This piroshky recipe cuts down on prep time with an overnight dough. Fried to perfection, you have your choice between a cabbage or ground chicken filling!
These piroshky are foolproof, fast, and so satisfying. Once my husband and I were married, it took me a whopping 8 years to work up the guts to make them for him. Why? This recipe comes straight from his mother’s cookbook and was his absolute favorite childhood treat. But after living in Seattle for years and leaning heavily on the famous Piroshky Piroshky bakery in Pike Place Market to satiate his cravings, I knew I had to figure out how to make them homemade. After much trial and error, I couldn’t be more excited that this recipe has become a fan favorite on the blog.
What are Piroshky?
Traditional piroshky are deep-fried or baked Slavic buns that are stuffed with a variety of different sweet and savory fillings. They’re similar in nature to American-style handheld pies or British pasties. You’ll find them served all throughout Eastern Europe and Russia with varying local flavor and flair. In this version, we cut down on the prep time significantly by using a quick, overnight dough. Below, find a rundown of the flavor, texture, and time it takes to prepare this recipe.
- Flavor: The slightly sweet and salty piroshky dough is complemented by a savory filling of either cabbage or ground chicken.
- Texture: The texture of these piroshky is the perfect combination of chewy yet airy bread dough and a tender filling of finely ground meat or vegetables.
- Time: From start to finish, this recipe takes just over an hour to make. However, remember to take into account that you’ll need to let the dough rest overnight before assembling.
How to Prepare Overnight Piroshky
Preparing these overnight piroshky only requires a handful of ingredients you likely already have hanging out in your kitchen and a bit of patience. Below, find a simplified overview of the process before you dive in.
- Prepare the Dough a Day Ahead: The day before you plan to make this recipe, prepare the dough and let it sit overnight.
- Make Your Filling of Choice: Prepare either a cabbage or the ground chicken filling. You can’t go wrong here – both are equally delicious!
- Assemble the Piroshky: With oiled hands, break the dough into similar-sized, small pieces. Flatten the dough and place the filling inside. Fold over the sides and pinch the edges together to seal the filling inside. Next, shape the dough into a long oval shape.
- Fry the Piroshky: Fill a deep frying pan about halfway with oil. Place the raw buns in the oil and fry them until golden brown on both sides. Place the fried buns on a paper towel to drain them of excess oil. Enjoy immediately!
5 Pro Tips for Making the Best Piroshky
Here you’ll find a handful of pro tips to help you nail this recipe for overnight piroshky.
- Shape the piroshky with well-oiled hands. This piroshky dough is super sticky – don’t fret that’s exactly what you want! To make your life easier, make sure your hands are oiled before handling it.
- Sift the flour. If your flour is full of clumps, sift the flour through a fine-mesh sieve before incorporating it into the dough. This will make for piroshky that are even in texture and consistency.
- Fry the piroshky over medium-low heat. Avoid overcooking the outside of the piroshky and undercooking the inside by frying them over medium-low heat.
- Don’t overcrowd the piroshky. When frying, resist the urge to place too many piroshky in the oil at once. They are prone to sticking and need a bit of space to crisp up on all sides. Fry them in batches if you have to!
- Experiment with different fillings. Get creative and dream up your own piroshky filling. From chocolate hazelnut spread (think: Nutella), ham and cheese, spinach and cheese, and sausages, you can’t go wrong. This overnight dough is the perfect foundation for you to play around with different flavors and combinations.
Ways to Serve Your Piroshky
Piroshky are super versatile and can be served as an appetizer, lunch, or dinner. If serving them as a meal, pair them with a salad of pickled veggies. For Slavics, there’s nothing quite like the contrast between savory piroshky and tangy, pickled veggies. Pickled cabbage and beets, pickled mushrooms, or giardiniera are all great options. Serving them alongside a steaming bowl of borscht is always a great idea as well.
Freezing and Storing Piroshky
Whether you have a couple of piroshky to stow away in the refrigerated or would like to freeze a batch for a rainy day, find all the top storage tips here.
- Refrigerator: To keep piroshky on hand for up to 3 days, store them in an airtight container in the fridge. This will keep them from turning stale and hardening.
- Freezer (Raw): If you’d like to keep piroshky on hand for up to 3 months, freeze them raw. To do so, place the assembled piroshky on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and pop the sheet into the freezer uncovered. Once completely frozen, transfer the piroshky to a freezer-safe bag. When you’re ready, pop them directly into hot oil and fry until golden brown.
Reheating Tip: The best way to reheat piroshky is in the oven or in an air fryer (if you don’t have one yet, I’m obsessed with this model) to return them to their crispy, fresh-out-of-the-fryer state. Avoid microwaving them, as they’ll turn rubbery.
FAQ
What kind of yeast should you use?
Use active dry yeast for this recipe.
What kind of oil is best for frying piroshky?
Canola oil is best for frying piroshky. It’s neutral in flavor and stands up super well to high heat. If you don’t have any, avocado oil is a great backup.
How far in advance can you make the piroshky dough?
You can make overnight piroshky dough up to 3 days before you plan on assembling them. Just make sure to keep the dough covered while it’s in storage so it doesn’t soak up any lingering smells in your refrigerator.
Can you bake these piroshky instead of frying them?
While it’s acceptable to bake some versions of piroshki, this recipe is best when the dough is deep-fried.
Are piroshky Russian?
While there’s much debate surrounding where piroshky hail from, Russia is the most widely held belief. After the fall of the Soviet Union, immigrants from all different walks of life brought this bun to just about every single modern Eastern European country.
Other Tasty Slavic Morsels
- Farmer’s Cheese Donut Holes (Russian Ponchiki) – Donut hole treats stuffed with farmer’s cheese
- Savory Piroshky – Deep-fried buns stuffed with ground meat and onions
- The Classic Pierogi (Potatoes & Cheese) – Pierogi stuffed with potatoes and cheddar cheese and topped with bacon
- Russian Sweet Piroshky (with Poppy Seeds) – Fried dumplings stuffed with a sweet filling of poppy seeds
Recipe
Ingredients
Cabbage Filling
- 1/2 cabbage head
- 1 tbsp oil
- 1/2 onion
- 1 carrot
- 3 tbsp Unsalted Butter
- salt & pepper
Meat Filling
- 1 lb ground chicken
- 1 onion
- salt & pepper
Instructions
- In a large bowl, mix the lukewarm milk, sugar, and yeast together. Let the mixture sit at room temperature for about 10 minutes.
- To the milk mixture, add water, eggs, oil, salt, and flour. The dough will be runny and sticky and that's exactly what you want. Knead it by hand (wet your hands to prevent sticking) or with a stand mixer until the dough turns elastic.
- Place the dough in a bowl covered with plastic wrap or in an airtight container and let it rest in a warm place overnight.
- With oiled hands, break the dough into small pieces. Flatten out the dough and place the filling inside. Next, flatten out the filling inside the dough.
- Fold over the sides and pinch the edges together to seal the filling inside the dough. Once it's sealed tight, shape the dough into a long oval shape.
- Fill a deep frying pan about halfway with oil over medium heat.
- Fry each side of the piroshky until golden brown on each side and lay them out on a paper towel to extract the excess oil.
Cabbage Filling
- Dice the onions and carrots and shred the cabbage. Preheat a large skillet with oil and cook the onions and carrots until they soften. Next, add in the shredded cabbage and cook for an additional 5 minutes.
- Season to taste with salt and pepper and stir the butter in until it melts.
The best dough I have ever tried!! They were amazing. Thank you so much Nataliya:)
Hi Luda, I am so pleased to hear that! Thank you for sharing your feedback with me! Enjoy!
Hi Natalya !
I definitely appreciate your blog !
Are piroshky sometimes traditionally stuffed with fermented cabbage? (The one called sauerkraut.)
I would like to try, I have some that are still young enough not to be too acidic...
Have you already done it ?
Hi Agnes, I have not tried this recipe with sauerkraut, traditionally the cabbage is cooked lightly on a skillet with onion and carrots. If you give the Fermented cabbage a try, I would love to know the results and your thoughts on it.
Many thanks for your replies.
I will try both and let you know the two results !
(I love cabbage in all its forms, white, red or green, smooth or curly, raw or cooked, it's always wonderful !)
I'm going back to read the rest of your blog. 😊
I am excited to hear what you think about this recipe. Wishing you the best of luck dear!
I shaped all piroshky the same size, but when I fried, my first batch turned out puffy and increased in size, but the rest did not. Do you know what could be the reason? Thanks
Hi Jessica, That is very interesting. I have never experienced anything like that. Did you turn up or down the heat? I am wondering if they just didn't have the right temperature while frying. Also, did you move the dough to colder temperature in the house/outside? Thinking of different scenarios here.
Just clarifying - it’s ok to leave the dough out at room temp (not in the fridge) overnight?
Hi Nelya, yes, they dough should be in a room temperature. Enjoy them
Delicious, versatile dough! Worked GREAT with both savory and sweet fillings. We also made khrystiki with them 🙂 My family LOVED it!
Thanks for the update! So glad ya'll loved it. 🙂
Natalya,
I'm REALLY excited to make this recipe, getting the dough prepped as we speak (LOVE that I can do this the night before 😍) and going to make both sweet and savory using the same dough 👍 thinking raspberry jam. I'll let you know how it goes.
I did want to ask, could you add the measurements into your directions?? It would be SO much easier to not have to scroll back and forth.
Natalya
Hi Natalya, love your enthusiasm! Enjoy! And thank you for the feedback, we will take that into consideration. 🙂
Absolutely amazing! I did the cabbage and it was incredible. Thank you!
Yum! Thanks for commenting, Jessica!
YUM! I made these with cabbage and they were delicious. I just love this recipe.
Hi Heather- glad you enjoyed! Try them with beef & cheddar next time...soo good!
Thank you so much for sharing this amazing recipe! Will surely have this again! It's really easy to make and it tasted so delicious! Highly recommended!
Hi Allyssa- so glad you enjoyed! It's so great to have variety with the fillings!
Can you make them with beef mince?
Hi Cathy- you sure can, and they'll be delicious! You can even add cheddar to the ground beef. Enjoy!
What kind of yeast do you use and also what type of oil for frying?
Hey Olya, usually I use active dry yeast. Canola oil is the best for frying piroshky but you can also use avocado oil.
This recipe is amazing!! Thank you so much for sharing:)
Hi Valentina, I'm so glad you enjoyed the recipe! Thank you for your feedback 😊
I have a recipe similar to this, but they are baked. Has anyone tried that with this recipe?
Here is the dough for the baked piroshky: https://momsdish.com/recipe/3…
Recipe calls for 1 tablespoon salt, that seems like a lot! Started making it but scared to put that much salt.
The dough should be savory so the salt is all good! 🙂 I hope you love this recipe.
Here's my Overnight Piroshki, turned out so delicious and soft
Your photo is making me so hungry!!! I'll be making them soon!
Can I make the dough tonight but add the meat filling tommorow?
For sure! That would be the best option. Hope you love them, just as much as we did!
My mother remembers her mother making some kind of meat pie, but I wonder if this is what she meant. I've never been able to find anything else that is similar to what she talked about! Thanks for sharing!!
Did you grandma live in Europe? Piroshky are very popular in eastern european countries, almost like burgers for us here in USA 🙂 You will definitely love this recipe!
Natasha, between this recipe and your original one - which one would you recommend for me to try first?
I will try to explain the difference in taste so you can choose 🙂
This recipe is more chewy and has a crunchy outside. Plus if you prepare the dough the night before you can make them early in the morning.
The original recipe- requires time in the same day for rising of the dough. The dough is a little sweet and softer.
Honestly, its a hard choice, like choosing between two different desserts ;/
Love these pirozki! You can stuff them with just about anything - it's sort of like a Russian version of puff pastry - very versatile!
That is so true. So many fillings you can sue for piroshky.