Looking for a great pierogi recipe? This deliciously easy pork pierogi recipe is amazing. Don’t get me wrong, I love potato and cheese pierogi, and mushroom and sauerkraut pierogi, but this pierogi recipe is one of my favorites. Using this pierogi recipe, you’ll find that pierogi are not only easy to make, but they’re filling and a great way to use up excess pork that may be taking up room in your freezer!
Delicious Pork Pierogi
I grew up eating pierogi, though it was never a super common food in my house, I do have fond memories. When we did eat pierogi it was potato and cheese and an all-day ordeal that took all 6 of us. The best part was, relatives we didn’t get to see often would come and enjoy them with us. So, needless to say I was very excited to share this food with my husband. He had never had a pierogi, so I took him to a polish restaurant to experience authentic pierogi first and he was in love at first bite! Who wouldn’t be!?
Then I made him mine, and he loved them as well. Now, I don’t pretend these are authentic so don’t come at me. I’m just doing my best! I had pork roast and salted pork that needed to be eaten and wasn’t sure what to do with it. But then an idea struck me, and it turned out people did eat ground pork pierogies. Though it was more of a pork sausage. So, I made my own ground pork, which I plan on making a guide to make small batches by hand and got to work. And let me tell you… it was NOT a mistake, this pork pierogi recipe is amazing if I do say so myself.
What Are Pierogi?
A pierogi is a filled dumpling. Often they are filled with cheese and potatoes, meat, sauerkraut, and mushroom. But sometimes you will find them filled with fruit. They are then boiled in water and/or pan fried. Pierogi have Slavic roots and there are Polish and Russian versions. They were often considered a poor food until the nobility realized…they were delicious.
Deliciously Easy Pork Pierogi Recipe
Let me preface this by saying, pierogi is an easy meal to make, but it is time consuming at least for me. So, keep that in mind. This isn’t something you decide to make 30 minutes before you need food to be done. But rather it takes me about 2-3 hours to make the dough, make the sausage, and to make enough pierogi for dinner and then some. That being said, there are some things you can do to make it go a little faster. One of the biggest thing is to make your sausage ahead of time. Or just buy ground pork and season it.
Ingredients Needed To Make Super Yummy Ground Pork Pierogi Recipe
Dough:
- 4 Cups Flour
- 1 Cup and 2 Tablespoons Hot Water (180F)
- 3 Tablespoons Melted Butter
- 1 Teaspoon Salt
Filling:
- Ground Pork (From Store)
or
- Pork Roast
- Salted Pork
Seasoning:
- 2 tablespoons Sweet Paprika
- 1 tablespoon Coriander Seeds
- 1 tablespoon Mustard Powder
- 2 teaspoons Cumin Seeds
- 1 1/2 teaspoons Dried Marjoram
- A dash of Cayenne
- 1/2 teaspoon Garlic Powder
- Diced Onion
- Lard or Butter
How To Make This Delicious Pierogi Recipe
This step by step cooking tutorial will teach you how to make delicious pierogi!
Dough:
Step 1
Let’s start with the dough. Add the flour and salt to a bowl.
Step 2
Then add the butter and water.
Step 3
Mix well until everything is incorporated.
Step 4
Knead the dough for 5 minutes.
Filling:
Step 5
Wrap with plastic wrap until you’re ready to use it and let it sit for 30 minutes.
Step 6
Now time for the sausage. If you buy the sausage you can skip these steps. But if you haven’t, cut the salted pork and pork roast into slices. I usually use 5-6 slices of each.
Step 7
Then you’ll take your knife and cut it diagonally 1/4 inch, flip the meat over and cut the meat in the opposite direction 1/4 inch. Then cut the pork vertically 1/4 inch, and flip is and cut the pork vertically 1/4 inch. Don’t cut all the way through.
Step 8
Once you’ve got all the cuts in the meat then you can take your knife and beat the meat until it is similar to the look of ground pork. Once it looks ground roll it and slice through it. Do this to the pork roast and salted pork and then stir together.
It won’t be as fine as store bought ground pork or the same as if you’ve used a meat grinder, but it’s good for small batches.
Step 9
Whether you made your own ground pork or bought it you’re going to make seasoning now. Put all your seasoning in a mortar and pestle and crush it until it is a powder.
Step 10
Then add it to the pork, mix, and cover in the fridge until you’re ready to use it.
Step 11
Get a pot of water going on the stove until it is a soft boil.
Step 12
Melt butter or lard on a low to medium heat.
Pierogi:
Step 13
Cut the dough into 4’s and roll it out.
Step 14
Use a circle cookie cutter. Mine cut the dough into a circle with a 2 circle diameter, but that’s rather large, 1 inch would be better, but I use what I have.
Step 15
Roll the circles out until thin.
Step 16
And then add about a tablespoon of ground pork in it.
Step 17
Pinch the edges together tightly.
Step 18
Add the pierogi into the pot of boiling water. For the pork I leave them in about 6-8 minutes depending on size.
Step 19
Then add them to the oil and fry both sides and bottom until golden brown.
Step 20
Dice your onion and once you’re done cooking the pierogi, sauté it in butter.
Step 21
Drizzle the butter and onion over your pierogi and serve!
Pierogie Recipe Notes:
- Adding butter will make the dough softer to work with. Also, if you don’t have a cooking thermometer, about 180F is when the water starts steaming and has light bubbles at the bottom, but not quite boiling.
- Making the meat beforehand and letting it sit in the fridge for a few hours will result in a more flavorful filling.
- Keeping food away from the edge and wetting the edges if dry will keep your pierogi from opening during the cooking process as you can see one of mine did. Still tasted good though.
- You don’t have to drizzle butter or onions ( and some people add bacon on the top), you can just eat them as is.
- You have to boil meat dumplings longer to ensure the meat is cooked. If you make potato or any other pierogi and decide to boil first, they only need about a minute. If you want fried pierogi with a filling like potato, you actually don’t have to boil.
- The pork seasoning is based on this recipe from The Polish Housewife, however, I do change it a bit. Mainly because I couldn’t get all the ingredients. I also added more garlic…because I like garlic.
What Are Traditional Pierogi Filling?
You can fill pierogi with a lot. I really don’t know if pork sausage is traditional or not, but there are some very common pierogi fillings. They are:
- Cheese and Potato
- Potato
- Mushroom and Sauerkraut
- Sweet Cheese (Farmer’s cheese)
- Wild Mushroom
- Sauerkraut
- Meat
- Fruit
Pierogi Dough
There are some dough recipes that don’t call for fat. The fat in the dough keeps it soft and easy to work with. Some also call for eggs. This is the recipe my family has always used, so if you have another dough recipe feel free to use it. It should work the same.
How To Store Leftover Pierogi
Once you make your pierogie recipe, you may find you have leftover pierogi. Fear not! They make great leftovers. Cooked pierogi can last in the fridge for about 3 days. For freezing your pierogi, freeze in a single layer on a baking sheet and then put them in a freezer bag or airtight container. They should last up to about 3 months.
How To Reheat Leftover Pierogi
Now you’re ready for the leftover pierogi you made with this pierogie recipe.
- The easiest method of reheating cooked pierogi is simply place them in the microwave for about 20 seconds at a time. You don’t want to overcook them or your pierogi to explode. Reheating them in the oven
- You can also boil them for about 90 seconds to reheat them. Make sure your water is gently boiling. A rolling boil will over cook them.
- You can also reheat them in a skillet. This method is especially great if they’re already fried or boiled as it’ll crisp them back up. This should be done at medium heat for about a couple minutes each side.
- You can also bake them at 350 F for about 10-15 minutes.
How To Reheat Frozen Pierogi
If you decided to freeze your leftover pierogi then simply let them thaw out in the fridge. Once thawed out you can boil them and enjoy them or boil them and then fry them! The cooking methods are the same as the above.
How Long To Boil Frozen Pierogi Before Frying?
You can also go ahead and boil them frozen before frying them. However, they will need to boil for about 3-5 minutes to ensure the middle is done. It may take longer if you made particularly large pierogi.
What Should I Serve With My Pierogi?
Now you have a delicious pile of pierogi that you have made with this tasty pierogie recipe, what do you serve with them? If you’re making pork pierogi I suggest using them as the main entrée. However, if you make cheese and potato, or cheese, or a more lighter pierogi you can serve the following with them:
- Smoked Sausage
- Stuffed Cabbage
- Pork Chops
- Cabbage and Bacon
- Italian Sausage
- Mushrooms in Gravy
- Beef
- Salad
Delicious Pork Pierogi Recipe
Ingredients
- 4 Cups Flour
- 1 Cup Hot Water
- 2 tbsp hot water
- 3 tbsp melted butter
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 lb ground pork
Or pork roast/salted pork to make your own ground pork
- 2 tbsp sweet paprika
- 1 tbsp coriander seeds
- 1 tbsp white mustard seeds
- 1.5 tsp dried marjoram
- 6 bay leaves
- 1.4 tsp cayenne
- 1.3 tsp garlic powder
- 1 diced onion
- lard or butter
Instructions
- Add flour and salt to a large mixing bowl.
- Then add your hot water and melted butter to your flour mixture.
- Mix the hot water, flour mixture, and butter until well incorporated and a ball of dough forms.
- Add a little flour to your cooking surface and knead the ball of pierogi dough for 5 minutes.
- Once you knead the dough, wrap it in plastic wrap to keep it from drying out and let it sit for 30 minutes.
- Slice your pork roast and pork belly. I usually do about 5-6 slices about half and inch thick. If you have pork sausage skip these next couple of steps.
- Then you’ll take your knife and cut it diagonally 1/4 inch, flip the meat over and cut the meat in the opposite direction 1/4 inch. Then cut the pork vertically 1/4 inch, and flip is and cut the pork vertically 1/4 inch. Don’t cut all the way through.
- Once you’ve got all the cuts in the meat then you can take your knife and beat the meat until it is similar to look ground pork. Once it looks ground roll it and slice through it. Do this to the pork roast and salted pork and then stir together.
- Take all your seasonings and add them to a mortar and pestle and crush them until they are a powder.
- Add them to your pork, cover, and set aside in the fridge.
- Fill a pot of water halfway and get it to a soft boil.
- Melt butter or lard on low to medium heat in a frying pan.
- Uncover the dough and cut into 4's.
- Cover the dough you're not using, and start rolling out one of the quarters.
- Once rolled cut out a circle using a glass, pierogi cutter, or cookie cutter.
- Roll that circle of dough out thin.
- Add a tablespoon of sausage into it.
- Fold in half and seal the edges tightly.
- Add to the boiling pot of water for 6-8 minutes depending on how big the pork pierogi is. No one wants to eat raw pork.
- Then add to the pan of oil and fry until both sides are browned. I usually brown the bottom side too.
- Once you're done frying clean up what is in the pan, add butter and sauté your onions.
- Serve your pierogi with a drizzle of butter and add the onions on top!
- Enjoy!
Notes
Pierogi is a small dough dumpling and originates from the Polish language and is one of Poland’s national dish. However, there are varieties like the pierogi ruskie which most people consider the “Russian pierogi.” Even though ruskie means Ruthenian. But the origins of pierogi and it’s name do not lie with Puthenian or Russia, rather a region that historically spanned across what is now southeastern Poland and western Ukraine.
Traditionally, pierogi is made from a dough that is filled with either potatoes and cheese or sauerkraut.
The serving size of pierogi per person is 3-5. They’re typically used as an appetizer or side dish. However, if you’re using them as the main entrée then the serving size goes up and is 4-8 pierogi per son.
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How did your pierogi turn out? Did you use pork or another filling? I’d love to hear from you! Comment down below and let me know.
I really liked this pierogie recipe. I never had them before, but the the pork inside them were super flavorful. I did try making the potato and cheese ones that were suggested and I think I like those better though.