Pierogi Recipes Are Breaking Out on Google: 13 Cozy Pierogi Dinners and Bakes Grandma Would Be Proud Of

Pierogi recipes are having a huge moment, and it is easy to see why once the nights turn cold. This week, searches for pierogi stuffed shells and pierogi recipe both hit Breakout status on Google Trends in the United States, as home cooks rediscover the pillowy Polish dumplings their grandmothers pinched by hand. Pierogi are cheap, filling and endlessly flexible: boil them, fry them in butter, bake them into a casserole or pile them onto a sheet pan with smoky kielbasa. This gallery gathers 13 cozy pierogi dinners and bakes, from grandma’s potato and cheese pierogi ruskie and a lazy lasagna-style casserole to game day pierogi nachos, Christmas Eve mushroom pierogi and sweet blueberry pierogi for dessert, plus a smart freezer plan so you always have a batch ready..

Skillet Pierogi With Bacon and Onions, the King of Pierogi Recipes

If you only try one of these pierogi recipes, make it this one. Boiled pierogi are dropped into a hot cast iron skillet with butter until both sides turn deep golden and crisp, then tossed with slow caramelized onions and crumbled bacon. A spoonful of cold sour cream on top is non-negotiable. Pierogi are a national dish of Poland, and this skillet version is how many Polish-American families still serve them on Friday nights. Frozen pierogi work beautifully here, so dinner is on the table in 25 minutes..

You will need: 1 bag (about 16 oz) potato and cheese pierogi, 6 slices bacon chopped, 2 large onions thinly sliced, 3 tablespoons butter, salt and pepper, 1/2 cup sour cream, fresh chives or dill.

How to make it: 1. Cook the bacon in a large cast iron skillet until crisp, then lift it out and keep 1 tablespoon of the fat. 2. Add the onions and 1 tablespoon butter and cook over medium-low heat for 20 minutes, stirring, until deep golden. Scoop them out. 3. Boil the pierogi for 3 minutes and drain. Melt the remaining butter in the skillet and fry them 3 to 4 minutes per side until crisp. 4. Return the onions and bacon, toss gently and serve with sour cream and chives.

Grandma’s Homemade Pierogi Ruskie With Potato and Cheese

Pierogi ruskie are the potato and cheese dumplings most of us picture when we hear the word pierogi. The filling is simple: fluffy mashed potatoes, crumbly farmer’s cheese called twarog, plenty of onion fried in butter and a good hit of black pepper. Grandma’s trick is a soft dough made with warm water and a spoon of sour cream, which makes it stretchy and easy to seal. Roll it thin, cut circles with a glass, fill, pinch and boil. Make a big batch on a Sunday with the whole family helping. Every other dish in these pierogi recipes starts right here.

You will need: For the dough: 3 cups flour, 1 egg, 1/2 cup warm water, 1/3 cup sour cream, 2 tablespoons melted butter, 1/2 teaspoon salt. For the filling: 2 lbs russet potatoes, 8 oz farmer’s cheese or dry ricotta, 1 onion diced, 2 tablespoons butter, salt and plenty of pepper.

How to make it: 1. Boil and mash the potatoes. Fry the onion in butter until golden and mix half into the potatoes with the cheese, salt and pepper. Cool. 2. Mix the dough ingredients, knead 5 minutes until smooth and rest it covered for 30 minutes. 3. Roll the dough thin, cut 3-inch circles, add a heaping teaspoon of filling, fold and pinch the edges tightly. 4. Boil in salted water until they float, plus 2 minutes, and serve with the remaining onions and butter.

Boiled Pierogi With Sour Cream and Buttery Onions

Before anyone thought to fry them, pierogi were served exactly like this: gently boiled, glossy with melted butter and buried under a tangle of soft fried onions, with a bowl of sour cream passed around the table. Boiled pierogi stay tender and silky, which lets the filling shine, so this is the best way to taste a homemade batch. Set out bowls of sour cream, chopped dill and onions so everyone can dress their own plate. Serve with a crisp cucumber salad and dinner feels like a Polish church festival at home. Simple pierogi recipes like this one are the most traditional of all.

You will need: 24 pierogi of any filling, 4 tablespoons butter, 2 onions sliced, salt and pepper, 1 cup sour cream, fresh dill, cucumber salad to serve.

How to make it: 1. Melt 2 tablespoons butter in a skillet and cook the onions over medium heat 15 minutes until soft and golden. 2. Bring a large pot of salted water to a gentle boil and cook the pierogi in batches until they float, plus 2 minutes. 3. Lift them out with a slotted spoon and toss with the remaining butter. 4. Top with the onions and dill and serve with sour cream.

Sheet Pan Kielbasa and Pierogi, the Easiest of All Pierogi Recipes

This is the weeknight hero of pierogi recipes: everything roasts together on one pan and you wash a single dish. Frozen pierogi go straight onto the sheet, no boiling needed, along with coins of smoky kielbasa, strips of colorful bell pepper and wedges of red onion. A little oil, garlic powder and smoked paprika is all the seasoning it needs, and the sausage drippings crisp the pierogi edges as they bake. Serve it with grainy mustard and sour cream for dipping and watch the pan get scraped clean.

You will need: 1 bag (16 oz) frozen pierogi, 1 lb smoked kielbasa sliced into coins, 3 bell peppers sliced, 1 red onion cut in wedges, 3 tablespoons olive oil, 1 teaspoon smoked paprika, 1 teaspoon garlic powder, salt and pepper, parsley, grainy mustard and sour cream.

How to make it: 1. Heat the oven to 425F and line a large rimmed sheet pan. 2. Toss the frozen pierogi, kielbasa, peppers and onion with oil and the seasonings and spread out in one layer. 3. Roast 20 to 25 minutes, flipping halfway, until the pierogi are golden and puffed. 4. Sprinkle with parsley and serve with mustard and sour cream.

Lazy Pierogi Casserole With Lasagna Layers

All the flavor of homemade pierogi without pinching a single dumpling. Lasagna noodles stand in for the dough and get layered with creamy mashed potatoes, sharp cheddar and plenty of buttery onions, then baked until the top is bubbling and golden. It cuts into neat squares like lasagna, feeds a crowd and reheats perfectly, which is why it has become a potluck favorite across the Midwest. Assemble it the night before, cover it and bake it straight from the fridge, adding 10 extra minutes. It is one of the easiest pierogi recipes for feeding a crowd.

You will need: 12 lasagna noodles cooked, 4 cups mashed potatoes, 2 cups shredded sharp cheddar, 2 onions diced, 1/2 cup butter, 1 cup sour cream, salt and pepper, sliced green onions.

How to make it: 1. Heat the oven to 350F. Cook the onions in the butter for 15 minutes until golden. 2. Stir the sour cream and 1 cup cheddar into the mashed potatoes and season well. 3. In a buttered 9×13 dish layer noodles, potatoes and onions three times, finishing with onions and the remaining cheddar. 4. Cover and bake 30 minutes, uncover and bake 15 more. Rest 10 minutes and top with green onions.

Baked Pierogi in Sour Cream and Dill

In Ukraine, leftover cheese dumplings called varenyky are often tucked into a clay pot, covered with sour cream and baked until the sauce turns thick and golden. The pierogi soak up the creamy dill sauce and come out tender on the bottom and lightly crisp on top. It is a brilliant way to use a bag of frozen pierogi, and it also works in a slow cooker: layer everything in a crockpot and cook on low for 3 to 4 hours. Serve it bubbling straight from the dish with a green salad. Of all the pierogi recipes here, this is the easiest to leave unattended.

You will need: 24 pierogi (cheese or potato), 1 1/2 cups sour cream, 1/2 cup milk, 2 tablespoons butter melted, 1 cup shredded mozzarella or Swiss, 2 tablespoons chopped dill, salt and pepper.

How to make it: 1. Heat the oven to 375F and butter a baking dish or clay pot. 2. Arrange the pierogi in the dish. Whisk sour cream, milk, melted butter, dill, salt and pepper and pour it over. 3. Sprinkle with cheese, cover and bake 25 minutes, then uncover and bake 10 to 15 minutes until golden. 4. For a slow cooker, layer the same way and cook on low 3 to 4 hours.

Bacon Cheddar Pierogi With Crispy Cracklings

Polish grandmothers top pierogi with skwarki, little cubes of pork fat or bacon fried until they shatter, and the rendered fat becomes the sauce. This version adds sharp cheddar to the potato filling, the way Pittsburgh church kitchens have made them for generations, so every bite is cheesy, salty and rich. For extra crunch, cook boiled pierogi in an air fryer at 400F for 8 to 10 minutes, shaking once, before scattering over the hot bacon. It is pure cold-weather comfort food, best eaten straight from the pan.

You will need: 24 potato cheddar pierogi, 8 oz thick-cut bacon or salt pork diced, 1 small onion diced, 1 cup shredded sharp cheddar, sour cream and chives.

How to make it: 1. Fry the bacon slowly in a skillet until the pieces are crisp and the fat has rendered. Add the onion for the last 5 minutes. 2. Boil the pierogi until they float, plus 2 minutes, or air fry them at 400F for 8 to 10 minutes. 3. Toss the pierogi in the bacon and its fat, then sprinkle with cheddar and cover for 1 minute to melt. 4. Serve with sour cream and chives.

Slovak Bryndza Pierogi With Sour Cream

Just over the mountains from Poland, Slovak families make bryndzove pirohy, pierogi filled with potato and tangy sheep’s milk cheese called bryndza. They are served with a spoon of sour cream, crispy bacon and a scatter of chives, and they taste a little like a cheesy baked potato wrapped in soft dough. Bryndza can be hard to find, so mix feta with cream cheese for a very close match. Make them with the same dough as grandma’s pierogi ruskie and you have a whole new dinner with no extra work. It proves how far pierogi recipes travel across Central Europe.

You will need: Pierogi dough (see the ruskie slide), 2 cups mashed potatoes, 6 oz bryndza or 4 oz feta mixed with 2 oz cream cheese, black pepper, 4 slices bacon chopped, sour cream, chives.

How to make it: 1. Mix the mashed potatoes with the cheese and pepper and let it cool. 2. Roll, cut, fill and pinch the pierogi as usual. 3. Boil until they float, plus 2 minutes, while you fry the bacon until crisp. 4. Serve topped with sour cream, bacon and chives.

Baked Mushroom Pierogi With Christmas Eve Barszcz

On Christmas Eve, Polish families sit down to a meatless feast called Wigilia, and little mushroom pierogi are always on the table. The filling is made from dried wild mushrooms and sauerkraut, fried with onion until savory and deep, and the pierogi are either boiled or baked like small golden hand pies. They are served with a cup of clear, ruby red beet barszcz for sipping and dipping. For more dishes like these, browse our Eastern European dinners that taste like grandma’s.

You will need: Pierogi dough, 1 oz dried porcini or mixed mushrooms, 2 cups sauerkraut rinsed and squeezed, 1 onion diced, 2 tablespoons butter, salt and pepper, 1 egg beaten for brushing, beet barszcz or borscht to serve.

How to make it: 1. Soak the mushrooms in hot water 30 minutes, then chop. Simmer the sauerkraut 20 minutes, drain and chop. 2. Fry the onion in butter, add the mushrooms and sauerkraut and cook 10 minutes. Season and cool. 3. Fill and seal the pierogi. Boil them, or brush with egg and bake at 375F for 20 minutes until golden. 4. Serve with hot barszcz.

Sweet Blueberry Pierogi, the Dessert Corner of Pierogi Recipes

Not all pierogi recipes are savory. In summer, Polish grandmothers fill them with fresh blueberries, called jagody, and serve them with sweetened sour cream and a dusting of sugar. The berries burst as they cook, turning the inside of each dumpling jammy and purple. Frozen blueberries work all year long, so you can enjoy a taste of summer on a snowy night. A tablespoon of potato starch tossed with the berries keeps the juice from leaking. They make a cozy dessert or a sweet Sunday brunch.

You will need: Pierogi dough, 3 cups blueberries (fresh or frozen, not thawed), 3 tablespoons sugar, 1 tablespoon potato starch or cornstarch, 1 cup sour cream mixed with 2 tablespoons sugar and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla.

How to make it: 1. Toss the blueberries with sugar and starch just before filling. 2. Roll and cut the dough, add a spoonful of berries and seal the edges very tightly. 3. Boil gently until they float, plus 2 minutes. 4. Serve warm with vanilla sour cream and a sprinkle of sugar.

Lazy Pierogi (Leniwe) With Butter and Breadcrumbs

Leniwe means lazy in Polish, and these are the pierogi for nights when nobody wants to roll dough. Farmer’s cheese is mixed with an egg and a little flour into a soft dough, rolled into ropes and cut into small diamonds, then boiled for a couple of minutes. They are tossed with butter and golden toasted breadcrumbs, and kids usually ask for a sprinkle of cinnamon sugar on top. They take 20 minutes from start to finish and taste like a cross between gnocchi and cheesecake. Kids rank it among their favorite pierogi recipes.

You will need: 16 oz farmer’s cheese or dry ricotta, 2 eggs, 1 cup flour plus more for dusting, 1 tablespoon sugar, pinch of salt, 4 tablespoons butter, 1/2 cup breadcrumbs, cinnamon sugar optional.

How to make it: 1. Mash the cheese with eggs, sugar and salt, then mix in the flour to make a soft dough. 2. On a floured board roll it into ropes about 1 inch thick and cut diagonally into pieces. 3. Boil in salted water until they float, plus 1 minute. 4. Toast the breadcrumbs in butter and toss with the dumplings. Add cinnamon sugar if you like.

Pierogi Nachos for Game Day

Swap the tortilla chips for crispy pan-fried pierogi and you have the most talked-about snack at any game day party. Golden pierogi are piled on a big pan, drowned in cheddar cheese sauce and loaded with bacon, tomatoes, green onions, jalapenos and big dollops of sour cream. Everyone grabs them by hand, and the pan is usually empty before halftime. Crisp the pierogi in the oven or air fryer first so they stay crunchy under the toppings, and set out extra salsa on the side. It is the party trick of modern pierogi recipes.

You will need: 1 bag (16 oz) frozen pierogi, 2 tablespoons oil, 1 1/2 cups cheddar cheese sauce or shredded cheddar, 6 slices bacon cooked and crumbled, 1 cup diced tomatoes, 3 green onions sliced, pickled jalapenos, sour cream, salsa.

How to make it: 1. Heat the oven to 425F. Toss the frozen pierogi with oil and roast on a pan 20 minutes, flipping once, until crisp. 2. Crowd them onto an oven-safe platter or pizza pan and pour over the cheese sauce or scatter shredded cheddar. 3. Bake 5 minutes until melted and bubbly. 4. Top with bacon, tomatoes, green onions, jalapenos and sour cream and serve with salsa.

Make-Ahead Freezer Pierogi Recipes for Busy Weeknights

The secret of every pierogi-loving family is a freezer full of homemade dumplings. Arrange freshly pinched, uncooked pierogi on a floured tray so they do not touch, freeze them until hard, then pack them into bags. They keep for up to 3 months and go straight from the freezer into boiling water, a hot skillet, the oven or the air fryer, no thawing needed. One afternoon of rolling with the family gives you weeks of fast, cozy dinners, and that is the real reason grandma always had pierogi ready.

You will need: Freshly made uncooked pierogi, flour for dusting, a large tray or sheet pan lined with parchment, freezer bags, a marker for dates.

How to make it: 1. Dust a lined tray with flour and arrange the pierogi in a single layer without touching. 2. Freeze uncovered for 2 hours until solid. 3. Transfer to labeled freezer bags, press out the air and freeze up to 3 months. 4. Cook from frozen: boil 5 to 7 minutes, or fry, bake or air fry a few minutes longer than fresh.