Polish Potato Dumplings.
This Polish potato dumplings recipe is made with puréed potatoes mixed with flour to form a dumpling. It's then covered with fried onions and bacon to create a delicious taste!

Recipe updated: April 16th, 2024

This Polish potato dumplings recipe goes way back in time, probably more than a couple of hundred years ago! I say that because my mother-in-law, Alice, and her mother, Granny, made them all the time. I am sure Granny’s mother, and her mother made them too. They made them as a side dish that goes with fried pork chops and sauerkraut as we still do today, although, they could also be made as a main dish.

Polish potato dumplings in a bowl.

🏷️ Key Ingredients

The ingredients used in this recipe are simple and you may already have them in your kitchen. Also, this recipe makes a large batch of potato dumplings, so you can cut the recipe in half or have leftovers the next day as we do.

  • 5-pound bag of potatoes
  • 1 ½ teaspoons of table salt
  • 7 cups of all-purpose flour
  • 1 pound of bacon
  • 1 medium onion
  • 1/8 teaspoon of table salt (for the boiling water)
Ingredients for Polish potato pumplings
Ingredients for potato dumplings.

✨ How to Make Polish Potato Dumplings

These step-by-step instructions are accompanied by detailed photos for enhanced clarity and guidance.

Step 1. Peel the Potatoes for the Dumplings

To begin with, let’s peel that 5-pound bag of spuds. Place the peeled potatoes in a large bowl of cold water so they won’t turn brown while you are still pealing the other potatoes.

Tip: When trying to figure out how many potatoes to make for your family, plan about 1 to 2 potatoes per person, and then add a couple more for good measure.

Peeled potatoes in water.
Bowl of peeled potatoes in cold water.

Step 2. Cut the Potatoes into Cubes

Then, after peeling all the potatoes, cut them into cubes with a sharp knife. The smaller you cut the potatoes, the easier it is for your blender to do its job.

Chop potatoes into chunks.
Potatoes are cut into cubes.

Step 3. Put the Potatoes into the Blender

The next step is to put the cut-up potatoes in the blender. Add the potatoes a little at a time. Keep adding the potatoes and blending them into a purée. You won’t have enough room in the blender for all of them, so dump out the blended ones into a big bowl. Continue to blend the rest of the potatoes until done blending all of them.

Note: If you don’t have a blender, you can grate the potatoes with a cheese grater. That is how the ladies did it back in the old days when there was no such thing as a blender. And so the procedure was passed down from one generation to the next. But… it does take a long time to do it that way, not to mention how hard that is on the hands. Certainly, an electric cheese grater would be much easier on the hands.

Puréed potatoes in a blender.
Puréed potatoes in a blender.

Step 4. Transfer Puréed Potatoes to Large Bowl

Pour the puréed potatoes in the same bowl you used earlier. In the next step mentioned below, we will be adding the flour and salt.

Puréed potatoes dumped into a bowl.
Puréed potatoes in a bowl.

Step 5. Add the Flour and Salt to the Puréed Potatoes

In a separate bowl, add 7 cups of flour together with 1 and 1/2 teaspoons of salt. Mix well. Then, a little at a time, add the flour and salt mixture to the bowl of puréed potatoes, creating the dumpling dough. Mix thoroughly.

Flour and salt added to puréed potatoes.
The flour and salt mixture is added to the puréed potatoes.

Step 6. Cook The Potato Dumplings

Add 1/8 teaspoon of salt to a big pot of water. We used a pot that was big enough to hold 20 cups of water about half way up the pot. Put the salted water on the stove and bring it to a boil.

When the water starts boiling, drop the uncooked dumplings by spoonful into the boiling water. Be sure not to make the spoonful too big. While the shape of the dumplings doesn’t matter, if they are too big, they won’t cook evenly with any smaller ones. Little pieces of dough may separate from the dumplings, and that is perfectly fine.

Hint: Wet the spoon first in the boiling water, then start putting the dumpling dough into the boiling water. The wet spoon makes the potato mixture not stick to the spoon. Also, if you don’t have a large pot, you can cook half of the batch of the dumpling dough at a time.

Cook the dumplings for about 15 minutes. Use a spoon to stir the potato dumplings while they are boiling in the water. If you don’t mix them every now and then, they may start to stick together or stick to the bottom of the pot. After cooking for 15 minutes, turn the burner off.

Cooking the potato dumplings in a pot of boiling water.
Cooking the potato dumplings in water.

Step 7. Drain and Rinse in Cold Water

Use a slotted spoon – a spoon with holes in it – and remove the potato dumplings from the hot water, then put them into a colander in the sink. Run cold water over them. This step is a must-do step. The cold water will rinse off the starchy build-up formed around the potato dumplings.

Rinse the pot you were cooking the potato dumplings in and then put the cooked potato dumplings back into the same pot. Set them aside for now.

Potato dumplings in colander rinsing under cold water.
Potato dumplings in a colander rinsing under cold water.

Step 8. Slice the Bacon and Onions

Slice one pound of raw bacon into pieces, and then dice one medium-sized onion.

Tip: Semi-frozen bacon is easier to cut.

Chopped bacon and onions for potato dumplings.
Sliced bacon and diced onions.

Step 9. Fry the Bacon

Put the bacon pieces in the frying pan first, then cook on medium heat until about halfway done cooking.

Bacon frying in a skillet.
Bacon frying in a skillet.

Step 10. Add the Diced Onions

After the bacon is just about done, then add the diced onions.

Onions added to bacon in frying pan.
Add the onions to the bacon.

Step 11. Fry the Bacon to Your Liking

Continue to fry the bacon and onions until they are to your liking. This may take about 15 minutes or so. I like my bacon completely done and the onions soft.

Frying bacon and onions in a frying pan.
Frying bacon and onions in the frying pan.

Step 12. Add the Bacon and Onions to the Potato Dumplings

Next, transfer the bacon, onions, plus the bacon grease, to the pot with the cooked dumplings. Mix thoroughly. Turn the burner on medium-low. Then reheat the potato dumplings and the bacon and onions to your liking, for about 7 to 10 minutes. Stir occasionally so they won’t stick to the bottom of the pot.

Polish potato dumplings done in the pot.
The potato dumplings are ready to eat.

🌟 Recipe Variations

  • If you don’t like onions, you can eliminate them from this recipe.
  • Try pouring maple syrup on your serving.
  • Sprinkle some red pepper flakes on your serving.
Finished Polish potato dumplings close up in a bowl with bacon.

❓ FAQs

What Can Polish Potato Dumplings be Served With?

The best dish that goes with Polish potato dumplings is pork chops and sauerkraut. We have always had these two dishes together.

What is the Difference Between Potato Dumplings, Kopytka, and Pierogies?

Potato Dumplings – Our potato dumplings are purée or grated potatoes, then mixed with flour and salt. Then boiled in water to make a dumpling. There are no mashed potatoes in our recipe. There is nothing added to the inside of the dumpling, and there is no melted butter on them. We add fried bacon and onions to our potato dumplings.

Kopytka recipe – are mashed potato dumplings. They are made with mashed potatoes or with leftover mashed potatoes. The mashed potatoes can be put through a potato ricer to get all of the lumps out. Then the mashed potatoes are mixed with flour, egg, and salt to make a dough. They are cut into shapes that look like little hooves. They are then boiled in water. Kopytka is also topped with buttered breadcrumbs, which are melted butter and breadcrumbs that are fried together. Also known as one version of Polonaise sauce.

Pierogies – Made with flour, egg, salt, and water. The dough is rolled out on a floured surface, then cut into round shapes. Filled with dry curd cheese, boiled as dumplings, then served with melted butter poured on top.

Polish potato dumplings in a bowl.
A dish of potato dumplings.

📄 Final Thoughts

From one generation to the next, recipes can stay the same, or they can change quite a bit. Sometimes there are minor changes to a recipe, and then again, sometimes there are major changes to a recipe. This simple Polish potato dumplings recipe is the same as it was from many years ago from my husband’s side of the family who migrated to the United States from Poland. It is our family’s favorite Polish cuisine!

My husband eats potato dumplings just like they are, but the kids and I pour maple syrup over the top of ours. See the maple syrup in the photo? The taste reminds me of something my mom made many years ago. So delicious. I hope you enjoy these delicious Polish potato dumplings as much as we do!

Polish Potato Dumplings pin image.

🗂️ Recipe Card

Polish Potato Dumplings.

Polish Potato Dumplings Recipe

Avatar for FloFlo
This Polish potato dumplings recipe is made with puréed potatoes mixed with flour to form a dumpling. It's then covered with fried onions and bacon to create a delicious taste!
4.77 from 13 votes
Cost $8
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Total Time 45 minutes
Course: Dinner
Cuisine: German, Polish
Servings 10

🫕 Equipment

🧂 Ingredients
  

👩‍🍳 Instructions
 

Making The Potato Dumplings

  • Peel the potatoes. Cut potatoes into cubes.
  • Liquefy the potatoes in a blender a little at a time, then put the potatoes into a big bowl. Add more potatoes to the blender until all are liquefied.
  • Mix the flour and salt together.
  • Gradually add the flour mixture to the potatoes. Mix together.
  • Add the salt to a big pot of water. Bring the water to a boil.
  • Drop the potato dumpling dough by spoonful into the boiling water. Cook for about 15 minutes while stirring occasionally. Turn off the burner.
  • Put the potato dumplings in a colander and rinse under cold water.
  • Clean the pot, then put the potato dumplings back into the pot and set them aside for now.

Frying the Bacon and Onions

  • Slice the bacon into pieces. It's easier to cut bacon when it is partially frozen.
  • Fry the bacon in a frying pan on the stove.
  • Dice one medium onion. When the bacon is just about done, add the diced onions to the frying pan.
  • Fry until both bacon and onions are done.
  • Add the fried bacon and onions to the pot of potato dumplings.
  • Heat up on medium-low heat for 7 to 10 minutes, then eat, stirring quite often.

*️⃣ Recipe Notes

  • Potato dumplings are a side dish we have with fried pork chops and sauerkraut.
  • The kids and I like to pour maple syrup over the top of our potato dumplings.
  • This recipe is a big batch of potato dumplings. You can half the recipe or have leftovers the next night.
  • This recipe originated from my husband’s side of the family who migrated to the USA from Poland. 
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

💙 More Recipes You Will Love

If you love Polish recipes and Polish dumplings, or any kind of dumplings for that matter, we have a few similar dumpling recipes that are quite tasty.

  • Milk Soup with Dumplings – Tiny little cooked flour dumplings added to milk and sugar for breakfast or lunch.
  • Fried Dumplings with Syrup – Shaped like a rolled noodle, fried in cooking oil and maple syrup poured on top. For breakfast, lunch, or brunch.
  • Chicken Soup Dumplings – a delicious chicken soup made with rotisserie chicken and lots of dumplings.

This Post Has 4 Comments

  1. Avatar for Cathy

    My paternal grandmother came here from Slovakia and potato dumplings was a staple growing up. We make them the same along with the bacon and onions with the addition of drained sauerkraut mixed in. We just referred to it as Haluski, (which is the Slovak name for the dumpling.)
    I wonder if CarolAnne is recalling kapusta which is pork, onions and sauerkraut in a gravy. I don’t recall my father putting bacon in it. Kapusta is the Slovak name for cabbage.
    Another way we ate the dumplings was with browned butter and cottage cheese. ( It was the closest type of cheese here in USA that they used in the old country but I don’t recall that name.) I hope I have remembered the names correctly.

    1. Avatar for Flo

      Hi Cathy, I enjoyed reading your comment. It’s nice to hear the stories and history of the way folks did things back then, very interesting. Thank you.

  2. Avatar for CarolAnne Karlin

    I’ve been searching for this recipe forever! My grandmother made gravy with the bacon and onions. I can’t remember what it’s seasoned with if anything. Any ideas?? 😊

    1. Avatar for Flo

      Hi CarolAnne,
      Thank you for your comment and question. We have never made bacon and onions gravy, but that does sound very interesting. We use all of the bacon drippings when we mix the bacon and onions together with the potato dumplings. To make bacon and onion gravy, I would think that the flavor of the bacon and onion is enough that no other seasonings would be needed.

4.77 from 13 votes (13 ratings without comment)

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