Traditional Polish dumplings, known as pierogi or perogies, are easy to make, and you can top them and stuff them with various creations.
Today, let me show you how easy it is to make the best homemade stuffed perogies.
Little Stuffed Potato Dumplings
It’s been a long-anticipated recipe, but my version of the traditional Polish perogies recipe is here.
Just last week, I brought you the twice-baked potato skins, and this week, another potato recipe is just a bit different, although you will love it.
Perogie is a traditional Polish food that has many names around the world.
In Polish, it is known as the Pierogi, and you may run into other variations such as perogies, perogy, pierogi, and so on.
Perogies 101
I was first introduced to the perogies delicacy by my friend Charlene who thought we could sell them like hotcakes.
We had to organize a fundraiser for the preschool, and she thought it was a no-brainer to make Perogies.
The idea was to make a product that would easily make the school money but not cost us a fortune.
All of the profits from the fundraiser would go to the preschool, and since they are a fairly frugal meal to create, they were ideal.
(They raised over $1,000)
I had to ask what a perogie was as it’s not something we eat in Scotland or the UK for that matter as much as we love our spuds.
When I saw how easy it was to make perogies and how delicious they tasted, I was hooked and had to make them myself.
Perogie Making Takes Practice
It took a while to get the perogies pinching right and the correct ingredients for my hubby and kids to eat them, but it wasn’t long before they were scoffing these down.
So with extensive help from my friend Mellissa and her mother-in-law, we decided that a huge batch or perogies were needed to fill our freezers.
We arrived early morning, and as soon as we walked into her mother-in-law’s house, you could smell the bacon bits and onions that had been cooked and mixed into the potatoes.
I had made my perogies mixture the night before and had added cheddar cheese.
It wasn’t long before we were up to our arms in perogies dough, rolling and cutting, getting ready to fill the perogies with our yummy fillings.
The men didn’t get off easy without helping us, either. The more hands, the merrier as they sat at the table filling and pinching perogies.
Even the two little girls were helping us, and they did pretty well for being 4 1/2 years old!
Of course, we all had to taste the perogies, so we had them for lunch along with some homemade sausage they had made.
Easy Perogie Stuffing Ideas
What is a perogie?
A perogie is simply a homemade hand-stuffed dumpling.
You can stuff a perogie with anything you want, but traditionally you will find potatoes, sauerkraut, mushrooms, cheese, vegetables, meats, and so on.
Sweet Perogie Ideas
Can you make sweet perogies?
You may also enjoy making sweet dumplings or dessert perogies stuffed with pie fillings such as;
- Apple sauce or Apple pie filling
- Blueberry compote
- Marmalade Carrot Jam
- Raspberry compote
- Mulberry jam
To finish them, top them with whipped cream, honey, maple syrup, agave syrup, blueberry syrup or even ice cream.
You can make perogies savory or sweet with any filling, but if you make sweet perogies, add a bit of flour to the filling to help control the liquid.
We did make sweet dessert perogies filled with wild Saskatoon berries, which Mellisa had picked in the summer and had frozen.
We added some sugar, flour, and cinnamon to the berries. The smell in the house was lovely.
The results of stuffing perogies are endless, and if you have a creative imagination in the kitchen, you can make your signature perogies that your friends will love.
How To Cook Perogies
Some of the common ways to enjoy perogies are
- Boiled Perogies
- Deep-Fried Perogies
- Baked Perogies
- Pan-Fried Perogies with butter, onions, bacon, and mushrooms. Top with sour cream and shredded old cheddar cheese.
- Air-Fried Perogies
My mouth is drooling as I’m typing this.
You can easily create a sauce for perogies, and if you fancy using pasta sauce, you could also do that.
I’ve also heard of people making a perogie casserole by layering the perogies in the casserole. In between the layers of perogie, add meats, vegetables, cheeses, and sauce.
We don’t use a perogie maker because our hands are the tools of our homemade perogies.
Cooking perogies is fairly simple and as easy as cooking pasta in water.
Ensure that if you boil the perogies, do not overcook them, or they will become mushy.
You can also bake perogies in the oven and turn them over until they are golden brown.
However, as mentioned above, you can deep-fry perogies or pan-fry them.
We like to serve our perogies with bacon, sautéed onions, and cheddar cheese, but the sky is the limit, so don’t hold back.
How To Store Homemade Perogies
These homemade perogies are so easy to freeze, which is why we made such a large batch.
They are also simple to store if you want to make big batches, as we did for an easy meal during the week or weekend.
What I do is boil the perogies and then toss them perogies in olive oil, followed by placing them separately on a tray to cool, then into freezer bags.
Each bag of frozen perogies should be in the freezer for up to 8 months.
How To Make Homemade Perogies
Easy homemade Perogies
- Cuisine: Polish
- Author: Nicola Don
- Recipe Type: Main Entree
- Prep Time: 1 hour
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour 10 minutes
- Serves: 24 dozen
Traditional Polish dumplings, known as pierogi or perogies, are easy to make, and you can top them and stuff them with various creations.
Ingredients To Make Homemade Perogies
- Filling
- 5 large potatoes
- 1/2 block cheese (700g block) grated
- 1 large onion
- Nob of butter
- 1 teaspoon keens mustard
- 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1/4 cup milk
- 1 pack of bacon chopped or 1 pack of bacon bits or bacon bits from butcher around 3 large handfuls (basically, if you like bacon, add as much as you want)
- Olive oil (you will need this for tossing the perogies in)
- Salt and pepper
- Perogie dough
- 9 cups plain flour
- 2 cups of milk
- 2 cups boiling water
- 1 cup oil
- 1 tablespoon salt
Instructions For Making Homemade Perogies
- In a separate pan, cook up the bacon bits, or if you are adding the packed bacon bits, add this to the mashed potatoes and onions.
- Add the grated cheese and milk, salt n pepper, nutmeg, and mustard, and mix into mash whilst it’s still hot.
- Set aside and let cool down enough to be handled.
- You can make this the night before, cover and place it in the fridge.
- Whilst this is cooling, make the pierogi dough.
- Mix the boiling water, milk, and oil in a bowl.
- Add salt and mix until dissolved.
- Gradually add the mixture to the flour and mix well.
- Let dough rest for 1/2 hour, then roll to make the perogies rounds.
- The dough will be sticky, so add plenty of flour to your surface for rolling.
- Cut dough into manageable pieces to roll, then cover it with the upturned bowl or a damp cloth.
- Place cut perogies rounds onto parchment paper-covered baking tray and then cover with a towel until ready to use. We had many hands, so they didn’t dry upon us too quickly.
- Now fill with filling, fold in half, and pinch around the side.
- Once enough has been made, place a large pot of boiling salted water onto boil. Place perogies into a pan and wait until they come to the surface.
- Take each one out, place it into a dish with olive oil, and toss.
- You can eat these or let them cool and bag them for the freezer.
- When taking them out of the freezer, do not defrost them. Place oil in the pan and fry.
- Note: This recipe makes 24 dozen perogies.
If you want to create a meal from the foods you have in your kitchen, look no further than homemade Polish Pierogies.
There you have a great way to fill up your freezer for a quick meal that can be served either by itself or as a side dish.
Easy homemade Perogies
Traditional Polish dumplings, known as pierogi or perogies, are easy to make, and you can top them and stuff them with various creations.
Ingredients
- Filling
- 5 large potatoes
- 1/2 block cheese (700g block) grated
- 1 large onion
- Nob of butter
- 1 teaspoon keens mustard
- 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1/4 cup milk
- 1 pack of bacon chopped or 1 pack of bacon bits or bacon bits from butcher around 3 large handfuls (basically, if you like bacon, add as much as you want)
- Olive oil (you will need this for tossing the perogies in)
- Salt and pepper
- Perogie dough
- 9 cups plain flour
- 2 cups of milk
- 2 cups boiling water
- 1 cup oil
- 1 tablespoon salt
Instructions
- In a separate pan, cook up the bacon bits, or if you are adding the packed bacon bits, add this to the mashed potatoes and onions.
- Add the grated cheese and milk, salt n pepper, nutmeg, and mustard, and mix into mash whilst it’s still hot.
- Set aside and let cool down enough to be handled.
- You can make this the night before, cover and place it in the fridge.
- Whilst this is cooling, make the pierogi dough.
- Mix the boiling water, milk, and oil in a bowl.
- Add salt and mix until dissolved.
- Gradually add the mixture to the flour and mix well.
- Let dough rest for 1/2 hour, then roll to make the perogies rounds.
- The dough will be sticky, so add plenty of flour to your surface for rolling.
- Cut dough into manageable pieces to roll, then cover it with the upturned bowl or a damp cloth.
- Place cut perogies rounds onto parchment paper-covered baking tray and then cover with a towel until ready to use. We had many hands, so they didn’t dry upon us too quickly.
- Now fill with filling, fold in half, and pinch around the side.
- Once enough has been made, place a large pot of boiling salted water onto boil. Place perogies into a pan and wait until they come to the surface.
- Take each one out, place it into a dish with olive oil, and toss.
- You can eat these or let them cool and bag them for the freezer.
- When taking them out of the freezer, do not defrost them. Place oil in the pan and fry.
- Note: This recipe makes 24 dozen perogies.
Love perogies, this sounds wonderful. For years I bought huge bags of huge perogies from the Polish bakery,10 dozen at a time cost me $15.00..I stopped when the price went up to $24.00 and my daughter and kids moved on their own. I’m thinking this could be a great Saturday activity with my granddaughters.
Looks good!!!! My daughter loves perogies but she would skip the bacon as she doesn’t eat much meat..chicken is about it. But, as you say, you can fill with anything. In the past I’ve made the filling and stuffed it into cooked large pasta shells, then you just heat it up to serve. Stuffed pasta is a fave around here so we shall see what I could stuff these babies with that the boys would eat(just about anything!!!)… Might have to cut the dough recipe in half …or not..see how much room is in the freezer. I’m trying to get the levels down some so I can defrost both of mine. Worst case I pull out the picnic coolers for the overflow.
Ladies enjoy them as they dough is so light and easy to roll! These are parcels of heaven mmmm!
Thanks for sharing this recipe. My son could eat pierogies every day. I think I’ll make a batch with him to show him how to make them and we can tuck them in the freezer.