Recipe at a glance
A flour-and-egg dough is filled with mashed potatoes and sautéed onion. The sealed pierogies are boiled and served with butter.
These delicious pierogi are a real treat for the whole family, and a staple of Ukrainian cuisine! Each homemaker prepares them in their own way, and here's a simple recipe for making traditional Ukrainian pierogies that turn out soft and tender, yet hold their shape beautifully. You can either cook these pierogies right away or freeze them for later. After freezing, they won't lose their quality and can be easily boiled whenever you want.
Recipe authorVictor ArzutovHow to make it
- 1
Step 1
Sift about 500 g of wheat flour into a deep bowl, add 2 eggs, and mix. In a glass of warm, slightly heated water, add 60 g of odorless vegetable oil and 1 tsp of salt. Stir the liquid mixture until the salt dissolves. Pour the prepared liquid mixture into the bowl with flour and eggs, and begin mixing with a spoon. Gradually add around 180g of the remaining flour and knead for 5-7 minutes into a firm and elastic dough. If the dough feels sticky, add a little more flour, one tablespoon at a time, until it becomes smooth and manageable. Let the dough rest for 20-25 minutes, covered with a towel.
- 2
Step 2
Peel the potatoes and place them in a pot of boiling salted water. Cook the potatoes for 20-25 minutes until they are soft. Then drain all the water. Meanwhile, fry the onion. Chop the peeled yellow onion into small cubes and sauté in a pan with butter. Fry the onion for 3-4 minutes over medium heat until it becomes golden. Mash the hot cooked potatoes into a puree with hot or warm milk, then add most of the fried onion along with the butter. Mix the potatoes well - the filling for your Ukrainian pierogi is ready.
- 3
Step 3
Divide the dough into several logs and cut them into small "disks". Roll out a piece of dough thinly and use a glass to cut out circles about 6 cm in diameter. Place about 1 tsp of potato filling onto each circle. Seal the edges of the dough to form small pierogies. Repeat this process for all the pierogies. Dust your working surface with flour to prevent sticking. Freeze any pierogies you won't be cooking right away.
- 4
Step 4
Bring 1.5-1.8 liters of water to a boil, adding a bit of salt. Drop the pierogies into boiling water and gently stir them. Once the pierogies float to the surface, cook them for an additional 2-3 minutes. If cooking frozen pierogies, increase the cooking time by 2-3 minutes. Remove the cooked pierogies from the water and serve them, garnished with the remaining fried onion. Offer any sauce you like, but sour cream is especially delicious with pierogies. Enjoy your delicious homemade Ukrainian pierogies!
Cooking tips
Seal the dough edges firmly so the potato filling stays inside when the pierogies are boiled.
Ingredient substitutions
A different neutral vegetable oil can replace the oil in the dough, while the potato-and-onion filling stays the same.
Questions about this recipe
What is inside these pierogies?
The filling is mashed potato mixed with sautéed onion and butter.
How are they cooked?
The sealed pierogies are boiled; the instructions continue cooking briefly after they float.
