Vareniki are boiled dumplings from Eastern Europe, made from a soft unleavened dough wrapped around a filling and pinched shut. They can be savoury — potato, cabbage, mushroom, cheese and spinach — or sweet, filled with cherry or strawberry. Cooked in salted boiling water and served with sour cream, they are one of Eastern Europe’s most versatile and beloved comfort foods.
What vareniki are
The name comes from the verb meaning “to boil” — so a varenik is, literally, a boiled thing. Which is exactly what it is: a parcel of plain dough, sealed around a filling, cooked in boiling water until tender.
The dough is simple. Flour, egg, a little water, a pinch of salt. No yeast, no rising time, no fuss. It’s rolled thin, cut into rounds, filled, and sealed with a characteristic crimped edge — the pinch that keeps everything inside. That pinch matters. A well-sealed varenik holds its filling and its shape through boiling. A poorly sealed one falls apart and loses everything into the water.
What makes vareniki distinctive within the Eastern European dumpling family is their range. Pelmeni, the other great Eastern European dumpling, are almost exclusively meat-filled. Vareniki go anywhere: savoury, vegetarian, even sweet. The same technique that makes a hearty potato dumpling can make a dessert cherry parcel. This versatility is what has made them a staple across so many tables for so many generations.
Savoury vs sweet fillings
Savoury vareniki
Savoury fillings are the everyday vareniki — the ones that show up at lunch, at dinner, at celebrations. At Varenik & Pelmen, our savoury lineup is:
Potato — the most popular, most classic, and the one people come back to. Mashed potato filling, sometimes with fried onion worked in, gives a soft, creamy centre that contrasts beautifully with the dough. Simple. Completely satisfying.
Cabbage — underrated. Braised or sautéed cabbage has a gentle sweetness and earthiness that works brilliantly as a filling. If you haven’t tried it, you should.
Mushroom — deeply savoury, umami-forward, and a favourite once people give it a go. Mushroom vareniki have a richness that’s hard to explain until you’ve had them.
Cheese & Spinach — a slightly more modern combination but no less delicious. The cheese brings creaminess and a mild sharpness; the spinach keeps it from feeling heavy.
Sweet vareniki
This is where vareniki surprise people. A sweet dumpling seems like it shouldn’t work, but the thin, neutral dough wrapped around warm, jammy fruit is a genuinely great thing.
Sweet Cherry — the classic sweet varenik. Sharp, intensely fruity, served warm with sour cream. The sour cream and cherry combination is one of the great flavour pairings in Eastern European cooking.
Strawberry — lighter, more delicate, beautiful in season.
Sweet vareniki sit somewhere between a dumpling and a dessert. They’re a whole category that most Londoners haven’t discovered yet.
How vareniki are served
Vareniki are boiled in well-salted water until they float and have cooked through — typically 7–10 minutes for fresh ones. They come out hot, tender, and slightly slippery from the water.
From there, toppings do the work. The traditional pairing is sour cream — its cool, tangy richness cuts through the filling and completes the dish. But there’s no single correct way.
At our bar, all six toppings are included in the price:
- Sour cream — essential for sweet vareniki; excellent on savoury ones too
- Crispy bacon — adds a smoky crunch (pairs well with potato)
- Fresh herbs — brightness and colour
- Sautéed mushrooms — a natural partner for the mushroom and potato fillings
- Fried onions — sweet, caramelised, deeply good
- Berry jam — the choice for sweet vareniki, or anyone who wants to go full dessert
The bowl is yours to build. There’s no wrong combination — though sour cream and berry jam on sweet cherry vareniki is hard to argue with.
Vareniki vs pelmeni
The comparison comes up constantly, so here it is clearly.
| Vareniki | Pelmeni | |
|---|---|---|
| Size | Larger | Smaller |
| Dough | Softer, slightly thicker | Thinner, more elastic |
| Fillings | Meat, veg, cheese, fruit | Primarily meat |
| Shape | Crescent, crimped edge | Crescent or ear-shaped |
| Serve style | Toppings | Toppings (or in broth) |
Both are Eastern European. Both are boiled. Both are exceptional. The main difference is range: pelmeni are meat-focused and punchy; vareniki are the more versatile dumpling.
If you’re eating with a group and want to cover all bases, the move is to mix — grab a portion of pelmeni, add a couple of vareniki, stack the toppings.
Try vareniki in London
London has an expanding appetite for global street food, but Eastern European dumplings have been slow to break through. That’s changing.
At Varenik & Pelmen, we make all our vareniki by hand. Self-serve, pay by weight at £5/100g — so you take as many as you like, in whatever combination you want. All toppings included. Average bowl runs £10–12.
Visit eatpelmeni.com for where to find us.
Frequently Asked Questions
What’s the difference between vareniki and pierogi?
Pierogi is the Polish name for a very similar Eastern European boiled and filled dumpling — same dough logic, same basic construction, often with overlapping fillings like potato and cheese. They come from the same broad Eastern European culinary family. The difference is largely regional: pierogi is the Polish word, vareniki is the word used further east. At our bar, we make vareniki — that’s our tradition and our name. If you love pierogi, you’ll feel right at home with ours.
Are vareniki sweet or savoury?
Both. Savoury varieties — potato, cabbage, mushroom, cheese and spinach — are the everyday staple. Sweet varieties filled with cherry or strawberry are a dessert tradition. The same dough technique spans both. Most people discover sweet vareniki by accident and then wonder why they didn’t know about them sooner.
What is the most popular vareniki filling?
Potato is consistently the most popular. It’s the crowd-pleaser, the safe first order, the one that converts people who weren’t sure. Once someone’s tried potato, they usually want to work through the rest of the menu.
Are vareniki vegetarian?
Several of our vareniki fillings are fully vegetarian: Potato, Cabbage, Mushroom, Sweet Cherry, Strawberry, and Cheese & Spinach. For a completely plant-based bowl, the same fillings work — skip the sour cream topping and opt for berry jam or fresh herbs instead. Always worth checking our allergens page at eatpelmeni.com/allergens for the most up-to-date information.