Homemade & Simple Classic Piroshki with a Simple Meat Filling

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Make these classic Slavic Piroshki with a meat filling at home. A simple dough process and sauté for the chicken gives you the best street food right in the comfort of your kitchen.

Piroshki in a woven bowl with parchment paper.

If you ever visit a true Russian grandma, she sure will have some piroshki filled with meat, or maybe another filling. My favorite filling is definitely with meat- they are simply amazing! Soft yeast dough you can easily make in a bread machine, then filled with ground lean meat and onion mixture. Then, fry until golden.

These hand pies have graced my plate more than once in my childhood. Almost every true Slavic grandma serves these, and honestly they’re one of the best Russian foods. Dough with a meat filling is a common combination! There are so many different forms: but piroshki are the best.

The meat in this piroshki recipe is ground chicken. To make the cooking process easier, sauté the meat beforehand and then add it in later. Feel free to do this step ahead of time, or while the dough ball is resting and rising. Home cooking is best when you can multitask.

These piroshki make the perfect midday snack or even as a side to any meal. You can make sweet piroshki, filling them with jam. There’s savory options like this chicken filling, ground beef, potato, or braised cabbage.

Table of Contents

Key Ingredients

Piroshki ingredients with labels - flour, ground chicken, baking soda, milk, egg, butter, yeast, olive oil, lemon juice, sour cream, pepper, salt, onion, and sugar.

Piroshki are a comfort food that come with many different fillings. Sometimes I make them with braised cabbage or mashed potato, but I prefer meat-filled piroshki.

To make a meat filling for piroshki you will need:

Chicken: Use boneless and skinless thighs, ground meat. The meat will not be as dry as if you use chicken breast.

Onion: Yellow and chopped.

Butter: Unsalted

And salt and pepper for flavor.

Don’t forget the dough:

To make it, you will need:

milk
yeast
sour cream
unsalted butter
sugar
salt
egg
baking soda
lemon juice
all-purpose flour
olive oil

Find the full printable recipe with specific measurements below.

How to make Classic Piroshki with a Simple Meat Filling

Prep the dough

Option 1: Put ingredients in a bread machine and choose “DOUGH”. Let it make the dough. (Afterwards, check if the dough is too runny after the machine has mixed, and adjust the flour.)

Option 2: You can prep the dough with a stand mixer, which is the way I’ll show you:

Step 1: Combine warm milk and yeast

In a small bowl, add warm milk and yeast then let it stand aside.

Step 2: Mix the dough ingredients

In a stand mixer bowl add sour cream, butter, sugar, salt, and egg. Beat for half a minute at slow speed.

Step 3: Add in milk-yeast mixture and combine

Add in the warm milk with yeast. Beat everything together for a minute.

Step 4: Mix baking soda and lemon juice

In a small, separate bowl mix baking soda with lemon juice. Add to the mixing bowl.

Step 5: Sift in the flour

Continue beating on medium, and sift in all purpose unbleached flour. It will come together in 3-4 minutes. If you feel like it’s too runny, you can add more flour.

Roughly shaped dough in a silver mixer bowl.

Step 6: Rest and rise

Cover the bowl with a clean towel and let it rise (it will take 1 to 1+½ hours).

Step 7: Transfer to a floured work surface

After the dough has risen (doubled in size), sprinkle some flour on to a clean surface and transfer the dough.

Step 8: Cut

Cut into small pieces about the size of a golf ball.

Sectioned out dough into small balls on a floured work surface.

Step 9: Roll, fill, and close

Roll out the pieces into a disk shape. Put your filling in the middle of the round rolled out dough. Pinch the edges together. Push it flat a bit and flip it upside down to a floured cutting board, for the piroshki to rise.

Filling dough with meat filling for piroshki.

Filled and closed raw piroshki on a wooden board.

Step 10: Heat the oil

In a skillet, on medium heat add light high heat oil. There should be ½ an inch of oil in your pan.

Step 11: Fry seam-side down

When putting the piroshki into the oil, put the bottom part down, so it doesn’t open while frying.

Step 12: Flip over

Flip over and cook the other side when the bottoms begin browning.

Step 13: Rest, cool, and enjoy

Place on a paper towel when taking the piroshki out of oil. Let the piroshki cool down a bit and then enjoy! Usually, piroshki with meat are served with sour cream.

For the Meat Filling:

Step 1: Grind chicken and onion

Grind chicken thighs and onion. Add a teaspoon of salt and pepper or to taste. In a skillet, melt butter.

Step 2: Sauté the chicken filling

Add in the chicken mixture. Mixing occasionally, sauté the chicken and onion. Once the meat has been fully cooked, set it aside until it’s time to fill the piroshki.

Step 3: Fill the piroshki

Fill the piroshki, cook according to instructions and serve! Meat piroshki pair well with sour cream.

Expert Tips:

Serve chicken piroshki with sour cream, green onion, and other easy herb toppings.
Flip the piroshki when the bottom is golden brown. Be gentle to avoid splattering hot oil.
While it’s essential to have enough filling, overfilling can cause the piroshki to burst during frying.
Piroshki are best enjoyed fresh and warm. If making them in advance, reheat before serving to maintain their delicious texture and flavor.
Use this dough recipe for sweet piroshki filled with jam.
Use a large skillet but don’t overcrowd it. It’s important that the piroshki have space to fully cook.
This shallow fry is ideal to cook the dough of the pirozhki. There is no need to deep fry them, since the meat inside has already been cooked.

Recipe FAQs

What type of flour is best for the dough?

All-purpose unbleached flour is typically best for piroshki dough. It provides a good balance of texture and flavor.

Can I use a different filling?

Absolutely, piroshki are versatile. You can use various fillings like potatoes or cabbage.

Can I prepare the filling in advance?

Yes, you can make the filling ahead of time and refrigerate it until you’re ready to assemble the piroshki.

What’s the ideal size for rolling out the dough?

A golf ball-sized piece of dough, when rolled out, is typically about 4-5 inches in diameter.

Halved piroshki atop a bowl of more piroshki.

Classic Slavic food is easy to make! Here are some of my favorite recipes:

These Easy Russian Chicken and Cabbage Rolls have fresh veggies!
This unique Russian Bird’s Milk Cake Recipe with Chocolate Glaze is a yummy dessert!

More chicken recipes

If you tried these Classic Piroshki with a Meat Filling or any other recipe on my website, please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how you enjoyed it in the📝 comments below. I love hearing from you!