These homemade pierogi are a family favorite from my Grandma Mary’s kitchen.
Tender dough is stuffed with buttery mashed potatoes and cheese, boiled, and then pan-fried until crisp.
Serve them with buttery onions and a dollop of sour cream for a savory side or main dish!
We Can’t Get Enough Of This Pierogi Because…
- This recipe comes from my Polish grandma and is one that I made next to her in the kitchen many times over the years.
- It’s made with ingredients you likely have on hand.
- The butter, potato, onion, and cheese filling make these rich and creamy.
- These little dumplings are an Old World comfort food that everyone will love—the ultimate in comfort food.
What Are Pierogi?
Pronounced ‘puh-row-gee’, this dish can be spelled in different ways (pierogie, perogie, or perogy); and they’re delicious. Pierogi is plural but we do still call them pierogies.
Pierogi is one of Poland’s greatest dishes and an Eastern European favorite. They start with a simple flour-based dough and can be stuffed with a variety of sweet or savory fillings like blueberries, cottage cheese, or even sauerkraut.
We cook them by boiling them until they float and then pan-frying them until golden brown.
This recipe is for basic potato and cheese perogies (pierogi ruskie) that my grandma used to make for us—it’s my favorite version. We serve it with sour cream, caramelized onions, and butter.
Ingredients for Pierogi
Dough: I do not recommend substitutions in the dough for the right consistency. While some recipes contain sour cream, this one does not, it’s the version my Polish grandma (my babcia) used to make. It is made with the perfect proportion of ingredients.
Filling: These traditional pierogi are filled with a smooth mixture of potatoes, cheddar cheese, and finely diced sautéed onions.
- Potatoes: The filling is mashed potatoes, so choose a starchy potato, such as russet potatoes or baking potatoes just as you would use for mashed potatoes.
- Cheese: Finely shredded cheddar is added to the potatoes; it’s best to shred the cheese yourself from a block.
- Seasonings: White onion is very finely diced and cooked in butter (be sure not to brown). My grandma always used white pepper to maintain the creamy color, but you can use fine black pepper as well.
How to Make Pierogi
Making this recipe takes time, so we set aside a day to make many batches. It’s fun to do as a family and one of the memories I grew up with.
- Make the Dough: Prepare the dough (recipe below) and gently knead.
- Make the Filling: Boil the potatoes and cook the onions in butter.
- Mash the potatoes. Add shredded cheddar cheese and the buttery onions. Cool the potato mixture.
- Roll the dough into circles 1/8-inch thick and 3-inches in diameter.
- Fill each circle with the mashed potato filling and press the edges to seal.
Cook or Freeze: Cook the pierogies according to the instructions below.
Tips for The Best Pierogi
FILLING:
- Ensure the potatoes are mashed until very smooth (a potato ricer can help make this easy).
- Shred your own cheese from a blog. A sharp cheddar has more flavor.
- Do not brown the onions, just cook until tender.
- Taste the filling and adjust the seasonings as needed.
DOUGH:
- Don’t overwork the dough. Knead the dough gently until it’s smooth and pliable. If you overwork the dough, it will become tough and too elastic causing it to spring back when rolled out.
- The dough should be rolled 1/8-inch thick and cut into 3-inch circles. If you do not have a 3-inch circle cutter, use a jar lid about 3-inches wide.
- Another way to prepare the dough is to pinch off a piece and roll it into a circle about 3-inches in diameter and 1/8-inch thick. I weigh all of my dough and divide it into 65 pieces. This is how my grandma always made them and how I usually make them too.
- Ensure the part that is pinched together is pinched quite thin so the dough isn’t too thick.
How to Cook Pierogi
Before cooking the pierogi, cook some finely diced or sliced onion in butter over medium-low heat. You want the onion to soften but not to brown.
Boil: While onions are cooking, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the pierogi and cook until they float. Once they float, they are done. Drain the water.
Panfry: Pierogi can be boiled and eaten, but we love to panfry them on medium heat in butter to golden brown.
How to Freeze Pierogi
Once assembled, pierogies can be frozen before cooking. They can be stored up to 4 months in the freezer.
Place pierogi on a parchment-covered baking sheet in a single layer and freeze. Once frozen, place them into a zippered bag with the date written on the outside. No need to thaw before boiling.
Did you love these Homemade Pierogi? Leave a comment and a rating below!
Homemade Pierogi
Ingredients
Dough
- 6 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 cups cold water divided
- 2 large eggs beaten
- 6 tablespoons canola oil or vegetable oil
- 2 teaspoons salt
Filling
- 3 ¾ pounds baking potatoes
- 1 medium white onion finely diced
- ⅓ cup salted butter softened, divided
- 4 ½ cups finely shredded cheddar cheese finely shredded
- salt to taste
- white pepper to taste, or very fine black pepper
For Serving
- 1 onion diced or thinly sliced
- 2 tablespoons salted butter or as needed for frying
- sour cream optional, for serving
Instructions
Dough
- In a large bowl add flour, eggs, oil, salt, and 1 ½ cups of water. Mix well to form a dough, adding more water if needed.
- Knead the dough on a flat surface for about 4 to 5 minutes or until it becomes smooth and pliable.
- Cover the dough with plastic wrap and let it rest at room temperature for at least 30 minutes or up to 1 hour.
Filling
- Peel the potatoes and cut them into 2-inch cubes. Place them in a large pot of salted water and bring to a boil. Cook the potatoes for 15 minutes or until fork tender.
- While the potatoes are cooking, in a medium skillet over medium-low heat, cook the onions in 2 tablespoons butter until tender without browning.
- Once the potatoes are cooked, place them in a large bowl and mash them. Add onions, cheese, and remaining butter. Continue mashing until the potatoes become very smooth.
Assembly *see note
- Using half of the dough, roll it out ⅛" thick. Cut out circles of dough using a 3" cookie or biscuit cutter.
- Scoop 1 ½ tablespoons of filling and roll into a ball, place on the pierogi dough. Fold the dough over to form a semi-circle and pinch the edges closed. Place on a baking sheet. Repeat.
- The pierogi can either be cooked or frozen at this point.
To Cook
- Heat 3 tablespoons butter in a large skillet. Add diced onions and cook on medium-low heat until tender. Remove onions from the pan and set aside for serving.
- Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Gently add pierogies and cook until they float, about 2 to 4 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon.
- Transfer pierogies to the hot skillet (adding more butter if needed) and cook until browned on each side, about 5 minutes.
- Serve warm with onions and sour cream.
Notes
- Place pierogies on a parchment-covered baking sheet in a single layer and freeze.
- Once frozen, place them into a zippered bag with the date written on the outside.
- No need to thaw before boiling, cook right from frozen.
Nutrition Information
Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.
Course Dinner, Entree, Lunch, Main Course, Side Dish
Cuisine Polish© SpendWithPennies.com. Content and photographs are copyright protected. Sharing of this recipe is both encouraged and appreciated. Copying and/or pasting full recipes to any social media is strictly prohibited. Please view my photo use policy here.
These pyrogies were easy to make. The recipient is very similar to my relatives’ and works well. The only thing I would change is to use a bit more cheese. I would also like to know if you boil them before you freeze them.
Hi Nadine, I am so glad you enjoyed this recipe. I do not boil the pierogi before I freeze them.
I would love to try this recipe, however I have no idea what size cup to use when measuring the ingredients. 200ml? 250ml? 300ml? 400ml?
Hi Edith, a standard-size cup is 250 ml. Enjoy the recipe!
Hi can I make the dough ahead of time like the night before? And how would I store it if I can? Thanks can’t wait to try!!!
Yes, the dough can be made a couple of days ahead of time and refrigerated. Ensure it is sealed tightly and bring to room temperature for a couple of hours before working with it.
I am not a cook, just a lover of pierogis. But I just might make an attempt at it one day.
This recipe is amazing. I wasn’t planning on making so many perogie’s, but am really glad I did. we used around 14 for dinner and I froze the rest on a cookie sheet until they were solid, then put them in a freezer bag. Now if I want perogie’s I just boil some water and add the fozen perogies right out of the freezer. Lunch or dinner in 5 min. unless you want to brown them in a butter saucce. Worth the time to make a bunch and so much better than store bought.
Can’t wait to give these a whirl. My family loves Pierogis…cheese, potato and sauerkraut. Been looking for an easy recipe to make them and am so happy to find it here. Thanks a million, Holly…you’re going to make my family very happy!!
You are so very welcome Nonna!
can i use pie crust for the dough ?
Hi Gary, we have never tried using pie crust for this recipe but I imagine it might be a bit too sweet for classic cheddar perogies. We would love to hear how it turns out for you.
Great recipe and taste amazing!
Only thing is that when i tried to both save and print the recipe it did not save or print properly… Still highly recommend this, it’s very good!!!
Sorry to hear that Andrew, I tried saving and printing without issue so I am not sure what happened. But I am so glad you enjoyed this recipe!!
hi – can you use a kitchen-aid stand mixer to mix/knead this recipe? and if so do you have a speed and time suggestion?
I haven’t tried using a stand mixer to mix the dough Katherine so I can’t say for sure. In this recipe it’s important to not overmix the dough because if you overwork the dough it will become tough and too elastic, this will cause it to spring back when rolled out. So if using a stand mixer I would be very careful to not overmix the dough. If you try it I would love to hear how it turns out!
Lots of great things here! I was looking for a pierogi recipe and found this one. Oddly enough, when I was in Poland, none of the pierogis I encountered contained cheddar, which is an English cheese. Here, all of the recipes, even family recipes, have cheddar, and often a lot of it. I found one frozen brand who used strictly potatoes for the filling, and now they discontinued that in favor of potato and cheddar, and frankly they taste terrible. So I am making my own and did a recipe search. This cheddar addition seems to be an American thing, so maybe a different kind of cheese was used, native to Poland, or they stuck with vegetables (potatoes, sauerkraut, mushrooms)? Any recommendations for a substitute cheese? Ricotta, perhaps?
I always make them with the cheddar as my Polish grandmother taught me. You could try another cheese if you prefer, perhaps cottage cheese. Enjoy Mary!
I use the big block of velveta cheese I cube it then add it very creamy
I think my Polish grandmother used farmers cheese which she made herself. I remember seeing it hanging in cheesecloth over a bowl when I was younger. Also my mother didn’t want to do that so she used cream cheese.
Hi , you can try with farmers cheese.
Let me help on the question about the cheddar. This is kind of my thing. Half of my family hailed from Northern Poland, the other half from the mountains near the Slovak/Ukrainian border. I grew up in the Midwest.
Pierogi are well-known comfort food throughout Eastern Europe. Slovaks, Poland’s neighbors to the south, commonly use a sharp-tasting goat cheese called Bryndza as a filling for their version. Hungarian born chef Andrew Marton of Cleveland in the 1920s would have grown up eating the Slovak version of pierogis. Classic cheddar cheese, imported to the U.S. from its birthplace in Somerset, England, has a flavor that is sharp, pungent and earthy, much like bryndza. Although Marton certainly wasn’t the first of the many Central European immigrants in the U.S. to make the substitution for easily-available cheddar, he was the first restauranteur to sell pierogi with a cheddar filling, around the late 1920s at the onset of the Great Depression. The inexpensive combination was so successful in the New World that it was even reportedly incorporated by the famous Polish chef Franciszek Trześniewski in his restaurant in Vienna.
The most common traditional filling is a farmers’ cheese, usually homemade with fresh raw milk, mixed with sautéed onion and butter (potatoes, another New World innovation, are also commonly added now to give body). Other traditional fillings are kapusta (sauerkraut with bacon and onions), various other meat fillings or also seasonal herbs with mushroom (more typical in the late summer and fall), but as far as fillings go, there’re really no rules other than those of your traditions and your creativity and palate. I’ve made the original farmers cheese version myself although raw milk is hard to come by in America so that I usually just use a high quality grass-fed organic milk instead. Having grown up with pierogi, made expertly and often by both grandmothers, and having traveled far and wide through Central/Eastern Europe and sampled many varieties of it there in both restaurants and home kitchens, I do love the cheddar cheese-flavored filling of the New World and that’s the version I plan to make in a few days for our Polish Easter Sunday meal. I’ll be using a beautifully aged white Wisconsin cheddar, maybe one that incorporates horseradish or maybe one that is smoked (I haven’t been to the grocery store for it yet). Here in Wisconsin we’re spoiled when it comes to varieties of cheddar. ;)
Thank you for sharing all of that info, Stevo! I loved reading it.
Oh wow!!! The taste brought me back 40 years ago & the Lenten Fridays at my Slovenian & Polish grandparent’s home.
The recipe was perfect from the dough portions perfectly matching up with the filling portions, the delicious taste of the filling & the dreaminess of the dough to work with.
My tip: Do Not use a silpat liner to freeze the perogi on, the bottom dough stuck & layer peeled off. Use parchment paper, if you plan to freeze before bagging them.
Can’t wait to make more…as long as I have an extra person or two to help. It is a time consuming recipe. So we’ll worth it!!
The dough was a bit doughy even after cooking—it was hard to get the dough thin enough! And be prepared—I had LOTS of leftover filling! Going to save it and make more dough sometime. Thanks :)
I make a combination of both grandmothers recipes . Theirs calls for sour cream instead of water. If not overworked the dough is soft. I’m going to try your version tomorrow to see how it differs.
Let us know how it turns out!!
I use a dough recipe that has sour cream in it!! Such a soft dough!!!
That sounds delicious, thanks for sharing Brenda!
The ‘orange’ in your pics…is that shredded carrots?
It’s cheddar cheese.
I made your recipe for pierogie today. The dough was wonderful to work with. I am so happy I found this recipe. My mother used to make the potato and cheese and they were wonderful. I cut the recipe in half and got 24 dumplings and froze them. Thank you so much.
So happy you enjoyed it, Ann! I love the cheddar and potato ones too.
You mentioned that you weigh out the dough … how much should it weigh?
It can vary slightly. Weigh your entire ball of dough (I use grams on my scale to make it easier) and then divide it by 65 since you should have 65 pierogi.
Do you cook the pierogi before freezing!
They are not cooked before freezing.
Never use anything other than unsalted farmers cheese. Have been making pierogies for 60+ years.
That’s your personal preference, not a law. My husband grew up with a mom who’s made them an equal number of years. She sometimes uses cheddar and sometimes Farmer’s or even dry cottage cheese, they’re all good. Every family has their way. Besides I’ll never understand why someone who claims to have been making something for so many years is even looking for recipes online. And then, claiming to be an expert.
This recipe sounds great to me Spend with Pennies. I’ll give it a try since I’m no pierogi expert. I’m German/Irish so Pierogi are not something I personally grew up eating. I’m still on the hunt for my personal favorite. Thanks for sharing your family’s recipe.
You’re welcome. I sure hope you enjoy it! It’s such a pleasure to share my grandma’s recipe!
Holly, I have a good friend whose husbands family is Ukrainian by descent. My friends mother in law taught her to make these almost exactly like your grandmother but without the yellow cheese. My friend made it a Christmas Eve tradition to make these with the help of her children, then with the help of the wives of couples invited to Christmas Eve dinner.
Love this recipe, my Mom made blueberry pierogi in the summer.
My babcia made paczki for dessert but I don’t have the recipe, do you have a good one?
I love blueberry pierogi too, but I do not have a recipe to share.
i meant do you have a recipe for paczki, sorry if i confused you.
I’m sorry I don’t Barbara. I hope you find one!