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If you liked the potato or apple pirojki, you will love these meat filled Belyashi! Some people refer to theses as chebureki, but chebureki are usually made with raw meat and have a thinner dough. The dough is so easy when using a Breadmaker. Serve these meat piroshki by themselves or pair them with that awesome garlic dip you might recall from the potato piroshki. I know these are originally made with lamb, but turkey and beef are more practical and the flavor is fantastic!
Ingredients for the Meat Piroshki Dough:
1 1/2 Tbsp oil
15 oz warm water
4 cups + 2 Tbsp all-purpose flour (divided)
1 tsp salt
1 Tbsp Active Dry Yeast
Ingredients for the Meat Filling:
1 lb ground turkey
1 lb ground beef (Fat content: 80/20)
2 Tbsp olive oil
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 large onion, finely diced
1 medium carrot, finely grated
3 Tbsp dill
2 Tbsp mayonnaise
1/2 cup warm water
Other Ingredients:
Enough canola oil to go half-way up the side of the piroshky when frying.
Lots of extra flour to dust the cutting board (I probably use at least 1/2 cup extra flour)
Ingredients for Garlic Dip – “Vmochanka”
(this is for one serving, so increase it accordingly):
1/4 cup warm water
1 Tbsp olive oil (you can use any kind of oil really)
1 garlic clove, pressed
1/2 tsp salt
How to Make Russian Pirojki (Chebureki) Dough:
How to make the Dough:
1. The easiest way to do this is in a bread maker. If you have one, set it to the dough setting and add the ingredients in the following order: Oil, water, 2 cups flour, salt, 2 cups + 2 Tbsp flour*, yeast.
A bread maker will do the following: mix, let dough rise, mix again and let the dough rise (It takes about 1 to 1 1/2 hours) and once it’s done in the bread maker, its ready to go.
*to get an exact flour measurement, use a dry ingredients measuring cup and scrape off the top with the back of a butter knife.
You can also make this dough using a stand mixer with a dough hook on speed 2 (mix all the ingredients together, let rise, mix again and then let it rise in a warm place (like the oven). (It should be 2 to 2 1/2 times in volume). While it’s rising, work on the meat filling for piroshki – see below.
2. Put the finished dough onto a well floured cutting board, dust the dough with flour and with well-floured hands, shape it into a large log.
It will rise more as you make the piroshki
3. Cut off pieces one at a time about 3/4″ thick.
4. Place the piece of dough over your well-floured hand (dough will be sticky) and shape it into a 3″ to 4″ circle using your hands. Do not put flour on the side where you are going to put the meat, otherwise the sides won’t seal.
5. Stir the meat mix to distribute the juices. Place 1 heaping tablespoon of meat filling in the center.Cover the meat with the sides of the dough (being careful not to let oils or juices seep out), and pinch the edges together to seal the dough. Flatten the pirojki slightly to make them a more uniform size.
Notes:
It helps to wash your hands half-way through the process to keep the dough from really sticking to your hand. And keep those hands well-floured!
6. Heat oil in a large, deep, heavy-bottomed pan or cast iron dutch oven. There should be enough oil to cover the pirojki half-way up the side.
7. Place them in the hot oil (about 330˚ F) and fry until deep golden brown on each side. Sometimes they puff up a lot on one side so you may end up with a third side that needs to be fried.
8. Place on paper towels to cool and enjoy! Try the garlic dip – it’s GOOD!
How to Make Meat filling for Belyashi:
1. Heat a large skillet over medium/high heat. Brown ground beef and turkey, breaking it up into small pieces with a spatula. Season meat with 1/2 tsp salt, 1/ tsp pepper and 1/2 tsp garlic powder.
2. When the meat is almost done, add diced onion and saute 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
3. Add shredded carrots and saute another 3 minutes, stirring occasionally.
4. Add 3 Tbsp dill, mix well.
5. Add mayo, stir well.
6. Stir in 1/2 cup water to moisten the meat mix. Transfer meat mix to a bowl and let cool to warm or room temperature.
Meat Piroshki (Belyashi)

Ingredients
Ingredients for the Dough:
- 1 1/2 Tbsp oil
- 15 oz warm water
- 4 cups + 2 Tbsp all-purpose flour, divided
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 Tbsp Active Dry Yeast
Ingredients for the Meat Filling:
- 1 lb ground turkey
- 1 lb ground beef, Fat content: 80/20
- 2 Tbsp olive oil
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp pepper
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 large onion, finely diced
- 1 medium carrot, finely grated
- 3 Tbsp dill
- 2 Tbsp mayonnaise
- 1/2 cup warm water
Other Ingredients:
- Enough canola oil to go half-way up the side of the piroshky when frying.
- Lots of extra flour to dust the cutting board, I probably use at least 1/2 cup extra flour
- this is for one serving, so increase it accordingly
Instructions
How to Make Meat filling for Belyashi:
- Heat a large skillet over medium/high heat. Brown ground beef and turkey, breaking it up into small pieces with a spatula. Season meat with 1/2 tsp salt, 1/ tsp pepper and 1/2 tsp garlic powder.
- When the meat is almost done, add diced onion and saute 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Add shredded carrots and saute another 3 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Add 3 tbsp dill, mix well.
- Add mayo, stir well.
- Stir in 1/2 cup water to moisten the meat mix. Transfer meat mix to a bowl and let cool to warm or room temperature.
How to make the Dough:
- The easiest way to do this is in a bread maker. If you have one, set it to the dough setting and add the ingredients in the following order: Oil, water, 2 cups flour, salt, 2 cups + 2 Tbsp flour, yeast. A bread maker will do the following: mix, let dough rise, mix again and let the dough rise (It takes about 1 to 1 1/2 hours) and once it’s done in the bread maker, its ready to go.
- You can also make this dough using a stand mixer with a dough hook on speed 2(mix all the ingredients together, let rise, mix again and then let it rise in a warm place (like the oven). (It should be 2 to 2 1/2 times in volume). While it's rising, work on the meat filling for piroshki - see below.
- Put the finished dough onto a well floured cutting board, dust the dough with flour and with well-floured hands, shape it into a large log.It will rise more as you make the piroshki.
- Cut off pieces one at a time about 3/4″ thick.
- Place the piece of dough over your well-floured hand (dough will be sticky) and shape it into a 3″ to 4″ circle using your hands. Do not put flour on the side where you are going to put the meat, otherwise the sides won’t seal.
- Stir the meat mix to distribute the juices. Place 1 heaping tablespoon of meat filling in the center.Cover the meat with the sides of the dough (being careful not to let oils or juices seep out), and pinch the edges together to seal the dough. Flatten the pirojki slightly to make them a more uniform size.
- Heat oil in a large, deep, heavy-bottomed pan or cast iron dutch oven. There should be enough oil to cover the pirojki half-way up the side.
- Place them in the hot oil (about 330° F) and fry until deep golden brown on each side. Sometimes they puff up a lot on one side so you may end up with a third side that needs to be fried.
- Place on paper towels to cool and enjoy!
I’m trying these this week! Gonna half the recipe though, since I’m just making it as a snack for 4 people.. Sadly, I didn’t find ground turkey.. Will it taste okay with just ground beef?
I think it should be fine, just maybe a little dryer, but should still be ok.
Hi, i just try those to make…….They are still VERY white after frying. NO one has that???? there is no sugar in dough. They taste ok
If they aren’t turning golden, it’s usually because your oil is not hit enough, try turning it up a notch. Also wait a little bit between adding each pirojok since they cool down the oil.
How much sugar do u put in da dough?
Oops sorry that was a typo. You don’t need sugar for the meat piroshki dough. If you are filling the dough with something sweet like apples, then you would add sugar according to the apple piroshki recipe. Thanks for asking 🙂 I’ve corrected the error.
What is the best dough recipe for belyashi using a breadmaker?
I haven’t tried other recipes besides mine.
OMG OMG OMG I am SO excited aboug this recipe. I love tbese so much and cannot get my friend’s grandmother’s recipe to save my life. THANK YOU gor sharing!!
You’re welcome 🙂 Enjoy it!!
Hi, can these be frozen raw and cooked later? Thanks 🙂
I haven’t tried that but I don’t think it’s a good idea with these. The dough is super soft and I think freezing them might ruin the dough. I can’t imagine what they would look like thawed.
how long do you have to cook the meat?
Just until it’s cooked through and starting to brown. Sorry I didn’t time it. As long as it is cooked through, it will be good.
okay cool, thanks I will try them out 🙂
I can’t wait to try these! I am 1/4 Polish and don’t have even ONE recipe from my Grandma (or anyone else from Poland.) I have a few questions:
#1 I can’t stand the smell of fried oil- if I were to bake these what temperature would I use? How long would I bake them?
#2 Can these be prepared and then frozen?
#3 Do you have any Polish cookie recipes?
Alas, I haven’t mastered a recipe for baked pirojki that are anything close to these. I wait for summer to make these; then I can open all the windows and doors so the house doesn’t smell like fried food. I don’t think the dough will work baked. It’s definitely something I’d like to experiment with this summer.
OMG! This recipe is just delicious! Thank you so much Natasha. It was so perfect that I didn’t need to change anything about it.
I think I’m going to try all your recipes in near future 🙂
Thank you Aida, We usually devour them pretty quick 🙂
My nephew and I made these again this week. Oh my goodness, so delicious! We shared with a group of friends and they loved em also!
I must say that the Garlic Sauce is almost the big hit here! I just wanted to point out to all who would want to give these a try…make the garlic dip ahead of time and it’s even 100% better than when I just threw it together last minute before dinner!
Now I want to try it with the original recipe you posted it with because we all want to find a way to enjoy the garlic dip! Besides just dipping bread into it which was a fantastic use of it too!
So glad you all enjoyed it!! Thanks for the tip about the dip! I will definitely do that next time 😉
Is it possible to decrease the dough in half? Maybe use everything in half? But what about yeast?
Would jam be okay in this dough??
I’ve never used jam, but I guess it would work if it is thick enough. If you are decreasing in half, just decrease the whole recipe in half including the yeast.
hi Natasha how are you you know my mom really like you but I never try meat piroshki before in my life so I can gather the ingredients and I can make meat piroshki by using your instructions and together we can make by meat piroshki
I hope you try this recipe soon, Fatima! I hope you love it!
Oh, I was using vegetable oil. I need to get some canola oil. Thank you for the advice!!
How do you get the oil not the burn so fast? After cooking like 6 belyashi, the oil starts to darken. 🙁
I’ve had the same problem before, I try to keep a candy thermometer attached to the pan to check the temp of the oil (about 330 degrees F). If the oil is too hot, they cook too fast and the oil starts to burn. Try turning down the heat a notch. It takes some fine-tuning without a thermometer, but it should be right around the medium heat mark on your turndial. And if you put in too many belyashi at a time, the temperature of your oil will drop and you’ll be tempted to turn up the heat causing a roller coaster of temperatures (and emotions probably :). To avoid this problem, just place them in one at a time and wait 10-15 seconds between each one. I hope that helps. Also, are you using Canola oil (just wanted to make sure you weren’t using olive oil or another oil that burns quicker)?
These were wonderful! My husband and my little one especially liked them, he helped me with the dough, and even made his own pirojok…that was the best part! Thanks again
How cute 🙂 I’m so happy it was a hit with your family!
About How many piroshki does this recipe make?
If I’m remembering correctly its about 25
Natasha,
I made these tonight and they were awesome. So delicious! Thanks for sharing 🙂
-Anastasiya
These look amazing and sounds reasonable to make. Can you please clarify on how to keep the dough warm and rising in the oven, do you need to pre-warm it or how exactly is the best way to keep it rising well?? Thank you!
A bread maker is ideal but put it in an oven that is about 100 degrees F. And let it rise
I can’t wait to make these! so If I wanted to eat dinner by 5pm, I would have to start the dough around 330pm to allow time for it to rise?
I would start a little sooner since they take some time to mold and fry also.
Scrumptious!
I see that nobody wants to share Belyashi with uncooked filling )))
Try those http://forum.say7.info/topic8719.html The review are awesome. By the way, yours look awesome too, it’s just might be a little easier to skip “prepere the meat filling” part. )))
I posted some chebureki with raw meat and raw tortillas.
I saw them. I actually wanted to do them because I had ground meat but then I saw raw tortillas… Well I have no idea where to find them here so I looked up belyashi on my favourite cooking forum and saw your comment about sharing a recipe with raw filling. )) I thought you might like them. I just finished them, they are super juicy. )))