Grandma's Homemade Pierogies

Print Pin

5 from 16 votes

My family's cherished recipe for these classic Polish dumplings!

Course Main Course

Cuisine Polish

Diet Vegetarian

Servings pierogies

Calories 37kcal

Author Tracy

Equipment

Ingredients

Pierogi Dough

4 1/4 cups all purpose flour 544 g, plus more for dusting
1 1/4 cup water 10 oz
1/2 cup vegetable oil 4 oz
1 teaspoon salt fine ground 7 g

Cheddar Potato Filling

2 lbs russet potatoes
1 cup cheddar cheese
1/2 cup milk 2% - whole
3 tablespoons salted butter
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black ground pepper
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon onion powder

Cabbage Filling

2 cups cabbage thinly shredded
1 small onion white or yellow
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 cloves garlic minced

For Cooking and Serving

chives chopped
sour cream
butter 4-6 tablespoons

Instructions

Potato Filling

Boil Potatoes: Add a pot of water to the stove and set to high. Peel and chop potatoes and add to the water. Bring water to a boil and then reduce to a strong simmer and let boil for 15-20 minutes until the potatoes are fork tender and drain.
Mash: Return potatoes to the pot and add butter, milk, salt, pepper, onion, and garlic powder and mash potatoes with a potato masher or fork. Add cheese and mix well until all of the cheese is melted.
Set Aside: Add potatoes to a bowl and let cool. Cover and store in the fridge until you're ready to use.

Cabbage and Onion Filling

Sauté onion and garlic: Add oil to a large sauté pan and heat to medium. Add onion and garlic and cook for 5 minutes.
Deglaze and add cabbage: Deglaze the pan by adding vinegar, stir, and then add cabbage, salt, and pepper.
Sauté: Mix well and sauté cabbage. Cook for another 7-10 minutes until cabbage is tender and begins to brown.
Set aside: Add to a bowl and let cool. Cover and store in the fridge until ready to use.

Pierogi Dough

Create dough: Add flour and salt to a large bowl and mix. Add water and oil to the bowl and gently mix until a dough forms. Turn dough onto a floured surface and knead for 20-30 seconds until a smooth dough ball forms.
Roll Out Dough
Split to use: Split dough in half and keep the second half in a bowl covered by a damp paper towel until ready to use.
Prep: Prepare a large clean surface or large cutting board by lightly flouring it and keeping a small bowl of flour nearby. Take out bowls of filling and set aside with spoons or forks. Lightly flour a baking tray and set aside.
Roll out dough: Add half of the dough the floured surface and use a lightly floured rolling pin to roll out the dough 1/4 inch thick.
Cut rounds: Use a circle cutter (or glass) that's about 2 1/2 inch diameter to cut out dough circles, keeping them as close together as possible to be able to get as many circles as possible. Separate the circles from the rest of the dough, setting the excess dough aside.
Roll out and rounds: One at a time, add a dough circle to the center of your floured work station. Use a lightly floured rolling pin to roll the circle long, flip and dust with some flour on the cutting board and then roll slightly wide to create about a 3 1/2 in - 4 in oval that's about 1/8 inch thick.
Fill and fold: Add about 1 tablespoon of filling to the bottom half of the oval and fold over the top of the dough to create a half moon.
Choose whatever filling combos you'd like - do all potato, all cabbage, or alternate.
Pinch closed: Hold the half moon in one hand and then use the other hand to pinch it by using your thumb and first two fingers to pinch and twist the edge of the half moon closed. Do this all of the way around the half moon until it is all pinched closed. Place pierogi on floured baking sheet.
Important: Be sure that it is completely closed so that when they boil, water will not get into the pierogi.
Repeat: Repeat with the rest of the cut out rounds, then roll out the set aside dough and cut out more rounds and repeat until you have used all of the dough. You will fill multiple baking trays.

Cooking Pierogis

Prep cooking station: Ensure you have enough space for your pierogi trays and also a baking dish around a large pot of water. Add 6 thin slices of cold butter to your baking tray (about 2-3 tablespoons).
Boil: Add a large pot of salted water to the stove and heat on high. Bring to a boil. Gently add 4-5 pierogies at a time to the water. Boil for about 3 minutes, or until they float to the top of the water. Use a slotted spoon or skimmer ladle to gently remove the pierogi from the water, shake off excess water, and then add to the baking tray with the butter. Repeat.
The butter will help keep the cooked pierogis from sticking and add more flavor!
Pan fry (optional): Once boiled, the pierogies are done and can be served and eaten. If desired, melt a tablespoon of butter in a sauté pan or cast iron skillet on medium. Add boiled pierogies and fry on one side for about 2-3 minutes until golden brown and then flip to fry until golden brown on the other side.
Serve: Serve with chopped chives and sour cream!

Video

Notes

Prep!

This is a really important part of this recipe. Rolling out the pierogies and also cooking them takes a lot of space so it's important to get your workspaces prepped and everything laid out so that it all goes smoothly.

This recipe is a great way to use leftover mashed potatoes, too!

Filling Amount

The amounts for the filling are for enough of each for a full batch of pierogies with this dough. You can of course halve the filling amount or just enjoy the leftovers in another way!

Make Ahead

Fillings: We always make the fillings the day before, but you can also make them ahead up to 3 days.

Dough: You can make the dough a day ahead and store in the fridge with a damp paper towel and covered in plastic wrap. Store in the freezer for up to 2 months wrapped in plastic. We often make a full batch of dough but just make half of the pierogies at one and store the other dough half for another pierogi making session.

Customize

You can fill a pierogi with almost anything! Use your favorite mashed potatoes recipe, add some bacon or another meat, sauerkraut, mushrooms, or even make dessert pierogies with some pie filling!

Time Commitment

As you'll notice, there's no listed times on this recipe because it is a time commitment. If you're doing it by yourself, it could take a couple of hours to roll out all of the dough / fill / cook the pierogies. If you have help, less, but it really all depends. In short, this is a recipe that you will need to know that you have plenty of time to commit to. Unless of course you choose to use a pierogi press, that will make it all go much faster.

Nutrition