I think I would boil them from frozen and then fry them tomorrow night. Reheat on Friday. If you boil them and try to hold over night I'm afraid they would be all stuck together. When you saute them, they end up with the butter which will keep them separated better. Also, the saute toughens up the outside of the pierogi. I'd add a little more butter when you reheat.

Nancy

Gardengrl, I asked my husband Wayne what he would do. He is Polish and has been making cheese and potato pierogies with his mom since he was a kid. Here is what he said;

Christmas Eve was the family celebration and pierogi was the star. About 40 people and hundreds of pierogi. Pierogi was always two ways for us. The primary pierogi was a potato and cheese mixture. They were just boiled and served with melted butter. This was the first way. The second way was with leftover pierogi. They were cooked in the next day or two by just frying in butter. I still make them this way now. For your case, the challenge is that you have 100 of them.

I would boil them directly from frozen. If you let them thaw the dough will become gummy and you will lose some of them via handling or boiling. I would boil them and let them cool on a sheet pan with some plastic wrap sprayed with some cooking release spray. Put a plastic sheet between the layers of the pierogi. Refrigerate the pierogi. For me, by refrigerating them, the dough tends to set better and will crisp better when fried. I like the texture contrast that this kind of frying does. If you can fry them Friday morning, that would be the best, but it takes quite a bit of time for 100 pierogies. For time management, I would fry them the night before and just reheat them on Friday. Either way, because everyone is not coming to your house and your not serving them out of the frying pan, I would go for the better time management solution. This would be less rushed (less chance for mistakes) and give them a taste of a cultural dish that immediately invokes Christmas memories for my brothers and I.

You can pan fry frozen perogies, and then boil them afterwards. I wonder if it would work to fry them frozen the night before, stick them back in the freezer, and use a crock pot or boiling water to heat them/cook them at work.

I am taking the morning off work tomorrow to make a turkey for a potluck. Planning it to be hot at lunchtime was just too hard!

Well... this Polish girl says boil frozen pierogi for 4 minutes, then they go into the frying pan with onions and butter and saute until the pierogi have golden patches and the onions are browned. Let them cool, refrigerate and reheat as needed. Never ever thaw a frozen pierogi before cooking. :) Good for you for making them yourself. Wait--did you boil them for 4 minutes before you froze them? All of my family pierogi recipes call for boiling the freshly-made pierogi for 4 minutes and then freezing them and when ready to use, drop the frozen pierogi into boiling water for another 4 minutes, then fry.

Rather than boiling them, which can make the dough kind of wet and soggy, you can steam them, refrigerate them, then fry them just before serving.

dcarch

Wow, thanks for the response everyone! Perogies certainly are a labor of love. I know my Polish grandmother was smiling down on me when I was making them.

I made them fresh with the potato and cheese filling, then froze them raw, so I think I will boil and fry them tonight, then reheat them tomorrow. I do have a large, electric skillet that I will reheat them in, so I think that will help keep them from getting soggy.

I definitely need to update my perogie making technology...maybe Santa will bring me a pasta roller for Christmas this year. :-)

I know I will not get an answer today,and need it, I am also bringing boiled and fried perogies to a party....and do not know how to reheat them...I am thinking of keeping them on the cookie sheet separated and covered with aluminum foil and putting a hot towel over them to heat them from room temperature. I will be at a big party and cannot be refrying food.. I made a bad choice volunteering to make this....conflicted.

I just cut some unneeded stuff. The prior responses didn't show when I posted. Weird.

One thing to keep in mind is food safety temperatures. What you suggested with the towel, foil and cookie sheet does not sound like a good option.

Best of luck.

I'm late replying, but my Polish family makes their pierogi, boils them, THEN freezes them.... they can then be fried in butter from the frozen or thawed state. When I take them somewhere I just use my big electric frying pan -- either pre-cooked or cooked on site, then held with the 'warm' setting.

I thought you were never suppose to freeze potatoes. The potato pierogis are okay using the above method?

What advise do you give if they have frozen together a bit in the freezer? Will they separate if I boil?

jan_smith, pierogies are made with cooked potatoes -- they freeze fine.

jillpelke, you'll be able to separate them if you thaw, boil, or saute, but depending on how badly they're stuck together the dough may break when you try to separate them. When they break, I think it's best if they don't fill with water, so I'd thaw or saute rather than boil (assuming they were already boiled!).

They were not already boiled. Shoot!

I have often taken cooked perogy to pot lucks. I boil and fry , in tons of butter , home.....then I make a huge mess of carmelized onions and dump the entire mess into a crockpot and set on low when I getti the party. Works well