These homemade Pierogi filled with cheesy potatoes, tossed with crisp bacon and melted butter, and served with sour cream is the ultimate comfort food. They can be served as the main dish or as an irresistible side.
Pierogi are as classic to Eastern European cuisine as Stuffed Cabbage Rolls, Piroshki, and Schnitzel. They will never go out of style. Watch the video tutorial and you’ll be enjoying pierogi in no time.
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What Are Pierogi?
Pierogi are dumplings with a tender dough and savory or sweet fillings, similar to ravioli. They are boiled in water and tossed in butter to serve. Pierogi are a staple in Eastern European countries, especially Poland, where they are the national food, but we grew up eating them in Ukraine, and they are well-loved throughout the world.
Most Americans know them as Polish pierogi and buy “Mrs. T Pierogies” (a sad store-bought version), but my homemade pierogi (or Ukrainian “Vareniki”) will blow the frozen ones out of the water!
Pierogi Recipe Video
See how easy it is to make homemade pierogi with Natasha’s classic recipe! Be sure to note her tip on how to make the pretty fluted edge and easy stuffing using her favorite mini-scoop to add the potato filling. Now gather some friends, and let’s get rolling!
*Note that we updated the recipe in 2024 to include more oil for a softer and more tender dough and knead the dough for less time.
The Best Pierogi Recipe
If you haven’t tried pierogi before, you’re about to fall in love. These are the best of a warm, cheesy loaded baked potato in a bite-sized dumpling. This pierogi recipe makes 50-60 perfect dumplings, enough to freeze for later or serve a large crowd.
Growing up, this potato pierogi recipe, or “Vareniki” was my favorite, so it was a no-brainer that it needed to be included in Natasha’s Kitchen Cookbook. My Mother and sisters rolled huge batches of pierogi dough, stuffing, and expertly molding them. Each buttery batch disappeared so fast! These days my kids love rolling the dough and crimping every dough pocket.
Ingredients
You’ll love the simplicity of the ingredients – they are pantry and refrigerator staples.
- Liquid Ingredients – combining warm water, milk and sour cream adds fat to the dough and flavor.
- Oil – we use extra light olive oil, but any mild-flavored oil will work. The oil makes the dough very soft and easy to roll out.
- Egg – binds the dough, room temperature eggs mix more easily
- Salt – adds flavor to the dough and cooking water
- Flour – all-purpose flour works great but measure correctly so the dough isn’t dense.
- Potato Filling – we combine russet potatoes, salt, butter, and cheese. Russets will give you the smoothest and creamiest filling. Our go-to cheeses are cream cheese and mozzarella but you can substitute with cheddar, havarti, or your favorite cheese.
Can I use Leftover Mashed Potatoes?
As a shortcut, use leftover mashed potatoes for the filling (avoid instant or flaked potatoes), just be sure they aren’t overly creamy or soft, which can make the pierogi fall apart. To use leftover mashed potatoes for pierogi, simply omit the butter from the filling and be sure the leftover mashed potatoes are cold when mixing.
Pierogi Filling Variations
While this potato and cheese version is my favorite, pierogi variations are endless, from sweet to savory! Here are some of my favorite pierogi recipes for any occasion—Holidays, weeknight dinners, breakfast, and even dessert. If you have a unique filling that you make, please share in a comment below!
- Savory Meat-filled dumplings (a.k.a. “pelmeni“)
- Sweet Blueberry Pierogi served sprinkled with sugar
- Cherry Pierogi – another summertime favorite
- Sweet Plum Pierogi (or use your favorite stone fruit)
- Cabbage – use drained braised cabbage
Tips for Making Perfect Pierogi
This recipe makes the best pierogi! If you’re new to making pierogi or want to perfect your skills, here are some tips to ensure success:
- Don’t overcook potatoes – they can become waterlogged and too loose.
- Avoid over-kneading dough that develops gluten making it tough, chewy, and difficult to roll out.
- Rest the dough – this allows the gluten to relax, making it much easier to roll out.
- Keep the dough covered – wrap it in plastic when not actively using it so it doesn’t dry out.
- Roll dough thinly – it should be about 1/8″ thick. If it’s too thick, it can seem dense.
- Keep dough edges clear – don’t overfill, and avoid getting potato or any filling on the edges of the dough circles or it will be difficult to seal. I use this mini-scoop to help with clean portioning, but you can use a couple of teaspoons to portion.
- Tightly seal – I prefer to double crimp (go over the edges twice) to ensure a tight seal so the contents don’t seep out while boiling
- Cook in Batches – Don’t overcrowd your pot; allow the pierogi some room to float to the top.
- Don’t overcook pierogi – if the dough gets too soft, the filling might escape into the cooking water.
- Butter right away – toss freshly cooked pierogi with melted butter to prevent sticking.
How to Freeze Pierogi
This recipe makes a large batch, so you can make the pierogi ahead and cook when you’re ready to eat.
- After shaping the dumplings, dust a baking sheet with flour and arrange the pierogi so they aren’t touching. Loosely cover with plastic wrap and freeze for 2 hours or until firm.
- Once frozen, transfer to a large freezer-safe zip-top bag to store for up to 3 months.
- When ready to cook, drop the frozen pierogis into the boiling water and continue with the recipe per the instructions.
What to Serve with Pierogi
These cheesy pierogi can be served as a side dish or the main course. We include a dollop or bowl of sour cream for dipping. Other dipping options include butter sauce or plain yogurt.
To serve as a side, build your Eastern European menu with these traditional pairings for pierogi:
- Sautéed Mushrooms
- Borscht
- Creamy Cucumber Salad
- Marinated Mini Bell Peppers
- Sauerkraut
- Homemade Kielbasa
- Buckwheat
Storing & Reheating Leftovers
If you have leftovers, pierogi keep well in the fridge and freezer. Make sure they have cooled to room temperature before storing.
- To Refrigerate: Store in an airtight container in the fridge for 3-5 days.
- Freezing: Arrange cooked pierogi in one layer or dust with flour to prevent sticking in an airtight container for 3 months.
- To Reheat: Thaw cooked pierogis in the refrigerator. Boil until warm, about 90 seconds, heat in the air fryer at 400 degrees for 5 minutes, or pan fry in butter until warm.
You are sure to fall in love with this pierogi recipe immediately! The cheesy potato filling and bacon-butter topping make these pierogies irresistible. Grab a few extra hands, and roll these delicious dumplings today!
Pierogi Recipe
Ingredients
Ingredients for Potato Filing:
- 2 lbs russet potatoes, (5 medium), peeled
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 2 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted
- 2 oz cream cheese, softened
- 3/4 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded
For the Pierogi Dough:
- 1 cup warm water
- 1/4 cup whole milk
- 2 Tbsp sour cream
- 3 Tbsp extra light olive oil, or vegetable oil
- 1 large egg
- 1 1/2 tsp fine sea salt, (plus more for cooking)
- 4 cups all-purpose flour, measured correctly
For the Toppings (For 1/3 batch):
- 4 oz bacon, chopped
- 2 Tbsp unsalted butter
- sour cream, optional, to serve
Instructions
How to Make Potato Cheese Filling:
- Place potatoes in a pot, add enough water to cover potatoes then bring to a boil over medium/high and continue cooking 25 minutes or until easily pierced with a fork. Drain and cool 5 minutes then mash potatoes until smooth.
- Mash in 1/2 tsp salt, 2 Tbsp melted butter and 2 oz cream cheese. Mash in 3/4 cup shredded mozzarella cheese. Partially cover and set aside while rolling out the dough.
To Make Pierogi Dough:
- In the bowl of a stand mixer (or large mixing bowl if mixing by hand), whisk together 1 cup warm water, 1/4 cup milk, 2 Tbsp sour cream, 1 egg, 3 Tbsp oil, and 1 1/2 tsp salt until blended.
- Using the dough hook attachment (or wooden spoon if done by hand), add 2 cups flour and mix on speed 2 until incorporated. Add remaining flour 1/2 cup at a time, letting it incorporate before adding more. Add the last bit of flour, 1 Tbsp at a time, just until the dough no longer sticks to the sides of the bowl, or to your hands. Knead on speed 2 or by hand for 2-3 minutes until the dough is smooth and elastic. Cover with plastic wrap and let rest for 30 minutes.
How to Mold Pierogi:
- Divide dough into 2 pieces. Cover the second piece and thinly roll the first piece out onto a floured surface to just under 1/8” thickness.
- Use a 3” diameter round cookie cutter to cut circles from the dough, keeping them as close as possible (collect scraps and keep covered to re-use). Add 1/2 Tbsp of potatoes over each round (a mini scoop makes portioning easy).
- To form pierogi, pull the 2 edges together and pinch tightly to seal. To ensure a tight seal, crimp the edges a second time with a pinch and twist motion. Cook or freeze pierogi for a future dinner (see freezing instructions in post).
How to Make Bacon Topping:
- Make the topping before boiling pierogi so it’s ready to drizzle over pierogi to prevent sticking. In a medium skillet, saute bacon. Once crisp, melt in 2 Tbsp butter and remove from heat.
How to Cook Pierogi:
- Bring a pot of water to a rolling boil and add 1 Tbsp salt. Add fresh or frozen pierogi in batches. Cook for about 2 minutes or until the water has returned to a boil and the pierogi float to the top. Remove to a bowl with a strainer or slotted spoon drizzling buttery bacon between layers.
Notes
Recipe updated 4/4/24 – we added oil to the dough and reduced the kneading time for a softer, more tender dough.
Nutrition Per Serving
Filed Under
My Nana is from Ukraine and I grew up enjoying her incredible cooking. She is in a nursing home now with Alzheimer’s, so I try my best to replicate her recipes for my family to continue to enjoy. She used to make pierogi all the time but never wrote down her recipe, but this is super close and I just wanted to say thank you. Thank you for what you do, thank you for enabling me to continue a cooking tradition that I will be able to pass to my daughter. God bless and keep these awesome recipes coming 🙂
Ok…your comment made me tear up, thank you so much for sharing that with me!
I make varenyky as well I use farmers’ cheese for the filling.
But I am excited to try your recipe.
I hope you love it, Olga!
Hey Girl,
I just made these yummy little pockets of potato and they were delish. I’m from NY so I have nothing to say about the recipe. My Grandma was from the Czech Republic and made these often. I have never made these and found your recipe and dough in particular to be very forgiving and easy to work with for a first timer. Thank you for the recipe.
You are so welcome! I’m so happy you loved the pierogi and thank you for your lovely review.
Hi Natasza, I was disappointed with you, I like your recipes and I use them often, but this one for dumplings is a misunderstanding! Since when in Russia, Ukraine or Poland, stuffing for pierogi is made of cream cheese and mozzarella ??? You forgot that Russian pierogi are made with potatoes and cottage cheese, ask your grandma if you don’t remember.
Hi, this is our family’s version of the famed pierogi.
Ellabella Being Ukrainian and my Mom from old country Each country has their own way,and recipe. my Mom made it with the ricotta cheese . To each his own.Definitely not a misunderstanding.
Actually, the old timers in my family used farmer’s cheese/dry cheese. I never cared for it and much prefer onions and/or cheddar cheese. I’m looking forward to trying Natasha’s family recipe today and to a delicious meal. Love her recipes.
I’m so excited for you to try this, let me know how it goes!
I am Malaysian Chinese living in New Zealand 🇳🇿. I made alot of Chinese dumplings and love to try all ethnic dishes. Very successful making your pierogi and thanks for sharing. Really happy
You are very welcome, Kim. Hope you love the recipes that you will try!
I plan to make these tomorrow but I don’t think we will eat all of them right away. Should I cook them before freezing or uncooked? Thank you!
Hi Kim, please see the “How To Freeze Pierogi” instructions in the recipe.
Thank you. I did read that again and it appears you opt to freeze yours uncooked. Heading to the kitchen now to begin making these!
Look very good and pretty easy to make. I’ve always wanted to try making them from scratch. When we buy store bought (ugh) perogies we always fry them in butter or deep fry them. I would add onion and cheese or my homemade sauerkraut to my filling though. I’ve also had taco perogies with burger and taco seasoning in them.
Yum! Taco pierogies sound delicious! Thank you so much for sharing that with me.
Hey Cynthia! I bet you can use this for other goodies! If you happen to test that, I’d love to know how you like it!
Hello Natasha. I believe PIEROGIE is more Polish than Russian or Ukrainian.
just like vodka everyone to their own..
This recipe brings me back to childhood! Can you recommend an egg substitute for the dough? My young son his allergic to egg, among many other food allergies. I would love to try to recreate this dish for him in a safe way so he can enjoy. 🙂
Hi Samantha, I haven’t used or tried an egg substitute here to advise. If you happen to find that alternative, I’d love to know how you like this recipe.
We don’t use egg at all in our dough. “Flour, a little salt, and enough water to make a dough” is my grandma’s recipe. 🙂 I think adding the egg is a regional thing possibly? My family is from Lodz.
After we boil ours, my grandmother taught me to layer them with butter as we fry ours before we eat them. If you layer them with butter then they are easy to freeze and cook off later. We make ours with a cream cheese/dry cottage cheese and raisin mixture. Yum!
Sounds good, thanks for sharing that with us!
Hello Natasha! Can I use my Kitchen-aid pasta attachment to roll the dough? If so, what setting do you suggest?
Hi Carol, I haven’t tested that to advise. If you experiment, let me know how you liked the recipe.
My Mother was Ukrainian, and always made Vareniki . As her filling she used farmers cheese, and 1 egg in the mixture which is tasty as well. Love your recipe. Ty for sharing 😊
Yum! Thank you so much for sharing that with me, Olga!
I added nettles. This was a bit exhausting and slightly painful to make, as I had to go out foraging and preparing them. But it turned out well. 🙂
I’m glad you battled through and made it happen, Jann!
I always wanted to make pierogies, as my heritage is Polish. I watched your video 100x, and decided to give it a try. They turned out great, and I am eager to share them with my Polish cousins. (I did omit the buttery-bacon topping, just to make the dish a bit healthier.) They were so easy to freeze as per your instructions, too. Thanks again, for a great recipe and clear, easy-to-follow instructions.
That’s just awesome! Thank you for sharing your wonderful review!
Hi Natasha
I made these yesterday in a big batch with some to freeze. When I’m ready to cook the frozen pierogis, do I need to let them thaw out or just cook in the usual way straight from frozen?
Loved it – thanks for sharing the recipe!
Hi Tamara, we cook them without thawing since the dough breaks apart when defrosted.
Do you think whole wheat flour could be substituted? I avoid using white flour whenever possible.
Hello Renee, I honestly haven’t tried that yet to advise. If you do an experiment, please share with us how it goes!
I used 1/2 whole wheat flour and 1/2 white. I also substituted oat milk for the whole milk. Worked great!
i love you recipes, but i from France, and i do metric measurement. Do you have the project to put an option for people like me 🙂 Thank you !
Hi Geraldine, If you scroll down to our printable recipe card, most of our recipes have a metric conversion option on the printable recipe card. We are currently working on adding metric measurements to all of our recipes, but it is taking some time to add them one at a time. Thank you so much for being patient! In the meantime, check out our post on measuring which should help.
Hi Natasha I am Polish also I can’t seem to find the right recipe for pierogi I think the one I grew up with has farmer cheese in it which they say is like a dry curd Cottage cheese but my problem with this recipe when I made it is that the dough is very tough could you give some hints maybe what would make the dough like that not tender like you say thank you so much. I had a dough That I have potato in it but would not rule out properly any help you could give would be appreciated
Hi Sheila, the main culprit for tough dough is adding too much flour. Check out our post on measuring ingredients which may help.
Thank you Natasha and I did Read the recipe again and I think maybe my mistake was adding a half cup of flour all at once because when I read it again after you mentioned this I see you say tablespoon by tablespoon going to try it again today
I hope it works out better for you this time, Sheila!
I was at a Pierogi making session years ago and I am sure the filling was cabbage, onion and Polish sausage. Looking for a recipe like this. Does that sound familiar?
Hi Alison, I don’t have a recipe like that but that does sound familiar and tasty! I will add it to my list and if I come up with something great, I will be sure to share it.