The word “pierogies” comes from the Polish language and means “filled dumplings”. Pierogies are considered a portion of comfort food, which is almost so creamy and dreamy that it will satisfy all your cravings for that cheesy melting desire in your taste buds.
Traditionally, these are made with farm-processed cheese, which is hard to find, but you would go far to eat it again and again.
Pierogi has different fillings according to the city you’re living in. Some fill it with potatoes and cheese, while others also add combined fillings like ground meat and edible mushrooms, spinach and cheese, sauerkraut and cabbage, and spiced meat.
However, many like to fill pierogi with the sweet fillings of fruits and berries. It feels like a crime, doesn’t it? These pierogies satisfy the cravings like nothing else; the cheese pull, and the creamy texture of a potato, and they are air fried with butter, topped with scallions and sour cream.
What a perfect drooling ingredient combination it is. If you loved the intro, then you have to try potato cheese pierogi in my way in the air fryer with no mess in the kitchen. This will surround your house with a delightful smell of it and you will take it.
What Do You Need To Make Pierogi In An Air Fryer?
- All-purpose flour
- Salt
- Vegetable oil
- Eggs
- Warm water
- Potatoes
- Unsalted butter
- Cottage cheese
- Cheddar cheese
- Sweet onion
How Do you cook pierogies in an air fryer?
The pierogi are first boiled and then pan-fried to give the luscious texture of a tender inside and a golden crispy outside. It is often served traditionally with sour cream on top or caramelized onions or maybe finely chopped scallions, whatever you like.
But the most popular pierogi is the potato and cheese combination, wrapped in a thin egg mixed with all-purpose flour.
the dough:
In a bowl, mix all-purpose flour, salt, veggie oil, and egg. Combine them until all the dried ingredients are mixed thoroughly. Cover it with a warm cloth and set it aside for 30 minutes.
scrumptious filling
For potatoes, peel and dice the potatoes, then put them in the pot. Fill the pot until all the potatoes are submerged, then boil them for 15-20 minutes until they are fork tender, and then drain them; allow the potatoes to cool down for 5-10 minutes more, and then mash well.
For the cheese, add in the butter, cottage cheese, sour cream, grated cheddar cheese, and a pinch of salt. Once they are all smooth and well mixed, set them aside.
How do you assemble a pierogi?
- Take the risen dough and then divide it into two parts. Take one part and flatten it until thin. Then take the cookie cutter and cut out the circles.
- Put the potato and cheese in the circle and fold it over. Pinch the dough slightly tight because you don’t want the filling to budge in the middle of cooking it. Make sure you pinch the dough together carefully and repeat the process with the other half of the dough.
- While putting the pot on the high flame, fill it with water and sprinkle a bit of salt on it. Once the water is boiling, add the pierogi to the water and boil until they float on their own. Take them out with a spoon and set them aside.
- Preheat your air fryer to 400F and place your pierogi in the air fryer basket in a single layer that will crisp them evenly ( or you can flip them with tongs halfway through). Fry it for 10 minutes or more if you like crispier pierogi. Serve it warm with the scallions or your favorite toppings.
Nutritional Value Of Pierogies:
When you munch on your favorite dish, you struggle to stop yourself from eating more of it. On the other hand, this could make you anxious about the calorie count or the calculation of each proportion.
Check out the table below to have an idea of how much nutrition you can attain from 2 pierogies:
| Nutritional value | Amount of serving 114g |
| Total fat | 7g |
| Cholesterol | 4.6mg |
| Calories | 222 kcal |
| Sodium | 540mg |
| Potassium | 122mg |
| Total carbohydrates | 34g |
| Protein | 6g |
| Vitamin A | 0.3% |
| Vitamin C | 10% |
| Calcium | 3.1% |
| Iron | 8% |
All the essential nutrition packed in your favorite dish is no less than a blessing, but overeating it can be truly harmful to the internal environment of your precious body. You can follow a calculated diet, and you can eat the meal proportions more and more.
what different combinations can I try with my pierogies?
There are more than 15 different combinations for pierogies, which indicates the variety of packed flavors ranging from place to place. Here are some of the combinations you can try for delicious pierogies:
- Sauerkraut and wild mushroom filling.
- Sweet cabbage
- Sundried tomatoes and lentils
For a sweet or dessert style:
- Sweet farmers’ cheese filling
- Dried fruits and poppy seeds
- Fruits (blueberry, bilberry, plum, prune, or strawberries)
You can also make it vegan-friendly with veggies (spinach, sweet potato, and pumpkins) or non-vegan with the meat of your preference.
tips to achieve a greater taste in frozen pierogi
Making a dish out of your culture could be hard, but it is not impossible. Here are some tips to impress your guests and achieve the master chef title in your town:
- You can boil your frozen pierogies in the microwave in under 5 minutes, compared to 5-7 minutes on the stovetop.
- Brush your pierogi with melted butter before frying them in any way.
- Time tracking for different ways of cooking pierogies: sautéing takes 8–10 minutes, baking takes 18–20 minutes, deep frying takes approximately 4 minutes, and air-frying takes only 10–12 minutes of your total time.
- To taste the kick in the bud, you should sauté your pierogi in the caramelized onion skillet.
- You can also sauté pre-cooked pierogies in the skillet with a combination of mushrooms and onions.
How can I caramelize onions for pierogies?
Cut the onion into 1/4″ pieces or longitudinal pieces. Heat the skillet with a spoonful of butter in it. When the butter is melted, add your onions and sauté them for 8–10 minutes, adding sugar in mid-cooking to caramelize them properly.
In the same way, you can caramelize mushrooms. For the most extreme taste, sauté your pierogi in the same skillet for 5 minutes or more.
What goes well with pierogies?
A variety of side dishes go well with the pierogies apart from caramelized onions, cheese, or green onions. Some of them are:
- Brussel sprouts
- Fried bacon
- Steamed veggie
- Sour cream
- Dill cucumber salad and much more.
FAQs:
Can you put frozen pierogies in an air fryer?
Yes, you can fry the store-bought frozen pierogies in any air fryer in under 10 minutes or less. The air-fryer maintains the traditional taste of pierogi, giving them tenderness inside and a crispy layer outside.
In short, air-frying is the most convenient way to fry anything without any worries about diet and cholesterol.
how long do you cook frozen pierogies in an air fryer and at what temperature?
Technically speaking, one should preheat the air fryer to 400F or 200C and spread the pierogies in the air fryer base. Wait for them to get a golden-brown crispy layer; you can change the first side after 5 to 6 minutes. The pierogi are air-fried and ready in under 10 minutes with almost no mess and less time.
What are the toppings served with pierogies?
Pierogie is Polish cuisine, and traditionally it is first boiled and then sautéed with onions in a skillet. They are simply served with a sour cream dollop, greek yogurt or cottage cheese, fried onions, melted butter, and pork rinds.
You can also change the taste of the delish toppings with a little bit of herb sauce made with thyme, parsley, chives, basil, and green onions.
Recipe Suggestions
Before you air fry pierogies, go over these few recipe instructions so you know what to expect for the best results:
- A teaspoon of oil is all that is required for the pierogies to have a crispy outer shell. Potstickers and other dumpling-style meals are comparable.
- A 6-quart air fryer is used. If you have a smaller one, you may wish to air fry this amount of pierogies in two batches because they should not contact the tray.
- The interior filling of the pierogies may come out at the end of cooking. As a result, it’s critical to keep an eye on them at the end and take them from the air fryer as soon as they’re done.
- If the insides do pop and you have stuffing (cheese, potato, cheese-potato, sauerkraut, etc.) inside the air fryer tray, let it cool before cleaning it.
Storage Suggestions
When making frozen pierogies in the air fryer, serve them hot and fresh. If you have leftovers, store them in a tightly sealed container in the refrigerator.
The container will keep the pierogi from entirely drying out.
You can microwave them until the filling is warm again, re-air fry them, or pan-fry them in butter and/or bacon and onions to reheat them.
Summary
This Polish cuisine dish came into Europe with the trade back in the day. Once it was introduced into Europe, it gained popularity throughout the whole world in just a short time.
It is translated into filled dumplings and has a variety of combinations, of which the most popular combination is the potato and cheese called “Ruskie”.
Traditionally, it is made in a skillet with onions, but in today’s time, an air-fryer is the most convenient appliance to make this dish. An air fryer makes your life easier and takes less time to clean if compared to the big oily skillets.
The pierogies made in the air-fryer have a distinguished taste and have a crispy skin that would make your cooking worth the time.