Pelmeni are the Russian version of dumplings. They’re mostly served on cold winter days with sour cream or just butter. Kids and adults both love them, they are a true Russian comfort food.
Pelmeni originated from Siberia, no wonder my husband loves them so much. He immigrated to US from Siberia at nine years of age.
Russian Pelmeni can be made by hand or by using a mold. In Russian language, the mold is called “pelmenitsa”, you can get one for yourself on amazon. The mold will always speed up the process of making the Pelmeni.
What Russian Pelmeni Are Made Of
The dough is made with flour, water, eggs and seasoned with salt. The filling is made with ground meat, onion, salt and pepper. The best meat to use for the filling is pork or a combination of beef and chicken.
Make Pelmeni Using a Mold
Make Pelmeni by Hand
Tips For Storing Pelmeni
Place the raw Pelmeni on a flat tray, dusted with flour. Generously dust them with flour on the outside. Leave them in a freezer until they harden. Place the frozen Pelmeni in a ziplock back. They can be kept frozen for several months.
Can You Pan Fry Pelmeni?
If you have leftovers, reheat them by frying Pelmeni with butter. Fry them only for a few minutes, just until the outside achieves a golden crust.
Other Russian Recipes to Try
Recipe
Ingredients
Ingredients for Pelmeni Dough
Ingredients for Pelmeni Filling
Serving Pelmeni
Instructions
Pelmeni Dough
- Sift the flour with salt into a mixing bowl. Add eggs, mix the dough for a short bit, then add water to the dough.
- Combine everything into a smooth texture by hand or using a Kitchen Aid mixer. Flour the working surface.
Pelmeni Filling
- Combine together ground meat, grated onion, salt and pepper.
To Assemble Pelmeni
- To save time use a mold to make Pelmeni. Roll out a flat piece of dough and place it on a floured mold that’s covered with flour. Fill each hole with meat.
- Make one more flat, round piece of dough and place it on top. Sprinkle with flour and roll over it with a roller until each piece is separated.
- Flip the mold over and shake out the Pelmeni. Dust them with flour, either freeze for later or boil them to cook.
- To make Pelmeni by hand, roll out the dough and cut out small circles using a cookie cutter. Place meat in the middle and fold over the sides into a half-moon shape, pinching the edges together. Connect the two corners together.
To Boil Pelmeni
- Bring a large pot of salted water to boil and add Pelmeni. You’ll know they’re ready once you see them float to the top. Take Pelmeni out using a strainer. Drizzle them with butter and serve with a side of sour cream.
I didn't know that you needed to leave the pelmenis in the freezer. I thought you could cook them instantly. I would like to get make some for my grandmother who is from Russia. I hope I can make them somewhat close to what she used to eat as a kid.
Hey Chris, freezing instructions are for leftovers. You don't need to freeze them.
The best pelmeni recipe. Straight forward to the point with staple ingredients, you are amazing.
Oh, this is so great to hear. Thanks for sharing!
I loved this recipe! but what kind of flour do you use? does grain free all purpose flour work?
Nikki, all-purpose flour would work great in this recipe. Hope you love it!
When you boil them, should the pot be covered or uncovered? Plus, how many dumplings should you boil at a time?
Hey Lydia, I dont cover the pot when boiling them. It depends on the size of the pot, I typically cook 20-30 of them.
I made them yesterday and they were pretty good. I made the wrapper too thick though. They tasted great pan fried.
Pan-fried sounds delicious. This dough is very easy to stretch out so you can make the dough pretty thin.
Thank you 🙂
So I use all the 3 meats equaling 2 lbs or 2lbs of either turkey or beef or chicken
Also what’s the instructions for cooking them right away or after freezing them
Yes, 2lb of meat all together. For cooking Pelmeni, bring a large pot of salted water to boil and add Pelmeni. You’ll know they’re ready once you see them float to the top. (this would apply to both, frozen would just cook a little longer)
How to make pelmeni vegetables water
Season your water with salt pepper ginger and vegetables like onions and carrots n celery then drain off veggies before boiling dumplings in the flavored water. I also add 3 packs Goya Spanish seasoning to water
Oh really interesting! Thanks for sharing this tip!
Sorry, I am not sure what you are asking.
Please advise as to how many pelmeni are in a serving as per the numbers on the nutritional chart. Thank you. Spaseba
Hey Marlene, depending on the size you make them, about 6 or so.
Making it tonight for dinner. But was wondering if I make the dough ahead of time, can I store it covered in the fridge for a few hours or do I use as I make it. I have a toddler so when the time comes I try to take advantage or prepping dinner
Hey Tatiana, if you keep it for a few hours, you are better off keeping it on a countertop covered.
I can’t find anywhere how thick to roll out the dough. First time here. Just heard the word pelmeni two days ago.
Please don’t send junk mail to me
Melissa, your comment made me smile. We will not send you junk mail. 🙂
It should be similar in thickness to dumplings. Slightly thicker than pasta because the dough will stretch as you add meat filling to it.
I’ve been making this every few days at home since I’ve discovered the recipe - thank you!! It’s super easy and great! I make the dough in the bread maker. I also add dill to the meat and make one batch that is just chicken and one batch that is just beef! I also added a bit of melted butter to the meat as my ground meat was extra lean and tasted a bit dry.
Hey Nataliya, thanks for sharing your feedback and all the tips with the meat. I want to try it next time I make them.
These were great - I have extra so I froze them prior to cooking. Not sure if that was the right way to save leftovers. How long should I cook them raw from frozen? Or should I thaw them prior and just use the same method?
Hey Susan, you want to freeze them raw and cook them frozen. The process is pretty similar. Dont overcrowd the pot with them and they will float to the top as soon as they are done.
I tried the recipe today, but for some reasons the the beef filling was not cooked. I tried to boil the pelmeni as long as possible but the dough started to be squishy 🙁 .. Any tips please ?
Thank you.
Hi Mathla, the meat cooks pretty quick in the pelmeni, unless they are really huge. Maybe you are just not used to the way the filling is tasting?
I tried this today but my dough was so sticky. The filling was perfect but I wish I was able to perfect the dough as well. Any tips or brands to make it? Thanks!
You can add a bit more flour, depending on the brand you may need more flour in this recipe. Also, flour the working surface.
Thank you so much! I will try again.
Let me know if you have any questions. Thank you!
Hello!
Do you cook the meat prior to fill or the boiling does that?
Thank you!
No, you shouldn't cook the meat, it will make it hard to fill them. Use raw meat, it cooks up quick.
Hi Natalya, I'm planning on making these for dinner tomorrow, it's been about 25 years since I made them with my parents as a kid. I have a perogi mold, not a pelmeni mold, would this change the boiling time, or can I still follow the same floats to the top rule as above? I was going to make them as soup, for this please confirm, I think I need to drain and transfer to broth due to the flower. Thanks for your help! Any suggestions of what to serve them with are appreciated.
Hey Jen, yes follow the same rule, wait for them to float to the top. When I make mine in a soup, I don't drain them, I actually add them to the cooking ingredients. Here is the pelmeni soup recipe.
I wish I could share my images with you, they turned out absolutely fabulous!! Plus I made them on FaceTime with my dad able to help out from his nursing home room. Thank you!! From my family to yours, stay safe.
Jen, that is so cool, I love your story. You can share the picture by tagging me on Instagram or sending them over on Facebook. I would love to see the pics. Wishing the best to your family.
Any idea what went wrong with my recipe? The dough was soooo sticky, even after working in an additional two cups of flour, the dough had to be scraped off the bowl. I lightly floured the work surface and rolling pin, but the dough just stuck to the pin and was impossible to roll. Now I'm not sure what to do with my two pounds of filling : (
Hey Kendle, what brand of flour did you use? I am thinking of solutions. We have made this recipe many times and the dough shouldn't be sticky at all.
Sorry - just realised that is what you did 😉. But you don’t need to fold them - that makes them look like Italian tortellini
Hey Marianne, no problem at all 🙂 Thanks for describing it, it will help others.
The way to use the pelmeni mold is to put one sheet of dough over the mold. Then you place small spoonfuls of meat mixture in each hole. Brush the dough around the hole with water. Place another sheet of dough on top of the mold and roll over it with a rolling pin. The raised edges around the hole will cut through the dough and make perfectly shaped pelmeni.
Looks like you figured it out 🙂 Keep me posted if any other questions come up.
I’m always intimidated by the dough for pelmeni, but this came out perfectly! Thank you for a great (and easy!) recipe.
Could it be used for vareniki as well?
Hey Jenya, thank you for sharing this feedback. It makes me so happy that you loved it. You can use the pelmeni dough or you can also use vareniki recipe dough, I like it more for vareniki because its easier to fill.
Thanks for this recipe! We love it! How many pelmeni are in a serving?
About 10, but this would also depend on the size of the pelmeni. When you make them by hand they are much larger.
The American Way of Making Russian Pelmeni
https://www.youtube.com/watch…
That definitely speeds up the process but I find homemade dough makes all the difference.
Hi, is it possible to use a pasta roller for this dough? Or it will be sticky if I roll it there?
Hi Tanya!
We used a pasta maker with this recipe for the dough and loved it! The dough was a little sticky with this recipe so we added flour until it no longer was and kept kneading. We ended up on setting 6 with the pasta maker and they came out perfect! After doing it with a roller the first time, we definitely prefer the pasta maker because of the uniformity.
Hey Meesha, thanks for sharing that. I dont own a pasta maker so this is definitely interesting to me. Need to look into one 🙂
The dough is a little different in texture than pasta dough so a rolling pin will be a better option. Also, the dough doesn't need to be extra thin, should be quick and easy to do.
Thanks for this recipe - question: about how many pelmeni does this yield for the serving size of 10 people?
If you make pelmeni by hand, what size round cookie cutter would you recommend? I've never had pelmeni before so not sure how big or small it should be.
Hey Cindy, I would recommend about 2-inch size. If you have never tried them, you are in for a treat!
Do you need to precook the meat?
No, when you use ground meat thats not precooked they are much easier to form. It will cook when you boil pelmeni.
The best recipe for pelmeni. Thank you!
Thank you! So glad they turned out amazing 🙂
Okay I have to say it. This is the best recipe ever! My mother in law uses exactly the same recipe for the dough. And I have tried a few different ones. But I am done experimenting as I will only use this recipe for pelmeni and vareniki! Thank you for what you do!
Thank you Zhanna! It's always an honor when a recipe a sweet reminder. The photos are ouch :// I really need to update this recipe!
the pelmeni molds are available on ebay for about $10.
Oh wow, that is a great price!!! thanks for letting me know.
Ahhh, the pelmenitsa is a great idea and a timesaver! I will definitely have to look into investing in one. Great blog, keep up the ideas! 🙂
Thank you Maria. The mold is definitely worth every penny.