Beef Piroshki (Жареные пирожки) are a fried Russian hand pie, or meat pie. Simple, like an empanada. A favorite Russian snack stuffed with beef and onion. A Russian comfort food, popular across the former Soviet Union.
There are many variations of fried meat pies across many cultures. Hand Pies you'd recognize are known as Samosas, Empanadas, Belyashi or Pasties. Similarly across Europe, there are different versions of these hand pies. In Greece, they're known as Piroski. In Latvia as Piragi. Finland has Karelian Pasties. Iranians enjoy Pirashki. The Volga Germans introduced Bierocks to the Americas. Variations of Piroshki are made in Armenia, Azerbaijan, Ukraine, Mongolia, Kazakhstan and across Central Asia.
What do you Stuff Inside?
They can be stuffed with many different ingredients. These Fried Piroshki are common, but I also make them with Beef and Potato, with Cabbage, and even with Apricot Piroshki or Blueberry Piroshki – Sweet Hand Pies (Video). Check out the different recipes on my site. They can also be baked in an oven, for a healthier version of a hand pie.
The easy Piroshki dough is made using a bread maker's dough cycle. It's such an easy way to prepare yeast dough. Drop all the ingredients in, then press the dough setting, and you have yeast dough ready to go in 90 minutes! I bought a bread maker just so I can make easy yeast dough.
If you want to make a more traditional Yeast Dough Recipe, click the link or watch the recipe below! Not everyone has a bread maker, and it's easy enough to make the dough from scratch, the traditional way.
Can You Freeze Piroshki?
Usually I make 2 batches of dough, as I can double the recipe. I figure after all the work to make Piroshki, I want to save some for later! It's perfectly fine to freeze them. Just microwave to heat them up when you're ready to eat. They're the perfect snack for the kids after school.
Traditionally Piroshki are usually eaten with sour cream. I loved always eating them with ketchup, because all kids love ketchup! Everyone loves eating Piroshki, and this recipe is sure to be a family favorite. Bon Appetit! Приятного аппетита!
Piroshki (Жареные пирожки)
Ingredients
For the dough
- 1 ⅓ cups/320ml milk I use 50/50 with water/milk
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 4 tbsp/50g butter softened
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 500 grams/4 cups flour
- 2 teaspoons yeast
For the filling
- 1 lb/500g ground beef
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- 2 small onions finely diced
Instructions
- Place dough ingredients, in the order listed, into your bread machine and select the dough program. It takes about 90 minutes for the dough cycle to complete.
- In a frying pan, over medium high heat, the ground beef until cooked and evenly browned. Add onions and continue to fry until translucent. Add salt and pepper, set aside to cool.
- When the dough is ready, carefully place onto a very lightly floured surface. Careful not to overwork the dough, it needs to be soft. Using your hands, roll out the dough into a long sausage shape. You want to cut into pieces that are approx the size of a golf ball. Or you can pinch off golf ball pieces from the dough. You should get at least 24 pieces from this recipe. Cover pieces you aren’t working on with cling wrap so they don’t dry out.
- Shape dough balls into the shape of an oval about 4 inches across (using your hands to shape, or gently with a rolling pin). Place about 1 tablespoon of the meat mixture in the centre. Pinch both sides of the edges of the dough together, creating a seal all around. Don’t allow the filling to touch the edges or the seal will come apart. Flatten the pinches edges, or leave like a perogy.
- Heat a skillet with about 1″ of oil until hot. Gently place about 4-6 piroshki into the oil (pinched side down) and cook until they’re golden brown, around 3-4 minutes. Flip over and cook other side.
- Remove onto a plate lined with paper towels to absorb excess oil. Serve immediately.
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