This Pierogi Casserole is as fantastic as it is hearty and comforting. It reminds me of scalloped potatoes, but with decidedly Polish flavors. And it’s so easy!
Ingredients for 6 servings:
Butter
30 store-bought potato-and-onion pierogi, thawed if frozen
1/2 lb. smoked kielbasa, sliced into half-moons
1 can cream of chicken soup
10 oz. milk
1 Tbs flat-leaf parsley, minced
Pepper, to taste
8 oz. sharp cheddar, shredded (about 2 cups)
1/2 – 3/4 cup fresh (coarse) bread crumbs, preferably seeded rye
How to do it:
- Pre-heat oven to 350º F.
- Grease up a 9×13” glass baking dish with butter.
- Layer with pierogi.
- Toss the kielbasa evenly over the pierogi. Then tuck it into the crevices between and around the pierogi.
- Mix together soup, milk, and parsley; pour evenly over all.
- Crack pepper over the soup sauce.
- Sprinkle cheese over all.
- Sprinkle crumbs over the cheese.
- Bake, covered, for 25 minutes; uncovered for 20 more. It’s done when the sauce is actively bubbling, and you’ve achieved a bit of browning on the cheese.
Notes:
With no sides, this’d be a small but satisfying meal … maybe a nice lunch. To flesh it out into something full-blown, I’d suggest something green, like roasted Brussels sprouts (although cauliflower would also be fantastic). Fried cabbage would be a quintessential Polish side for this dish.
If you’re using pierogi that come twelve-to-a-pack, you could get by with two if you don’t want to deal with the excess that’ll be left if you buy a third package. You’d still wind up with six reasonable servings. I’ve gotten creative with it and have managed to stuff 32 of those little guys into my dish. Then, I’ve either fried up and chowed the last four as I’m working on the casserole, or saved them, or chopped them to bits and layered them just under the cheese.
Just about any savory variety of pierogi would work well, by the way. However, I should mention that the combination I’ve used for this post – potatoes, cheese, and kielbasa – is sure to please just about anyone. (You could swap ham for the kielbasa if you had to.) Other combinations, though – like sauerkraut and kielbasa – might be pretty intense for someone with not even a drop of Eastern-European blood.
Cream of mushroom is the obvious swap-in for the soup, but if you ask, me I’d suggest that you don’t overlook cream of celery.
If canned soup is beneath you, consider a mixture of 4 oz. cream cheese, 1/2-cup sour cream, and 1/2-cup chicken broth OR consider making a white sauce using chicken stock instead of milk. On the other hand, if canned soup really turns you on, consider what I call the Zabludovsky Variation: dilute a can of cream of chicken with 1 cup of water and mix 1 oz. of taco seasoning into it. Substitute browned ground beef for the kielbasa and substitute half of the cheese with Velveeta. Serve with salsa. Es una locura!
For the Pierogi Casserole in this post, I used a dark, German wheat bread for the crumbs. The crunch of the crumbs is essential to the dish. Huge bonus: the reheated leftovers maintain a bit of the crunch.
Kielbasa
A foot-long smoked kielbasa link is what you’re after. To slice it, first bisect it into two 6-inch halves. Then, stand one of those halves on its cut end and carefully slice it in half from top to bottom. Lay it on its side and slice it into moons. This gets me thinking … I’m assuming you’re starting with a kielbasa that is straight – by which I mean “extending uniformly in one direction only; without a curve or bend,” because kielbasy obviously don’t have sexual preferences. If your kielbasa isn’t straight, you should tell it that you’ve always loved it and you always will, and that not to worry, you’ll find some other way to cut it to pieces.
The kielbasa is essential in this casserole, and the amount I’m recommending gives the perfect punch of flavor. If you really wanted to though, you could easily increase the amount by at least 50%. You could even double it if you want an out-and-out kielbasa-pierogi casserole.
The “Victory at the Battle of Warsaw” variation:
Use sauerkraut pierogi and Swiss cheese. Instead of soup, use 1 cup of homemade Russian dressing, diluted with 5 oz.milk.
I would never use homemade pierogi for a casserole.
Not to toot my own horn more than an unschooled guy with the gall to have a food blog and call himself Jeff the Chef, but I make a mean pierog. Have you ever seen those documentaries about the baby turtles trying to get past the sharks and make it out to sea? Well, my pierogi rarely make it to a serving platter. So for this casserole, I prefer the fruits of other people’s labors.
I live in a city that offers its driver license test in Polish, so as you can imagine, I’ve got my choice of pierogi purveyors, many of whom sell them refrigerated rather than frozen. I can buy them and the kielbasa in one fell swoop on the way home from work, and have this in the oven before I’ve finished the first of my decompression beers.
Pierogi Casserole would be a good choice for a pot luck.
You could assemble it at home and bake it on-site, or bake it at home and re-heat it on-site. The only issue you’d face is that although it’s OK at room temperature, it’s best when it’s very warm, bordering on hot.
Pierogi Casserole
Credit for images on this page: Make It Like a Man! Thank you, Kesor. This content was not solicited by anyone, nor was it written in exchange for anything. In preparing this post, I found Kasia’s Deli, Pillsbury, and All Recipes. to be helpful. And can I just say thank God that when people immigrate to America, they bring their culture with them? If they all tried to turn themselves into Americans as soon as they got here, well, we’d all be living in teepees. Which – don’t get me wrong – would be awesome. But there’d be no kielbasa except in Poland, and that would suck.
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I love all sorts of dumplings…the only problem is that I tend to eat way too much whenever I make them. This looks so comforting and moreish and I love esp. that bread crumb topping. Thanks for sharing, Jeff, and have a wonderful week ahead!
angiesrecipes recently posted…Poppy Date Loaf
Thanks, Angie!
Holy comfort food central here, Jeff! I love the sound of this casserole, and the variations (with their incredible names) are a fun way to mix ’em up. I’ve gotta say that the Zabludovsky Variation sounds amazing. It could be a fancy mathematical formula…or just a way to transform a boring can of cream of chicken soup into a gourmet feast. (or at least a gourmet-sounding feast.) Well done!
David @ Spiced recently posted…Cast Iron Skillet Sticky Buns
There’s nothing more fun than taco pierogi … except the scandal that’d develop if I served them to my relatives – now, that’d be fun!
I’ve been known to use canned soup in casseroles. 🙂 And canned cream of celery is too often overlooked — much better, IMO, than the cream of mushroom everyone normally uses. Anyway, this is such a fun dish — and easy to make! My favorite kind. Particularly when I’m in need of decompression beer(s).
John / Kitchen Riffs recently posted…Chicken Cacciatore
We’re on the same wavelength, John!
I LOVE PIEROGI’s omg I love them, I could seriously eat them every day. They remind me of scalloped potatoes too. Polish food is delicious
Thanks!
hi jeff
this sounds very hearty; perhaps not the best thing for a queensland summer, though:=) we are more into salads at the moment. we may be getting the tail end of a cyclone in a day or two; always something exciting going on here… have a good weekend. cheers sherry
sherry recently posted…Stone Soup – I mean Asparagus, Pea And Parmesan Soup
Feel free to save it for mid-winter! Watch out for that cyclone!
thanks jeff. the cyclone seems to have just sailed away with just a bit of wind and not much of that. cheers S
sherry recently posted…Stone Soup – I mean Asparagus, Pea And Parmesan Soup
Glad to hear it!
You are lucky to be able to buy these not frozen. And I never knew you could get your drivers license in Polish! This looks like pure comfort food to me. You are right. Perfect pot luck dish!
Abbe@This is How I Cook recently posted…Asian Pork Burgers
I was so surprised when I saw a Polish option when I was getting my license renewed. But there are a lot of Polish-speaking people here.
Jeff, you’re talking some serious carb comfort there, which is a very good thing. I could tuck into that dish for any meal. I think it would be smashing with a couple of runny poached eggs on top. Great tip on the canned soup sub as we don’t have condensed soups here. I for one would love to taste your homemade pierogi. I’ve only made them once and I ended up with flour everywhere. But not to worry, we can get the fresh ones from the little polish food cart on our square.
Ron recently posted…Skansen, fascinating kids and adults since 1891…Part Two.
Well, if you ever come here, I’ll make them for you. I had never thought of eggs on top of this casserole, but that does sound interesting!
Well, if there was ever a winter where massive amounts of comfort food are needed, this is it! Your pierogi casserole sounds delicious! And those creamed soups do make some tasty casseroles!
Liz recently posted…Black Gold Cookies
Thanks, Liz!
I’d love to try it looks delicious
Thank you, Iza!
First of all, these look awesome Jeff. We never had pierogi before (or seen them around) but we’ll be on the lookout as this recipe sounds divine!
Also the white sauce sounds like an amazing alternative to the soup.
Kudos, fantastic comfort food!
Greetings from Athens,
Mirella and Panos
Well, if you’ve never had them before, you’re in for a treat when you do. They’re comfort food, for sure – which makes this casserole a comfort food made of comfort food!
You seem to be hovering on the edge of an all-purpose casserole recipe. Pick from column 1, column 2, add cream of celery soup. Top with cheese and Jeff’s your uncle.
best… mae at maefood.blogspot.com
I like it!
These look amazing Jeff. I’ve never tried (and I don’t think eaten either) pierogi. Looking forward to giving them a go. Thanks for this recipe!
neil@neilshealthymeals.com recently posted…Slow Cooker Beef Curry
I hope you give’m a go sometime!
This might just be as comforting as a comfort food can get. Love the variations. Sometimes I love a recipes with prepared items, like the soup and Pierogi. Nice! I will still have to jump over to your Pierogi post to check it out. 🙂
Thanks, Valentina!
These look so comforting and delicious! And I loved your Zabludovsky reference, LOL!
Thanks, Irene!
I usually save my pierogi allotment for the Polish festival in Toronto (a mere hop, skip and a jump from our home) but this dish has me wanting more. The perfect comfort food for the horrendous winter we’ve been having.
Eva Taylor recently posted…Restaurant Review: Oretta, Toronto
Tell me about winter! That bizarre sub-zero snap aside, I can’t say it’s been the worst, but it’s not been the best – that’s for sure. I’ve never been to Toronto’s Polish fest. I’ll have to check it out sometime.
I am a complete snob and therefore would probably not use canned soup (I have too many throw-back memories from the 1950s when housewives would use Campbell’s cream of mushroom soup to make Tuna Casserole)- but then again,maybe I should try using it again! I have never made Pierogi but I could see your dish resting nicely in my belly!
Fran @ G’day Souffle’ recently posted…Red Velvet Valentine Twinkies
I understand the can thing. Generally, I think I could do better. However, having been raised on things like this, I do get nostalgic for it now and again.
I have not a drop of Eastern European blood but I would love any flavor combination of this casserole. GREG
I wish I could bring some over!
Looks like a really easy meal to prepare 🙂
It definitely is that.
My husband would enjoy your meal. We were to a restaurant last week for their Polish night and he had a combo meal that had pierogi, smoked kielbasa and sauerkraut and loved it. 😀
Karen (Back Road Journal) recently posted…Savory Goat Cheese Truffles
Wonderful!
This really is comfort food! Some real stick to the ribs goodness for our chilly nights. (I also like your idea of what constitutes a “small meal”, lol!) But for me the biggest take away from this post is finding out that there is a Polish diaspora in Mexico. Who knew? Amazing to think about that.
Frank recently posted…Fritole alla veneziana (Venetian Carnival Fritters)
Hah! I know, who would think there are Polish Mexicans!