(Last Updated On: September 20, 2022)
I learned how to make pierogies from my Polish mother-in-law umpteen years ago. But for some time now, the company stopped making the dry curd cheese my mother-in-law used in her pierogies recipe. For whatever their reasons, I don’t know.
So, for the love of pierogies, we had to improvise and come up with another pierogies recipe that would taste the same as my mother-in-law’s original recipe! And lo and behold, we did!
Everyone that I have given this recipe to makes it with large curd cottage cheese, which is the best thing that could have happened to pierogies and for us! These pierogies taste as good or even better than before, and I am going to show you how to do it.
Key Ingredients For Pierogies Recipe
Large Curd Cheese Mixture
- 2 containers of large curd cottage cheese (24 ounces each)
- 1 egg
- 1/8 teaspoon of salt
Pierogies Dough For The Dumplings
- 2 and 1/2 cups of all purpose flour
- 4 eggs
- 1/4 teaspoon of salt
- 1/3 cup of water
Ingredients For The Last Step Of The Pierogies Recipe
- 1/2 cup of butter
Step-By-Step Pierogies Recipe Instructions With Photos
Preparing the Large Curd Cheese Mixture For Pierogies Recipe
To begin with, put two 24 ounce containers of large curd cottage cheese into a medium-sized bowl. Then, slowly add cold water from the tap into the bowl with the cottage cheese. Stir the cottage cheese around in the bowl very carefully because we do not want to break up the curd cheese. In other words, what we are doing is removing or “washing” the creamy dressing part of the cottage cheese away from the curd cheese.
Next, place a colander in the sink and drain the water from the curd cheese. Then, put the curd cheese back into the bowl, add more cold water, and wash it again. All of the creamy dressing must be rinsed off of the curd cheese. Also, remember to be extra careful not to break up the curd cheese. Drain the water again from the curd cheese.
In a medium-sized bowl beat 1 egg, then add 1/8 teaspoon of salt to the beaten egg.
Very carefully stir the beaten egg and salt together with the curd cheese. Then put it in the refrigerator for now.
Preparing The Pierogies Flour Dumplings
In a medium-sized bowl, beat 4 eggs, then add 1/3 cup of water and mix well. Then slowly add 2 and 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour and 1/4 teaspoon of salt (photo not shown) together with the beaten eggs.
Dust a cutting board or countertop with flour and put a dusting of flour over the dough. Form the dough into a ball shape. The pierogies dumpling dough should be very soft, not stiff.
Rolling The Dough For Pierogies Dumplings
With a rolling pin, flatten the dough by rolling it from the center out. Keep rolling out the dough until it is approximately an eighth of an inch thick. When rolling out the dough, try not to overwork it as this will make the dough tougher and stiffer.
Cutting The Pierogies Dough
Two Methods
This next step is to choose one of two methods of cutting the dough to prepare the dumplings. I have used both methods many times, but when I’m in a hurry, the easy way is so much quicker. Either method you choose, the pierogies will taste the same.
Original Way:
Cut the dough into circles with a round cookie cutter or a cup, then fill each circle with some curd cheese, then fold the circled dough in half and crimp the edges, sort of like how you would make cheese-filled ravioli. After that, go to the step “Cooking The Pierogies Dumplings.” Note: There should be leftover curd cheese, just add it to the cooked dumplings in the last step when the butter is added. Also, this method takes longer to do, and most of the time some of the dumplings will “spring a leak” so to speak, while they are boiling in the water, and the curd cheese will fall out of the dumplings anyway.
The Easy Way:
Cut the dough into little square shapes about one and a half inches in size. Do not fill the squares with the curd cheese. Each square shape does not have to be the exact same size. I will be doing the easy way for this recipe, then follow the next step below.
Keep just a little dusting of flour on the outside of the dough so the dough won’t stick to your hands.
Shake most of the flour off of the dumpling squares and place them on a plate, that way it is much easier to carry the plate to the stove when it’s time to add the dumpling squares to the boiling water, discussed in the next step.
Cooking The Pierogies Dumplings
Fill a big pot with water. Bring to a boil. When the water starts boiling, reduce the heat to medium-high and start putting the dough squares into the pot, stirring all the while. Cook the dumplings for about 13 minutes.
After the dumplings have cooked for 13 minutes, place a colander in the sink and drain the dumplings while running cold water over them. The cold water rinses off the starchy build-up that has formed around the dumplings. After rinsing, let the dumplings sit in the colander for a few minutes to make sure all of the water has drained off.
The Last Step For Pierogies
The last step is to add 1/2 cup of butter to the pot, let it melt a bit, then put the dumplings back into the pot. Then add the curd cheese together with the butter and the dumplings. Cook on medium heat for about 5 minutes, stirring constantly, and until all ingredients are thoroughly heated through.
When we make this pierogies recipe for dinner, we have baked ham along with a side dish of buttered green beans sprinkled with black pepper. The combination tastes fantastic together. For dessert try these amazing homemade brownies.
Pierogies Recipe
Equipment
Ingredients
For The Large Curd Cheese Mixture
- 2 containers large curd cottage cheese (24 ounces each)
- 1 egg (beaten)
- 1/8 tsp table salt
For The Pierogies Flour Dumplings
- 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- 4 eggs (beaten)
- 1/4 tsp table salt
- 1/3 cup water
For The Last Step
- 1/2 cup butter
Instructions
Preparing The Large Curd Cheese Mixture
- Use cold water to rinse off "all" of the creamy dressing part of the cottage cheese. Do this carefully as not to break up the curd cheese.
- Drain the water out using a colander then put the curd cheese back into the bowl and wash it again. All of the creamy dressing must be rinsed off. Remember to be careful with the curd cheese. Drain the water out again. Let curd cheese sit for a few minutes in the colander so all water can drain off of the curd cheese.
- In a different bowl, beat the egg and add the salt to the egg.
- Very carefully stir in the beaten egg and salt together with the large curd cheese. Then put the curd cheese in the refrigerator for now.
Preparing The Pierogies Flour Dumplings
- Beat the eggs in a medium-sized bowl. Add the water. Then add the flour and salt. Form dough into a ball shape. The dough should be very soft, not stiff.
- Dust a countertop or cutting board with flour. Put a dusting of flour over the dough.
Rolling The Dough
- Flatten the dough by rolling it from the center out until it is approximately an eighth of an inch thick. Try not to overwork the dough.
Cutting The Pierogies Dough
- Easy Way: Cut the dough into squares approximately one and a half inches in size. Original Way: Cut round circles with a cookie cutter or cup. Fill each circle with curd cheese, fold in half and seal the edges (like how you would make cheese-filled ravioli). Note: This way takes longer and a lot of the curd cheese will fall out of the dumpling during boiling anyway.
Cooking The Pierogies Dumplings
- Bring a big pot of water to a boil. Then reduce heat to medium-high and start adding the flour dumplings to the boiling water, stirring all the time.
- Cook the dumplings for about 13 minutes.
- Rinse and drain the dumplings under cold water.
The Last Step
- Put the butter in the pot. Let it melt a bit. Put the dumplings back in the pot. Add the curd cheese mixture. On medium heat cook until all ingredients are thoroughly heated through, about 5 minutes. Stir constantly.
Recipe Notes
- Make it a complete dinner with pierogies, baked ham, and buttered green beans sprinkled with black pepper.
A wife, a mother to a son and a daughter, and a grandmother to three granddaughters. Flo loves sharing recipes passed down from her own mother, her mother-in-law, and her grandmother as well as new recipes created with her daughter, Tamara Ray.
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