Craving pierogi, but don’t have time to make traditional ones? This easy lazy pierogi recipe uses some shortcuts to get them on the table in 30 minutes.
These easy dumplings are a “lazy” way of making pierogi with farmer’s cheese (vareniki recipe) at home and take just a fraction of the time. If you’ve never had lazy pierogi before, they look a lot like Italian gnocchi. For this recipe, you can make homemade farmer’s cheese or substitute it for store-bought farmer’s cheese or cottage cheese.
What Exactly are Pierogi?
Pierogi are an extremely popular treat in Eastern Europe. Almost every country has its version. Russian and Ukrainian style pierogi are bite-sized, dough-based dumplings that are typically filled with potato, meat, cheese, or fruit. The dumplings are then boiled in hot water and served immediately. They can also be fried, which is more common with the savory variety. In short, the possibilities are endless and delicious!
A Traditional Pierogi Recipe vs. a Lazy Pierogi Recipe
Now, let’s chat about the major differences between a traditional pierogi recipe and a lazy pierogi recipe.
- Traditional Pierogi: Traditionally, pierogi are made by preparing homemade dough. Then, a filling is made separately. The last step consists of stuffing the dough with your filling and sealing each dumpling by hand. While rewarding, this process is time-consuming and tedious.
- Lazy Pierogi: Lazy Pierogi, on the other hand, require a fraction of the labor. Instead of making the dough and the filling separately, you are going to mix all the ingredients and skip the extra work. That’s right – you can make this quick pierogi dough using only ONE bowl and without having to do any tedious stuffing and sealing. When a craving hits and you’re short on time, it’s a quick way to get them on the table.
5-Ingredient Lazy Pierogi Dough: Our simple dough only requires all-purpose flour, egg, sugar, salted butter, and farmer’s cheese and zero need to pinch, seal, or fold the dough into individual dumplings!
How to Prepare this Lazy Pierogi Recipe
To make lazy pierogi, you will mix all your ingredients in a large bowl to create a batter that is both the dough and filling, all in one!
- Roll the Dough Out: After you whip up the dough, you will roll out a few long strands of your cheesy dough and cut them into uniform pieces.
- Boil the Pierogi: To cook the pierogi, you will boil them in small batches in a large pot of salted water until they rise to the top. Once they rise, immediately take them out and drain them from excess water. Don’t overcook them. If you do, they will fall apart and become inedible.
- Toss & Top the Pierogi: Melt the butter and toss the pierogi in it. Top the dumplings with jam, sour cream, and/or fruit. Enjoy immediately for breakfast or dessert.
3 Tips for Nailing this Lazy Pierogi Recipe
Just a handful of tips will help you nail lazy pierogi and finesse the cooking process.
- Don’t whip out the stand mixer & dough hook. This dough can easily be made in one bowl with a spatula – so save yourself the mess and additional clean-up!
- Slice the pierogi into even-sized pieces. Cut the strands of dough into as evenly-sized pieces as possible to promote even cooking. Generally, 1-inch is the sweet spot and will result in that perfect, tender texture you are looking for.
- Stir the pierogi as they boil. To prevent the dumplings from sticking during the cooking process, cook them in batches and stir them with a slotted spoon every so often until they float to the top.
How to Serve this Lazy Pierogi Recipe
After pierogi come out of boiling water, it is best to submerge them into melted butter and immediately serve them with your favorite toppings. Here are a couple of my favorite pierogi complements:
- Sour Cream: Place a dollop or two on your serving plate and dip away!
- Jams: Berry jams are my go-to (particularly raspberry jam or prune plum jam). They add an awesome pop of flavor and a nice contrast to the cheese.
- Syrups: Fruit, maple, or chocolate syrups can be drizzled on top or placed in a bowl for dipping.
- Honey: Spoon some warmed honey over the top of your pierogi.
Freezing, Storing, & Reheating Tips
Although lazy pierogi are easy to prepare the day of, they are also wonderful for meal prep and freezing. Here’s all you need to know…
- Freezing: To freeze the pierogi, line up the raw dumplings in a single layer on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Pop the sheet in the freezer for 2-3 hours, or until the dumplings are completely frozen. Transfer them to a freezer-safe bag and store them in the freezer for up to 3 months.
- Storing: To keep the pierogi on hand in the fridge, store them in an airtight container. Of note, they will likely stick together a bit so make sure they are tossed with butter before you stow them away.
Reheating Tip: To reheat frozen pierogi, boil them as directed – waiting to remove them from the water until they float to the top. To reheat refrigerated pierogi, pop them in the microwave with a little butter or a frying pan over low heat until warmed through.
FAQ
Do you have to boil lazy pierogi before pan-frying them?
Yes, you have to boil lazy pierogi before pan-frying them in a large skillet with butter over medium-high heat. If you don’t, they will simply turn to mush in the pan and not get that crispy crust you are looking for.
What is lazy pierogi filling made of?
Technically, lazy pierogi doesn’t have a traditional “filling”. Instead, the cheese is mixed straight into the dough to prevent you from having to do all the tedious stuffing and sealing required for traditional pierogi. To dress them up, all you have to do is top them with your favorite jam, sour cream, or fruit.
What meat goes well in traditional pierogi?
Typically, traditional pierogi is stuffed with some combination of ground chicken, beef, pork, or even turkey that is seasoned simply with salt and pepper. It’s best to use leaner ground meats so the dumplings don’t come out super oily and soggy.
What sides should you serve with pierogi?
If you’re serving sweet pierogi, you can pair them with fresh fruit. If you’re serving savory pierogi, pair it with sauerkraut, crispy bacon bits, sautéed mushrooms, or caramelized onions.
What kind of cheese should you use in lazy pierogi?
The best kind of cheese to use in lazy pierogi is farmer’s cheese or cottage cheese. We prefer to former, as it contains a bit less moisture and makes for a creamier dough.
Are pierogi Polish, Ukrainian, or Russian?
Pierogi aren’t from any one particular place at this point. You’ll find this dumpling served all across Eastern Europe and enjoyed by all Slavic peoples. It’s a universal obsession.
More Traditional Pierogi Recipes to Try
- Steamed Blueberry Pierogi – Grandma’s blueberry & sugar dumplings
- The Classic Pierogi (Potatoes & Cheese) – Pan-fried sharp cheddar cheese & potato filling dumplings
- Meat & Potato Pierogi – Ground meat & mashed potatoes pierogi
- Piroshky with Overnight Dough – Crispy dumplings with cabbage or meat filling
Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cup farmer's cheese
- 2 eggs
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 5 tbsp salted butter melted
- 2 cup all-purpose flour
For Serving
- melted butter
- jam
- sour cream
Instructions
- In a large bowl, combine the eggs with farmer's cheese, sugar, and melted butter.
- Into the wet ingredients, fold in the all-purpose flour in small portions. Note: depending on the flour you use, you may need to add a bit more. The dough should be sticky, but possible to work with on a well-floured surface.
- Place the dough onto a well-floured surface. Roll out strings of dough and cut them into 1-inch pieces.
- Bring a pot of water to boil. In batches, boil the dumplings so they don't stick together, stirring them occasionally. You'll know they are ready when they float to the top of the water. Drain them and immediately toss them in melted butter.
- Serve with sour cream, jam, or your favorite fruit. Enjoy!
This is exactly what my grandmother would make. Although we took an extra step afterwards. Once the pierogi floated up would remove and drain. Then place in refrigerator for at least 1-2 hours. This helped stabilize and then we would add to a skillet with butter and flip once each side was nice and brown. Then salt/pepper and or add sour cream. A perfect memory of my Polish relationship with food.
Randy, thank you for sharing this! It actually sounds incredible. I need to try your version!
I had some cheese left and some potato ( perhaps a cup of each). Mixed together with red onion, green onion, garlic powder, salt and pepper. I then added 1 egg and 1 cup flour. Mix together and add flour a bit at a time and fold together until you get a dough. I did not use sugar or butter in dough. When rolling out roll them on floured surface. They turned out ver nice. Very tasty.
Hi Leona- wow, I love how you totally modified the recipe to your liking! Sounds fantastic! Thanks for commenting.
This is by far the best recipe.!!!! So light and fluffy and full of flavor. We absolutely love it. And whoever doesn't like them sweet don't add sugar or half it. I use half the sugar. And the key is small bite sizes and not overworking the dough. Delicious !!!!!
Thank you for the tips! I'm so glad you enjoyed the recipe!
My mother was Polish and this is how she taught me (without the butter inside) I make a topping of bread crumbs and butter fried together and it gives a burnt butter flavor thats out of this world! And a dollop of sour cream and sugar, on the side. She called it leniva Perogi, means the lazy perogy, in Polish.
I've been looking for this recipe for years . My Bushia made leniva perogi with farmers cheese and she put chopped green onion in them, fried in butter with bread crumbs, served with sour cream .
This sounds delicious! Need to give this version a try, thank you very much for sharing!
This seemed like such a great idea for an easy version of vreniki, but they were just not a hit with my family. They are very sweet (we make vreniki without sugar, just put jam on top), and I’m not sure if I did something wrong, but they are just very heavy in texture. Maybe I made my dough pieces a bit too big! To use up the rest of my dough, I rolled small pieces into thin strands, but the texture is still not appealing. I’m going to try to redeem the leftovers by frying them as crispy as I can in some bacon fat...
Hey, maybe they too large and the dough could get overworked and dense. But we do small bite-size pieces and they are so delicious.
PLEASE I HAVE A LOT OF COTTAGE CHEESE SO I AM LOOKING TO MAKE STUFF. SO WHATS THE DIFFERENCE WITH USING COTTAGE CHEESE AND WHAT IS FARMERS CHEESE.
You can use cottage cheese but you may need to add more flour because it is more liquidy.
Perhaps she can use dry instead of creamed? We can buy either one here.
Maybe, I am not sure.
As much as these look really delicious and remind me of my childhood, they are not pierogi - and not pierogies as “pierogi” itself are plural. 🙂
Pierogi are absolutely different dish. These are dumplings, yes, and we have a different name for what you made here, it’s called kopytka. Just sayin... 😉
Thank you for sharing!
My aunt used to make these only she use cottage cheese, flour and an egg and salt and make dough and roll them in a long tube and cut them off in 1/2 inch pieces drop them in boiling water when they floated to the top they were done, then she made a big frying pan of onions and butter to put on top of them they were delicious but I do not remember how much cottage cheese or flour or if it was one egg does anybody know?
Hey, I think you can add more flour and watch the texture of the dough. Some cottage cheese has more liquid than other so it's hard to say how much flour you may need.
There is no serving size listed in nutrition
It makes 6 servings, it’s listed in the recipe card where the cook time is listed. Hope it helps 😉
Try to Deep fry them
Oh my! That sounds so good!
Why do you call it Pierogi when it is Vareniki?
Pierogi is a more common word to use for Vareniki. Most of my readers dont know what Vareniki is.
Do you think I can replace the cottage cheese for mashed potatoes to make it a savory dish?
If you are looking to make it with potatoes, I would recommend my gnocchi recipe.
The best recipe ever!!!! Tnx so much
SO happy to hear that you loved the recipe. Thanks for sharing.
Can I replace salted butter with unsalted butter?
Yes, it will bring the same results just less salty.
Can I use Cottage cheese instead of farmer's cheese?
Thanks! Looking forward to making these!
Hi Yulya, yes you can. You would need to add more flour to the mixture, just try to match inconsistency. It's hard to mess up this recipe.
Made it today! So delicious!!!! Thanks,Natasha, for this recipe!!!
Dana, I am so happy you loved them!
I am making them this week! So excited!
Made it today, love it. Thanks
Oh, that's so awesome! Thanka for sharing!
Thank you for this recipe, made this and my family loved them.
Thanks Lena, now I am craving them big time. I have some cheese at home, may have to make them. 😉
How long do you have to boil them for?
Usually as soon as they float to the top they are cooked. You can give them an extra minute or two after they float to the top.
Hey Natasha I know u replied to one of the comments that there are instructions between the pictures but i can not see any.
We re working to figure out what browser is not showing instructions.
To make mine even more sweeter I add sugar to the water when boiling them.
Yes, that would be something my hubby would do and has done 🙂 lol
Hi!! I would like to try this recipie and have a few questions...do you think i can freeze these??? do you think i can make them not sweet but savory by adding salt and maybe some greens into the mixture?? Love your blog!! May God bless you and your family!
Yes and yes to both. Making them savory is such a great idea. When you freeze, spread them on a tray, freeze and than place in a zip lock bag.
Made these tonight! My hubby loved them, are they suppose to be the sweet side?
The dough should be a little sweet, not too sweet. But if it was up to my hubby he would a few more cups of sugar to them 🙂
Hi Natasha,
do you also write the instruction next to your step by step photos. I only see the photos but no step instructions on how to make next to them. I noticed it on some of the recipes.
Thank you! Looking forward to making it.
Hi to you Natasha, we have the same name 😉 There are instructions in between the pics, probably hard to notice cuz the pics are much larger now.
I so look forward to trying them! Thank you 🙂
Hey! Tell me how you like them 😉 Well, I do home you love them lol