Potato Vareniki (Ukrainian Pierogi Recipe) are one of the best and most comforting Eastern European dishes. This is another nostalgic recipe for me: vareniki. Think dumplings filled with cottage cheese from the Ukraine. You might know them by another name Pierogi. Well I can’t really tell you.

Unsure of how to use up the leftover mashed potatoes in your fridge? This Ukrainian pierogi recipe features fluffy and creamy mashed potatoes stuffed inside a homemade dough. The pierogies are quickly boiled and served with plenty of sour cream, caramelized onions, and dill on top.

Vareniki vs. Pierogi: What's the Difference?

Vareniki vs. pierogi vs. All three of these dumpling recipes are popular throughout Ukraine, Russia, and Eastern European countries. Both vareniki and pierogi are dumplings stuffed with potatoes. The words mean the same thing, with vareniki being popular in Russia and Ukraine and pierogi used further west, like in Poland. The dumplings are boiled or fried and traditionally served with sour cream, bacon, onions, or herbs on top. Pelmeni is quite similar but filled with raw meat instead of potatoes.

A Taste of Tradition

As you can see on the last picture, my grandma actually passed on a recipe. This comes as a huge surprise as she normally did not write down any recipes she would make regularly. She knew them off by heart and thus did not see the need to document. So I am beyond grateful that she took the time to write down ingredients and amounts. Mind you, no instructions other than a list of ingredients, but at least this is a starting point.

Filling Variations

There are so many options for filling vareniki, and different regions and families will have a different approach. You will often find recipes with a potato and onion filling. However, my family only served the version with cottage cheese. A very easy variation, and a good way to make them vegetarian, is to swap the bacon for mushrooms or to leave it out entirely to make potato and carmelized onion pierogi. But this is just the start, and the filling is where you can get creative! For a completely different twist, vereniki can also be filled with sweet ingredients.

Vareniki can even be served for dessert! Swap the mashed potatoes for soft cheese (like cottage cheese or farmer cheese) and berries with a little bit of sugar. Vereniki with fruit are usually made in the summer when the fruit is ripe, sweet and in season.

Ingredients and Preparation

Mashed Potato Filling

Mashed potato filling - The filling is just as easy to make as traditional mashed potatoes! All you need are Russet potatoes, whole milk, butter, salt, and a bay leaf for flavor.

• Cook the potatoes: Cook the peeled and chopped potatoes and bay leaves in a pot of boiling water until they’re soft.
• Drain and mash: Drain, discard the bay leaves, and add the butter and milk into a pot. Mash the potatoes until they’re smooth.

Dough Preparation

• Heat the milk and butter: Add the milk and butter pieces into a pot and heat until butter melts on low heat. Mix to combine. Let cool for 5 minutes.
• Mix the ingredients: In a bowl add flour, salt and 1 egg, whisked. Slowly add in the slightly cooled milk and butter mixture. Stir to combine.
• Knead the dough: Once dough is formed, add some flour on your countertop and knead the dough for 2-3 minutes. Set the dough aside and cover to rest for 10 minutes.
• Roll out and cut the dough: Once you are ready to make your first batch of vareniki, divide your dough into 3 pieces. Cover the pieces you aren’t using. Roll out the dough thinly on a floured surface to just under 1/8” thickness. Using either glass or a 3 inch cookie cutter, cut out round shapes. Keep the shapes as close as possible, keeping the scraps (add them to the unused dough to reuse).

Assembling and Cooking Vareniki

Assembling Vareniki

• Add 1/2 Tbsp of potatoes over each round piece of dough, fold over in half and pinch together to seal and make a half moon shape.
• To ensure a tight seal, crimp the edges a second time with a pinch and twist motion.
• Place the prepared vareniki on a floured baking sheet to prevent sticking.

Cooking Vareniki

• Bring a large pot of water to a rolling boil and add kosher salt to taste.
• Carefully add fresh or frozen vareniki once water has boiled.
• Cook for about 10-12 minutes, then once the vareniki are floating and water is back to a boil, the dough should be very tender.
• Carefully remove to a bowl with a slotted spoon. Add butter and gently toss to combine.

Serving and Storage

Once the perogies are cooked, they can be served right away with sour cream, dill, bacon, caramelized onions, or green onions on top. Add to a bowl, top with sour cream and fresh dill or green onions and enjoy. Vareniki can be served with fresh dill, sour cream, fried onions or shallots, and sauerkraut. I also like a sprinkling of black pepper.

Cooked vareniki can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 1 week. They can also be kept in the refrigerator for up to 5 days, in an airtight container.

Lay the assembled, uncooked vareniki on a parchment paper-lined or floured baking sheet and freeze. Once they’re frozen solid, transfer them to a freezer bag. One of the reasons vareniki are so enduringly popular is because of how easy they are to store. They can be kept in the freezer for 3 months. The trick is to freeze them in a single layer on a baking sheet before moving to a sealed container so they don’t get stuck together, or to freeze them with a dusting of flour for the same reason. They can also be cooked from frozen.

How to Make Perfect Vareniki Dough

Tips and Tricks for Perfect Vareniki

• The vareniki dough should not be too thick. Indeed, if the dough is not sufficiently rolled thinly, the vareniki will be pasty.
• The dough can be passed through a pasta roller to have an even thinner roll.
• This recipe makes 55-60 pierogies, based on how thinly you roll the dough.
• Is your dough too sticky?
• Why are my perogies falling apart? This can happen if the seal isn’t tight enough. Once you pinch the dough closed, try crimping the edges with a pinch and twist motion.
• How do you know when perogies are cooked? You’ll know the perogies are ready when they float to the top in the pot of boiling water.
• Can you use leftover mashed potatoes? Yes! You can stir sour cream or cream cheese into the refrigerated potatoes (omit the butter) to help soften them. Just make sure they aren’t too soft or creamy.
• Make sure you salt the potatoes well or the vareniki will end up tasting too bland.

Serving Suggestions

Traditionally, vareniki is served with shmargus (sour cream sauce). Here’s how to make it:

1. Melt butter and flour in a frying pan.
2. While stirring, add the cream and cook on medium for a few minutes until it thickens.
3. Then add the sour cream last.
4. Stir and add salt and pepper to taste.

If you desire, you can also briefly fry the vareniki in some butter once they are cooked, this is my favorite way of eating them, but that is optional. Serve with a lot of the sauce.

They are pretty hefty and incredibly filling, so something to serve as a main course rather than a side dish. I also like to add sauerkraut on the side as the slightly sour taste balances out the richness of vareniki.

Ingredient	Amount
Flour	3 cups (360g)
Potatoes	5

Just 3 cups/360g of flour and 5 potatoes made 65 vareniki!