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Traditional Polish pierogi, filled with a classic mixture of potato and cheese are a delicious side dish, well worth the time and effort involved.
For this recipe, we’ve chosen to make a basic potato-cheese filling and serve them as a side dish topped with sour cream, garlic and chive sauce.
Our family recipe, combined with a fairly standard dough preparation method, produces an exceptionally light and tender finished product. The secret? Pinching off portions of dough and rolling them individually to avoid overworking it.
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Potato and Cheese Pierogi
Traditional Polish pierogi, filled with a classic mixture of potato and cheese are a delicious side dish, well worth the time and effort involved.
Ingredients
For the dough:
- 3-1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
- 3 large eggs
- 2 tablespoons sour cream
- 3/4 to 1 cup water
For the filling:
- 1-1/2 lbs baking potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-inch slices
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 small sweet onion, chopped
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
- 3/4 to 1 cup grated dry farmer’s cheese
- Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
For the finished dish:
- 1/2 stick butter, cut into 1 tablespoon portions
- 1 recipe [Sour Cream Garlic-Chive Sauce]
Instructions
For the dough:
- In a large bowl or mixer, combine the flour, eggs, sour cream and 1/2 cup of water. Beat the eggs as you mix and gradually add the rest of the water until the mixture is combined.
- Turn the dough onto a well floured surface. Knead it gently, using a dropping technique (lift the dough from the surface and drop it down). Knead only until the ingredients are blended and the dough is smooth and slightly sticky, about 3 to 5 minutes. Be careful not to over work the dough.
- Wrap the dough ball in plastic wrap and let it rest for at least 20 to 30 minutes while you prepare the filling.
For the filling:
- Put the potatoes in a medium pot and add just enough cold, salted water to cover them. Bring to a boil and cook until the potatoes are soft, about 20 minutes.
- While the potatoes cook, melt the butter and oil over medium heat in a large saute pan. Add the onion, garlic and thyme, cooking until the onion turns translucent, about 2 minutes. Lower the heat and continue cooking until onions caramelize slightly, about 20 minutes. You may need to add a bit more butter as the onion and garlic mixture cooks. Season with salt and pepper to taste and set aside to cool.
- When the potatoes are soft, drain them in a colander and lightly press out the remaining moisture. Return them to the pot, remove from heat and add the cooled onion mixture and the cheese. Mash them just until blended and large lumps are gone. Season again with salt and pepper to taste. Set aside to cool while you roll out the pierogi dough.
Assemble and cook:
- Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. With lightly floured hands, pinch off tablespoon sized portions of the dough and roll them into balls. The balls should be about 1-1/2 inches in diameter, yielding about 3 dozen total.
- On a well floured surface, gently roll each ball with a rolling pin until about 1/8 inch thick and 3-1/2 inches round. Cover the finished rounds with a damp towel so they don’t dry out while you’re working.
- Once your rounds are rolled out, hold each in the palm of your hand, filling the center of it with a generous tablespoon of the potato mixture. Gently fold the round in half, pulling the edges away and pinching them firmly shut to enclose the filling. Be sure the edges are sealed by working from one end to the other.
- As you work, set your filled pierogi aside on a floured surface and cover them with plastic wrap.
- Working in batches, drop no more than 6 pierogi at a time into the boiling water. After they float back to the surface, allow them to cook another 2 to 4 minutes. Remove the pierogi with a slotted spoon and place on a towel to drain and cool.
Sauté and serve:
- To finish the dish, heat a tablespoon or two of butter in a pan over medium heat and briefly sauté them in batches until they are slightly crispy and brown on the exterior. Transfer to a serving dish and top with Sour Cream Garlic-Chive Sauce.
Notes
We first saw the instructions for rolling the dough for the pierogi individually in the May 2000 issue of "Fine Cooking Magazine." Prior to that we followed our family recipe to the letter and rolled the dough into large rectangles, cut circles with a biscuit cutter and re-rolled the scraps. Rolling each pierogi individually produces a much more delicate, tender dumpling (sorry Grandma).
Nutrition
Calories: 94, Total Fat: 4g, Cholesterol: 24mg, Sodium: 55mg, Carbohydrates: 12g, Fiber: 1g, Sugar: 1g, Protein: 3g
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Like this recipe? Rate and comment below!
This looks awesome! I’m planning to make it this week – perhaps over the weekend if I can get myself to the store to get everything I need.
These look so good and I am going to add them to my Mouth Watering Monday post this Monday. Come on over to see it at http://www.noshingwiththenolands.com Cheers, Tara
Check out authentic Ukrainian Pyrohi recipe… handed down from Grandmother to Mother to me.. making them for over 44 years.. step by step with photos..
This looks delicious! I would love if you shared this in our comfort food Blog Hop. We’re giving away a prize from Wilton to the blogger with the most “likes”, come check it out! 🙂 https://www.recipelionblog.com/january-blog-hop-favorite-comfort-foods-giveaway/
Sarah @ RecipeLion
Yummy! I posted a link to this on my blog…thru my pinterest board.
Thanks!
Jennifer @ The Craft Barn
My grandmother’s recipe was very similar to this except she put some mashed potatoes in the dough as well as the filling. I’ve tried searching for similar recipes but I haven’t found any yet that do this. Do you have any thoughts or suggestions on how much mashed potatoes would be added to the dough and why she might have done this?
Hi Allison –
We’ve heard of people adding mashed potatoes to their pierogi dough, but we don’t have any information on what quantity you would use either. My suggestion would be to check the library for older Polish cookbooks. Come back and let us know if you find something.
Yes, my grandmother or biacia (polish for grandmother) always puts a tiny bit, about a large spoonful or so of the potato mixture in the dough. She also does not boil them after making.. she freezes them right after making them so they will last for up to a year in the freezer. Then when ready to eat some, she boils them & sautes onions & butter for the top. We always eat them alone with sour cream & have keilbasa with other things.
how do these keep in the freezer? any tips for using them after freezing?
Hi Andy –
You can freeze the pierogi in zip-top freezer bags for up to 3 months. To prepare, just drop them into boiling water straight from the freezer, 6 at a time. Follow the recipe directions by allowing them to float to the top, then continue cooking for 2 to 4 minutes. They should only take about 1 minute longer to cook. Proceed with the recipe as written for draining and sautéeing in butter.
These look really good and I can’t wait to make them, but what is “dry farmer’s cheese”? Would a white cheddar cheese or another cheese work? Thanks!
Hi Kayla,
If you can’t find something labeled as “dry farmer’s cheese,” you can make your own using cottage cheese. Wrap 1-1/2 to 2 cups of large curd cottage cheese in a piece of cheesecloth and put it in a colander set over a bowl to catch the liquid. Refrigerate until the cheese looks firm and dry – overnight should do it. Hope this helps!
Oh my…I have got to try these. Pierogis were one of my favorite foods growing up but I haven’t had them in forever. Can’t wait to try these. Thank you!
I just finished making these and the dough was really hard to work with. Very very sticky, I don’t know what I did wrong for it to be like that I started with 1/2 cup of water.
Hi Sabrina,
We’re located in Florida and because of the high humidity, we frequently find dough of all types to be a bit stickier than expected. There are a couple of other factors that may have caused this dough to be sticky too – the eggs may have been a little bit on the large side, and the sour cream could have separated. (I usually pour off any excess liquid). Next time, just add a little extra flour, one tablespoon at a time, to make the dough easier to work with.