Authentic Chebureki, just like babushka made! Crispy yet soft, with the trademark bubbles on the dough. The meat filling is super juicy when you bite into it, the broth spills out (slurp carefully!). A perfect snack food that every Russian, Ukrainian and Central Asian loves!
I remember my mom and babushka making these as after school snacks. Who doesn't love crispy fried foods? It was one of the first recipes I learned to make. Popular in every culture, these are an Eastern European favorite. Sometimes they are known as Chiburekki.
What are Chebureki?
Chebureki are a fried turnover, filled with ground beef and onions. They also taste great with ground lamb. Chebureki are a classic Crimean, Caucasus and Turkic street food snack, popular across Russia and the former Soviet Union. The dough is rolled out and folded in the shape of a half moon crescent. They are meant to be larger in size, not small hand pies Fried Piroshki.
Chebureki Shortcut
If you're reading this from Russia, American Russians have started to use Tortillas for this recipe. Don't worry, this is an authentic Chebureki recipe, not a Tortilla in sight. That makes them closer to empanadas! It just doesn't seem right to make Russian Chebureki with Mexican Tortillas.
If you want to use Tortillas, it only works with uncooked or raw Tortillas that are made with wheat not corn. Follow the recipe, just skip the dough part. Many countries around the world don't even easily sell those. Most supermarkets sell ready to serve tortillas and that won't work for that recipe. My advice, stick to a tried and true, traditional Chebureki recipe.
Chebureki Dough
Making dough scares people, but this recipe is so easy. Chebureki dough only has 5 ingredients. It's very easy to make this dough, unleavened and yeast free. Just knead, rest, and roll. It's impossible to screw this up!
- Flour
- Water
- Salt
- Oil
- Vodka
Chebureki Meat Filling
Meat filling is super easy to make, all you need is a bowl and your hands to mix! Made with ground beef, but sometimes we make Chebureki filling with ground lamb. An easy mixture that's made extra juicy by adding water, don't skip that step!
- Ground Beef
- 2 small Onions
- Salt and Pepper
- Water
- Fresh Parsley
How to Make Chebureki without Vodka
Traditionally, it's believed that a splash of vodka into the dough is what makes the Chebureki crispy. Nothing beats that crunch. However, you might not have Vodka, and you only need a tiny bit. It isn't necessary to add vodka, and you can skip this step if you don't have Vodka.
How to Make Chebureki
- Prepare the dough by kneading until smooth and elastic. Allow to rest for 1 hour.
- Combine the meat filling ingredients, and you're ready to start.
- Pinch of cut a piece of dough, smaller than a tennis ball, bigger than a golf ball.
- Roll out into a thin circle, 6-8" round
- Place a heaping tablespoon over ½ of the dough, evenly spread. Leave ½" clean border around the edge of the meat.
- Fold the dough over the meat, forming half a moon. Press and seal the edges. Use a for the press a pattern around the edges of the seal.
- Heat ½" oil into a frying pan until hot. Fry 2 Chebureki meat pies at a time for 3-4 minutes, carefully turning over each side when golden brown.
- Remove to a paper towel lined plate to soak up the excess oil. Serve immediately.
Can You Make Chebureki in Advance Before Frying?
Yes, but only for 24 hours. Keep in the fridge on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, lightly dusted to prevent sticking. Do not stack them, keep on a single layer. Cover tightly with plastic wrap. Before frying, bring to room temperature for about 20 minutes to ensure even cooking. If freezing Chebureki, fry from frozen directly from freezer, but adjust cooking time.
Sauces for Chebureki
- Ketchup - my favorite way to eat Chebureki, Ketchup goes with everything
- Smetana Sour Cream - more traditional, we love our sour cream!
- Tzatziki Sauce - completely not traditional, but tastes really great
- Sriracha Mayo - Russians definitely love mayo, and this spicy mayo is perfect
Russian Recipes You'll Love
- Pork Shashlik - flavor filled and juicy meat skewers
- Farmer's Style Stuffed Blini - a Teremok favorite, stuffed with potatoes and bacon
- Veal Orloff Casserole - meat and potato casserole with... mayo!
- Salmon Kulebyaka - a rustic fish pie like babushka made
- Olivier Salad - classic Russian Potato Salad
- Easy Napoleon Cake - you gotta see it to believe this recipe
- Cabbage Piroshki - easy fried hand pie snack
- Uzbek Hanum (Orama) - not Russian but tasty Lazy Manti
- Raki - Russian Style Crawfish - taste of a Russian summer
I loved eating Chebureki in Sochi with a cold glass of Kvas in the summer along the beach. The perfect street food combo for me! Crispy outside, juicy inside, so easy to make, an authentic recipe! Bon Appetit! Приятного аппетита!
Ingredients
Ingredients for dough
- 4 cups Flour
- 1 teaspoon Salt
- 1½ cups Water
- 4 tablespoons Oil
- 2 tablespoons Vodka
Ingredients for filling
- 1¼ lbs (600g) Ground Beef
- 2 small onions finely diced
- 2 teaspoons Salt
- ½ teaspoon Black Pepper
- 1 cup Water
- ½ bunch Parsley finely chopped
- Oil for frying
Instructions
Chebureki Dough
- To prepare the dough, place flour, salt, water and oil into a bowl. Mix together to make dough ball.
- Lightly sprinkle flour on working surface and knead the dough. Add more flour if necessary until dough is smooth, elastic and non-tacky. Flip a bowl over the dough and allow to rest for an hour.
Meat Filling
- In a bowl, add ground beef, diced onions, salt and pepper, water and parsley.
- Using your hands, mix together ingredients until combined.
Making Chebureki
- Pinch small pieces of dough, slightly smaller than a tennis ball, and roll out thinly. Alternatively, roll the dough into a baton, and cut dough pieces.
- Roll the dough pieces into thin circles, about 6-8" round.
- Place a heaping tablespoon of meat over ½ of the dough, spreading evenly. Leave a ½" clean border around the meat.
- Fold the dough over the meat, forming a half moon. Press the edges to seal the Chebureki. Use a fork to press a pattern around the cheburek.
Frying Chebureki
- Heat a generous ½" oil into a frying pan until hot. Fry the chebureki, 2 at at time, for 3-4 minutes. Carefully turn over each side when golden brown. If oil isn't hot enough, it will absorb into the cheburek and tasty oily.
- Remove to a paper towel lined plate to soak up the excess oil. Serve immediately.
Video
©PetersFoodAdventures.com
Tamara Drianis
Hello, I was wondering if you had tried to make this dough in a bread machine in the dough setting? I mostly make dough is a dough machine as it’s so time saving and does all the work for me. Do you think it would work?
Peter Kolesnichenko
Hi, no I haven't. The dough cycle typically takes 90 minutes, and has a long time of warming so the yeast dough will rise. This recipe doesn't have any yeast in it, so only needs to rest. If you try it, please let us know if it worked!
Eugenia
Tried it, loved it, I’m definitely keeping this recipe! Although, being a vegetarian, I used two kinds of cheese instead of meat here. The video helped!
Greetings from Russia 🙂
Peter Kolesnichenko
So happy to hear, I've never had vegetarian Chebureki before, will have to try it!
Natalie
Thank you for the recipe. I followed your instructions precisely and it turned out great.
Peter Kolesnichenko
So glad to hear! Love homemade chebureki, sounds like you do too! 👍🏻
Jeff the Chef @ Make It Like a Man!
What an interesting recipe! This dish isn't part of my culture, but I would love to try it.
Peter Kolesnichenko
Thanks Jeff! I'm sure fried food is universal, tasty in any language! ❤️
Robert Lush
Thank you Peter for this fantastic recipie I love chebureki however my wife rarely makes them for me now I have no excuse I will have to make them
Peter Kolesnichenko
So good! Don't wait for her, so easy to make! Let me know how they turn out if you make them 😋
Jimmy
I love that you actually included your mum in the video! I think it's important to save those memories and recipes! Looks like she raised a good son and one to be proud of!
Keep up the good work Mr Peter! Oh yeah my wife followed the recipe and they tasted great! Hahaha
Daniel
This is a great recipe. All your recipes have been successful for me. Thank you! Is there a trick to checking for salt in the meat? My chebureki could have used some more salt, but I don't want to be tasting raw meat when checking for taste :/
Peter's Food Adventures
Thanks Daniel, that's great to hear! Salting meat can be tricky because there is a personal element of taste. Also impacting is table salt vs kosher salt. Table salt is finely ground and kosher is coarser, so might need to compensate by adding more kosher salt then table salt, if you get when I mean. Only thing I can suggest is to cook a teaspoon of the meat, and taste it and adjust if needed! Hope this helps! 🙂
Bob
Yum. I remember the time mom use to make these for us-great memories! Thanks mom!
Thanks Peter for reliving those memories-making my first batch Tomorow after work. Cheers
Bella
Peter, thank you for this recipe! My family is Uzbek and this tastes exactly like the Chebureki my grandma used to make us as kids. I followed your recipe and they turned out perfect. They were gone in less than an hour!
Peter's Food Adventures
Bella, thank you! This is the highest compliment!!! 👍🏻👍🏻
Sarah
I see yeast in your pic but not listed under ingredients?
Peter's Food Adventures
Hi Sarah! Great catch, there is no yeast in the recipe. I accidentally added the wrong picture from the piroshki I was making that day too! Thanks for catching it, will update it!
Ron
Hi Peter, I really like your blog and this post. I'm very fond of Russian (and other) hand pies. I have very fond memories of traveling in Southern Siberia and eating Belyashi. We also have a food truck here (Sweden) that sells Chebureki, put his has diced potatoes in it as well. Perhaps that's a variation. I've not made Chebureki, but soon will. I've pinned this to my "Global Hand Pie Recipe" board.
PetersFoodAdventures
Thanks Ron for checking it out! Belyashi are one of my favorites too! I will post that recipe soon! 👍🏻