Pierogi… the Lazy Way
I shared a little bit in my Lazy Lasagna recipe post last week about the struggle to make dinner on busy weeknights. I’ve been thinking a lot lately about recipes that are surefire wins, easy, and inexpensive. This made me think of Lazy Pierogi!
When I was growing up, one of my most favorite quick dinners at home was always pierogi. When my mom and I made them from scratch it was fun and they were delicious, but so much work! Homemade pierogi are definitely a special occasion kind of thing. So for a normal weeknight meal, we always used our go-to favroite Mrs. T’s Pierogies. Love these!
Another fantastic way to enjoy pierogi flavor with little effort is to make Lazy Pierogi.
We’re Not Actually Lazy
Before I tell you about this Lazy Pierogi recipe, let me reassure you… we are not actually lazy. We are BUSY. I’m a mom with a full time job and all that goes along with life. This recipe is for us. It’s for those of us who know how to cook (hopefully) and enjoy it immensely (maybe)… when we have time.
Let’s not apologize for taking the easy route when it comes to family dinners on our super busy days. I make a mean homemade pierogi, but we’ll save that for the holidays, not Monday night on a school/work/dance/soccer practice day. 🙂
Lazy Pierogi Method
My favorite pierogi filling is potatoes and cheese. I’m also a big fan of cabbage fillings, but my husband and daughter would protest. So we stick with the Americanized family-friendly pierogi filling.
For this recipe, you’ll use leftover mashed potatoes OR one tub of Bob Evans (or your favorite brand) mashed potatoes. I find these in the refrigerated section at Walmart and Kroger, usually right next to the meat area.
Although I’m a big fan of a Pittsburgh style pierogi dough, it’s so much easier to use a cooked pasta shell. I fill my shells with the mashed potatoes and shredded cheddar cheese, then lay the Lazy Pierogi on a bed of sauteed onions and butter. A final sprinkle of cheese and then these yummy shells bake in the oven until it’s time to serve.
Filling the shells was a perfect job for my six year old!
*Drool*
I pretty much won’t eat a pierogi without sour cream. It’s just a must to me.
These are carb heavy, obviously. So you’ll want to pair the Lazy Pierogi with a green salad or green beans or Bussels sprouts… or anything green. Ha!
PrintLazy Pierogi
Description
A quick and easy family dinner!
Ingredients
- 12 ounce package of jumbo pasta shells (I recommend Barilla)
- Approximately 2 1/2 cups of leftover mashed potatoes or one 24 ounce tub of mashed potatoes (I recommend Bob Evans brand)
- 1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese, divided
- 3 tablespoons butter
- 1 medium onion, chopped
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Boil the jumbo pasta shells according to package directions; remove from the water and set aside to cool.
- While the pasta shells are boiling, melt the butter in a skillet over medium heat. Add the chopped onions to the pan and saute over medium heat until the onions are soft and translucent (about 10 minutes). Pour the cooked onions and butter into the bottom of a 9×13 glass baking dish.
- In a medium bowl, combine the mashed potatoes and 1 cup of the shredded cheddar cheese.
- Fill the cooked and cooled pasta shells with the potato mixture; approximately 2 heaping tablespoons per shell. Place each stuffed shell into the baking dish on top of the cooked onions and butter.
- Sprinkle the shells with the remaining 1/2 cup of shredded cheddar cheese. Bake at 350 for 20 minutes until the cheese is melted.
Makes 6-8 servings.
Celiac girl says
Wow, looks amazing! I’m wondering how to do an Even Lazier (And Gluten-free) Pierogi… Maybe after the layer of onions, just layer filling with a layer of gluten-free elbows? Only which layer would go on top?
carissashaw says
Ohhhh, that’s a good thought! I think spreading the potato filling over elbow pasta could be challenging. I would suggest trying a layer of gluten-free lasagna noodles, the potato filling, and another layer of the lasagna noodles topped with cheese and baked as usual. Just be sure to use lasagna noodles that have to be boiled because there wouldn’t be enough moisture in the filling for no-boil noodles to work. This would turn out like a pierogi casserole! Yum! Or you could spread the filling onto the noodles, roll each one up, and place them in the dish on top of the onions and butter. Either way would be perfect!
Paulette says
l totally agree!
★★★★★
Codrut Turcanu says
hey, these look delicious and I can already feel how smooth they’ll feel when ingesting these… thanks!