I have not heard of anyone who doesn't love these little things. Pelmeni, dumplings, wonderful little meat-filled-dough mouth-poppers; whatever you want to call them! They're all the same. And if I had heard of such a person, I'd say, "Have you ever tried mine?" Give it a shot!
Throughout all my years of cooking, I've either sampled or made pelmeni with various meat filling and found that I like turkey breast meat best. It is naturally leaner and healthier, softer in texture than other meat, and doesn't have that meaty aftertaste. And it's also not as heavy on my stomach. And for the same reasons, I feel it's also the best for a baby to eat.
My 17-month-old,
... absolutely loves them and devours the same portion as my four-year-old. I don't have one child that doesn't love pelmeni. But of course we all have our preferences, so I'd recommend that you experiment with different filling variations using my Vareniki Dough Recipe for that extra fluffiness. One thing I'll say, no matter which meat they're made with I don't think I have ever seen leftovers.
When it comes to pelmeni, I make a ton to freeze them up for those rainy days. During busy days when the time is in short supply, your dinner won't be! Plop them in a pot of water and you've got one happy family at the dinner table. These also make an incredible addition to a pot of soup.
Come to think of it, I wonder if there is a Slavic household that doesn't have a good stockpile of pelmeni in their freezer. Taking the freezing option into consideration, if you still feel this recipe size is still too large for your family; you may certainly half the recipe and freeze what you don't cook. It’s a very much enjoyed comfort food in our family and I'm positive it will be yours too!
Dough Ingredients:
2 cups (475 ml) – whey
1 large – eggs (I used homegrown eggs)
5 cups (625 g) – sifted all-purpose organic flour
1 tbsp. (15 ml) – Baking Soda
¼ tsp. (1.25 ml) – Sea Salt
Filling Ingredients:
2 - 1.25 lbs. (567 grams) – Turkey Breast Tenderloins
1 tsp. (5 ml) – Sea Salt
¼ tsp. (1.25 ml) – ground Black Pepper
1 large – egg (I used homegrown egg)
1 small – organic onion
1 - 2 small – garlic cloves (I used homegrown garlic)
Meat Instructions:
Wash turkey breast tenderloins and grind them. Add shredded onion, garlic, salt, black pepper, and egg. Mix well with hand mixer until all combined. Cover with plastic food wrap and place in refrigerator until ready for use.
Dough Instructions:
1. Combine all the dry ingredients together and set aside.
2. Pour whey into the mixer bowl, add egg and mix on medium speed with the mixer whisk attachment for 30 seconds or until combined.
3. Switch attachment to mixer's dough hook, add half of the flour mixture to whey mixture and mix on lowest speed. Continue adding ½ cup of flour mixture at a time thereafter until soft dough forms with no clumps.
4. Transfer dough onto a large cutting board or work surface dusted with flour. Cut a fist size piece out of the dough and roll it out into a large circle (little wider than the Pelmeni Maker).
5. Place Pelmeni Maker on the dough. Sprinkle some flour to dust Pelmeni Maker and dough (to prevent from sticking).
6. Place the floured side of the dough over the floured Pelmeni Maker.
7. Place 1 tsp. of seasoned ground turkey meat into each hexagon pocket.
8. Roll another dough circle and place it over the Pelmeni Maker filled with meat.
9. Using a rolling pin, press, and roll over the top (from the center outward) until all pelmeni are cut and the all the hexagon shapes are well visible.
10. Remove the outer layer of the remaining dough and knead it into a ball (to be used for the next bottom layer). Turn the Pelmeni Maker (filled with pelmeni) over and hit an edge against the rolling pin or cutting board a couple of times until all pelmeni falls out from the pockets.
I place the raw/uncooked pelmeni onto a rectangular plate so it’s easy to toss them into a pot of boiling water for cooking all at once. Repeat the same steps until you've used up the rest of the dough and meat. You should have approximately 5 batches or 275 pelmenis. I freeze leftover pelmeni in a ziplock back.
Unfrozen Pelmeni Cooking Instructions:
1. Bring a medium pot filled with water halfway to a boil (on high temp) then carefully toss in pelmeni. Reduce the heat to medium and stir. The boiling will subside and then resume. As soon as gentle boiling starts. simmer pelmeni for 2 minutes, stirring occasionally.
2. Transfer cooked pelmeni into a bowl. Add 1 tbsp. of butter, cut into smaller pieces, then toss to coat.
Frozen Pelmeni Cooking Instructions:
Bring a medium pot filled with water halfway to a boil (on high temp) then carefully toss pelmeni into the pot. Do not reduce the heat (keep it on high) and stir. The coldness of frozen pelmeni will cause boiling to subside and then it will resume.
As soon as pelmeni start boiling again reduce the heat to low/medium and let them simmer for 3 minutes, stirring occasionally. Transfer cooked pelmeni into a bowl. Add 1 tbsp. of butter, cut into smaller pieces, then toss to coat.
Serve pelmeni right away with vinegar or sour cream (our preference).
Enjoy!
Recipe Card
Turkey Pelmeni Recipe (Ukrainian Meat Dumplings)
Ingredients
- Dough Ingredients:
- 2 cups 475 ml – whey
- 1 large – eggs I used homegrown eggs
- 5 cups 625 g – sifted all-purpose organic flour
- 1 tbsp. 15 ml – Baking Soda
- ¼ tsp. 1.25 ml – Sea Salt
- Filling Ingredients:
- 2 - 1.25 lbs. 567 grams – Turkey Breast Tenderloins
- 1 tsp. 5 ml – sea salt
- ¼ tsp. 1.25 ml – ground Black Pepper
- 1 large – egg I used homegrown egg
- 1 small – organic onion
- 1 - 2 small – garlic cloves I used homegrown garlic
Instructions
- Meat Instructions:
- Wash turkey breast tenderloins and grind them. Add shredded onion, garlic, salt, black pepper, and egg. Mix well with hand mixer until all combined. Cover with plastic food wrap and place in refrigerator until ready for use.
- Dough Instructions:
- Combine all the dry ingredients together and set aside.
- Pour whey into the mixer bowl, add egg and mix on medium speed with the mixer whisk attachment for 30 seconds or until combined.
- Switch attachment to mixer's dough hook, add half of the flour mixture to whey mixture and mix on lowest speed. Continue adding ½ cup of flour mixture at a time thereafter until soft dough forms with no clumps.
- Transfer dough onto a large cutting board or work surface dusted with flour. Cut a fist size piece out of the dough and roll it out into a large circle (little wider than the Pelmeni Maker).
- Place Pelmeni Maker on the dough. Sprinkle some flour to dust Pelmeni Maker and dough (to prevent from sticking).
- Place the floured side of the dough over the floured Pelmeni Maker.
- Place 1 tsp. of seasoned ground turkey meat into each pocket.
- Roll another dough circle and place it over the Pelmeni Maker filled with meat.
- Using a rolling pin, <g class="gr_ gr_255 gr-alert gr_gramm gr_run_anim gr_inline_cards Punctuation only-ins replaceWithoutSep" id="255" data-gr-id="255">press</g> and roll over the top (from the center outward) until all pelmeni are cut and the all the hexagon shapes are well visible.
- Remove the outer layer of the remaining dough and knead it into a ball (to be used for the next bottom layer). Turn the Pelmeni Maker (filled with pelmeni) over and hit an edge against the rolling pin or cutting board a couple of times until all pelmeni fall out from the pockets. I place the raw/uncooked pelmeni onto a rectangular plate so it’s easy to toss them into a pot of boiling water for cooking all at once. Repeat the same steps until you've used up the rest of the dough and meat. You should have approximately 5 batches or 275 pelmenis. I freeze leftover pelmeni in a ziplock back.
- Unfrozen Pelmeni Cooking Instructions:
- Bring a medium pot filled with water halfway to a boil (on high temp) then carefully toss in pelmeni. Reduce the heat to medium and stir. The boiling will subside and then resume. As soon as gentle boiling starts. simmer pelmeni for 2 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Transfer cooked pelmeni into a bowl. Add 1 tbsp. of butter, cut into smaller pieces, then toss to coat.
- Frozen Pelmeni Cooking Instructions:
- Bring a medium pot filled with water halfway to a boil (on high temp) then carefully toss pelmeni into the pot. Do not reduce the heat (keep it on high) and stir. The coldness of frozen pelmeni will cause boiling to subside and then it will resume. As soon as pelmeni start boiling again reduce the heat to low/medium and let them simmer for 3 minutes, stirring occasionally. Transfer cooked pelmeni into a bowl. Add 1 tbsp. of butter, cut into smaller pieces, then toss to coat.
- Serve pelmeni right away with vinegar or sour cream (our preference).
- Enjoy!
If you make this Turkey Pelmeni Recipe (Ukrainian Meat Dumplings), please share a picture with me on Snapchat, Facebook, Instagram or Pinterest. Tag with #valyastasteofhome. I'd love to see your creations! 🙂
Check out more related recipes:
PIEROGIES WITH STRAWBERRIES – VARENIKI
FARMERS CHEESE RECIPE
Kitchen items I used in making this recipe:
(If you need any of these items, simply press on the picture to order)
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Diadiana says
This is an awesome recipe. I am having my girlfriends over this weekend and all of us will be making pelimeni and vareniki( wish us goid luck;)). I wondered, canI make tgis dough a day in advance or it is best to bemade on the day of? Thanks a lot for an easy to follow recipe. Love step by step instructuons.
Valya of Valya's Taste of Home says
No, I wouldn’t make the dough ahead of time as it gets dark in color (I left it one time in the fridge overnight and it was dark on the outside the next day... I mean black). Sounds like a fun project, have fun!
Alina says
They look delicious! Do you use two (1.25lbs) of turkey breasts or one? Thank you for your wonderful recipes!
www.valyastasteofhome.com says
That's a great question. Yes, I use two (1.25 lbs.) of turkey breast tenderloin for the entire pelmeni dough recipe. I'll make a correction in the ingredients. Thank you so very much for asking and appreciate you're enjoying my recipes.
Natasha says
Yum, they look so good. I have to try whey instead of water. Thanks for the recipe!
valya'stasteofhome.com says
Hi Natasha! They are pretty delicious. Please come back and let me know how they turned out for you. Thank you very much for the comment 🙂
Elena says
Hello
I don't have whey, what can I substitute it with?
Thank you
valya'stasteofhome.com says
You can substitute whey with buttermilk, but you may need less flour. Use your judgement. Let me know how they turn out for you.