Baked Piroshki (Russian Stuffed Rolls)
Russian Stuffed Rolls: Piroshki
Piroshki (pronounced PIR-oh-sch-KI) means 'little pirog' or 'little pie'.
A Russian pirog (pie) can have a sweet or savory fillings. And these 'little pirog' are small hand-pies that can be stuffed with sweet or savory filling as well.
(Think about them like a Mexican empanadas with a more bread-y outside, like German bierocks.)
Similar to Mexican empanadas, piroshki can be fried or baked. And while it is slightly more traditional to fry the stuffed rolls, baking makes them just as golden and tasty.
We can't wait to make another batch of these once the weather gets warmer because they would be a perfect, no mess, meal for a picnic!
Making Piroshki Dough
What really makes Russian piroshki different from other stuffed rolls is the dough.
Piroshki use an incredibly soft, eggy dough, which creates a soft and fluffy bread casing for your chosen filling.
Since this dough is so soft, we recommend making it in your stand mixer or bread machine set to the dough setting.
If you are very familiar with making bread by hand, feel free to get your hands into this dough, just know that it should be much stickier than a standard yeast dough. (It will be more like the dough for a challah or soft sourdough.)
Once the soft dough comes together, it is smooth and supple, and quite easy to work with.
To form your piroshki, roll a ball of dough. Flatten the ball slightly in the palm of your hand (the dough shouldn't stick to your fingers). Add some filling, then pull the dough up around the filling and pinch it tightly closed!
Pinching the dough tightly is important to be sure that the filling stays sealed inside the roll during baking.
Many Piroshki Fillings: Which will you choose?
Piroshki can be filled with a variety of sweet or savory fillings.
Mashed potatoes, mushrooms, cabbage, and ground beef are very common savory fillings. Stewed fruit or jam are common sweet filling.
Our recipe below includes two, traditional, savory fillings. But, once you get the hang of making piroshki, have fun and get creative with your own filling ideas!
Our Piroshki Recipe: A Great Make-Ahead Meal
One great thing about these rolls is that you can make a big batch and (before you bake them) freeze them for later.
Just pull the shaped, filled rolls out of the freezer an hour or two before you want to bake them to let the rolls thaw and rise.
Brush with some egg wash and bake them the same as you would if they were fresh.
How's that for a super simple freezer meal?
Baked Piroshki (Russian Stuffed Rolls)
Soft and fluffy dinner rolls stuffed with a savory filling, Baked Russian Piroshki are the perfect portable meal!
Ingredients
For the Dough
- 1 c milk, warmed to 90F
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 1 ½ teaspoon active dry yeast
- 3 - 3 ¼ c unbleached all purpose flour
- 1 egg,, room temperature
- 1 tablespoon salted butter, softened
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 egg beaten with 1 tablespoon water, (for the egg wash)
Beef Filling
- ½ lb ground beef, (90% lean)
- ½ onion, minced
- 1 tablespoon dill
- ½ teaspoon salt
- Pinch ground black pepper
- 1 hard boiled egg, chopped (optional)
For the Cabbage Filling
- 1 teaspoon salted butter
- ½ onion, diced
- 1 c button mushrooms, chopped
- 3 c cabbage, shredded
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon dill
- ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
Instructions
For the Dough*
- In a bread machine: place ingredients in the machine following the directions for the dough setting. Dough should be soft, sticking slightly to the pan as it kneads. Add a little water or flour to adjust dough consistency during the first knead as necessary.
- In a stand mixer: In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with a dough hook, add warm milk and sugar. Stir until the sugar has dissolved. Sprinkle the yeast over top of the milk. Let stand for 5-7 minutes until the yeast begins to foam. Add 2 c of flour, the egg, softened butter, and salt. Mix everything together. Continue adding the last cup of flour, until the dough starts to come together. Knead the dough with the mixer on low speed for 3-5 minutes. The finished dough should be soft and almost sticky, but it should pull away from the sides of the bowl. (If it is too sticky, add a little more flour and continue to knead.) Remove the bowl from the mixer and cover it with a damp tea towel. Let it rise in a warm, draft-free place for 1 hour, until well doubled.
- While the dough is rising, make the fillings.
For the Cabbage Filling
- Heat butter in a large, non-stick sauté pan. Add onions and mushrooms and sauté for 3-5 minutes, until soft. Add cabbage, salt, dill, and pepper. Continue to saute until the cabbage has softened, 5-7 minutes. Remove the mixture from the heat and transfer it to a medium bowl. Let the filling cool to room temperature before filling the rolls.
For the Beef Filling
- In a large, non-stick sauté pan, brown the beef and onions together with the dill, salt and pepper, 3-5 minutes. Once the beef is cooked through, remove the mixture from the heat and transfer it to a medium bowl. Mix in the chopped hard boiled eggs, if using. Let the filling cool to room temperature before filling the rolls.
Putting It All Together
- Once risen, remove the dough from the bread machine or bowl and place it on a lightly floured surface. Roll it into a log and cut the log into 16 roughly even pieces. Roll each piece into a ball and then press it into a 3-4” circle.
- Fill the center of each circle of dough with a heaping tablespoon of filling. Gently pull the edges of the circle up and around the filling, pinching the edges to seal the filling inside. (Be sure to pinch the seam well, or else the filling will burst out during baking.
- Place filled piroshki, seam-side down on a greased baking sheet.** Repeat with the remaining dough, spacing the rolls 2 inches apart. Brush the tops with the beaten egg. Set them aside to rise until puffy and nearly doubled (30 minutes).
- When the rolls are nearly finished proofing, preheat the oven to 375F.
- Bake at 375F for 20-23 minutes, or until the tops are golden brown.
Notes
*To Make Dough By Hand: This dough can also be made by hand, but it is quite a sticky dough, so we recommend only working with it by hand if you are used to working with bread dough, and don’t mind a slightly sticky dough.
**Freeze for Later: Place the shaped, filled rolls in a single layer on a baking sheet and freeze overnight. Once they are solid, the rolls can be placed in an airtight bag and stored in the freezer for 1-2 months.
To cook from frozen, remove the rolls from the freezer and place on a greased baking sheet. Brush the frozen rolls with egg wash and let them thaw and rise on the baking sheet for 1 hour before baking for 20-23 minutes in a preheated, 375F oven.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
8Serving Size:
2 piroshkiAmount Per Serving: Calories: 724
This is one of the recipes from the early days of Curious Cuisiniere. We've updated our pictures since we first shared it, but we've left some originals here, in case you've found us in the past and are looking for that old, familiar image.
Sarah founded Curious in 2010 as a way to save her recipe creations and share culinary experiences. Her love for cultural cuisines was instilled early by her French Canadian Grandmother. Her experience in the kitchen and in recipe development comes from over 10 years working in professional kitchens. She has traveled extensively and enjoys bringing the flavors of her travels back to create easy-to-make recipes.
I made these and filled them with Manwich and ground beef. Perfect non messy food for kids. I used several fillings, ham and cheese, and pulled pork. They freeze really well. My family loves them. I freeze them then take some out and store in the refrigerator for my family to pop in the microwave for a lunch or snack. Better than hotpockets because they are made with love and no preservatives. I've been baking our bread for a year now and we will never go back to store bought again. Anything homemade is better than store bought. Thank you for this recipe.
Hi Cyndi. We're so glad you and your family love these! Your fillings sound delicious!
I plan on making these this week. What do you serve with them? Is there a dipping sauce? Are they like sandwiches and you serve with chips? Thanks
Hi Doris. You could serve them as an appetizer or grab-and-go lunch. They work well for a picnic too. Or just as pub food alongside a beer. They don't really need a dipping sauce and are not traditionally served with one, that we have seen. If you want to make it more of a meal, you could serve them along with a side salad, slaw, or some chips, as you mentioned.
The best recipe they turned out so good and looks beautiful Baked them wonderful
So glad you enjoyed them!
Hi Sarah,
I finally got a chance to make your piroshki ;-). And it did not disappoint!! The dough came together easily and I thought it was a very soft, "pillowy" dough that was easy to work with. The only thing I didn't see happen is it didn't double in size while proofing, which didn't seem to matter in terms of taste. I baked half of them and the others I fried as I wanted to taste it both ways. Since my grandmother fried piroshki, I must admit that's my preference BUT was thrilled at how good they were baked. Either way, enjoyed it very much! And thanks for the prior feedback.
Hi Eva. So glad you enjoyed them!
Hi Sarah. I'm a a mission to make piroshki. My grandmother made amazing piroshki, and I'd like to try to continue the tradition. I'm going to make your recipe but curious about a few things. The few times working with yeast, I tend to proof with temps between 100-110. One time I activated lower and the results was not good (not sure if temp was the reason ;-). So can I activate at a higher temp than 90 with same results? Some say to mix and others say put the yeast on top and let it bloom. Again, does it matter? And I know my grandmother used water and I believe oil in her dough. I will follow your recipe but since I'm relatively new to working with dough, could milk be substituted with water and butter with oil. Appreciate the input. Thanks!
Hi Eva. Yes, you can proof yeast up to 110F. Any hotter than that and you risk killing your yeast, but if 100-110 works best for you, that's just fine. Mixing the yeast in or sprinkling it on top both have the same effect of rehydrating the yeast, so either is fine. And yes, you can switch the milk and butter for water and oil. Let us know how these turn out for you!
Excited to find this recipe. Can these be baked using the cabbage filling and then frozen. Also I am wondering if I can use this dough to make blueberry piroshki.
Also I have seen many recipes and the reviews come back saying dough is too hard and then reduce the amount of flour in the recipe using Canadian flour. What is your thought on that.
Thanking you in advance.
Hi Marsha. These should freeze very well pre-baked or baked. And the dough would be great for a blueberry filling as well.
I can't speak for other recipes, but his is a really nice dough (and we've had people from different countries try it and agree). I'm not familiar with using Canadian flour. However, this is why we have you start by only adding 2 cups of flour and add the remaining flour slowly, adding only as much as is needed to get a good, soft dough. If you try our recipe, let us know what you think!
Delicious! Recipe is perfect! Thank you for sharing!
So glad you enjoyed them Elizabeth!
I've made this recipe so many times and it is always wonderful, thank you for keeping me in years of Piroshki ♥ ((also, a great addition from our kitchen is adding dijon mustard and wine-soaked mushrooms))
So glad you enjoy them! And those additions sound wonderful!!
Thank you for this recipe. Looking forward to making piroshkis. Took Russian as a child and visited a Russian Orthodox Church in Chicago at Christmas. Had cabbage and ground beef piroshkis and still remember them 50 years later! This looks like it is very close to how I remember them...
We hope you enjoy the piroshki Lisa!
I was just thinking it's 50 years since I started making Prioshki . Thought I'd look for a recipe , and up came your mail. So I just had to say "Hi LisaR" ! My buns were slightly larger than a golf ball because my children were 3 and 5 years. Over the years they took them to school for lunch, quick to make if I visited a neighbour, any occasion was right for Prioshkis. I live in Melbourne, Australia. Can't remember where I got the recipe from originally. Good luck with yours😁
Have you put cheese in your piroshki? It seems no matter how much I try to pinch the edges tightly to seal, the cheese causes the bun to "explode" and leaks out...?
Hi Jessie. We haven't tried putting cheese in our piroshki. But it sounds like a great addition! From working with other cheese-filled rolls and such, cheese does tend to cause expositions and leakage. The best way we have found to avoid exploding cheese rolls (aside from sealing the edges REALLY well) is to use less cheese than you think you would need. (It's sad, I know. But it does work. And, if all the cheese stays inside, then you probably have more in there than you would using more and having it leak out. 🙂 ) Give it a try and let us know how it goes!
We made these last night. Really good!
We're so glad you enjoyed them!
Hello,
I doubled the recipe and my dough was somewhat sticky but not sticking to the sides (I kneaded it). As an experiment, I baked one and the bread came out really hard. What can I do to make the bun soft and moist? Would cooking at the same temperature but for a shorter period help?
Hi Ankit. I suspect there was an error in your doubling of the ingredient amounts. The dough should be soft, but not sticky. And these rolls should come out quite soft and fluffy around the filling. When you say you baked a roll, did you bake it filled with the cabbage filling?
My elementary school friend's Russian Grandmother made these and they were delicious. I remember a sweet ground beef filling. Anyone know a similar recipe for how she might have made her filling?
Sounds like a tasty filling. We'll do some looking, but in the mean-time, hopefully another reader will be able to help you out.
I've only just read your question and would like to suggest that the minced beef will take on a very lovely sweet/savoury flavour by adding the following before cooking:
1. A small amount (I recommend no more than a small teaspoon in 250 g of minced beef) of natural fig fruit;
2. A small amount of chopped, cooked beets or mashed beets.
Since this will be an experiment, do start with a very small amount or make a tester with a small amount of your meat. You will need to add a bit more garlic & onion to balance the sweetness.
Good luck!