Polish Recipes/ Sauces

Pierogi Sauces and Toppings – What To Serve With Pierogi

4 September 2022 By Aleksandra

If you’re wondering what to serve with pierogi, you’ve come to the right place. Get ideas on pierogi sauces and toppings. Pierogi are really good on their own but you can always pump up the flavor with toppings/sauces.

I’m quite sure the best resource will be soon the comment section (just like with my post about pierogi fillings), so let’s see what you come up with! (and thank you in advance!).

What do Polish people serve with pierogi?

Let’s start with what is really served with pierogi in Poland. It may come as a surprise for you, but actually.. not much! The most popular toppings for pierogi include skwarki (crunchy golden-brown nuggets of fried pork fatback), sauteed onions, and just melted butter for savory pierogi and sweetened cream for sweet pierogi. I’ve actually never seen anyone from my family/friends serve anything else with pierogi. Sauces are not really served with pierogi. Nevertheless, there are many delicious toppings/sauces that you could serve with pierogi, and here are my ideas.

#1 Bacon + onions + sour cream + melted butter

When I want to serve something with pierogi, this is what I’m usually preparing. Like mentioned above, in Poland most usually fried pork fatback is being used (called ‘skwarki’) but smoked thick-sliced (or cubed) bacon is also used. Add to this sauteed sweet onions, melted butter, and tangy sour cream and you’re in heaven.

You could also add chopped dill or chives to your sour cream.

#2 Mushroom sauce

Mushroom sauce tastes great with so many foods so why not with pierogi?

Check out my recipe for:

#3 Cheese sauce

Completely not authentic but I’m obsessed with serving it with meat pierogi (the recipe for the cheese sauce is included in this recipe or in the recipe card below). I ate it once with meat-filled pierogi in a restaurant in Poland and now I’m eating them this way ever since.

Meat pierogi with cheese sauce on a white plate.

#4 Dill sauce

Dill sauce is not really served with pierogi but with meatballs, meats, or fish. It’s really popular in Poland and it will go well with pierogi.

#5 Ranch

Ranch sauce/dressing is not really known in Poland although I’m quite sure many Poles will go nuts for it if they knew it! It’s tangy and herby and much like sour cream, would be great with pierogi.

#6 Sweet pierogi sauces/toppings

Sweet pierogi are very popular in Poland, they are filled either with fruit (see blueberry pierogi) or sweet cheese filling.

The most popular toppings/sauces for sweet pierogi are:

  • lightly sweetened sour cream
  • whipped cream
  • granulated sugar and buttered breadcrumbs (bułka tarta) – melt butter in a pot, add breadcrumbs and cook until they are golden in color, then add some sugar to taste (the exact recipe is below in the recipe card)
  • cinnamon
  • fruit sauce – for example strawberry sauce which is just pureed strawberries with sugar (see on the photo below)
  • chocolate sauce (melted chocolate combined with heavy cream)
  • vanilla sauce
  • sweetened yogurt such as vanilla yogurt
Sweet cheese pierogi served with strawberry sauce.

Pierogi recipes

I have many pierogi recipes for you to try!

Pierogi Sauces and Toppings – What To Serve With Pierogi

If you’re wondering what to serve with pierogi, you’ve come to the right place. Get ideas on pierogi sauces and toppings. Pierogi are really good on their own but you can always pump up the flavor with toppings/sauces.
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Meat pierogi with cheese sauce on a white plate.
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5 from 2 votes
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 10 minutes
Total Time 20 minutes
Servings 4 servings
Calories 625kcal
Author Aleksandra

Ingredients

the best topping:

  • thick-cut bacon or butter if not using bacon
  • onion
  • sour cream

cheese sauce:

  • 2 tablespoons butter
  • 2 teaspoons flour
  • 1/2 cup milk
  • 1/4 cup chicken broth
  • 1/2 cup (45g) grated Parmesan cheese
  • salt and pepper to taste

sweet buttered breadcrumbs (for sweet pierogi):

  • 1/2 cup (115g) butter
  • 1/2 cup + 1 tablespoon (70g) fine breadcrumbs
  • 1-2 tablespoons sugar or to taste
  • cinnamon

dill sauce:

  • 2 tablespoons butter
  • 1 tablespoon flour
  • 2 cloves garlic
  • 1 cup chicken broth
  • 3/4 cup heavy cream
  • 1/4 cup milk
  • 1 teaspoon lemon juice
  • 1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
  • small bunch chopped dill
  • salt and pepper

ranch dipping sauce:

  • 1/2 cup sour cream (120g)
  • 1/2 cup buttermilk (120g)
  • 1/2 cup mayonnaise (100g)
  • 1/2 teaspoon dried parsley
  • 1/2 teaspoon dried chives
  • 1/2 teaspoon dried dill weed
  • 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
  • 1/2-3/4 teaspoon lemon juice or to taste
  • salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

The best topping:

  • Vegetarian version: pour melted butter over pierogi and serve with dollops of sour cream. You can also cut onion into thin slices and cook for 5-10 minutes in butter until soft and a little bit browned. Top pierogi with the onions.
  • Bacon and onion topping: Cook bacon in a pan until browned and crispy then put on a plate. Cook thinly sliced onions in the fat rendered from bacon (adding more butter if necessary), until soft, about 5-10 minutes. Top your pierogi with onions and bacon, put a dollop of sour cream on the side.

Cheese sauce:

  • Melt the butter in a pan or medium saucepan. Add flour and whisk until combined, cook for 1 minute at low heat. Add milk and broth, whisk to combine, and bring to a gentle boil. Add parmesan cheese and cook until melted. Season the sauce with salt and pepper.

Sweet breadcrumbs:

  • Melt the butter in a pan, add the breadcrumbs and sugar. Cook, stirring over medium heat until breadcrumbs are golden in color (2-3 minutes). Sprinkle with cinnamon to taste.

Dill sauce:

  • Add the butter to the pan. When it’s melted, add finely chopped garlic and cook for 30 seconds, then whisk in the flour.
  • Add the broth, cream, milk, lemon juice, and mustard. Cook for a couple of minutes until the sauce is thickened.
  • Take the pan off the heat, add the chopped dill, and season the sauce with salt and pepper, to taste.

Ranch dipping sauce:

  • Add all the ingredients into a medium bowl and whisk until combined. Season to taste with lemon juice, salt, and pepper.

Notes

Recipes for various mushroom sauces are linked in the body of the post.
The calories shown are for the dill sauce.
Course sauce, Topping
Cuisine polish
Tried this Recipe? Rate the Recipe and tell us what you think in the Comments!

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1 Comment

  • Reply
    Kelly
    2 March 2024 at 18:24

    5 stars
    Where I’m from in the US, we really only serve them without sauce or just sour cream. It never occurred to me to try other variations. Cheese sauce or a mushroom topping/sauce sound particularly good though.

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