Thursday, February 27, 2014

Polska Foods Vegan Pierogis

When I was contacted by Polska Foods to conduct a review of their vegan, mushroom, cabbage, pierogis I was intrigued.  Pierogis have been a staple in my diet for as long as I can remember, but since most varieties contain cheese, I've been relegated to the plain potato option for just as long.

 

The company's story is a touching one: steeped in tradition and family.  And, while this flavor is the only vegan product in their line, it turns out that it too has its roots in Polish tradition.

 

Lucky for me, the enticing mushroom cabbage pierogis arrived on my doorstep quickly.


And there it was right on the front of the package: "100% Vegan;" I was stoked.


Despite knowing that the bag would net one pound of cooked pierogi,

 

at first I was disappointed that there didn't seem to be many in the bag:


But I can assure you that it was enough to satiate this gluttonous vegan, a vegetarian, and an omnivore.

Although you can boil or steam, I followed the pan-frying instruction.


I like a crisper pierogi than the other two options would have delivered, as pictured on the package.


I caramelized red and white onions in a separate pan, then easily combined when both contents were almost done.


As a last minute decision, I added peas to serve.


I was actually startled by how terrific these were. The pasta pockets are absolutely filled with mushroom, cabbage, sauerkraut, and caramelized onions; they hit every note of sweet and savory and didn't even need the peas or the onions I'd added to the fray.  In the future I would probably serve these crispy fellows as is- with or without a dipping sauce because it's really not necessary. They make a succulent and gratifying meal all on their own.


I'm almost embarrassed to tell you the borderline blasphemous things I've done to lesser pierogis in the past, but I'll lay the blame on VM.  As I mentioned earlier, since plain potato are usually the only vegan pierogis we can get our hands on, we generally eat them one of two ways: 1. slathered in mustard (me) or sour cream (VM) with sauteed onions, or 2. layered in a Mexican casserole (it sounds weird, but I assure you that it's totally easy and delicious).  However, I wouldn't dare smother these tasty Polska Foods pierogis with anything as superfluous.


If you live in an area that carries Polska Foods vegan pierogis, I strongly suggest you buy them all up before your neighbor does.  As for me, I'm going to be harassing my local stores until they're carried everywhere within a 50 mile radius just to satisfy my whim; I'm going to need many, many more.  [UPDATE 7/16/14: you can now buy them online!]

12 comments:

  1. The pierogis look wonderful, and even though they may have been perfect on their own, I think your presentation made them even more perfect. The onions and peas turned them into a scrumptious-looking meal. Nice review!

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  2. I've only had Pierogis once (in my pregan days). They were frozen and I put tomato sauce on them. Maybe one day I'll find these vegan Pierogis and prepare them in a more traditional manner.

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  3. These are the only vegan pierogi you've seen? There's a brand that's everywhere around my hood (makes sense as there are a ton of Germans..) and they have a bunch of different flavors. Only one (with cheese) isn't vegan! G actually bought some last week (I think they were potato and sauerkraut?) but he boiled them, against my reccomendation of sauteeing them.
    Love the carmelized onion addition. I'm a pierogi/mustard fan too. Sour cream doesn't sound bad either though.

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  4. PIEROGIS!!!
    Yum. I've had pretty good luck finding accidently vegan ones at the polish markets one 2nd and 1st avenue in the east village.
    PEAS?! That's very creative. I like spinach and shitake.

    Susan

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  5. wow I haven't had a decent pierogi in such a long time! What were the ingredients like?

    Thanks for the review, I'm going to keep my eyes open for these!

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  6. Man, here in Central PA, Mrs T's are the only option, and I'm pretty sure none of those are vegan. I did see this "pierogi casserole" recipe floating around Facebook though, where you stuff pasta shells with mashed potatoes and bake them. I was thinking about making that up vegan style. Because I am way too lazy to make them from scratch

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  7. Wow, those pierogis look so good! Before I went vegan, I'd regularly buy the pierogi they used to sell at Trader Joe's, but they had dairy cheese in them. Since then, I have had troubles finding any vegan pierogi; although, I always look when I spot them in the freezer section. I made my own once with the recipe from Vegan Brunch. They were terrific, but they were pretty laborious. Sadly this brand isn't available within 150 mile radius of where I live, but I'll keep my eyes open for them the next time I'm in Chicago where they are sold.

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  8. I love Polska foods - they’re so delicious! I made them with my creamy alfredo sauce on my Instagram: http://instagram.com/p/kIiURaqasl/ They carry it in Safeway in my area and I can’t wait to buy loads of them!

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  9. M- they were REALLY great!

    Andrea- The onions and peas seemed like such a great idea, but the flavor was so good that I actually ate them in separate bites from the pierogi!

    The Shenandoah Vegan- tomato sauce? They're not raviolis!

    foodfeud- yeah? What's the brand? Oh, G: never boil when you can pan fry.

    susan- I've never thought of the Polish markets; you and foodfeud win.

    BYOL- they were like: pasta, mushrooms, cabbage, onions...

    Cadry's Kitchen- You made your own! That is VERY impressive.

    veganmiam- I love the idea of the alfredo sauce; good call!

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  10. Oh man, I think you may have hit upon the holy grail of vegan convenience food there. That looks entirely droolworthy.

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  11. Hi Abby,
    What a wonderful blog about our pierogi, we are so happy you enjoyed them! You are right, I actually love the pierogi with nothing on them, we eat them that way all the time. This recipe is Tomek's grandma's recipe, so nothing has changed for several generations in Poland. Great idea about the peas, we will have to try that!

    Thank you for your help in telling stores about us too! Stores can buy from UNFI (distributor) today.

    Send us feedback any time at info@polskafoods.com.

    Smacznego,

    Bridget (& Tomek) Piszczek
    Founders

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