough pocket with anywhere from 1/4-1/3 cup of the filling. Wrap the dough around the filling and then pinch to seal.
- Place the finished veggie buns on a well greased baking pan and let rest for 10-15 minutes before baking them. Poke the tops with a fork just before the go in.
- Bake for 15 minutes or until golden brown. Enjoy!
_________________________________________________________________
That does it! If you're a quick cook, this can easily be done within an hour and a half from start to finish. This recipe is highly modifiable so make it fit your cooking situation. Thanks for reading and kept it cooking.
- Country Buns
If you thought veggie buns were great, wait until you feast your eyes on these breakfast buns. - Potato Cake Mashed Potatoes
A great breakfast option for leftover mashed potatoes. - Chicken Flautas
An easy and fulfilling Mexican classic.
Comments
I'm always on the lookout for something different, Joe Macho and this is it! They sound great, can't wait to try them. Thanks for the recipe.
@A.CreativeThinker - Thanks for reading. I'm glad that you found it to be an exciting article.
@scarytaff - Different is what these are, but in a good way! Thanks for dropping by. Let me know how they turn out.
I am also not a vegetarian but do want to learn how to make tasty dishes that provide protein. This sounds great!
BTW, your hub is very well done, with the photos and an article that was enjoyable to read.
Voted up!
@VioletSun - Thank you for your kind feedback. It's always good for meat eaters to learn a few veggie recipes!
This looks similar to an English meat pie I read about recently. I like the veggie spin and am already wondering about using garbanzo flour to make it since garbanzo flour is so high in protein. Thanks much for sharing. Voted up and bookmarked.
humm that sounds like a great recipy!! thanx for sharing!!
carrie
Goodness gracious, this looks DELICIOUS!!! I've got to try this. Great Hub, and the photos are awesome too!
Hmm...very tasty indeed. Will certainly be trying this.
Oh I am from a family of 9 kids originally and I seem to remember eating something very similar to this as a kid.
Of course my brothers n dad ,like you hunted and fished so goodness knows what was stuffed in the those tasty bead pockets.
We lived to far from any supermarket,in fact my Dad used to spread his arms and point to the ocean and say 'this is your supermarket'. Didnt impress this 8 yr old hahaha-but boy it would now!
Welcome and thanks for sharing a great Hub!
They look wonderful. I'll give them a try. Thanks.
Congrats on Hub of the Day!!
Thanks for the great Recipe. Will try it soon.
Hey Joe: Congrats on hub of the day. What a kewl and easy recipe to use. I liked the formatting. It is easy to read and not at midnight... its made me hungry! Good job!
Very nice. I'm trying to cut down on my meat intake this looks like it could be a delicious substitute.
Boy with tea these Veggie buns will be great in any evening at terrace with your loved ones.
Love it and looking forward for more easy and quick recipe.
I'm going to try this out either tonight or tomorrow night and let you know how it goes :D
Vegetarian my whole life and it looks delicious.
Anything with homemade dough has got to be good. The filling seems like it could be varied in so many ways to suit one's taste. I am already thinking about a lot of variations that my family would enjoy in addition to this one.
We have something similar where I'm from called a vege loaf. The original is a meat loaf,where the ground beef is cooked and then baked inside the dough just like you said.
That looks amazing. I must try this.
It looks good. I may try making the dough, though I'm not very good at kneading, I have weak wrists. :-) Cabbage buns are always delicious. Good photos!
Yummy! Will try this today. Thanks for sharing
Wow, these look really scrumptious! They look like they wouldn't be too bad for calories, either.
Congratulations on getting hub of the day!
Nice that this made hub of the day as it brought this to my attention. This sounds delicious! Thanks for sharing your recipe and photos with us. Can almost smell it baking! :))
Congratulations on being the Hub of the Day! This looks absolutely delicious, and I'm a huge fan of vegetables. Thanks for sharing, I can't wait to try this out.
Oh, wow, that looks fantastic! Thanks for sharing. Congrats on the hub of the day! Voted up and awesome.
They look delicious! I can't wait to try them!! Thanks for a well written hub and a great new recipe for me to try.
Those look delicios!
bookmarked, will be trying it soon :)
Been looking for a great new recipe.
Will most definitely try these ASAP!
Thank you for Hub of the Day!
~Bookmarked and Up
while I'm not a vegetarian either, I am always looking for a better, more delicious way to get in more veggies and this looks FANTASTIC. As soon as I try them I'll get back to you on how they came out. Thanks for such a great looking recipe.
Now that it's finally fall (read: oven season), I am all over this! Thanks for the awesome idea!!
Great Recipe, and well done hub.
Cheers
Looks delicious! Thank you for sharing the recipe, tips, and pictures. This looks like the perfect thing to pack for lunch, too.
I'm going to try this!
Congrats on the Hub of the day! I love to make homemade bread and I am so impressed with your method. Voted up!
Sound delicious as usual joe; no doubt it is satisfying too! Congratulation on having been chosen as the hub of the day. I have voted this hub as interesting.
Fantastic recipe with great pictures and step by step guide. Like many others, I am not a vegetarian but am always looking for easy ways to substitute meat. Bookmarking this for future use and congrats on your hub of the day!
This looks so good! I think I will have to try making it, I think the whole family would enjoy this one! Congrats on the hub of the day :)
Congrats on being selected for the Hub of the Day! This is a great recipe with great photos. Very nicely done! Voting up and sharing.
JSMatthew~
Sounds delicious, I'm going to give them a try over the weekend.
I've voted up, that dough is so similar to pizza bianca (Roman pizza with no topping and filled with spinach or salami). I'm definitely going to try these with vegetables and meat too :) Thank you
This is definitely a recipe I will be trying! Thank you!
Sounds great and awesome directions!
Gosh I can't wait to cook this...
yummmmm :) thanks for sharing!!
Wowww! I need to make this with my girlfriend who is vegetarian to the max! Up/useful.
Looks good will try for sure...
It would take me ten years to respond to each and every one of you kind hubbers, so let me just say that I appreciate all the kind feedback and thank you so much for supporting me! I couldn't have asked for a better place to write.
Welcome to hubpages Joe... we like the way you write... keep at it.
Up and awesome. I wanna vote yummy too. Veggie buns look great.
This is a wonderful article and I look forward to trying it out. The versatility of the filling is what gets me. I am trying to stop buying boxed heavily processed foods but my husband is hooked on the convenience. Have you had success in freezing these and do you have any tips? I would think par bakinging them so they are done but not brown would be the best. Anyone who has frozen them, please let us know the resurts because these would be fantastic for while I am at work or doing homework.
Great, well written article!
Plinka, you may be able to use a breadmachine on dough setting. I never seem to knead enough either. Has anyone tried this yet?
This recipe (and others with meat) sound fantastic. I would like to make these for an upcoming potluck, but I will not have access to anything other than a microwave at the office, so will need to make & bake these the night before. Can anyone tell me how they hold up? Do they become soggy overnight? Thanks in advance!
doublenickelopoly - Hello, and thanks for the comment. I just wanted to let you know that you'll be fine preparing the buns in advance. To keep them from going soggy, cool them on cooling racks and bring them all the way down to room temperature. From there you can bag and refrigerate. They'll still be very tasty the next day. Take it easy and good luck!
Looks tasty enough to eat!
A.CreativeThinker 8 months ago
These buns look absolutely delicious Joe Macho. You have
created a masterpiece. It is definitely one recipe I will
have to try out. Thanks for sharing this yummy looking treat. :)
Regards,
A.CreativeThinker