Varenyky Recipe

A bowl of Ukrainian potato varenyky dumplings topped with caramelized onions. A bowl of sour cream and a fork are on the right, a blue and white striped towel is on the left.

Course: Side Dish

Cuisine: Ukrainian

Diet: Vegetarian

Keyword: Ukrainian varenyky, vareniki, varenyky

Prep Time: 15

Cook Time: 45

Resting time: 45

Total Time: 1 45

Servings: - 35 varenyky

Calories: 95kcal

Varenyky are traditional Ukrainian dumplings filled with potato and onion. They can be boiled or pan fried and they're served with lots of sour cream! My all-time favorite family recipe!

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Equipment

Ingredients

Varenyky Dough

350 grams flour (just under 2¾ cups)
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 egg
⅔ cup water

Potato Filling

2 pounds yukon gold potatoes
2 medium yellow onions
2 tablespoon sunflower oil or other neutral oil such as grapeseed or canola
1 teaspoon kosher salt
freshly ground black pepper optional

Additional ingredients

unsalted butter for coating and frying
sour cream for serving

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Instructions

Potato Filling

Bake the potatoes in the oven or the microwave. (I microwave them!) The skin will peel off easily using your fingers once they've cooled a bit. (I don't recommend boiling them as you would for mashed potatoes, because that could make the filling a little too wet.)
Dice the onions finely. Place a large non-stick skillet over medium heat and add the sunflower oil. Add the onions and cook until they are translucent and beginning to get golden. If they seem to be browning too quickly, add a splash of water to the pan to slow down the cooking. Season with a pinch of salt.
Mash the potatoes (I use a potato ricer) and season with salt. Add the onions to the potatoes and stir until all the onions are evenly distributed and the mixture is smooth. Taste for seasoning and adjust if necessary. Set aside to cool. If you like, you can reserve some of the onions to put on top for serving.

Varenyky Dough

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour and salt, then make a well in the center.
Beat the egg gently until it is uniform with no visible strings of white. Add the water and egg to the well in the flour mixture. Use a fork and begin stirring the flour into the liquid in the center of the bowl until a shaggy dough forms.
Gently bring the dough together into a ball with your hands, making sure to get all the bits of flour at the bottom of the bowl. It will seem too dry, but don't worry.
On a lightly floured surface, knead the dough for about 3 minutes. It should feel lightly sticky at first. If it's very sticky, add a little more flour to your work surface. After about 3 minutes it will be bumpy and look terrible, but this is correct! Cover it with a towel and let it rest at room temperature for 15 minutes.
After it rests, knead the dough for another 3 minutes. It should be pretty smooth, and bounce back when you press on it. Form the dough into a ball and wrap in plastic wrap. Let it rest at room temperature for 30 minutes.

Roll and shape the varenyky

Bring a large pot of heavily salted water to a boil. Cover it so it doesn't evaporate too much while you make the dumplings. Line a sheet pan with a kitchen towel and lightly dust it with flour. Have another kitchen towel ready to cover the dumplings once shaped.
Use a bench scraper or large knife to cut the dough ball into 4 pieces. Set one aside and cover the remaining 3 with the plastic. Initially, it might feel really sticky, but that will dissipate almost immediately once you start to roll it.
On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough until it is between ⅛ and 1/16 of an inch thick. Keep turning the dough as you roll it out to keep it from sticking as you would pie dough.
Use a round cookie cutter about 3 inches in diameter (or a glass) to cut circles into the dough. Get them as close together as possible to get the maximum number of dumplings per piece of dough.
Place some potato filling into the center of each dumpling wrapper. (About 1¼ tablespoons for this size circle.) I use a cookie scoop to ensure that I don't overfill or underfill them.
To shape the varenyky, gently pick up a round of dough with potato on it. Use your thumb to gently press down a bit on the filling, while using your other hand to pinch both sides of the circle together in the middle of the dumpling. (Sometimes it's hard to get the dough to stick when you first bring it together. Just hold your fingers in place for a second or two to warm it up and it should stick more easily.)
Pinch the varenyky closed, working your way toward your thumb that's on top of the filling and making sure there are no air pockets. Then pinch the dough closed the other direction.
Gently double back and pinch the seam from one side to the other to make sure it is closed. I kind of move my thumb forward while moving my index finger backward which closes the seam and makes a nice pretty edge. (See notes below for other methods.)
Place the shaped varenyky on the lightly floured towel and cover with another kitchen towel to keep them from drying out while you shape the rest. Make sure they are not touching each other. Roll the scraps into a ball and cover them with plastic.
Continue with the next 3 pieces of dough, one at a time, rolling, cutting, filling, then placing them on the sheet pan under the kitchen towel. Finally, combine all the scraps and roll them out, cut, fill and shape. Do not roll out the final scraps. The dough will be too tough. But you can cut them into strips and boil them as noodles if you like.

Boil the varenyky (and fry them if you like!)

Boil the varenyky in small batches, (too many at a time will stick together) in salted water for about 5-7 minutes. Give them a gentle stir from time to time to flip them over. (They are NOT done right after they float...the dough will not be cooked all the way yet.)
Use a slotted spoon to drain them and transfer to a plate or shallow bowl with a pat of butter. Gently stir to coat with melted butter to keep them from sticking together. (Or drizzle with sunflower oil to keep them dairy-free.) Continue this process until all of them are cooked. Serve immediately, or fry them first!
If frying the varenyky, place a large non-stick skillet over medium heat. Add a couple of tablespoons of butter and several varenyky, frying them on each side until golden brown. Don't crowd the pan. For the next batch, first wipe out the pan (the butter will start to burn if you don't) add more butter and continue frying.
Serve varenyky with sour cream and extra onions on top if desired.

Notes

Accurate flour measurement is essential: I recommend weighing your flour to ensure the dough is not too wet or too dry. Kitchen scales are really affordable and once you have one, you'll use it all the time. If you are using measuring cups, fluff up the flour first so it's not packed down, then always use the spoon and sweep method, don't scoop with the measuring cup itself.
Varenyky dough is much easier to roll out in smaller amounts: We are rolling this dough pretty thin, so it's best to work in batches when rolling out the dough. If you try to roll it all at once, it will take you a LONG time, and you risk drying out the dough too much before you get the dumplings filled.
You can use a fork to crimp the edge if you don't want to do it by hand: Don't worry about making the perfect looking edge on your varenyky! As long as you make sure it's completely closed and not going to let any water in, you're good. You can use your fingers, or a fork, and even brush the edge with some egg white to seal it if you want to be extra sure.
My grandmother ALWAYS fried the varenyky in butter: We never ate them immediately after they were boiled. She always fried them on her electric griddle before serving them. So don't think you have to wait for the leftovers to fry them in butter, you can start off that way!

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