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.
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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