Sheet pan pierogies are on tap for today!
These little cloud-like pasta pillow puffs of love are ridiculously delicious, covered in caramelized onions and served with a chipotle sour cream.
It’s what dreams are made of!
Living in Pittsburgh, pierogies are already a staple here. During Lent, it’s like we up the ante. I grew up working fish frys each Friday and serving tons of fish sandwiches and pierogi smothered in butter to everyone! With it being Ash Wednesday, I thought today would be the perfect time to introduce you to this little side dish that we are obsessed with.
Now I’ve made pierogi from scratch before, but this recipe is not for that! Well, it sort of it, if you have frozen ones. Or some that were freshly made and need to be cooked!
If you want to try your hand at homemade pierogi, I’ve made these sweet potato fontini ones and these pumpkin ones. Both are so, so good!
And the best part about this recipe? You can use whatever variety of pierogi that you have and/or love. I am partial to the potato and cheddar version, but feel free to use your favorite.
There are no rules here!
The next best part? We’re cooking these from frozen and making things caramely and flavorful.
I thought of this idea after making my sheet pan gnocchi for dinner a few weeks ago. It’s a similar pasta type thing, so I figured sheet pan pierogies had to work. And it did!
Of course, why throw the pierogies in the oven instead of boiling for five minutes on the stovetop?
It just adds some different flavor. The edges get crispy and roasty and wonderful. You can throw some caramelized onions on top – you can even throw in some peppers! Whatever you like. It also makes a big sheet pan at once that everyone can enjoy. Or you can even have leftovers.
I start this out by caramelizing the onions on the stovetop. This isn’t fully necessary, but if you like more deeply caramelized onions, it definitely helps! I also cheat and add a caramelizing agent (did I make that up? maybe.) like balsamic vinegar or apple cider, about 10 minutes into the cooking process. This just helps the onions sweeten up a bit, so we don’t spend 45 minutes caramelizing them only to try and make a sheet pan meal for dinner.
You know?
So with that help, the onions are sweet and golden in about 15 (cheating) minutes. This is just to give them a head start, because they certainly do get more caramely in the oven! They will be in the oven for about 30ish minutes, so you don’t want to overdo it.
These are just so good.
P.S. I do give you a tip in the recipe below about skipping the pre-caramelization of the onions! You can do more of a method like my sheet pan gnocchi. The onions just won’t be quite as caramely.
I find that using frozen pierogies works great, but there are a few caveats. If you can manage to find a store-bought or local frozen pierogi brand, it will be better than say, Mrs Ts pierogies. I only say this because the Mrs Ts variety are kind of just thrown into a box, and they are more apt to freezer burn. Freezer burn pierogi pieces will harden and crisp up in the oven, and not in a good way. The classic store bought ones will still work, just be sure to use ones that have no freezer burn and fully brush them with olive oil.
Using freshly frozen homemade pierogies is perfect too. Or you can even let frozen ones thaw just a little bit. You want to make sure they are fully tossed or brushed with olive oil, covered in some salt, pepper and garlic. Then top them with the onions and roast!
Feel free to add any other veggies you’d like. I have some delish sheet pan gnocchi variations coming in my next book, Everyday Dinners. You can also even add some sort of meat if you wish, maybe smoked sausage or something like that! I decided to keep it pretty basic since this is mostly a side dish for us. Especially during Lent!
The kicker comes with the chipotle sour cream. It’s tangy and wonderful with a little hint of spice. Really adds so much to the pierogies and complements them so super well.
You can find this in our kitchen constantly over the next few weeks!
Sheet Pan Pierogies
Sheet Pan Pierogies
Ingredients
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 2 large sweet onions, thinly sliced
- kosher salt and pepper
- 1 to 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
- 16 ounces frozen pierogies
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon smoked paprika
- fresh chives or parsley for topping
chipotle sour cream
- ⅔ cup sour cream
- 1 diced chipotle pepper
- 2 teaspoons adobo sauce from the can of chipotles
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
- Heat the butter in a skillet over medium heat. Add the sliced onions with a big pinch of salt and pepper. Cook, stirring often, until the onions slightly soften, about 10 minutes. Reduce the heat to low and stir in the balsamic vinegar. Continue to stir and cook the onions for 5 more minutes. The onions should be soft and slightly caramely looking. Turn off the heat.
- Spray a sheet pan with olive oil or nonstick spray - make sure the bottom of the pan is covered so the pierogies don’t stick and rip. Place the pierogies on and toss them or brush them well in the olive oil. You want all edges of the pierogies covered! Sprinkles with salt, pepper, garlic powder and smoked paprika. Spoon the caramelized onions from the pan (along with any butter in in the pan) all over the pierogies.
- Roast for 20 to 30 minutes, flipping the pierogies once in between. Sprinkle with fresh herbs and serve immediately with the chipotle sour cream.
- Note: alternatively, you can place raw sliced onions (and even peppers) on the baking sheet and toss with olive oil and balsamic. Place the pierogies on top. This eliminates the onion caramelizing step - but they won’t be as caramely.
chipotle sour cream
- Whisk ingredients together until combined. You can store this in the fridge a day or so ahead of time.
Chewy, crispy, flavorful and pillowy!!
The post Sheet Pan Pierogies with Caramelized Onions and Chipotle Sour Cream. appeared first on How Sweet Eats.
