How to Cook Frozen Pierogi with Cabbage and Kielbasa

Learn how to cook frozen pierogi to make Pierogies and Kielbasa with Red Cabbage - an easy comfort meal. Enjoy this delicious pierogi and kielbasi dinner in 30 minutes. I love making this dinner!

What are Pierogies?

Pierogi are little pasta-like dumplings filled with a cheesy potato filling. They originate from Poland and are often paired with kielbasa or smoked sausage. Pierogi cook easily in butter and makes a delicious side dish, and Bacon and Cheese Wrapped Pierogi is one of my favorite appetizers. If you're looking for a full meal, pierogies and kielbasa is a classic main dish you will love.

Why I Love This Frozen Pierogi Recipe

Quick meals are the best meals in my book because I want to enjoy dinner without a lot of fuss. Easy clean up afterward is always a bonus. You will enjoy the benefits of both with this frozen pierogies and kielbasa with red cabbage dinner.

Frozen pierogi is easy to cook, delicious and cuts down on the amount of time you will spend in the kitchen. I always keep a few boxes of pierogies in my freezer because they are so convenient. Adding kielbasa and red cabbage elevates this dish to a tasty meal that your whole family will enjoy. As a bonus, this meal is cooked in one pot, so clean-up is a breeze.

Pierogi with red cabbage and kielbasi is on my dinner menu at least once a month. I hope you will give this a try and love it as much as I do!

Ingredient and Substitution Tips

Once you know how to cook frozen pierogi, it's easy to make ingredient swaps, so this recipe works for you. 

Pierogi are good old- fashioned comfort food. I love making them homemade, but it is a labor intensive process so  I always keep packages of frozen pierogi in my freezer as they are perfect for busy nights. This recipe uses small mini pierogi, so they cook quickly. You can use larger ones, but you may need to add a few minutes to the cooking time.  You can also use refrigerated pierogi in this dish if you are lucky to find them at a specialty store or Polish deli. The final cooking time will be a few minutes less if they are not frozen. 

Cabbage is healthy, and I love using red cabbage for more color. You can shred the cabbage yourself, but to make things even easier, you can buy pre-shredded cabbage in the produce section of your grocery store.  I tend to use pre-cut packaged vegetables when I am in a hurry. If you'd like to get some tips on cutting cabbage yourself, check out these cabbage cutting tips via Healing Tomato.

Kielbasa is a yummy flavorful sausage that also cooks really quickly. When you purchase Kielbasa, it is actually pre-cooked, so you are really just reheating it. I used a lighter turkey kielbasa in this recipe but use your favorite kind or substitute any smoked sausage that you like.

Olive oil, red wine vinegar, honey and garlic powder add great flavor to this dish. These ingredients are ones that can easily be substituted to your taste. If you are out of olive oil, canola or grapeseed oil will work—cider vinegar or also perfect to substitute for red wine vinegar. If you like onion powder instead of garlic powder, go ahead and swap it out! Make this dish your own with various spices or seasonings.   

Parsley and sour cream are optional ingredients that I like to garnish this dish with.

How to Cook Pierogi

My favorite way to cook frozen pierogi is in one skillet with the other ingredients. It makes for easy cleanup and the pierogi cook this way very quickly.

In this recipe, there are 4 easy steps:

1. The cabbage is cooked with onions and seasonings.
2. Sliced kielbasa is pan fried until it starts to brown.
3. The frozen pierogi are added to the cabbage and kielbasa skillet. Add a few tablespoons of water. 
4. Cook on low heat for about 6 minutes until the pierogi are tender. Give the skillet a gentle stir once or twice.

Cooking Tips:

• Make sure to keep the heat on low to give time for the pierogi to cook without burning.
• A few spoons of water can be added so that the ingredients and pan does not get dry.  
• Stir the pan gently as you do not want the pierogi to break. 
• I like to use a wide spatula or pancake flipper to remove the pierogies from the skillet. They don't get broken and it's a way to easily get the dish on a plate.

More One-Skillet Meals

After I learned how to cook frozen pierogi for a delicious one-skillet meal, I wanted to add more one-pan meals to my repertoire. Here are some of our favorites that I think you will love too.

• Chicken Parmesan Skillet
• Spinach Mushroom and Goat Cheese Frittata
• One-Pan Shrimp and Asparagus Linguini
• Beef Tenderloin Tips and Mushrooms
• Pan-Roasted Swordfish with Cherry Tomatoes and Capers

When it comes to easy meals, this pierogi and kielbasi dish combines frozen convenience foods with enough home-cooked goodness to make a recipe that you will love and feel great about serving your family. 

If you like this recipe for pierogies and kielbasa, please give it a 5- star rating below.

Print Recipe

5 from 7 votes

Pierogi with Red Cabbage and Kielbasa

Learn how to cook frozen pierogi to make Pierogies and Kielbasa with Red Cabbage - an easy comfort meal. You can get this one skillet meal on the table in no time.

Prep Time10 mins

Cook Time25 mins

Total Time35 mins

Course: Main dish

Cuisine: Polish

Keyword: frozen pierogi, how to cook pierogi, pierogi and kielbasi, pierogies and kielbasa

Servings: 4

Calories: 383kcal

Author: Jersey Girl Cooks (Lisa Grant)

Ingredients

• 1 TBS olive oil
• ¼ cup chopped onion
• 8 ounces shredded red cabbage
• 2 TBS red wine vinegar
• 1 TBS honey
• ½ teaspoon garlic powder
• 8 ounces sliced turkey kielbasa you use any type you'd like
• 1 16 ouncebox mini pierogi
• salt and pepper to taste
• sour cream for garnish
• chopped parsley for garnish

Instructions

• In a large frying pan, heat oil on medium heat. Add onion and cook for 5 minutes or until onion is translucent. Add cabbage, vinegar, honey and garlic powder. Cook for additional 10 minutes or until veggies are wilted and cooked through.
• Push cabbage mixture to side of pan and saute sliced kielbasa on other side of pan until it starts to brown. Mix together well. Add a few tablespoons of water to deglaze pan.
• Add pierogi to pan, turn heat to low and cook for about 6 minutes or until pierogi is fully cooked. Stir gently making sure the pierogi do not stick to the pan .
• Add salt and pepper to taste and serve garnished with sour cream and parsley.

Nutrition

Calories: 383kcal | Carbohydrates: 46g | Protein: 16g | Fat: 16g | Saturated Fat: 4g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 4g | Monounsaturated Fat: 2g | Cholesterol: 35mg | Sodium: 1235mg | Potassium: 386mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 11g | Vitamin A: 714IU | Vitamin C: 50mg | Calcium: 37mg | Iron: 6mg

First Published July 2018; Updated February 2021

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