This pelmeni recipe delivers Russia's signature dumpling-also called Siberian pelmeni or simply Russian dumplings. Silky hot-water pelmeni dough encases your choice of pork-beef, salmon-shrimp, or mushroom filling, then boils in lightly seasoned broth before a quick toss in butter and dill.
Because the dumplings freeze rock-solid and reheat in minutes, they remain a staple across Russian kitchens and weeknight freezers alike. Below, you'll mix the dough from scratch, craft three delicious fillings, shape each pelmeni by hand or mold, and serve them the classic way with sour cream and fresh dill.
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Pelmeni sit squarely in Russia's cold-weather lineup that pairs dumplings with crusty Borodinsky rye bread, steaming beet borscht, and a glass of homemade kvass.
Family tables often open with warm pirozhki and sharp fermented cucumber pickles, move on to bowls of pelmeni bathed in butter and broth, then finish sweet with soft syrniki or a layered medovik honey cake. Simple staples, patient seasoning, and a dollop of sour cream link every course.
Watch how to make it
Ingredients
Pelmeni dough
- Flour - Regular all-purpose flour with a protein content of around 10-12 percent.
- Water - The water needs to be hot but not boiling. It can also be substituted with clear broth. Spinach or beetroot purée can be added for colored pelmeni.
- Oil - Neutral cooking oil, melted clarified butter, or lard.
- Eggs - Large eggs. If using medium eggs, use half an egg more.
Meat filling ingredients
- Minced meat - Classic Siberian Pelmeni is made from pork and beef mince in a ratio of 1:1. Mince should not be low-fat for best results. 80/20 is a good ratio. If you don't eat pork, then use 100% beef mince, or any other minced meat you like.
- Aromatics - Regular yellow or white skin onion and fresh garlic.
- Seasoning - Salt and plenty of black pepper. The magic lies in the simplicity.
Fish filling ingredients
- Salmon - Skinless fillet. Trout can also be used if red fish, otherwise any fish you prefer.
- Shrimp - Deveined, cleaned, headless raw shrimps. Do not use cooked cocktail shrimps.
- Breadcrumbs - I use panko breadcrumbs for convenience. You could use fresh bread with the crust removed and double the amount called for.
- Cream - Pouring cream or whipping cream works well. Double cream is a bit thick. You can also use water to lighten it up.
- Pickles - Fermented cucumber pickles. Not the vinegar type.
- Dill - Fresh dill if you can get it. Otherwise, parsley works well, or leave it out.
Mushroom filling ingredients
- Mushrooms - Raw button mushrooms. The tinned ones won't cut it. Alternatives include portobello mushrooms, fresh oyster mushrooms, cepes, or chanterelles. These can also all be mixed.
- Aromatics - Garlic and onion. Do not add too many flavors when making pelmeni.
- Truffle oil (optional) - Convenient and goes great with mushrooms. If you're lucky enough to have fresh truffle, finely grate and use that instead.
See recipe card for quantities.
Instructions
Make the dough
- Heat the water - Warm 250 g of water to about 70 °C and double-check with a thermometer.
- Knead - Combine hot water, flour, salt, and oil, then knead for three minutes until the dough holds together.
- Rest - Cover the dough with a damp cloth and let it sit for 30 minutes in the mixing bowl.
- Ready to roll - Press the dough, it should feel smooth and springy. Keep covered until ready to use.
Hint: The dough can be frozen in batches for future use.
Prepare the fillings
Meat - Beef and Pork
- Grate onion - Finely grate one medium onion into a mixing bowl.
- Add garlic - Crush or finely chop garlic, then add to the onions.
- Season - Add salt and a generous grinding of black pepper over the onion and garlic mixture.
- Mix in meat and water - Add equal parts pork and beef mince as well as water, and work it well until you have a homogenous mix. Cover and let it rest in the fridge for 15 minutes before using.
Fish - Salmon and shrimp
- Soak breadcrumbs - Combine breadcrumbs with light cream and water until spongy and fully hydrated. Takes about 5 minutes.
- Add the rest - Add finely chopped salmon, finely chopped shrimp, grated cold butter, chopped dill, salt, and pepper.
- Combine - Stir with a fork until the mixture becomes uniform and looks slightly creamy. Cover and rest in the fridge for 15 minutes before using.
- Dice pickles - Cut cucumber pickles into small dice, then set them aside. These go into the middle of the filling later.
Mushroom and truffle
- Mince mushrooms - Pulse mushrooms in a processor to a fine crumble, or chop by hand.
- Cook dry - Sauté the mushrooms in oil until all the moisture has evaporated.
- Add onion & garlic - Add a touch more oil if needed, then stir in minced onion and garlic, then cook until soft and sweet. Deglaze the pan with a bit of water to get the fond of the bottom.
- Finish with truffle oil - Let the mix cool, then fold in truffle oil for aroma, or add finely grated fresh truffle if available.
Shaping pelmeni
- Roll - Cut a tennis ball-sized piece of dough from the large dough you made earlier. Roll it out to about 1.5 mm (≈ 1⁄16 inch) on a well-floured surface with a rolling pin. If it resists and shrinks back, then cover with a damp towel and let it rest for a minute or two.
- Cut rounds - Punch out 6 cm (≈ 2 ½ inch) circles using a glass or metal pastry cutter. If you don't have either, use a knife or scissors, then tidy it up later.
- Add filling - Place 10 g (≈ 2 tsp) filling in the center. Brush the edges with a tiny bit of water so they seal better.
- Seal - Fold into a half-moon and pinch the edge tight. Remove any air as you do this.
- Form ring - Bring the two tips together and press.
- Finished pelmeni - Set the sealed dumpling on a tray lined with parchment and also well floured to prevent sticking.
Batch-freeze for later
- Tray freeze - Arrange raw pelmeni on a floured sheet pan; freeze until rock-solid. It should only take a few hours.
- Bag and label - Transfer to zip-lock bags, press out air, date, and mark the filling type so you know what is what if you made different types.
Cooking and serving
- Cooking liquid - Bring a pot of water to a boil with bay leaves, peppercorns, and salt.
- Boiling - Drop the pelmeni into the simmering water. Cook for 4 minutes from fresh or 6 minutes from frozen until they float, and the dough looks silky and slightly expanded.
- Butter - Lift out with a slotted spoon and toss in soft butter to coat.
- Plate - Finish with sour cream, dill, and a fresh grinding of black pepper.
Storage
Pelmeni is best eaten straight away when cooked.
You can keep leftovers in the fridge for up to 48 hours, then reheat in simmering water. The quality will not be as good as fresh, though.
Once cooked, they can't be frozen as they will fall apart when reheated.
It's best to freeze them like I explained above, then cook as many as you need.
Top Tips
- Cut perfect 7 cm rounds - Roll the dough to 1.5 mm (¹⁄₁₆ in) and punch out 7 cm (≈ 2 ¾ in) circles. Keeping the size uniform means every dumpling cooks at the same speed.
- Trimmings - Reuse the trimmings once only. Doing so more often will result in a hard dough, difficult to roll out.
- Taste-test the filling first - Fry a teaspoon of each mix in a skillet, adjust salt and pepper, then proceed; better to tweak now than after a whole batch of sealed dumplings.
- Press out every air pocket - When you fold and pinch, squeeze the seam until the wrapper hugs the meat; trapped air expands and bursts skins in the boil.
- Flour and cover as you go - Lightly dust finished pelmeni and keep both dough scraps and formed dumplings under a towel to stop sticking and drying.
- Freeze individually, then bag - Lay uncooked pelmeni on a tray, freeze hard, label zip bags by filling. They stay intact and high quality for three months in the freezer.
- Boil in seasoned water or light broth - Use plenty of liquid with bay and peppercorns; cook fresh pelmeni four minutes, frozen ones six, until they float and look puffed.
Substitutions
- Swap the meat - Use venison, chicken, turkey, or lamb in place of beef or pork. Keep a fat element if using dry meat like venison.
- Gluten-free dough - Replace wheat flour with an equal-weight gluten-free blend (rice + tapioca + potato starch) and add ½ teaspoon xanthan gum for elasticity if not included in the mix.
- Vegan dough - Omit the egg and use extra water to make up for the moisture loss.
- Oil - Trade the neutral oil for melted butter or lard. Both boost flavor and tenderness in the hot-water dough.
- Fish swap - In the salmon-shrimp filling, you can substitute them for rainbow trout, cod, halibut, or pike-perch-Far-Eastern pelmeni use all of these.
- Colored wrappers - Blend 50 g spinach or beet purée into the hot water for green or pink dough. The flavor stays neutral while the color changes. Use squid ink for black dough.
Variations
- Pan-fried pelmeni - After boiling, sauté the dumplings in butter until both sides turn crisp and golden. It's a favorite late-night bar snack in Russia.
- Deep-fried Pelmeni - Fry them from raw in oil at 170 °C (338° F) until golden brown and crispy. Cut one open to check doneness.
- Pelmeni dumpling soup - Add the dumplings to chicken broth with leeks, carrots, and celery for a 30-minute one-pot meal. Cook them for the last 4 minutes before serving to avoid overcooking.
- Sweet pelmeni - Change the savory filling for apple sauce or cherry jam mixed with stewed pear. Serve with sour cream.
Equipment
To roll the dough, you need a rolling pin, or you can use an empty wine bottle or a wooden rod if you don't have one. The dough can also be rolled out on a pasta machine.
I prefer hand-wrapped pelmeni, but it does take longer to make. For convenience and speed, there are metal pelmeni molds available online.
FAQ
Can I cook pelmeni straight from frozen?
Yes. Drop them into boiling, well-salted water or light broth. They sink first and float after about 6 minutes, which means they are cooked. Fresh pelmeni take about 4 minutes.
How do I know they're ready?
The wrappers look puffed and glossy, and every dumpling floats. Cut one open: the filling should be steaming-hot with no pink meat
Is boiling the only cooking method?
No. Boiled pelmeni can be pan-fried in butter, and frozen pelmeni can be deep-fried from frozen.
Can I make a gluten-free wrapper?
Swap wheat flour for a rice-potato blend (25 % brown rice, 25 % white rice, 50 % potato starch) and add ½ teaspoon xanthan gum per 500 g flour to restore stretch.
What fillings count as classic?
A 1:1 mix of pork and beef with onion, garlic, salt, and black pepper is the Siberian standard, but lamb, venison, fish, or mushrooms appear in regional versions.
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Recipe
Pelmeni Recipe - Russian Dumplings, 3 Fillings + Video
Hand-crafted Siberian pelmeni-thin hot-water dough stuffed with either pork/beef, salmon/shrimp, or mushroom/truffle filling-boil in seasoned broth, finish in butter, and freeze perfectly for quick weeknight dinners.
Servings 60 Pelmeni
Equipment
1 ww
Ingredients
Dough
- 500 g (4 cups) Flour
- 2 (2) eggs - large
- 250 g (1 cups) hot Water
- 35 g (3 tablespoon) neutral oil
- 6 g (1 teaspoon) Salt
Meat filling
- 450 g (1 lb) Minced meat - (Pork mince 225 g + Beef mince 225 g)
- 200 g (1 cup) Onion - grated
- 1 clove (1 clove) Garlic - crushed
- 6 g (1 teaspoon) Salt
- 1 g (½ teaspoon) black pepper
- 125 g (½ cups) water
Mushroom and truffle filing
- 200 g (1 cup) Onion - finely chopped
- 2 cloves (2 cloves) Garlic - crushed
- 500 g (1 lb) Mushroom - blitzed or finely chopped
- 3 g (½ teaspoon) Salt
- 1 g (½ teaspoon) Pepper
- 25 g (2 tablespoon) truffle oil
Fish filling
- 250 g (½ lb) Salmon - chopped or minced
- 250 g (½ lb) Shrimp - chopped or minced
- 10 g (⅕ cups) Dill - finely chopped
- 50 g (3 ⅜ tablespoon) cucumber pickles - diced
- 25 g (¼ cups) Breadcrumbs
- 125 g (½ cups) Cream
- 50 g (4 tablespoon) Water
- 50 g (3 4/7 tablespoon) Butter
- 6 g (1 teaspoon) Salt
- 1 g (½ teaspoon) black Pepper
Boiling liquid
- 2 L (½ gal) Water/stock
- 6 (6) Bay leaves
- 8 (8) All spice berries
- 12 g (2 teaspoon) Salt
To serve
- 75 g (⅓ cups) Sour cream
- 50 g (3 ½ tablespoon) Butter
- Dill - few soft sprigs
- Black pepper
Instructions
- Make dough - Warm water to 70 °C (158 °F), then mix with flour, eggs, oil, and salt. Knead 3 minutes, coverwith a damp cloth, and rest 30 minutes.
- Meat filling - Grate onion, add crushed garlic, salt, pepper, andcold water. Work in pork and beef mince until swell combined.Cover and chill in the fridge for 15 minutes.
- Fish filling - Soak breadcrumbs in cream and water, fold in chopped salmon, chopped shrimp, grated cold butter, chopped dill, salt, and pepper. Chill 15 minutes covered in the fridge. Keep diced fermented cucumber ready to the side for adding to dumplings later.
- Mushroom filling - Pulse mushrooms, then sauté until moisture is completely gone. Add onion and garlic and cook until soft and season the mix. cool, then stir in truffle oil.
- Roll & cut - Roll dough to 1.5 mm / ¹⁄₁₆ in thickness; punch 7 cm / 2 ¾ in circles. Use a well floured surface to avoid sticking.
- Fill & seal - Place 10 g / 2 tsp filling in the center (add pickled cucumber for fish), fold to a half-moon, pinch out air, join tips into a ring. Place onto a parchment lined floured tray.
- Batch-freeze (optional) - Freeze hard, then bag and label.
- Cook - Boil salted water or light stock with bay leaves and allspice. Fresh pelmeni cook for 4 minutes. Frozen needs 6 minutes. They are usually ready when they float, but always cut one open to make sure.
- Serve - Toss in soft butter and plate with sour cream, dill, and cracked black pepper.
Video
Notes
- Working with the dough - Keep dough under a damp cloth to avoid drying out. Work in small amounts. Any leftovers can be frozen for later. Trimmings can be rolled out once more. If the dough resists at any point, simply cover and let it rest for a few minutes.
- Vegan dough - Omit the egg and use water instead.
- Colour-tinted wrappers - Blend 2 tablespoon spinach purée for green, beet purée for pink, or 1 teaspoon squid-ink for black into the hot water before mixing the dough.
- Pelmeni mold option - Lightly flour a metal pelmeni mold, lay a sheet of rolled dough over, spoon filling into each indentation, cap with a second sheet, and roll with a pin to seal. Shake out, dust, and repeat; ideal for large batches.
- Meat mince - Use mince with some fat (about 80/20). Beating a little ice water into the mix keeps it juicy once boiled. You can substitute the pork and beef for any other minced meat you prefer.
- Onion & garlic - Grate onion and crush garlic. The fine texture melts into the filling and avoids tearing the wrapper.
- Freeze smart - Freeze raw pelmeni on a floured tray, then bag and label. Cook straight from frozen; add roughly two minutes to the boiling time.
- Leftover filling - Pan-fry any spare filling as mini patties or crumble into scrambled eggs for next-day breakfast.
- Pelmeni soup shortcut - Drop frozen dumplings straight into simmering chicken broth with sliced leek; cook 6 min for an instant one-pot meal.
- Storage and reheating - Pelmeni is best eaten straight away. Leftovers can be stored for 48 hours and gently reheated.
- Traditional dip - Splash boiled pelmeni with white vinegar and coarse black pepper-Siberian fast-food style.
- Adapted from tradition - Method follows the Siberian hunter technique of freezing dumplings outdoors, updated here for modern freezers and kitchens.
- Calorie guide - Classic pork-and-beef pelmeni average about 60 calories each (22 g cooked), fish versions around 50 calories, and mushroom-truffle about 45 calories per dumpling.
Nutrition
Serving: 100grams Calories: 110kcal Carbohydrates: 9g Protein: 5g Fat: 6g Saturated Fat: 2g Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g Monounsaturated Fat: 2g Trans Fat: 0.1g Cholesterol: 27mg Sodium: 298mg Potassium: 143mg Fiber: 0.5g Sugar: 1g Vitamin A: 105IU Vitamin C: 1mg Calcium: 15mg Iron: 1mg
Keywords:pelmeni recipe, Russian pelmeni, Siberian dumplings
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John K says
Question: you provide three different fillings. Do you mean to use all three fillings with the amount of dough in the recipe or is the dough portion for one filling
Charlé Visser says
There's enough dough for all three fillings. For convenience, the dough as well as the fillings can all be frozen. The ready-made pelmeni can also be frozen and cooked from frozen.