Recipes & Cooking Recipes by Ingredient Potatoes Potato Pierogi 5.0 (1) Add your rating & review Pierogi have roots in both Ukraine and Poland and vary greatly among regions, with different doughs and fillings. By Annie Krumhardt Peterson Annie Krumhardt Peterson Annie Krumhardt Peterson has built her career around her passion for food, working as a contributing food editor to Better Homes & Gardens® food publications for more than 15 years. She received her B.A. from Iowa State University in 2003 and completed the Better Process Control School at the University of Tennessee in 2020. She contributed to various cookbooks, including several Whole30 titles, as well as the 15th, 16th, and 17th editions of the iconic Better Homes & Gardens® New Cook Book. She also serves as Recipe Editor for Allrecipes Magazine. Learn about BHG's Editorial Process Published on October 28, 2022 Rate PRINT Share Trending Videos Close this video player Photo: Brie Passano Prep Time: 45 mins Cook Time: 40 mins Chill Time: 1 hr Total Time: 2 hrs 25 mins Servings: 10 Yield: 64 pierogis Jump to Nutrition Facts When my great-grandmother immigrated to the United States from Ukraine in the early 1900s, she brought with her the most amazing pierogi recipe. These delicate but rich potato-filled dumplings are the highlight of my family’s holiday meal. Every Christmas Eve, our pierogi-making process starts early in the day when we stir up the dumpling dough and a mashed-potato filling enriched with cream cheese and sweet bits of caramelized onion (it’s nearly impossible not to sneak a few bites of the delicious potato filling as it cools!). When it’s time to create the pierogi, my family stands in an assembly line, rolling and cutting the dough, making mashed-potato balls, and forming the dumplings. The process of making the pierogi—among my favorite holiday traditions—is almost as fun as eating them. Lately, I’ve been feeling especially proud of my Ukrainian heritage and craving pierogi more than ever. So in addition to my family’s traditional pierogi recipe, I’m also sharing some new spins on the filling—perfect for getting your pierogi fix all year long. Pierogi Backstory Pierogi have roots in both Ukraine and Poland and vary greatly among regions, with different doughs and fillings. This recipe comes from an area near the Polish city of Przemśl, once a part of western Ukraine. Ingredients 4 medium golden or russet potatoes, peeled and diced 8 ounces cream cheese 1/4 tsp salt and pepper (to taste) 12 tablespoons butter 1 small onion 3 cups all purpose flour 2 large eggs 2 large egg yolks 2 tablespoons butter 1/2 cup milk Directions Place potatoes in a medium saucepan and add enough salted water to cover. Bring to boiling. Reduce heat and simmer, uncovered and stirring occasionally, until potatoes are tender, about 15 minutes. Drain potatoes and return to saucepan. Add cream cheese and mash until almost smooth. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Let cool. Meanwhile, in a small skillet melt 4 tbsp. of the butter over medium. Add onion; cook, stirring occasionally until very tender and golden, 8 to 10 minutes. Let cool and stir into potatoes. For dough, in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook, combine flour and 1/2 tsp. salt. (Or use a large bowl and mix with a spoon.) With the motor running on low, add eggs and yolks, 2 tbsp. melted butter, and milk. Add more milk as needed to make a soft, moist dough that is just slightly sticky. Cover dough and chill at least 1 hour and up to 4 hours. Roll mashed potato mixture into 60 1-inch balls (or scoop using a 2-tsp. scoop). Divide dough into four portions. On a well-floured surface, roll one dough portion to ¹⁄₁₆ inch thick. Using a 2½-inch biscuit cutter, cut out about 15 circles. Repeat with each dough portion. Place a potato ball in center of each dough circle; fold dough circle in half over filling, gently stretching dough as needed. Pinch dough edges together to seal. Transfer to a lightly floured clean kitchen towel. Preheat oven to 200°F. Place remaining 8 Tbsp. butter in a large baking dish; place dish in oven. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to boiling. Cook pierogi, 10 to 12 at a time, in boiling water until they float, about 5 minutes. Remove dish from oven and use a slotted spoon to transfer pierogi to dish. Tilt dish to coat pierogi with butter; cover and return dish to oven. Repeat with remaining pierogi. If you like (or the day after), in a skillet fry pierogi in additional melted butter until lightly browned. Smoky Cheddar-Bacon Pierogi Omit cream cheese. Mash ½ cup sour cream; 1 cup shredded smoked cheddar cheese (4 oz.); 4 slices crisp-cooked bacon, crumbled; 1 Tbsp. chopped fresh chives; and ½ tsp. coarsely ground black pepper with cooked potatoes. Goat Cheese and Dill Pierogi Reduce cream cheese to 4 oz. Stir 4 oz. herb-and-garlic goat cheese, 2 Tbsp. chopped fresh parsley, 2 tsp. chopped fresh dill, and ½ tsp. lemon zest into the mashed potato mixture. Red Pepper and Herb Pierogi Reduce cream cheese to 3 oz. and mash one 5.3-oz. pkg. semisoft cheese with garlic and fine herbs with potatoes. Stir ½ cup chopped roasted red bell peppers into mashed potato mixture. To Make Ahead Pierogi freeze beautifully, so it's easy to assemble them ahead and cook them when you're ready. To freeze the pierogi, prepare through step 5. Arrange on a parchment-lined baking sheet and freeze until firm, about 1 hour. Transfer to a freezer container or freezer bag. Label and freeze up to 3 months. Simmer as directed in step 6, increasing cooking time to 6 minutes or until pierogi float. Rate It Print Nutrition Facts (per serving) 468 Calories 27g Fat 46g Carbs 11g Protein Show Full Nutrition Label Hide Full Nutrition Label Nutrition Facts Servings Per Recipe 10 Calories 468.4 % Daily Value * Total Fat 27g 35% Saturated Fat 15.8g 79% Cholesterol 159.5mg 53% Sodium 274.1mg 12% Total Carbohydrate 46.1g 17% Dietary Fiber 2.7g 10% Total Sugars 2.7g Protein 10.5g 21% Vitamin D 0.6mcg 3% Vitamin C 6.1mg 7% Calcium 74.3mg 6% Iron 2.9mg 16% Potassium 512.3mg 11% Fatty acids, total trans 0.7g Vitamin D 26.1IU Alanine 0.4g Arginine 0.5g Ash 2.2g Aspartic acid 1g Caffeine 0mg Carotene, alpha 0.9mcg Choline, total 99.3mg Copper, Cu 0.2mg Cystine 0.2g Energy 1961.5kJ Fluoride, F 32.5mcg Folate, total 102.7mcg Glutamic acid 2.4g Glycine 0.3g Histidine 0.2g Isoleucine 0.4g Leucine 0.8g Lysine 0.6g Methionine 0.2g Magnesium, Mg 36mg Manganese, Mn 0.4mg Niacin 3.2mg Phosphorus, P 178.3mg Pantothenic acid 1mg Phenylalanine 0.5g Phytosterols 1.1mg Proline 0.8g Retinol 247.1mcg Selenium, Se 22.6mcg Serine 0.6g Starch 12.2g Theobromine 0mg Threonine 0.4g Vitamin E (alpha-tocopherol) 1mg Tryptophan 0.1g Tyrosine 0.4g Valine 0.6g Vitamin A, IU 911.4IU Vitamin A, RAE 251.7mcg Vitamin B-12 0.4mcg Vitamin B-6 0.3mg Vitamin K (phylloquinone) 3.5mcg Water 103.4g Zinc, Zn 1mg *The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.