This Chicken Cabbage Savory Pirog recipe has the softest dough recipe with a savory chicken, cabbage and veggie filling. This pirog is similar to baked piroshki and is melt in your mouth good.
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You’ll love this great twist on the traditional baked Ukrainian piroshki.
What is a pirog?
A pirog is a baked dough with a sweet or savory filling. They come in a variety of shapes and sizes. Mini pirogs are called piroshki and can be either fried (like these Fried Piroshki), or baked (like these Baked Piroshki).
A pirog can be either closed (with the filling inside), or open-faced (with the filling on top, similar to an American pie).
How to make a Chicken Cabbage Savory Pirog?
- Prepare the dough, set aside to rise.
- Prepare the chicken, cabbage and veggie filling, set aside to cool.
- Roll out the dough. Add filling to the center of the dough and close the filling, sealing the edges.
- Brush with egg wash and sprinkle with sesame seeds.
- Bake until golden in color and enjoy!
Tip: When closing the dough over the cabbage, it will kind of look like a crunch wrap from Taco Bell (if you’ve ever had one).
Cabbage Filling-
The chicken goes really well with the cabbage filling but if you want to leave the chicken out, you totally may!
When sautéing (lightly braising) the cabbage, cook until desired tenderness is reached. I personally like the cabbage to still have a firmer taste to them, while my husband likes them really tender. So, sauté to your personal preference.
Piroshki (mini pirogs) are really common in the Ukrainian but the recipe stems from the Uzbek cuisine where they mostly make their pirogi as a large pirog (instead of the small piroshki we use in our Ukrainian kitchens, though they make them as well). Uzbek food is so delicious and oh so unique.
What filling can you use when making a pirog?
Popular savory fillings include cheesy potato, ground meat, sautéed mushrooms or like these with cabbage.
Sweet fillings can be either apples, berries, poppy seed or nuts.
What dough is used for a pirog?
A yeast dough is typically used for any pirog or piroshki.
This recipe for baked pirogi is so soft and just melts in your mouth it’s so delicious. Don’t be turned off by the mayo as an ingredient. It is the key ingredients in the dough and you cannot taste it once baked.
More Pirog-Style Recipes to Explore:
- Russian Potato Piroshki– do not skip the garlic dip!
- Cheesy Baked Potato Piroshki– that cheese…
- Fillo Dough with Brie Cheese– favorite appetizer at parties.
- Cherubereki Recipe– crowd pleasing easy recipe.
Chicken Cabbage Savory Pirog
Ingredients
For the Dough:
- 2 Tbsp mayonnaise
- 1 tsp oil
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/3 cup warm milk
- 1/3 cup warm water
- 1 ½ tsp active dry yeast
- 1 ½ tsp granulated sugar
- 2 cups all-purpose flour, sifted
For the Savory Filling:
- ¾ lb chicken, thighs or breast, cubed finely
- 1 tsp oil
- ½ large onion, finely chopped
- 3 Tbsp unsalted butter, divided
- 3 cups cabbage, shredded finely
- 2 small carrots, grated
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1/4 cup water
- 1 ½ tsp ketchup
- 1 ½ tsp sour cream
- 3 Tbsp favorite herbs, I mixed parsley and dill
- 1 egg + 1 tsp water, beaten for egg wash
- ½ tsp sesame seeds, optional
Instructions
Prepare dough:
- Prepare dough. In a bowl, whisk mayo, oil, salt, water and milk. Sprinkle yeast over top of the mixture and sprinkle sugar over yeast. Cover bowl with a kitchen towel, let sit 5 minutes for the yeast to activate and become foamy.
- Gradually add flour, mix until flour is well incorporated. Set dough aside to rise at room temperature, covered, 1 ½ to 2 hours (until the dough doubles, almost triples in size).
Prepare filling:
- In a large skillet, on med/high heat, cook chicken on 1 tsp oil until fully cooked (about 2-3 minutes), stirring as needed. Remove from the skillet.
- Sauté onion on 1 Tbsp butter until tender, stirring frequently. Add the 2 Tbsp butter, cabbage, carrots, garlic and water. Season with salt and pepper. Sauté until cabbage is desired tenderness.
- Add the ketchup, sour cream, herbs and the chicken that was set aside. Cook another minute, stirring frequently. Remove from heat to cool.
How to assemble the pirog:
- On a lightly floured surface, divide dough into 2 equal parts (cover second dough). Roll out until about 12” round.
- Take half of the cabbage filling and place it into the center of the dough, spread evenly (leaving about 3” of dough uncovered around the edges).
- Gently start pulling the edges of the dough over the filling into the center to close the pirog. Continue going around until cabbage is completely covered. Pinch seams together.
- Gently, flip the pirog over. Flatten the pirog as needed so it’s even in size and so the filling is evenly distributed. Gently flip the pirog and repeat with second pirog.
- Brush with egg wash, sprinkle with sesame seeds and let rise 30-45 minutes.
- Bake in a preheated oven to 400°F 18-22 minutes, until golden in color.
Nutrition Per Serving
Q: Have you ever explored the Uzbek cuisine? I’d love to hear about your favorite Uzbek recipes in the comments below. 🙂
