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. They can also be baked in an oven, for a healthier version of a hand pie. Common fillings are;
- Potato and Onion
- Beef and Potato
- Braised Cabbage
- Beef and Onion
- Sautéed Mushrooms and Onion
- Blueberry
- Apricots
Yeast Dough for Piroshki
Dough can be prepared 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.
However, not everyone has a bread maker, and I've updated my recipe to include the traditional method of making Piroshki dough. Either method is fine, use your preference. The bread maker dough recipe is here.
If you want to make a more traditional Yeast Dough Recipe, watch the recipe below! Not everyone has a bread maker, and it's easy enough to make the dough from scratch, the traditional way.
Popular Piroshki Recipes on my Site
- Baked Beef and Potato
- Baked Blueberry
- Fried Cabbage (vegetarian)
- Baked Beef and Onion
- Sweet Apricots
- Fried Chebureki (not Piroshki but similar street food)
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.
When frying Piroshki, make sure you place them seam side down to fry in the oil first. In the photos, you will see that I made some by sealing the edges with a fork. That's not the usual way they're made, but my kids were helping me and it was easier for them. Otherwise the seam is usually in the middle of piroshki.
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!
Ingredients
For the dough
- 1 ⅓ cups lukewarm milk
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 2 ½ teaspoons active dry yeast
- 4 cups flour
- 1 egg
- 3 tablespoons melted butter
For the filling
- 1 lb/500g ground beef
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- 2 small onions finely diced
Instructions
Preparing the Yeast Dough
- Pour yeast, sugar, salt, and ½ of the lukewarm milk in a bowl. Whisk together and mix in 2 tablespoons of flour. Allow to sit for 15 minutes until it starts to bubble and foam, seeing the yeast is activated.
- In a larger bowl, add the flour, egg and melted butter. Pour in the yeast mix and combine all together until it forms a dough ball. Knead on a floured surface for about 5 minutes until smooth and elastic.
- Place back into an oiled bowl, cover loosely with cling wrap and a kitchen towel. Place in a warm place until it rises, about 1 ½ hours. Punch down dough to remove air, gently knead again before using.
Making Piroshki
- 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.
©PetersFoodAdventures.com
Gayle Viazmitinoff
Hi Peter! These were delicious, almost the same as my Russian mother in law’s. I had trouble with piroshkis opening up while frying. Any hints? I made them for Christmas Eve and we toasted our beloved Baba, an amazing Russian cook. But half them opened so I got lots of teasing!
Peter Kolesnichenko
Thanks Gayle! So glad you enjoyed them! With regards to them opening up, that's most likely due to filling touching the edges while pinching them shut. Perhaps they had too much filling (which is tasty) but can cause the filling to touch the edge of the pirozhok? The only other thing I can think of is to make sure you fry them with the pinched side facing down when you put them into the oil. Hope that helps and you give it another try! 👍🏻
luba
Hi Peter,
Do you have a recipe for mushroom pirozhki? I miss my grandmothers and have been on the hunt for one for awhile now. We would go mushroom hunting with family and friends too. I always seemed to get poison oak, but it was still a great adventure and fond memories.
Thank you,
Luba
Peter Kolesnichenko
Hi Luba, what a great memory! I don't have one out yet, but will add it to the list of future recipes 👍🏻
Eva
Hi Peter, I just made Piroshki for the 1st time from your cabbage piroshki recipe and made my own meat. My grandmother. like another commenter mentioned, also made it with onions and hard boiled eggs. I still dream of them ;-). Your dough was very easy to make and took only 5-6 minutes to kneed by hand. No bread machine needed. I appreciated that!
I was just curious however, your dough recipe is the same in both recipes with the except of the yeast amount. I used 1 tablespoon active dry yeast but in this recipe with meat, you are using a but less, 2 ½ teaspoons active dry yeast? So does the difference in yeast effect the dough?
Peter's Food Adventures
Hi Eva, thanks so much, great to hear the dough was easy! I have been updating my dough recipes to veer away from my early recipes which only had bread machine dough to include more traditional methods. I see what you mean about the yeast. In my experience, the half teaspoon doesn't make a difference for this amount of flour. I haven't noticed anything with regards to the proofing of the dough using both methods. Many traditional European ways of baking usually involves weighing the flour, so it's exact. I'm a bit more fluid and rustic, as my recipe measures in cups. I don't pack the flour in the cup, just scoop and level. So sometimes the dough might require a bit more flour or a tiny bit more liquid. I'm not as good as my mom who just uses her eye, and uses coffee mugs as her measuring cups, but if you follow this recipe as a guide, you should be good. I wouldn't use more than the 2-½ teaspoons, that is the maximum I recommend. Too much yeast and it will rise too fast resulting in poor dough. Using less yeast will require a longer time to 'rise' the dough (if you used 1 teaspoon). Use your own judgement as to how much you like to add and what your preference is.Hope that isn't too confusing! I'm glad that you enjoyed it!
Eva
Thanks Peter! Happy Piroshki-ing!
Eva
Thanks Peter! Frustration with a newbie working with dough (that's me 😉 is I'm ultimately not sure what the dough is supposed to feel like when done or proofed, so it's hard to determine if it might need more more flour and/or liquid. That's why your video was great as it's a visual cue to go by....and it did not disappoint. The dough came together beautifully and quickly too! My grandmother used water vs. milk and oil vs. butter. Just for my own curiosity, do you think I could evenly swap the ingredients. Thanks again!
Peter's Food Adventures
So glad it helped! Yes, you can make change up the fats if you like. In the old country, people used what they had, so there are many variations. If you had a cow, you used dairy products, if not, then oil and water worked. Sounds like you are doing great, I suggest to experiment when you make it to see what works best for you! 👍🏻
Rinshin
Did you know that we love Piroshki in Japan? We make our usually covered in panko and fried. The fillings vary, but usually mixture of ground beef and pork, shiitake mushrooms, carrots, cabbage, green pepper, harusame noodle aling with seasonings. I love them dipped in mustard when eating.
Peter's Food Adventures
Yes, I heard about that! Sounds incredible! Can't wait to try it one day!!!
Gail Boehm
For those that do not have a bread machine, this recipe is ok. I grew up with a Russian family and was taught to get lean beef, cooked with onion, then add a bit of flour, and chopped hard boiled eggs. When we make them we make a lot and freeze them. My favorite
Elizabeth
These were delicious! I added a bit of mashed potatoes and cheddar cheese to the filling for 12 of them... also delicious!!
Peter's Food Adventures
So glad you loved them! Great tip for the potato and cheese! 😊
Tatianna
Yummy, this recipe was great! My picky neighbors enjoyed it too!
Anna
In Poland, making pierogi is consider a very special skill as it's very difficult to make them in such a way that they don't open while cooking. Apparently, you possessed the skill, Peter. My congratulations!
PetersFoodAdventures
Haha I’m not sure that I’m skilled or just lucky! Thanks Anna!
koolaidmoms
Look yummy!
PetersFoodAdventures
Thanks!!