Pierogi are one of the ultimate variations of comfort food across the whole planet. They’re simple, full of flavour, and surrounded with succulent, rich dough that will make your mouth water. But, how do you store them?
Can You Freeze Pierogi?
Yes, you can freeze pierogi for up to 3 months. The best way to do this is to blanch them in boiling water for thirty seconds before transferring them to the freezer for two hours. Once frozen, transfer them to a freezer bag.
Do Pierogi Freeze Well? Yes
Can You Refreeze Pierogi? Yes
How to Freeze Pierogi
Unfortunately, to freeze pierogi, you can’t just pop them into the freezer once you’ve made them. You’ll end up with watery, bland pierogi with cracked dough. Instead, you’ll need to follow this method:
- Make: The best way to freeze pierogi when making them is to make the little dumplings ready to be boiled as you would normally.
- Blanch: Transfer them to the boiling water for 30 seconds, at most, to blanch them before transferring the blanched pierogi to the counter to cool completely.
- Spread Onto a Baking Tray: Once they’re cool, place them onto a lined baking tray and freeze them for up to two hours. After that time, they’ll be frozen solid.
- Bag Up: Pack them into a freezer bag tightly, ensuring as little excess air as possible before sealing the bag and labelling it with the correct date.
- Freeze: Transfer the bag to the freezer, where the pierogi will keep for up to three months.
3 Tips for Freezing Pierogi
Now you know how to freeze them, we’ve got our 3 top tips which we strongly recommend following when freezing pierogi to have the best results:
Remove the Excess Air
As with most dough-based goods, they’ll tend to go slightly stale over time if you allow them to stay within the freezer in a cushion of air. Prevent this by eliminating excess air by pushing out as much as possible when bagging them up.
Oil the Baking Tray
When transferring the pierogies to and from a baking sheet in your freezer, you’ll want to ensure that the tray is oiled so that they don’t stick. If they stick, they’re liable to crack when you remove them, leading to a split dumpling!Â
A Bag is Your Friend
In this situation, a freezer-friendly bag is well and truly your friend. This is because a bag can conform to the shape and size of all the pierogies you’re making, allowing you to freeze them in one batch. A container would also hold excess air, allowing for freezer burn to happen over time.Â
How Long Can You Freeze Pierogi?
You can freeze pierogi for a maximum of 3 months. Beyond that time, they’ll start succumbing to freezer burn, which will ruin the final texture of the dumplings you’re making.
The best way to avoid freezer burn and extend their three-month stay a little is to remove as much air from the freezer bag as possible and ensure it remains sealed!
You could even use a vacuum sealer to seal the pierogies into a vacuum bag, eliminating the air in the bag. Of course, most people tend not to have access to a vacuum sealer.
How Do You Defrost Pierogi?
The best way to defrost pierogi is to boil them, as you would with regular pierogies. The process might take a little longer since they’re frozen solid, but it’s still the same, by and large.
Bring a large pot of salted water to the boil, and drop the pierogi into it. Once they start to float (which signifies that they’re getting close to being done), add half a glass of cold water to the pan.
This will halt the boil but keep the flame underneath the pan. When the water mixture starts to boil again, remove the dumplings from the mixture with a slotted spoon, allowing them to drain a little before eating.
Can You Refreeze Pierogi?
Yes, you can refreeze pierogi. Pierogi tend to freeze very well since the outer layer of dough protects the lion’s share of the ingredients from getting too damaged by the freezing process.
If you’re especially concerned about freezer burn setting in on cooked pierogi, we suggest wrapping a bundle of dumplings in baking paper before sliding the package into a freezer bag – frost will form on the paper not the dumplings, leading to well-stored food.
Do Pierogi Freeze Well?
Yes, pierogi do freeze well, by and large. While there are, of course, a few things that can prevent them from freezing so well, the truth of the matter is that the heavy dough works in their favour.
There is relatively little water in the dough since it’ll be boiled, and a wet dough would rapidly dissolve in boiling water.
The barrier to pierogi freezing very well sometimes is when they’re pre-cooked.
Cooked pierogi don’t freeze as well as raw pierogi since their water content is much higher. This can lead to freezer burn over a shorter period.
Related FAQs
If you’ve still got questions about freezing pierogi or pierogi in general, then these may help:
Pierogi dough can be frozen for 2 to 3 months. Roll it into a ball, wrap it in a sheet of cling film then pop it into a bag before freezing it. 
Cooking pierogi before freezing them can reduce the risk of freezer burn, preserve the flavour and prevent the dough from cracking. However, boiling pierogi before freezing is not essential.
