Active time: ~1 hour 15 min | Total time: ~2 hours | Serves: 8 (about 48 pierogi) | Difficulty: Medium
Quick Overview
- Make a soft dough from flour, warm water, an egg and a little oil, then let it rest
- Boil floury potatoes and mash them with twaróg and onion fried in butter
- Roll the dough thin, cut rounds and seal a spoonful of filling inside each one
- Boil the pierogi in batches until they float
- Serve them as they are, or fry them in butter until golden
- Top with fried onion or a spoonful of sour cream
What It Is
Pierogi are Polish filled dumplings: rounds of unleavened dough folded over a filling into half-moons, sealed, and boiled. Pierogi ruskie are the best-known kind, filled with potatoes and twaróg, a fresh curd cheese close to quark. They usually come to the table with fried onion, sour cream or skwarki, small crisp pieces of fried pork fat.²
The name trips up a lot of people. Ruskie means Ruthenian, not Russian: it points to Ruthenia, a historical region covering what is now western Ukraine and southeastern Poland.²
The dough itself takes many other fillings, sweet and savory.¹ One of them, sauerkraut with wild mushrooms, belongs to Christmas Eve,⁴ and that version is given below as a separate recipe.
History & Cultural Roots
Pierogi are in the very first Polish cookbook, Compendium ferculorum, published by Stanisław Czerniecki in 1682.¹ A food historian writing for the Museum of King Jan III’s Palace at Wilanów, notes that one of its recipes is for pierogi with veal kidney, a filling of kidneys, tallow and “greenery.”¹
Many of Czerniecki’s pierogi were sweet. They were filled with jam or fruit in sugar, with rose, elderberries, marmalade, apples, pears or poppy seeds, and they were not always boiled: some were fried in olive oil or other oil, and some were baked.¹ None of it sounds much like the potato and cheese most people picture today. As he puts it, the multitude of pierogi recipes that surprises foreign visitors has existed for more than three hundred years.¹
Curd cheese came into the picture early. A manuscript recipe collection from the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, written only a few years after Czerniecki’s book, has pierogi filled with twaróg, some with egg yolks added, fried in butter or boiled.⁶ About a century later, Wojciech Wielądko’s cookbook Kucharz doskonały (1783) described pirogi in its culinary dictionary as made “in various ways,” among them lazy pierogi of sweet cheese, although the book itself gave no recipe for them.⁷
How pierogi first came to Poland is a matter of legend rather than record. One story credits Jacek Odrowąż, a 13th-century churchman, with bringing them back after a stay in Kyiv.³ It is a good story, and it is told as one.
On Christmas Eve, the filling changes. Wigilia, the Polish Christmas Eve supper, is kept as a fast day without meat, with twelve dishes on the table, and pierogi filled with sauerkraut and mushrooms are among the traditional ones.⁴
This recipe was compiled by Heritage Healthy Kitchen from a comparison of published recipes; the sources are listed at the end of this article. Figures that are Heritage Healthy Kitchen’s own estimates rather than taken from a published source are marked as such.
Published recipes for pierogi ruskie make the dough from flour and warm water, usually with some oil and often with an egg.⁸˒⁹˒¹¹ Their fillings range from a little cheese in a lot of potato to equal weights of the two, always with onion fried in butter.⁸˒⁹˒¹¹ The quantities below sit inside those ranges. The batch size, the number of pierogi, the weight of filling per pierogi and the cooking times for the potatoes and onion are Heritage Healthy Kitchen’s estimates.
Ingredients
For the dough
- 400g (about 3⅓ cups) all-purpose flour, plus more for rolling
- 1 large egg
- 180–200ml (about ¾ cup) warm water
- 3 tbsp (45ml) sunflower or other neutral oil
- ½ tsp fine salt
For the filling
- 600g (about 1.3 lb) floury potatoes, such as russet
- 300g (about 10 oz) twaróg, or farmer’s cheese or quark
- 1 large onion (about 200g), finely diced
- 45g (3 tbsp) unsalted butter
- ¾ tsp salt, plus more to taste
- ¼ tsp ground white or black pepper
To serve
- Butter for frying (optional)
- Fried onion, sour cream or chopped chives
Instructions
- Make the dough. Whisk the flour and salt in a large bowl and make a well in the center. Beat the egg with most of the warm water, pour it into the well with the oil and stir, drawing the flour in from the sides. Knead until the dough is smooth and soft, adding the rest of the water a little at a time if it feels dry. Cover and rest for 15–20 minutes.⁹˒¹⁰
- Cook the potatoes. Boil the potatoes in their skins in salted water until tender, 25–30 minutes. Drain, peel while warm and press through a ricer or mash until smooth.
- Fry the onion. Melt the butter in a pan and cook the onion over medium heat until soft and golden, 8–10 minutes.
- Mix the filling. Crumble the twaróg into the potatoes, add about two thirds of the onion with its butter, the salt and the pepper, and mix well. Taste and adjust the seasoning. Let the filling cool completely; keep the rest of the onion for serving.
- Roll and cut. Roll the dough on a floured surface to 2–3mm thick,⁹˒¹⁰ working with a quarter of it at a time and keeping the rest covered so it doesn’t dry out. Cut rounds with a 7cm (2¾-inch) cutter or the rim of a glass.¹⁰
- Fill and seal. Place a heaped teaspoon of filling (about 20g) in the center of each round. Fold into a half-moon, press out the air and pinch the edges firmly shut along their full length. Set the finished pierogi on a floured tray, not touching.
- Boil. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil, then lower the heat to a steady but gentle boil. Cook the pierogi in batches of 10–12, stirring once so they don’t stick to the bottom. When they float, give them 1–3 minutes more,⁹ then lift them out with a slotted spoon.
- Serve. Serve straight away with the reserved onion and sour cream, or fry the boiled pierogi in butter for 2–3 minutes per side until golden.
Christmas Eve Variation: Pierogi with Sauerkraut and Mushrooms
For Wigilia, the same dough goes around a meatless filling of sauerkraut and wild mushrooms.⁴ Published recipes cook the sauerkraut until soft and fry it with onion; the amount of dried mushrooms ranges from a few large porcini for 300g of sauerkraut to 200g of mushrooms for 1.5kg.¹⁰˒¹¹˒¹² Make the dough exactly as above; only the filling changes. This amount fills about 45 pierogi (an estimate).
Ingredients for the filling
- 800g (about 1¾ lb) sauerkraut
- 30g (about 1 oz) dried wild mushrooms, such as porcini
- 2 medium onions (about 300g), finely diced
- 5 tbsp (75ml) sunflower or other vegetable oil
- Freshly ground black pepper
- Salt, only if needed
Instructions
- Soak the mushrooms. Rinse the dried mushrooms, cover them with hot water and leave for at least 30 minutes. Simmer them in the soaking water until tender, about 20 minutes, then drain and chop finely (times are estimates).
- Cook the sauerkraut. Squeeze the juice out of the sauerkraut and chop it.¹¹ Put it in a pot with a little fresh water and simmer until soft, 30–45 minutes.¹⁰˒¹² Drain well and squeeze out as much liquid as you can.
- Fry the onion. Heat the oil in a wide pan and cook the onions until golden, 10–12 minutes.
- Mix the filling. Add the sauerkraut and mushrooms to the pan and fry together for about 10 minutes, stirring, so any remaining liquid evaporates.¹² Season with pepper, taste, and add salt only if needed. Cool completely.
- Fill and cook. Roll, cut, fill, seal and boil the pierogi exactly as in the main recipe.
Kitchen Tips
Let the filling cool before you start filling. Warm potato softens the dough, and the pierogi tear at the edges or stick to the tray.
Don’t overfill. A heaped teaspoon looks small against the round, but more filling leaves no dough at the edge to seal, and a dumpling that opens in the pot fills the water with potato.
Press the air out before you pinch the edges shut. Trapped air expands in the boiling water and pushes the seam open.
Keep the water at a gentle boil, not a rolling one. Hard boiling knocks the pierogi against each other and against the pot, and the thin edges split.
Choose floury potatoes for the filling. Waxy potatoes turn gluey when mashed, while floury ones mash dry and light and hold the cheese well.
Toss boiled pierogi with a little melted butter if they are not served right away. It stops them from sticking together while they wait.¹¹
Nutritional Information
Pierogi ruskie, per serving: about 6 boiled pierogi, one of 8 servings, before toppings
- Calories: approximately 330–400 kcal
- Protein: ~11–13g
- Total fat: ~10–12g
- Saturated fat: ~3.5g
- Carbohydrates: ~49–60g
- Dietary fiber: ~2.5g
- Sodium: ~450–545mg
Christmas Eve variation, per serving: about 6 boiled pierogi, one of 8 servings, before toppings
- Calories: approximately 320–390 kcal
- Protein: ~7–8g
- Total fat: ~13–16g
- Saturated fat: ~1.5–2g
- Carbohydrates: ~44–54g
- Dietary fiber: ~5g
- Sodium: up to ~735–900mg
Nutritional values are estimates based on standard ingredient databases (USDA FoodData Central).⁵ They do not include toppings or the salt absorbed from the cooking water. Most of the sodium in the Christmas Eve version comes from the sauerkraut, and squeezing it well after cooking lowers the real figure.
Storage and Reheating
Cooked pierogi keep in the refrigerator in a covered container for up to 2 days. Reheat them by frying in a little butter over medium heat until hot and golden.
To freeze, lay uncooked pierogi on a floured tray so they don’t touch, freeze until firm, then transfer them to bags. They keep for up to 3 months. Cook them straight from frozen, adding 2–3 minutes to the boiling time; don’t thaw them first, or they turn sticky.
Traditional Pierogi Ruskie
Ingredients
Dough
- 400g (about 3⅓ cups) all-purpose flour
- 1 large egg
- 180–200ml (about ¾ cup) warm water
- 3 tbsp (45ml) sunflower or other neutral oil
- ½ tsp fine salt
Filling
- 600g (about 1.3 lb) floury potatoes
- 300g (about 10 oz) twaróg or farmer’s cheese
- 1 large onion (about 200g), finely diced
- 45g (3 tbsp) unsalted butter
- ¾ tsp salt · ¼ tsp pepper
To serve
- Reserved fried onion
- Sour cream or chopped chives
- Butter for frying (optional)
Instructions
- Dough: Mix flour and salt; add egg beaten with most of the water, then the oil. Knead until smooth. Rest 15–20 min.
- Potatoes: Boil in their skins 25–30 min, peel, rice or mash.
- Onion: Fry in butter until golden, 8–10 min.
- Filling: Mix potatoes, twaróg, two thirds of the onion, salt and pepper. Cool completely.
- Shape: Roll to 2–3mm, cut 7cm rounds, add about 20g filling, fold and pinch shut.
- Boil: Cook in batches at a gentle boil; 1–3 min after they float.
- Serve: With the reserved onion and sour cream, or fried in butter 2–3 min per side.
Christmas Eve Pierogi with Sauerkraut and Mushrooms
Ingredients
Dough
- 400g (about 3⅓ cups) all-purpose flour
- 1 large egg
- 180–200ml (about ¾ cup) warm water
- 3 tbsp (45ml) sunflower or other neutral oil
- ½ tsp fine salt
Filling
- 800g (about 1¾ lb) sauerkraut
- 30g (about 1 oz) dried wild mushrooms
- 2 medium onions (about 300g), finely diced
- 5 tbsp (75ml) sunflower or other vegetable oil
- Black pepper; salt only if needed
Instructions
- Dough: Make and rest the dough as for pierogi ruskie.
- Mushrooms: Rinse, soak at least 30 min in hot water, simmer in the same water about 20 min, chop finely.
- Sauerkraut: Squeeze and chop, simmer in a little water until soft, 30–45 min, drain and squeeze again.
- Filling: Fry the onions in oil until golden, add sauerkraut and mushrooms, fry about 10 min. Season and cool.
- Shape and boil: Fill, seal and boil exactly as for pierogi ruskie.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are pierogi ruskie?
Pierogi ruskie are Polish dumplings filled with potatoes and twaróg, a fresh curd cheese, usually served with fried onion, sour cream or skwarki.² The same dough is also used with many other fillings.
Does “ruskie” mean Russian?
No. Ruskie means Ruthenian, from Ruthenia, a historical region covering what is now western Ukraine and southeastern Poland.²
What can I use instead of twaróg?
Farmer’s cheese or quark are the closest substitutes. Regular cottage cheese works if it is drained well in a sieve or cheesecloth first, because a wet filling makes the dough soggy and hard to seal.
How old are pierogi in Poland?
They appear in the first Polish cookbook, Compendium ferculorum, published in 1682, with fillings from veal kidney to jam, fruit and poppy seeds.¹
Which pierogi are eaten on Christmas Eve?
Wigilia, the Polish Christmas Eve supper, is a meatless fast-day meal, and pierogi filled with sauerkraut and mushrooms are among its traditional dishes.⁴ The Christmas Eve recipe in this article uses that filling with the same dough.
Can pierogi be frozen?
Yes. Freeze them uncooked on a floured tray, then store them in bags for up to 3 months. Boil them straight from frozen, adding 2–3 minutes to the cooking time.
Looking for a Lighter Version?
For lighter, gluten-free and plant-based takes on the same dumpling, see the healthy pierogi recipe.
Further Reading & Sources
The recipe is a compilation based on the published recipes listed here; these links are provided for readers who want to explore further.
- Dumanowski, Jarosław. “Stanisław Czerniecki’s old Polish pierogi.” Museum of King Jan III’s Palace at Wilanów, August 17, 2015. wilanow-palac.pl — pierogi in Compendium ferculorum (1682): fillings and cooking methods.
- Tilles, Daniel. “Polish restaurants change name of ‘Russian’ dumplings to ‘Ukrainian’.” Notes from Poland, March 2, 2022. notesfrompoland.com — the Ruthenian origin of the name, the filling and the usual toppings.
- Edmunds, Weronika. “The Controversial ‘Ruskie’ Dumpling and Why It Is Misunderstood.” 3 Seas Europe, September 9, 2022. 3seaseurope.com — the legend of Jacek Odrowąż bringing pierogi from Kyiv.
- “The Ultimate Polish Christmas Menu.” Polonist, updated December 3, 2024. polonist.com — Wigilia as a meatless fast day with twelve dishes, including pierogi with sauerkraut and mushrooms.
- USDA FoodData Central. fdc.nal.usda.gov — nutrient values for the ingredients used in the nutrition estimate.
- Dumanowski, Jarosław. “Pierogi po litewsku.” Museum of King Jan III’s Palace at Wilanów, January 29, 2009. wilanow-palac.pl — cheese-filled pierogi in a late 17th-century manuscript from the Grand Duchy of Lithuania (in Polish).
- Dumanowski, Jarosław. “Nieistniejące „pirogi” Wojciecha Wielądka.” Museum of King Jan III’s Palace at Wilanów, February 7, 2009. wilanow-palac.pl — pirogi in the dictionary of Kucharz doskonały (1783) (in Polish).
- Polonist Test Kitchen. “Potato and Cheese Pierogi (Ukraińskie, Ruskie).” Polonist, October 1, 2018, updated June 5, 2023. polonist.com — recipe: dough of flour, hot water and oil; filling.
- Klesta, Karolina. “Fail-Proof Pierogi Ruskie Recipe (Just Like Babcia’s).” Polish Foodies, August 4, 2025. polishfoodies.com — recipe: dough with egg and oil, filling, rolling and boiling.
- Dabrowski, Monika. “Polish Sauerkraut Pierogi (Kapusta) Dumplings.” Everyday Healthy Recipes, December 4, 2017, updated December 15, 2023. everydayhealthyrecipes.com — recipe: dough, sauerkraut and porcini filling, rolling and cutting.
- “Pierogi wigilijne – przepisy.” Wroclaw.pl (editorial team), December 19, 2017. wroclaw.pl — recipes: sauerkraut and mushroom pierogi, pierogi ruskie (in Polish).
- Polonist Test Kitchen. “Pierogi z Kapustą Kiszoną (Sauerkraut Pierogi).” Polonist, October 1, 2018, updated June 5, 2023. polonist.com — recipe: cooking and frying the sauerkraut filling.
Disclaimer
The information in this article is provided for educational and informational purposes only. Heritage Healthy Kitchen makes no representations or warranties regarding the accuracy or completeness of any content on this site. Nutritional values are estimates only and will vary depending on the specific ingredients, brands, and measurements used. This content is not intended as dietary, medical, or professional nutritional advice. Always consult a qualified healthcare provider regarding any dietary needs or health conditions. Heritage Healthy Kitchen is not responsible for any outcomes resulting from the use of recipes or information published on this site.
Cook by Occasion
This recipe is part of our Wigilia menu.
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