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Nancy, I've never had a RUNZA even though I was raised just across the Nebraska border in North East Kansas. A RUNZA recipe was requested by IMM-Iowa in the 30 Mar Newsletter. I found these two different but interesting recipes just by searching for "RUNZA" with Yahoo. Hopefully, one of these will be what you're looking for. If not, there are many more RUNZA recipes at the web site. They do sound interesting and I'll definitely be giving one or both a try myself in the near future. I think I'll try the second recipe first as it appears to be less work.
Mr. Myron Drinkwater - Lake Forest, CA

RUNZA (From scratch)

Dough:
2 pkg Active dry Yeast
2 cups warm milk
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 tsp salt
2 large eggs, beaten
1/2 cup shortening, margarine or butter
7 to 8 cups all-purpose flour

Put yeast and milk in a bowl. Let sit for 5 minutes. Add sugar, salt, eggs and softened butter. Mix. Gradually add flour while mixing. Add flour until dough pulls together into a ball. Knead for 4 or 5 minutes or until dough is smooth. (This really works best with a free-standing mixer with a dough hook) Put in a greased bowl, cover with a towel and allow to rise until double. Punch down and let it rise again. Remove dough from bowl and divide into thirds. On a floured surface, roll one portion of the dough to 1/4-inch thickness. Cut into 5 or 6-inch squares. (Reserve dough you cut off to reroll.) Give each square an extra roll with the rolling pin before filling.

Filling:
2 lbs ground beef
1 head of cabbage, finely shredded
Lots of salt and pepper

Brown the ground beef. Add the shredded cabbage and cook over medium heat until cabbage is softened. Add salt and pepper to taste. It takes a lot! Start this about halfway through the second rise of the dough. Set aside until dough is ready.

Making Runzas
Put a large mound of filling on the center of each dough square. Pull opposite corners of the dough together and pinch to hold. Pull the opposite two corners together and use your fingers to pinch all edges together to seal in filling. Turn Runza over and put on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. (It helps to keep any leakage from staining your cookie sheet.) Space Runzas about 1 inch apart. When cookie sheet is full put a towel over it and let it rise for about 15 minutes. Bake Runzas in a preheated oven at 350° for 15 to 20 minutes – until they are a deep brown. Remove from oven and rub butter on the top of each Runza.

Cool on cooling rack or eat them now! About 28 Runzas can be made from this recipe. Runzas can be cooled and then frozen. To reheat just put one in the microwave for 1 minute. Package them in individual bags and they make a GREAT lunchbox treat! Cheese and/or onion could be added to the recipe, if desired.

Note: The dough is a sweet dough so if you find yourself with some leftover, you can make it into cinnamon rolls!

RUNZA
2 loaves frozen bread dough
1 lb hamburger (ground beef)
1/2 large head of cabbage, chopped
1/2 medium onion, chopped
salt and black pepper

Thaw the two loaves of frozen bread dough or make the equivalent amount using your favorite bread recipe. While the dough thaws, make the filling. Brown the hamburger and drain, then return to the pan. Add the chopped cabbage and onion and cook down. Season with salt and pepper to taste (1 tsp pepper recommended). Let dough rise, then punch down and roll a portion to 1/4" thickness. Cut the dough into 4 x 8-inch pieces and add about 1/2 cup meat mixture to each. Fold dough pieces over and seal the edges, then place seam-side-down on a greased cookie sheet. Let rise 20 to 30 minutes, then bake in a preheated oven at 375° for 20 minutes or until brown.

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