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Meat Pierogi is an absolute staple in Polish cuisine. For the filling, you can use up meat from a broth, or you can use up your leftover turkey, or you could just cook some pork, chicken, or beef for the filling of this pierogi (I’ll show you how). If you want to just see the recipe itself, then please use the ‘Jump to Recipe’ button above.
Pierogi from Chicken Broth Meat
For anyone who grew up in a communist country, it’s not a surprise that food was scarce. You couldn’t just simply go to the supermarket and get whatever you wanted. Chicken or pieces of beef were a commodity.
Therefore, once someone was able to get a chicken or beef and make a Sunday chicken soup (Rosol, which is different than American chicken soup as it is clear like a broth), they’d often just use that meat and some of the veggies to make a filling for pierogi. Nothing was ever wasted.
So the next time, you make Rosol, or any other broth and you have some leftover meat, don’t throw it out. Turn it into pierogi instead. Get some meat and some veggies from the broth and either push it through a meat grinder or simply use a food processor. Pulse it a few times, season to your liking and your filing for the pierogi is almost ready. I would also add some chopped and fried onions and fresh parsley (both are such huge flavor boosters!)
Pierogi from Leftover Turkey
I’ve been living in the US since 2005 and my boys are half Polish and half American. Therefore, I make sure that we celebrate both Polish and American Holidays. Every year for Thanksgiving I’m making my Maple Mustard Glazed Turkey, Mushroom Leek Stuffing, and Brussels Sprouts with Bacon.
Like most of you, we always end up with a lot of turkey leftovers. Typically, I repurpose this meat to make dishes like Turkey Soup, my famous Turkey Sandwich, and occasionally a Spanish Rice.
But this year I decided to surprise my husband and morph our turkey leftovers into a delicious meat pierogi. He was surprised and said that it was really an excellent way to use up all these leftovers.
When you store the turkey meat in the fridge it has a tendency to dry out. For pierogi, the meat needs to be soft. The easy solution for this is to just place it in a pot with some turkey or chicken broth and boil it for a couple of minutes.
If you roast your turkey with veggies, you may also have some carrots or celery that you can add to the filling. I usually have carrots and celery. This year I only added carrots, fresh parsley, and some freshly fried onions.
If you don’t have veggies, add some to the broth and cook until soft. Place everything in a food processor, pulse a few times, adjust the seasoning, and just like that your meat pierogi filling is ready.
What if you don’t have any cooked meat and really have a meat pierogi craving?
The answer is very simple: take a piece of meat (either chicken or pork or beef, or a combination of them) and add some carrots and celery; then add to a broth and cook until the meat and the veggies are soft.
And then proceed like described above…add to the food processor, season, add fried onions and pulse a few times. Set aside and work your dough.
To Recap, Here’s what you need to make Meat Pierogi:
Meat: You can make pierogi from chicken, turkey, pork, beef, or a combination of them. For this recipe, I used approximately 2 cups of shredded turkey meat. If you use other types of meat just make sure that you have about 2 cups of it once you take the meat off the bones.
Veggies: cooked carrots and celery will add some nice texture and fried onions and fresh parsley will add a nice boost of flavor.
Seasoning: Salt and pepper is a must, but you can add other seasonings to your likings. Some people like adding marjoram, garlic powder, onion powder, or magi seasoning (I always buy it in specialty Polish store). Just taste the filling and adjust it to your liking.
Dough: I’ve written some posts before with some step by steps guides on how to make pierogi dough. There are a lot of different schools and a lot of them add an egg to the dough. I make my dough without an egg. In my opinion, the dough without the egg is much softer and pliable. See my recipes for Pierogi with Potatoes and Cheese or Pierogi with Sauerkraut and Mushrooms. For my dough recipe, you’ll just need flour, butter, milk, and/or water.
How to make these pierogi
(Please see the printable recipe card at the end of this post)
For the Filling
As you read, I mostly touched on the subject of how to make meat pierogi filling above. However, I will show you a couple of in-process shots so you can see how it is done.
Either cook or rehydrate your meat.
Chop and fry the onions
Add the meat, carrots, parsley, and fried onions to a food processor, season, and pulse a few times.
Set your filling aside and prepare the dough.
The dough
If you have a standing mixer, just add flour, warm milk and/or warm water, melted butter, and a pinch of salt to the bowl. Then use the dough hook to mix it until it’s well combined. Once combined, continue kneading it for about 6-7 minutes.
If you don’t have a mixer, you can make the dough by combining all the ingredients and kneading it until it no longer sticks to your hand (you can see how to make it in the post for Pierogi with Potatoes and Cheese).
Once your dough is ready, you’ll need to let it rest. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let it sit for 30 minutes.
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. You’ll need it ready once you make your first batch of pierogi.
If you have a pasta roller extension for your mixer, divide your dough into about 4 or 5 pieces and start rolling them through the pasta maker until it’s thin (to about 1/8 of an inch). Make sure to keep your other pieces covered with plastic wrap.
If you don’t have a pasta roller, just use a regular hand roller and roll your dough in batches (again, to about 1/8 of an inch).
Putting it all together
Using a glass, cut out circles, then place a teaspoon or 1.5 tsp of the filing on every circle; press the edges of the dough together and use a fork to seal the pierogi edges.
Place the pierogi that you’ve made into the boiling water. Turn the heat down to low and cook for about 3 minutes, until they float to the surface.
Prepare the clean baking sheets. Splash a little oil on each baking sheet, remove the pierogi from the water with a slotted spoon, and place them on your oiled baking sheet. Then shake them a little bit, to ensure that they’re covered with oil and not touching each other.
Continue with the rest of the dough and the filling until you’ve finished. When making pierogi, you may end up with excess dough or filling leftover. Don’t stress about it.
I must admit that ever since I got my mixer, I’ve become spoiled. I cannot go back to the old fashion way of making pierogi dough by hand. It’s a huge time saver!
How to serve Meat Pierogi
I always make some fried onions to sprinkle on the top of the pierogi, but fried bacon also works wonders as well.
You can also let them dry out slightly and then fry them up in a little bit of butter before adding toppings (totally optional).
Sour cream is also a nice addition to any pierogi.
How to reheat pierogi
So did you make more pierogi than you can eat in one sitting? No stress! Once the pierogi are dried out, cover in a little oil and simply place them into the Tupperware and eat within 3 days. The oil prevents them from sticking.
To reheat, just boil a pot of water and add them to the boiling water. Lower the heat and cook for a few minutes, until they come to the surface. Now, you can eat them or add them to a buttered pan and slightly fry.
You could also fry them up directly from the fridge. Just melt some butter, add pierogi and fry on each side, until golden brown. I usually then add a splash of water and place a cover on top of the pan. It’s a similar technique to potstickers.
How to freeze pierogi
Place the baking sheet into the freezer, making sure that none of the pierogi are touching each other. Once frozen, place them in the plastic bag and store for up to 3 months.
What kind of pierogi do you like the most?
I hope you’ll enjoy this kind.
Polish Meat Pierogi
Ingredients
For the Filling
- 2 cups Shredded or pulled meat turkey, chicken, beef or pork
- 1 Cooked Carrot
- 1/2 Medium Onion chopped and fried
- 1 tbsp Butter to fry the onion
- 2 tbsp Fresh Parsley chopped
- Salt and Pepper to taste
For the Dough
- 3 cups Flour All purpose
- 1 1/4 cups Warm Milk Or Warm Water You can also use 1/2 cup of Milk and 3/4 cups of water
- 1 tbsp Melted Butter
- 1/4 teaspoon Salt
Instructions
For the Filling
- Either cook or rehydrate your meat. See recipe notes for more details. If using meat on the bones, strip it from the bones and slightly shredded. Add to food processor.
- Chop and fry the onions in a tablespoon of butter for about 5-7 minutes until golden brown. Let it cool slightly and add to the food processor.
- Chopp cooked carrots and fresh parsley and add to the food processor, season, and pulse a few times.
- Set your filling aside and prepare the dough.
For the Dough
- If you have a standing mixer, just add flour, warm milk and/or warm water, melted butter, and a pinch of salt to the bowl. Then use the dough hook to mix it until it's well combined. Once combined, continue kneading it for about 6-7 minutes.
- If you don’t have a mixer, you can make the dough by combining all the ingredients and kneading it until it no longer sticks to your hand.
- Once your dough is ready, you’ll need to let it rest. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let it sit for 30 minutes.
- Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. You’ll need it ready once you make your first batch of pierogi.
- If you have a pasta roller extension for your mixer, divide your dough into about 4 or 5 pieces and start rolling them through the pasta maker until it’s thin (to about 1/8 of an inch). Make sure to keep your other pieces covered with plastic wrap.
- If you don’t have a pasta roller, just use a regular hand roller and roll your dough in batches (again, to about 1/8 of an inch).
Putting it all together
- Using a glass, cut out circles, then place a teaspoon or 1.5 tsp of the filing on every circle; press the edges of the dough together and use a fork seal the pierogi edges.
- Place the pierogi that you’ve made into the boiling water. Turn the heat down to low and cook for about 3 minutes, until they float to the surface.
- Prepare the clean baking sheets. Splash a little oil on each baking sheet, remove the pierogi from the water with a slotted spoon, and place them on your oiled baking sheet. Then shake them a little bit, to ensure that they’re covered with oil and not touching each other.
- Continue with the rest of the dough and the filling until you’ve finished one full of them. When making pierogi, you may end up with excess dough or filing leftover. Don’t stress about it.
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