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Potato Perogies Recipe

This Potato Perogies Recipe with caramelized onions is made with simple ingredients that come together into the most delicious bites of homemade comfort food. Make them fresh, or freeze to get a head start on dinner on a busy weeknight, these pierogies or vareniki will become your favorite.

If you’re looking for lazy pierogies, check out this Lazy Pierogie Recipe made with potatoes and this dessert cheese version of the lazy pierogies. Also, check out our favorite Pelmeni Recipe.

A plate full of potato perogies, sprinkled with caramelized onions and a dollop of sour cream, with a blue napkin in the background.

What is a Pierogi or Perogies?

A pierogi (singular) or perogies (plural) are boiled dumplings that are popular in many Eastern European countries, including Ukraine, Russia, and Poland. Being Ukrainian, we call these little potato dumplings vareniki.

While the name and pronunciation vary, they all refer to a dumpling that can be filled with a variety of vegetarian fillings ranging from potatoes, sauteed cabbage, farmer’s cheese, and berries as just some of the options. 

Inexpensive and made with pantry staples that we all most likely have on hand, perogies are a type of comfort food that fills your belly and your soul. This Pierogi Recipe is filled with mashed potatoes and lots of caramelized onions. If you’re a fan of cheese, shredded cheddar will make a great addition to the filling as well.

In our family, my grandma would make these in huge batches and freeze them. Then, when we came to visit she would boil them and instantly remind everyone once again why she’s the best grandma ever.

Other Perogie Filling Options

If you’re looking to venture out from the most traditional perogi filling try these other choices:

  • sauteed cabbage and mushroom
  • mashed potatoes and cheddar
  • farmer’s cheese & dill
  • sweetened farmers cheese
  • fresh strawberries or blueberries
  • apple butter (just cook down some jarred apple sauce to make apple butter filling).
Perogies laid out on a floured parchment paper, before cooking.

Can I freeze Pierogies?

This Pierogies Recipe is the perfect make-ahead meal. The Pierogies freeze nicely and are ready to be cooked when you are. Comfort food at its best!

When I make this Pierogi Recipe I love to double or triple the recipe and make a whole bunch and freeze them.

To freeze, just place the Perogies on a floured tray and freeze them. Then, transfer into Ziploc bags and store for up to a month (for best results).

Whenever you are having a busy day or when you’re just not in the mood to cook all you need to do is boil the frozen Perogies and dinner is ready in minutes!

A blue rimmed bowl full of potato perogie, sprinkled with caramelized onions and a spoon inside the bowl.

What is the best way to cook frozen Perogies?

Once you have your Perogies made and frozen, the hardest part is done. All you need to do is bring a large pot of salted water to a boil then, add the amount of perogies desired and cook for about 4-5 minutes after the Perogies float to the top. Drain and add to a bowl. Add butter and gently toss to coat. Then, enjoy your delicious and simple perogies dinner. 

Scroll all the way to the bottom for the detailed recipe instructions with recipe ingredient amounts.

Perogies Dough Ingredients:

  • Warm Milk – whole milk will produce softer dough. Warming the milk allows the flour to absorb the liquid quicker. Milk with less fat or buttermilk can be used as well.
  • Egg – the eggs enrich the dough and make it softer.
  • Unsalted butter – adds softness to the dough. Butter can be replaced with oil.
  • Salt – the salt ads flavor.
  • Flour – all-purpose flour is fine.
Ingredients for the perogies laid out.

Potato Filling:

  • Potatoes – using Russet or Yellow/Yukon potatoes work best for the filling.
  • Onions – onions add a lot of flavor to the filling and will separate bland perogies from rich and flavorful perogies. Do not skip the onions, if you at all can.
  • Salt & pepper – add flavor and accentuate all the flavors in this potato filling for perogies.

How To Make Potato Perogies Dough

  • Mix the dough: In a bowl mix the milk, egg, salt, and 3 cups of flour until a thick mixture forms. Add butter and continue kneading it in until fully incorporated. Divide the dough into two equal pieces and form round balls.
  • Cover, and let rest for 30 minutes to 1 hour. The longer the dough is rested the easier it will be to roll it out. 
How to make perogies dough in step by step pictures.

How to make the best Potato Pierogi Filling

  • Caramelize diced onions in a couple of tablespoons of oil until translucent and browned for about 10 minutes. 
  • Boil peeled & quartered potatoes in salted water until soft and easily pierced with a fork. Drain and mash the potatoes with the potato masher.
  • Add half the caramelized onions, salt, and black ground pepper. Mix until combined. Taste and adjust for salt.

How to shape Perogies

  • Work with one dough piece at a time.
  • Roll: On a well-floured surface, roll out the dough to about 1/8 inches thick. Sprinkle with flour to prevent sticking, as needed. 
  • Cut out 2-inch circles (or 3-inch circles) with a cookie cutter or an upside drinking glass with the same diameter.
  • Collect the scraps around the cut out circles, knead them together and shape into a ball. Keep covered.
  • Add filling: Add 1 teaspoon of potato filling to the center of each circle, staying off the edges. 
  • Fold the circles with filling into a half-moon shape. Pinch the two sides firmly all around to seal the filling inside.
  • Set the formed perogies on a floured surface (or baking sheet if you plan to freeze them).
Step by step pictures of how to form the perogies.
The pictures show a different filling (farmer’s cheese), but the folding and sealing technique is the same for any filling. This is the size of perogies if you use a 2-inch cookie cutter. They come out to be a one-bite perogie. If you’d like them to be 2 bites, use a 3-inch cookie cutter.

How to Cook the Perogies:

  • Boil the perogies: Bring 4 – 6 quarts of water and 2 tbsp salt to a boil over high heat. Next, add the perogies in batches of 20-25 perogies. Stir gently to prevent sticking and cook for about 4 minutes after they float to the top. To check if they are ready, remove one perogy from the water cut it in half and taste it. 
  • Add 1 tablespoon of butter to a large bowl. Remove Perogies from the water with a colander and add to the bowl. Leave for a minute to allow the butter to melt and the steam to escape. Toss gently to coat the perogies with butter. 
  • Sprinkle the remaining caramelized onions on top. Serve with a dollop of sour cream (optional).

Pro Tips

  • Use warm milk or liquid for making the dough. Warm temperature speeds up the absorption of the liquid into the flour.
  • Rest the dough and do not skip this step. Resting the dough relaxes the gluten and makes it easier to roll. The unrested dough will keep springing back as you try to roll it.
  • Do not reshape the dough into a taught ball before rolling out or all the relaxed gluten formations will tighten up again and make the dough spring back as you try to roll it out. If this happens, just cover the dough and leave it on the counter for 10-15 minutes to rest and relax the gluten.
  • Do not add too much flour as you’re rolling the dough. Adding too much will cause the dough to become more dense and heavy.
  • Do not touch the edges with the filling. The grease and moisture from the filling getting on the edges will make it hard to seal the edges. Improperly sealed edges will open up when the perogies are boiling and the filling will come out.
  • Prevent sticking of perogies by tossing them with butter or the oil from the caramelized onions.

FAQ

What do you serve the perogies with?

  • Sour cream or greek yogurt are added for an added tang and a contrast of flavor.
  • Caramelized onions and bacon bits are other popular options.
  • If nothing else, a pat of melted butter is simple and a delicious way to serve perogies.

How to freeze the perogies?

  • Shape the perogies and set them on a well-floured baking sheet pan, spacing the perogies evenly without touching. Transfer to the freezer and allow to freeze completely. Next transfer the frozen perogies to a ziplock.
  • Freeze for up to a month.
  • Cook following the instructions on how to cook the perogies without letting them thaw.

Try these other recipes:

Potato Perogies Recipe with Caramelized Onions (Vareniki)

4.87 from 23 votes

This Potato Perogis Recipe with caramelized onions is simple, delicious and the perfect dinner recipe. Having a batch of these perogies in the freezer means comfort food is only minutes away from enjoyment.

Author: Marina | Let the Baking Begin!
Course: Entree
Cuisine: Polish, Russian, Ukrainian
Keyword: perogies
Calories: 425 kcal
Prep Time: 1 hour
Cook Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour 40 minutes
Servings: 6 (10 pieces per serving)

Ingredients

Perogies Dough

Caramelized onions

  • 1 large onion diced
  • 3 Tbsp oil

Potato Perogies Filling Ingredients

  • 6 medium Russet or yellow potatoes peeled, quartered
  • 1/2 caramelized onions made earlier in the recipe
  • 1/4 tsp black ground pepper
  • 1/2 tsp kosher salt

To Serve the Potato Pierogi

  • unsalted butter
  • 1/2 caramelized onions made earlier in the recipe
  • sour cream

Instructions

How to make the perogies dough

  1. Make the dough: In a bowl combine 1 cup milk, 1 egg, 1 tsp salt, and 2 cups of flour. Mix on low speeds until thoroughly combined. Now add the remaining 1 cup of flour adding it gradually to make a soft dough. Lastly, mix in 2 oz of butter until thoroughly combined. The dough should not stick to the sides of the bowl or your hands.. Divide the dough into 2 equal balls.

  2. Cover & rest: cover the bowl with the dough with kitchen towel and let rest for 30 minutes to 1 hour at room temperature to relax the gluten in the dough. Rested dough is easier to roll out. The dough can be made a day ahead kept refrigerated until ready to use.

Meanwhile, make the caramelized onions and potato filling.

  1. Dice & caramelize – Dice onions. Heat 3 tablespoons of oil in a skillet. Add onions and caramelize over medium heat, stirring frequently until golden brown in color. Remove from heat and set aside.

  2. Boil potatoes: Add peeled and quartered potatoes to a pot and cover with water. Boil for about 20 minutes or until easily pierced with a fork. Do not overcook, this will make the filling runny. Drain the water & mash the potatoes with the potato masher.

  3. Season: Reserve half the onoins for serving. Add the remaining onions and oil to the potatoes. Stir & season with salt & black ground pepper to taste. Take a small amount of the mixture and press it together, it should form a lump. If it does not, add warm milk or oil 1 tablespoon at a time stirring after each addition until the potato filling forms a lump when pressed together.

Form the Pierogies or Vareniki

  1. Roll:

    Work with 1 dough ball at a time, keeping the other piece covered to prevent drying.

    Dust the rolling pin, and the working surface with some flour. Roll the dough to about 1/8 inches thick, lifting the dough and adding more flour as necessary to prevent sticking. Adding too much flour will make the dough dense & heavy, so only add minimal amount.

  2. Cut out 2-inch circles with either a cookie cutter or an upside-down drinking glass of the same diameter. For larger perogies use a 3-inch cookie cutter or a larger glass.

  3. Collect the scraps around the cut-out circles, knead them together into a ball and keep covered.

  4. Add filling: Add 1 teaspoon of filling to the center of each cutout staying off the edges of the dough. Filling touching the sides will prevent the perogie edges from sealing.

  5. How to seal perogies: bring opposite sides around the filling together at the top, pressing the dough firmly together to seal. Then starting from one side and moving towards the opposite keep pressing the two edges together firmly creating a half-moon shape. If any part of the edge is not pressed firmly enough, the filling will escape through this opening while the perogies are boiling.

    Set on a lightly floured baking pan spacing the perogies evenly without touching.

  6. Lastly roll out the scraps and repeat the steps again to create more perogies.

How To Cook the Pierogies:

  1. Prep bowl with butter: Add 1 tablespoon of butter to a large bowl and set aside.

  2. Boil the perogies:

    Bring 6 quarts water & about 2 tablespoons of salt to a rapid boil over high heat.

    Add the perogies several pieces at a time, stirring frequently. Do not boil more than 20-30 pieces at a time or they will be more likely to stick together and overcook.

    Once the peogies float to the top and the water comes to a boil again, cook for about 2-4 minutes or until al dante. The perogies should be soft, but still have a little bite to them.

    Do not overcook or the perogies will rupture and the filling will escape into the water.

  3. Remove the perogies from the water with a colander or a slotted spoon. Let excess water drip off. Add the perogies to the prepared bowl and leave undisturbed for a minute to let the butter melt and excess steam escape. Then, toss to coat the perogies with butter. Add caramelized onions and toss gently again. Serve right away.

  4. To serve:

    Sprinkle with black ground pepper and add a dollop of sour cream.

    Optionally, chop some bacon and cook until crispy. Sprinkle the crisped-up bacon over the top of the perogies.

How to crisp perogies in butter

  1. Preheat skillet over medium heat 1 tablespoon butter and 1 tablespoon of oil. Add the perogies in one layer and allow each side to crisp up before turning over. Crisp the perogies in batches.

    Serve with sour cream, caramelized onions and black ground pepper.

To freeze:

  1. Freeze the perogies on a well-floured baking sheet for about 3-4 hours or until fully frozen.

    Then transfer to a ziplock bag and store in the freezer for up to 1 month (for best results). When ready to cook, do not thaw, just add frozen Pierogies to boiling water & follow the instructions on how to cook the perogies.

Nutrition Facts
Potato Perogies Recipe with Caramelized Onions (Vareniki)
Amount Per Serving
Calories 425 Calories from Fat 108
% Daily Value*
Fat 12g18%
Saturated Fat 7g44%
Cholesterol 45mg15%
Sodium 355mg15%
Potassium 681mg19%
Carbohydrates 67g22%
Fiber 5g21%
Sugar 3g3%
Protein 12g24%
Vitamin A 385IU8%
Vitamin C 15.3mg19%
Calcium 111mg11%
Iron 7.1mg39%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

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Marina | Let the Baking Begin

Welcome to Let the Baking Begin! I'm Marina and my love and passion for eating only the most delicious foods drive me to share that love here on Let the Baking Begin (since 2009). With over 20 years of experience in the kitchen, you know the recipes are tested and retested until perfect. I'm so happy to have you here. Enjoy! Read more...

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  • jared

    Great receipe but i had to add a fair bit more flour than what the recipe calls for. Like a cup ot two. I have made it several times and always use more flour especially after adding the butter.

    · Reply
  • Bootsy Corsaro

    Clean beautiful and perfectly flavoured, this little cheesy clouds of heavenly goodness are perfect and my Husbands love them, do you have any other different fillings i can try??

    · Reply
  • Mary Potter

    Hi Marina. It was great to read your recipe and about you. I’m sure this is very authentic and will be divine as dinner soon.
    My great grandmother and great grandfather came to Canada from the Ukraine and made their home and family in Vancouver. Great Grandma taught her daughters, who taught my mom and her sister, how to make these terrific dumplings. They were always filled with a potato-cottage cheese filling and boiled then fried in butter &/or bacon grease with onions, then served with copious dollops of sour cream and the butter onion (bacon) drissled over it all. I have helped with making these, but never had the recipe to make them myself, so I rely on the internet and Pinterest to help me out. Thank you so much for this recipe and the variations.
    My family referred to these, not as perogies but pedaheh. (I have spelled that phonetically as I do not know any words in Ukrainian, and I have learned that cabbage rolls, for example, which we referred to as Holupchee (again phonetic spelling) is a word that starts with GH…I think. ) I have never seen a recipe that referred to Ukrainian dumplings as pedaheh. Is that because of spelling, or perhaps my families name for them was/is not “official”?

    · Reply
  • Ryan Allen

    These are so delicious and easy to make. I tried these for the first time at a local restaurant and have loved them ever since. You recipe has the best flavor.

    · Reply
  • Aleks

    The spelling you have used is incorrect. Single one would be a pieróg while plural version is spelled pierogi. Perogies is not a thing.

    Also Pierogi are a polish dish and Poland is in Central Europe not Eastern. Some Eastern European countries enjoy dishes similar to polish dumplings but use different names to call them.

    · Reply
  • Eugenie Jemison

    This is not a comment but really a begging letter!
    My late Mother used to make a version of Napoleon cake for which I have been unable to find a recipe.
    It goes roughly like this … Mother used to bake about 20 or 30 korzhi (my phonetics) slightly thicker that a
    pancake about the size of a dinner plate … I know she used butter, ground almonds and sugar, as to whether she used flour, I don’t know.

    She made the dough, chilld it then rolled it out as I said above. Each korzh was baked separately. They cooled down quickly so then the next part of the process that I remember begins.
    Milk boiled with a whole vanilla bean that had been slit then a full on custard made with egg yolks. When the custard cooled she put a slather on one korzh then the next & so on till all her 20 or 30 korzhi were “pasted” together by the egg custard.
    Next is easy … flat heavy weight (she used a marble pastry slab and left it for two days …. then off came the weight and using a dinner plate as a rule she trimmed the edges, chopping the leftover edges and using them as decoration on top. We just ate it like that with no added cream or custard as it was wonderfully rich.
    Believe me it was to die for.
    Unfortunately my Mother died at 96yrs of a sudden stroke, so all those things she made for us are happy memories that my sister’s and I are trying to recreate …
    we had already started to collate some of her recipes but left it a bit late.
    That was a long winded way of asking if you have any idea what the korzhi dough might have been.
    My Mothers parentage was Ukranian Father and Russian Mother, she was born in Moscow but lived in Kharkiv until she was taken prisoner by Germans and after the war migrated to South Australia, Australia where she lived a long and happy life … she never forgot her heritages and instilled both in her three daughters.

    · Reply
  • You’d have five stars if you added sautéed sauerkraut to your filling. Another tip is buying dumpling cases from Asian store save making the dough though you need to moisten the edges for them to stick. Cheers from New Zealand.

    · Reply
    • Hi Richard Tracz,
      My grandma never added sauerkraut to the filling and always made either sauteed sauerkraut (separate) or mashed potatoes. But I can see how both of them could be wonderful. Thanks for the tip!
      I’ve done them with the dumpling dough from the Asian stores but disliked how thin they were. It’s a good time saver though!

      · Reply
  • Gary o'genski

    Try adding a cup of sour cream to the dough!! You won’t be sorry! Cheers!!!

    · Reply
  • Mary Suszko

    My mother-in-law taught me how to make a recipe which their family called “pedogies”. I found it later they were actually pierogies. We have two fillings we use, one is plum preserves and the other is a cottage cheese mixture and of course we melt butter to put on top! Thankfully I have a daughter-in-law who loves to cook and that is one of the recipes that she loves. Thank you for all your great recipes. This is Easter weekend so I am going to try your sweet bread recipe which we call “paska”.

    · Reply
  • Yana

    Hi,

    How do you make the cabbage filling? I would like to try that option.

    Thanks!

    · Reply
  • Jackie

    We’re trying to make these for the first time. Can’t get my dough to not be sticky. Any suggestions

    · Reply
    • I would add up to 1/2 cup more flour. If it still doesn’t come together and stop sticking, it might be that you have bad flour (this sometimes happens, in which case you just keep adding the flour, but it still doesn’t come together).

      · Reply
  • Vikki

    Hi! How many pierogies will this recipe yield?
    I’m second generation polish-american and now being home with the covid-19 pandemic am finding myself looking for more comfort food recipes for myself and children. Think it’s about time to start making fresh pierogi instead of store bought! Looking forward to trying you recipe!

    · Reply
    • Hi Vikki!
      Making food from scratch is such a therapeutic experience and I’m loving that so many people are getting the chance to experience it, even if under such unfortunate circumstances 🙁
      This recipe makes 100 pirogues, which will make about 10 servings.
      Hope you love it!

      · Reply
  • Phillip M.

    You kept your grandmas recipe bang on accurate. I use this exact same recipe. It never fails me. Great make ahead breakfast meal that can also be pan fried straight from a frozen state in butter, or bacon fat from cooking your bacon and onions.

    · Reply
  • Tamara

    Marina, these вареники are so yummy. I have a question! Would you recommend to make the same kind of dough for dumplings? Thanks a lot for everything you do here for us!!!

    · Reply
    • Hi Tamara,
      When you say dumplings, do you mean pelmeni? If so, yes, I use the same dough for both savory and sweet vareniki or pelmeni.
      And thank you so much for your kind words!

      · Reply
      • Tamara

        Thanks Marina! That’s my next adventure to make pelmeni with the recipe you provided.

        If you could share the meat filling you have for pelmeni, please!

        I already know it’s going to be delish.
        Thanks againg, and have a wonderful day!

        · Reply
  • micha

    In Poland, to the dough we use only flour and warm water, then we add salt to the boil water. It should be made by hand, not mixer. You use to much ingredient’s. It’s not tradicional recipe.

    · Reply
    • Hi Micha,
      Thanks for your comment. Back in the day people used to do laundry by hand too, but for some reason we prefer the laundry machine nowadays 😉
      As to the recipe, each family has their own traditional recipe this is how we made it in our family 🙂 it doesn’t mean that everybody has to follow it though.

      · Reply
      • Renae

        After boiling, we put them into a pan with browned butter and crispy speck and give them a very quick fry. Soooo tasty. We are Polish also but have modified from the traditional recipes, as the old Polish did the best they could with the limited ingredients that were available during the war (so some things are quite bland). Our Golabki is better than any you will ever find lol.

        · Reply
        • I do crisp them up in the skillet too sometimes. I’ve heard people cooking them in skillet from the beginning, with no prior cooking… I should try that too.
          I agree about the simplicity of recipes due to lack of ingredinets. This recipe though is definitely not the original (that one probably had just water, flour and egg) and is very very delicious 🙂

          By Golabki do you mean the stuffed cabbage rolls or what is it? If so, do you mind sharing your recipe? 🙂

          · Reply
  • helma

    Thank you very very much Marina, will let you know how it tasted 🙂

    · Reply
  • helma

    Could you please tell me the amount of ingredients please? It looks great, but I have no clue how much a stick of butter is in your country…. 🙂 We work with packs of 250 grams. And how many ml is a cup? Please help me out and let me taste the pierogi tomorrow! It looks so yummie

    · Reply
    • The stick of butter is 114 grams. And a cup is not a tea cup your drink from, but a 1 cup measuring cup. I believe 1 cup fits from 120-160 grams of flour, depending on how tightly packed your flour is. good luck 🙂

      · Reply
  • June

    I have made these many times over the years, time consuming but well worth it! My mom was from the old country and these were a staple for holidays, especially Easter. We have always mashed cheese into the potatoes and nothing more also cook, pour melted butter and caramelized onions, before freezing them into zip-lock bags, delish!

    · Reply
    • Yes these are pretty awesome 😀 So do you cook yours before freezing them?

      · Reply
  • Oksana

    Marina, you are really becoming my favorite food blogger. I find myself always going to your site for recipe inspirations. I am also looking forward to making these pierogies! I have been craving them since the day I got pregnant (and I am 6 1/2 months pregnant now!) Thanks for the amazing recipe!!!

    · Reply
    • Wow, thank you Oksana, it’s truly an honor to hear something like that. Thanks for using my recipes and visiting my site! Congratulations on your pregnancy, who are you having?

      · Reply
  • Natasha (@NatashasKitchen)

    My goodness Marina, these look so inviting. I’d like to come over and have some if that’s alright with you. 😉

    · Reply
    • Haha, yeah, just let me know when, so I can make them again))

      · Reply

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