These Grilled Potato Spinach Piroshki are inspired by my Ukrainian grandmother and my viral quesadilla recipe.

March 17, 2022 Updated May 16, 2022 Jump to Recipe
These Grilled Potato Spinach Piroshki are inspired by my Ukrainian grandmother and my viral quesadilla recipe.
Marilyn Monroe, Lana Turner, Katharine Hepburn. Jimmy Stewart, Steve McQueen, Cary Grant. Jim Morrison and Elvis. Clyde Barrow and John Dillinger. Chief Wyandanah, Henry David Thoreau, Amelia Earhart. John Steinbeck and Ernest Hemingway.
England, Ireland, Scotland. Sweden, Russia, and Poland. Germany, France, North America. And Ukraine.
Like most Americans, my family is from all over the world.
But the connection I feel to my Eastern European heritage is particularly strong. I can’t fully explain this pull towards Eastern Europe. But it’s there; I sense it every time I visit these countries. And I’m drawn to read about their histories.
With the current tragedy in Ukraine, I value my roots in this part of the world more strongly than ever.
As exciting as it is to have a blood connection to the famous names listed above, I feel a much deeper pride in being the great-great-granddaughter of Ukrainian immigrants whose long-ago decisions and dreams shaped the life I know today.
The following recipe honors the brave people of Ukraine, and my Ukrainian great-grandmother, Stella.
Stella was a first generation American. Her parents immigrated from Ukraine through Ellis Island, just after the turn of the century.
Here’s a little bit about their inspiring story.
Stella’s father Anthony, my great-great grandfather, was brilliant.
Fluent in Ukrainian, Russian, German, Polish, and later, English, Anthony was a city clerk in Zydaczow, Ukraine. His beautiful writing and ability to read in multiple languages was an invaluable skill set.
Anthony was also loyal and a risk-taker: to help a friend whose fiancée became pregnant before their marriage, Anthony forged the public record of his friend’s wedding date, moving it up several months. Anthony’s edit made it appear that conception of the baby occurred inside of wedlock. The noble—yet illegal—act saved Anthony’s friend and the child from disgrace.
It also changed the course of Anthony’s future.
When the forgery was discovered, Anthony was banished from his village.
According to Stella, after his banishment, Anthony went to Russia. In the streets of Moscow, he blatantly disregarded the communist regime’s ban on religion by reading the Bible aloud, on a podium no less.
Anthony’s daring earned him a living, as most of the Russian, faith-starved passersby were illiterate. Other than Anthony’s recitations, they had no way to hear or read the Bible.
When he’d saved enough money, Anthony immigrated to America, settling in New York.
It was in New York that Anthony married a young, beautiful seamstress whom he’d known in Zydaczow. Her name was Roze. A gifted linguist herself, Roze was fluent in Ukrainian, Polish, and German.
Not long after the birth of my great-grandmother Stella, Anthony and Roze moved their young family to Los Angeles, where the entrepreneurial couple opened a successful grocery store.
For all her 102 years on this earth, Stella was smart and sharp as a tack. As a girl, she helped her father make change in the grocery store. She skipped grades in elementary school until another bump up would have put her a grade above her eldest brother.
In addition to her smarts, Stella loved to cook. From Roze, she learned how to make piroshki, a recipe from “the old country.” The time intensive process behind this Ukrainian dumpling has been passed down by the women in my family ever since.
For as long as I can remember, piroshki have been a part of just about every special occasion in my family.
My great-grandmother, at 95 years-old, even insisted on making piroshki herself—by hand, for the reception following my wedding. I will forever treasure her heart-felt sacrifice of love and labor. No other gift from my grandma could have had more meaning.
I learned how to make piroshki from my great-grandmother Stella, my Grandma Sally, and my mom. Now, as my mom and I teach my own daughter her culinary heritage, Stella must be proud to see the piroshki tradition passed down to a sixth generation.
Many sources say piroshki are made with leavened dough, while pierogi are made with unleavened dough. The dumplings in the recipe that follows are made with unleavened dough.
But I’m still calling them piroshki, just as the women in my family—back to my Ukrainian great-great-grandmother, always have.
I’ll never be able to call this family recipe by any other name.
For the most part, the piroshki dough recipe below stays true to Stella’s family recipe. I made a few minor changes, and added paprika. But that’s it.
My filling, on the other hand, isn’t traditional at all.
I fused my piroshki heritage with new recipe traditions in my own home, and used the same filling from my viral Grilled Potato Spinach Quesadillas recipe: potatoes, spinach, and cheddar.
Yes, these are Grilled Potato Spinach Piroshki.
I think Stella would be proud of the similarities and the differences.
I recommend using a 2 cup, glass pyrex bowl as the template for each piroshki round. It makes the perfect size piroshki in my book.
My favorite spatula for Grilled Potato Spinach Quesadillas is also my favorite spatula for Grilled Potato Spinach Piroshki. Technically, it’s a cookie spatula. But its small size makes it easier to control where things land. You can find this spatula here on Amazon [aff. link], or here in my new Amazon store.
And here’s my favorite fryer skimmer for getting the piroshki out of the boiling water, before frying [aff. link].
This Post Has 20 Comments
I’m also Ukrainian and loved reading your family history. This is definitely a time intense recipe, but it was so worth it! Made these piroshkis for my family and they were gone so fast!
That is so nice to hear Kelly, thank you!
The timing of this post feels so appropriate! I’ve only had piroshki once – at a wedding. Thank you for sharing a recipe!
Thanks for your kind words! I hope you enjoy the recipe. 😃
What a great story, Shannon – I really enjoyed reading your family’s history. I love food with a story behind it, and 6th generation is certainly a story. I wasn’t familiar with piroshki before this post, so it’s interesting to learn about the differences between piroshki and pierogi. I love the flavors in this filling, too!!
Thanks for reading David! I love food with a story behind it too. Definitely makes these piroshki special!
I was surprised that your pioshki are made from an unleavened dough … but on the other hand, I’m not surprised. There’s a natural desire in many of us to want clear cut definitions of things, but with foods, that often just not the case. The dough ingredients look very, very interesting. On another note, thanks for the stories about your ancestors! I loved it, and I loved the old pictures. So amazing that your great grandfather’s kindness would see him expelled.
That’s such a great point about definitions, Jeff. It’s so true. Thanks for reading!
Okay, these piroshkis are so scrumptious! Definitely a keeper recipe! Thanks for sharing!
Thanks Tasha!
Thank you Shannon. I loved your stories of your ancestors. You really are fortunate to come from such brilliant and strong people. I am going to make the prioshkis. Mainly because you made it. I’ve tasted your great grandma Stella’s and they were delicious, but I want to taste yours. Truthfully I wish you were here to make them for us because I know how much work goes into them. Love you. Grandma Julie
Thanks so much Grandma Julie! I am lucky to come from such amazing people, and that the oral and written histories are so well-chronicled so I can know their stories. I wish I lived closer so I could make you and Grandpa piroshki! Let’s make it happen next time I visit. 😃
Shannon….what a wonderful tribute to mom and our heritage. You’ve done a perfect presentation of the recipe and I hope that your followers continue to enjoy this taste of Eastern Europe as they celebrate Easter…a time for families and fine food.
Thanks so much for reading Aunt Carole! Your kind words mean so much. Thank you for all your work preserving the stories of our family so that future generations can know them. Piroshki is certainly the perfect recipe for Easter.
I didn’t know you have Ukrainian roots! Thank you for sharing this beautiful story and photographs – I did enjoy it. And, of course, this tragedy happening in Ukraine is so surreal and heartbreaking…
And those piroshki? Absolutely delicious with this savoury potato filling!
Thanks Ben!
Love these grilled potato spinach piroshki. Simple and delicious. Never tried. Something to to next weekend. Thanks.
Thanks Vicky! Hope you enjoy them.
Wow! This has been wonderful to discover the recipes, stories and family relevance of these Ukrainian foods! It makes me even more supportive of the Ukrainians.
Thanks Grandpa! Piroshki is such a special family recipe. I’m more proud than ever of our Ukrainian roots.