We’re coming at you with another Disney recipe today! Satu’li Canteen is one of our favorite counter service locations in Disney’s Animal Kingdom! Located in Pandora, this dining hot spot is home to those awesome rice bowls and crazy otherworldly desserts. Another popular item are those cute little cheeseburger pods!
Cheeseburger Pods
If you’ve never had these little pockets of deliciousness, they’re basically a steamed bun loaded with all the flavors of a cheeseburger. Sounds strange, tastes AWESOME. It’s one of our favorite foods in all of Animal Kingdom (AND it just reappeared on the menu as an option for adults after only being a kids’ option for a while!). Turns out you can make these yummy snacks at home. (We promise. If we can do it SO CAN YOU!) Follow our recipe below and you’ll be whipping them up in your kitchen in no time!
We know what you’re thinking. “I can’t POSSIBLY make steamed buns at home, can I?!” You totes can. Seriously. It LOOKS scary and hard but in reality it’s deceptively simple. We skip the whole process of making bao dough and use…canned biscuits! SO EASY.
If you can brown ground beef and boil water, you too can whip up Cheeseburger Pods! And you totally should cause they’re the BOMB.
Ingredients
- 1lb lean ground beef (we used 96/4)
- 1/2 cup ketchup
- 2 tbsp yellow mustard
- 4 tbsp dill pickle relish (not sweet relish!)
- 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese (fresh grated or the shredded stuff in the bags is fine!)
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 3 cans of plain (not flakey or Grands style) biscuits
Cheeseburger Pod ingredients
Additional Cooking Equipment
- Parchment paper (to prevent buns sticking)
- A steamer basket or steamer insert for a stockpot. (This is a reliable option if you need one!)
Instructions
Brown ground beef in a skillet over medium-high heat. Season with garlic powder and salt and pepper, to taste. Reduce heat to medium.
Brown your ground beef!
Add in mustard, ketchup, and relish. Stir to combine. Let it come to a simmer for a minute or two.
Add in ketchup, mustard, and relish
Turn off the heat and stir in shredded cheese until melted and combined.
Add the CHEESE!
Cut parchment paper into palm-sized circles and set aside (or if you prefer, you can buy precut sheets to fit most steamers).
Pop open biscuit cans and roll out (or just smoosh with your hand) each one into a flat disc slightly smaller than your hand.
Roll out biscuit so it’s just smaller than your hand
Place the wrapper on your work surface or in your palm and add 1-2 tbsp of filling. Begin pleating the dough.
Add the filling to the dough!
Folding seems harder than it is and, in all honestly, yours may not look as perfect as the buns at Satu’li. THAT’S OK. Look up videos of preparing Bao Buns online for help, OR simply pinch them together in the center and call it a day.
Make sure there are no holes or your bun will open slightly while cooking (again, not the end of the world if it happens. It’ll still be tasty!). Place on a piece of parchment paper.
Pinch the dough together tightly!!
Repeat with remaining biscuits.
Load your steamer pan to not overcrowd the buns.
All in the steamer!
Bring two or so inches of water in your pot/pan (depending on your setup) to a boil. Once boiling, insert the steamer pan and cover. Let cook for 15 minutes.
Steaming!
Remove from the steamer and EAT. Repeat with remaining trays of buns as needed.
Ta-da!
Presto! In just a matter of minutes, you can transport yourself to Disney’s Animal Kingdom with your very own copycat cheeseburger pods! Ours may not be winning any beauty pageants, but the taste will knock your socks off! These lasted mere minutes once we prepared them with adults and kids alike clamoring for more…maybe double the recipe. Just sayin’.
Cheeseburger pod!
Looking for more yummy recipes? We’ve shared some inside scoop on how to recreate Dole Whip, Tonga Toast, and MORE on our recipes page! Be sure to check out our recipe page by clicking the link below to see ALL of the fun Disney recipes you can make at home this week!
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I am so trying this recipe!!
HUGE hit in our house. One of the favorite in-park foods and my husband said it is almost identical to the one he gets in Pandora! Perfect Pandemic Pandora recipe 😉
I cant wait to try these….
How many baus does one recipe make?
Mike, our team member made 15.
I tried making these tonight, though sans cheese (I’m not big on cheeseburgers). I’m also a failure at pleating, but the end product was tasty. I think next time I’ll added diced onion to it.
Thanks for the recipe.
what if you don’t have a steamer? what can you do instead?
Leslie, when I steam dumplings without a steamer, I turn a small cake pan over inside a deep pot, put an inch or so of water in the pot, and steam them that way. I have also baked these pods, and my family enjoyed them that way, but they definitely lose the soft, steamed texture.
Thank you, Sarah!
Pleeeease help – where in Orlando did you find PLAIN canned biscuits????? I only find flaky Grands 😞
Bleh. Not even close. The biscuits just don’t do it justice and the meat mix is not quite right.
I’m going to keep playing with it. Appreciate the help getting started at least.