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The ultimate in Polish comfort food, pierogis are scrumptious filled dumplings that are super fun to make from scratch with just a handful of staple ingredients. Much like ravioli, mantoo or gyoza, these delicious morsels can be filled with almost anything, from savoury minced meat and shredded chicken to seasoned mushrooms or even jam.

The pierogies in this recipe, known as pierogi ruskie, are stuffed with caramelised onions, potatoes and a mix of both cottage and cheddar cheese. This variety of dumplings traditionally uses farmer's cheese – a mild, slightly sour pressed cheese that’s common in Poland – but cottage cheese or ricotta make great alternatives.

The traditional way to cook pierogi is by boiling them, but if you prefer a crispier dumpling we've added in the option to pan fry too.  

We recommend making the pierogi dough in advance and refrigerating it so you can get to assembling the dumplings the following day. Allowing the dough to rest also makes it easier to roll it out thinly and handle once filled! 

If you prefer a crispier dumpling, pan fry your pierogi by adding butter to a very wide pan with a large surface area over medium heat. Once it sizzles add the pierogi (you can do this in batches if your pan isn’t large enough). Allow them to crisp up and turn a golden brown on one side for 2-3 minutes before flipping over. Add the reserved caramelised onions to the pan. Once the final sides of the pierogies are brown and crispy, remove them to a serving platter.