The Best Potato Pierogi Recipe
Tender dumplings filled with cheesy potato filling then topped with buttery sautéed onions, this is the comfort food of my childhood. The Best Potato Pierogi recipe is passed down from my grandfather and made completely from scratch.
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Homemade Polish Pierogi
I’m so excited to share these Homemade Pierogies with you! They are a staple at many of my families’ holiday gatherings and, seriously, make all the feelings well up inside whenever we serve them.
My grandfather was off the boat polish. Like literally, he packed up his wife and kids….sailed across the pond (my grandmother was British) and settled here in this great melting pot of a county I now have the pleasure of growing old in.
And with him (other than his family) he brought a bunch of authentic Polish recipes I was, kinda, forced to learn. Homemade Potato Pierogies were one of the things on that lesson plan. And it was a big, huge deal…the whole pierogi process so when you knew he was about to make them, you knew you were in for some hard child labor.
At least that’s how I looked at it when I was a kid. And for that….NOW….I’m so ever grateful because that’s how I came to create the Very BEST Potato Pierogi Recipe of all time. AND…..they’re really not as hard as I remembered them to be during those marathon Pierogi making sessions.
How To Make Pierogi
You can use any type of cheese you like but we fill our pierogi with a potato and cottage cheese filling much like vareniki fillings.
And unlike my family recipe, I add cream cheese to my potatoes….and sour cream to my dough. I like the dough to have a bit of tangy flavor, less like a dumpling and more like a…well, a pierogi. And I love my mashed potato recipe so I kinda took a page from that recipe and added the cream cheese.
How to make Pierogi Dough
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook, blend together the flour and salt on low speed.
- Whisk together the milk, egg and sour cream. Slowly add the milk mixture to the flour in a steady stream.
- Continue to blend the flour mixture together until a shaggy dough forms and the dough starts to pull away from the sides of the bowl.
- Cover the dough with plastic wrap and allow to rest for 1 hour.
- I love how easy and soft this pierogi dough recipe is….the stand mixer makes it come together so quickly but you can totally do this by hand if you don’t have a stand mixer.
How to make Pierogi Filling
- Add the potatoes to a pot and fill with water to just cover the potatoes. Stir in the salt and bring the potatoes to a boil.
- Turn the heat to low and continue cooking the potatoes until fork tender, approximately 20 minutes.
- While the potatoes are cooking, melt the butter in a large skillet over medium heat.
- Add the onions to the pan. Cook until caramelized and golden brown, approximately 20 minutes.
- Drain the potatoes and transfer to a large bowl.
- Add the onions, cottage cheese and cream cheese to the potatoes. Mash using a potato masher until well blended
- Season with salt and pepper, to taste.
This pierogi filling recipe is so simple and sooooo addicting. It’s really hard not to eat all of it before assembling the pierogies! If you want to make this step even easier, you can definitely use leftover mashed potatoes for the filling.
We love this Biscuit Cutter set because the variety of sizes provides more options from cutting Pierogi Dough to shaping cookies.
How to Cook Pierogi
- To cook your Homemade Potato Pierogi, you have a few options. We like to pop out pierogi into a pot of salted boiling water and cook them until they float to the top. When they float, they’re done.
- Or you can simply pan fry your potato piergies in a skillet with caramelized onions and lots of butter. The onion butter is a great sauce for your potato pierogi!
- OR you can do both….boil then pan fry for pierogi heaven on a plate.
How to cook Frozen Pierogi
No need to thaw your frozen potato pierogi….simply cook them in a skillet with a bit of water until soft, then add butter and pan fry your pierogi until lightly brown on the outside and warmed through on the inside.
What is a Pierogi?
Pierogi are filled dumplings of central and eastern European descent made with unleavened dough then filled with either a savory or sweet stuffing before being boiled or pan fried.
This Easy Pierogi recipe is made in two parts to simplify the process even more. Both steps can be made in advance.
Pro Tips
- Be sure you don’t overwork your dough. The gluten in the flour tends to get tough when it’s over rolled, over kneaded, over handled. When it starts to look shaggy in the mixer bowl and pulls away from the sides….stop and let it rest for a good hour before rolling out.
- Cook those onions until they’re good and caramelized. That adds so much needed flavor that will be missed if you don’t let them get golden brown. It’s what I love most about this recipe.
- Don’t think the cottage cheese is weird….it’s not and adds some great texture to the filling. If you can find large curd cottage cheese do buy it and use it, the small curd tends to disappear into the filling a bit. Farmer’s cheese is authentic to pierogis but it’s sometimes hard to find.
- Don’t overfill. Because pierogi will bust open like a pair of skinny jeans on Thanksgiving while they’re boiling. And that’s not good eats. I know it’s tempting to go big or go home but keep things light in there and you will be rewarded.
- Don’t over boil….once your pierogi float to the top, scoop them out. You can eat them as is or save for later, then fry up in some butter with onions for a truly amazing experience.
- Never…ever…buy frozen pierogies again. Just kidding, but you will now know the difference and they just don’t compare. 🙂
Serving Suggestions
Our favorite things to serve with this easy Potato Pierogi recipe are:
- Super easy Fried Cabbage…my personal favorite
- Quick Kielbasa and Cabbage
- Simple Stewed Tomatoes
- Bourbon Honey Baked Ham
- Easy Stuffed Cabbage recipe
Or just serve with sour cream….it’s seriously simple and delish!
More Easy Pierogi Recipes
- Macarogies and Cheese.…a fun twist on mac and cheese
- Spicy Szechuan Style Pierogies
- If you love loaded baked potatoes, you will flip over these LOADED POTATO PIEROGI!
And if you bought too many potatoes to make The Very Best Potato Pierogi recipe…never fear, you can use those up in this easy Slow Cooker Loaded Baked Potato Soup or this spectacularly amazing Potato Gratin. Or go easy and stuff a baked potato with broccoli and cheese.
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Get the Recipe: Potato Pierogi Recipe
Ingredients
For the Pierogi dough:
- 4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 cup whole milk
- 2 eggs, lightly beaten
- 1/4 cup sour cream
For the Pierogi Filling
- 5 large russet potatoes, peeled and quartered
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 3 tablespoons butter
- 3 large vidalia onions, diced
- 1 1/2 cups large curd cottage cheese
- 8 ounce cream cheese, room temperature
Equipment
- 1 biscuit cutter or large glass for cutting
- 1 Rolling Pin
- 1 dutch oven optional
Instructions
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook, blend together the flour and salt on low speed.
- Whisk together the milk, egg and sour cream. Slowly add the milk mixture to the flour in a steady stream.
- Continue to blend the flour mixture together until a shaggy dough forms and the dough starts to pull away from the sides of the bowl.
- Cover the dough with plastic wrap and allow to rest for 1 hour.
- Add the potatoes to a pot and fill with water to just cover the potatoes. Stir in the salt and bring the potatoes to a boil.
- Turn the heat to low and continue cooking the potatoes until fork tender, approximately 20 minutes.
- While the potatoes are cooking, melt the butter in a large skillet over medium heat.
- Add the onions to the pan. Cook until caramelized and golden brown, approximately 20 minutes.
- Drain the potatoes and transfer to a large bowl.
- Add the onions, cottage cheese and cream cheese to the potatoes. Mash using a potato masher until well blended.
- Season with salt and pepper, to taste.
- On a lightly floured work surface, roll out the dough to approximately 1/4 inch thick. Cut out rounds with a 2 3/4-inch cutter. Place on a baking sheet, and cover with plastic wrap.
- Using your hands, lightly flatten the dough disk to stretch it out a bit.
- Place approximately 1 1/2 tablespoons potato filling in the center of the dough and fold the top half down over filling, gently pressing to squeeze out any air and seal by pinched the seam together.
- Return to baking sheet and cover.
- Repeat with remaining dough and filling.
- Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add 4 dumplings. Cook, stirring gently to avoid sticking to the bottom of the pot, until dumplings rise to the surface, about 4 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer to a plate lined with paper towels, and pat dry. Transfer to a serving platter, and cover with foil to keep warm.
- Repeat with remaining pierogies.
- Serve with melted butter, caramelized onions and sour cream, if desired.
Video
93 Comments on “The Best Potato Pierogi Recipe”
Recipe looks good and I would like to try it BUT….Recipes that call for ingredients like “large potatoes” and “large onions” drive my nuts. “Large” is in the mind of the beholder. Can you not use a weight?
It’s about 2 pounds potatoes and about 1 1/2 cups chopped onions….sorry, I wrote it the same way my grandfather gave it to me. 🙂
Hi! If you decide to make ahead of time and freeze them, how do you then cook/warm up?
Hi! I boil them until they float (like a ravioli) and then saute in a pan with a bit of butter and fried onions.
Great recipe! Just need some skill to get the dough a little thinner! Potatoes were spot on followed the recipe but added 1/3 Parmesan Regianno finely grated.
The dough does take some practice but it gets easier! So glad you like them and love the addition of parmesan.
My Gram made these with apricot filling and also plum, and shreded cabbage with cottage cheese filling. Sure would like the recipe for these, too if anyone has them. Thanks in advance
Ahhh, will get on that right now! We had cabbage and plum pierogi all the time.
Should you drain the cottage cheese first?
You can but it doesn’t hurt if you just scoop it into the bowl. 🙂
Wow, perfect pierogies! I am impressed!
Thank you very much for this recipe! Can’t wait to try. Your pirogies stay perfect in the freezer for over 6 months if vacuum sealed. 🙂
We just put them in a freezer bag and push out the air. Thank you!
I need a big helping of this!
I needed a great pierogi recipe! My son would eat these every day and every meal if I let him!
Love Pierogies (or vareniki as we call them)!!! For the filling, can I use farmers cheese? Don’t like the texture of cottage cheese and farmers cheese is a tiny bit more “sour” which should taste amazing in this recipe.
Ahhh, I will try the farmer’s cheese! It would be good!
My family always used Farmers Cheese. I cannot find it here where I live
I think Farmers Cheese is more traditional but my grandfather may have used the cottage cheese because it was difficult to find. I only know using cottage cheese so that’s what I stick with.
Finally, someone who mixes cottage cheese, onions and potatoes in their perogies.
This is the way my mother and other family members always made them. We never used cream cheese, but I can see how it would be a great addition. Am not a fan of yellow cheese with potatoes, so glad to see this filling. My mom also made sauerkraut ones, blueberry ones. My mother-in-law also made prune ones. All delicious!
YES! My grandfather used cottage cheese and it was my favorite part. Plus, I like to leave the potatoes slightly chunky so it’s not just mush inside. The cream cheese is my addition, I’m sure my pop pop would frown upon that suggestion but I love it and it’s staying. 🙂 I hope you love them. I’m making plum pierogi this summer as soon as they’re in season. They’re amazing with vanilla ice cream.
my husbands sister used to make plum perogies, they are my favorite, please post that recipe>
I LOVE plum pierogi! I’ll be making them soon.
I remember “helping” my grandmother make these as a child, she made them every week.
I made them many years ago with a recipe from my mother but your recipe was so much easier. Everyone loved them!!! Do you have any other recipes for fillings?
So, right now I just have the potato filling on here but I do plan to add my cabbage and plum pierogi recipes in the very near future!
After I boil and drain, if not all are being eaten, can I freeze at this point?
Yes! I place them in a single layer in a freezer bag and freeze them flat. This way you can just pull out the number you want each time you cook them.
Reminded me of my great grandmother’s recipe I’ll need to get it out and compare. Thanks for making me smile at those memories
Thank you for visiting!
Where is the breakdown of the amount of each ingredient? Can you send the recipe without a picture as it uses up too much ink.
The recipe card is at the bottom of the post with a clickable link to a printable recipe card with a condensed photo. This is a much more efficient way to print. Thank you!
My mouth is literally watering. I luuuuuv pierogies. Thank you.
They’re my favorite!