🍢 SNACK
Pirozhki s Kapustoy (Russian Fried Cabbage Buns)
Soft, enriched yeast dough wrapped around buttery braised cabbage with onion and carrot, pinched into ovals and fried golden, the Russian hand pie sold on the street and made at home.
Russian · medium · serves 8
prep 45 min · cook 50 min · plus 1 h 45 min hands-off time
~490 cal · 10g protein · 60g carbs · 23g fat · 5g fiber · 8g sugars · 8g sat fat (estimated, per serving)
↓ Jump to Recipe
AI-generated illustration
Pirozhki are small filled buns, and the word simply means little pies. They are one of Russia's great comfort foods, made in home kitchens and sold on the street, at markets and in station kiosks, baked or fried and filled with meat, potatoes, mushrooms, egg and onion or cabbage.
Most are made with a soft yeast dough enriched with milk, butter and egg. Cabbage is one of the classic fillings: shredded white cabbage slowly in butter with onion and carrot until soft and sweet, sometimes mixed with sauerkraut for a sharper taste. The dough is rolled into small ovals, a spoonful of filling goes in the middle and the edges are pinched shut, then the buns are fried seam-side down first so they stay sealed.
Pirozhki come in two sizes: big ones that make a meal, and small ones eaten as a snack or alongside a bowl of soup. They are best eaten warm.
Saved recipes and passport stamps are kept on this device. Sign in to keep them across your devices and leave reviews.
Make it yours
✓ Naturally vegetarian and nut- and pork-free. No swaps needed.
Toggle a diet and the ingredients rewrite themselves with regional substitutes.
🥕 Vegetarian
🌱 Vegan
🌾 Gluten-Free
🥛 Dairy-Free
🥜 Nut-Free
🥚 Egg-Free
🐖 Pork-Free
Dietary labels are a cooking guide, not allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish; we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, read the label on every product you use, and note that a kitchen can cross-contaminate in ways a recipe cannot control.
Ingredients
US
Metric
Serves 8
- 320 ml whole milk, lukewarm
- 1 tbsp dried yeast
- 1 tsp sugar
- 1 tsp salt
- 500 g plain flour
- 1 egg
- 3 tbsp butter, melted, for the dough
- 1 small head (about 800 g) white cabbage, finely shredded
- 1 carrot, grated
- 2 medium onions, diced
- 3 tbsp butter, for the filling
- to taste black pepper
- about 500 ml sunflower oil, for frying
Instructions
- 1Whisk the yeast, sugar and salt into half the lukewarm milk with 2 tablespoons of the flour and leave for 15 minutes, until foamy.
- 2Put the rest of the flour in a large bowl, add the egg, the remaining milk, the melted butter and the yeast mixture and mix into a dough. Knead on a floured surface for about 5 minutes, until smooth, soft and elastic. Cover and leave in a warm place for about 1 1/2 hours, until doubled.
- 3Meanwhile, melt 2 tablespoons of the butter in a wide pan and fry the onions and carrot for about 6 minutes until soft and lightly golden. Add the cabbage and the rest of the butter, season with salt and pepper, cover and cook on low heat for about 15 minutes, stirring now and then.
- 4Uncover and cook for 5 minutes more, until soft and any liquid has gone. Leave the filling to cool completely.✎ Chef’s noteA dry, cool filling is what keeps the seams from opening in the oil.
- 5Divide the dough into 16 pieces. Roll each into an oval about 10 cm across, put about 2 tablespoons of filling in the middle, bring the edges up and pinch them firmly together, then flatten the bun gently, seam underneath.
- 6Heat about 2.5 cm of oil in a heavy pan to 170C (340F). Fry the pirozhki in batches, seam-side down first, for about 3 minutes on each side, until deep golden. Drain on paper towels and eat warm, with sour cream if you like.
Russian home and street food tradition.
Ratings & reviews
Cooked it? Rate this dish:
No account needed. Sign in to leave a full review with a comment.
Cooked it?
Kept on this device, no account needed. Sign in to leave a review and keep your passport across your devices.
No reviews yet, be the first to cook it.
🌏 While it simmers, know your destination
📍
Moscow. Borscht is not settled as Russian. The culture of Ukrainian borscht cooking was inscribed by UNESCO in July 2022 on its list of heritage in need of urgent safeguarding, a listing fast-tracked because of the invasion, and Moscow objected to it. UNESCO's own note is that the inscription does not imply exclusivity.
🗺️
Russia. Tea is the ritual that organises the afternoon. A samovar keeps water hot and a concentrated brew, the zavarka, sits on top to be diluted cup by cup, and it is drunk with jam either stirred in or eaten by the spoonful alongside. The pickling that fills the rest of the table, cucumbers, tomatoes, mushrooms and cabbage, is what makes a long winter edible.
🌍
Europe. A surprising amount of European cooking is under five hundred years old. Tomatoes, potatoes, peppers, maize, beans and chocolate all crossed from the Americas after 1492, and none of them was trusted quickly: the potato took most of the eighteenth century to be accepted as food rather than animal fodder across much of the north.
The story behind this dish is up top, worth a read while the pot works.
More from Russia
Beef StroganoffSeared strips of beef and mushrooms in a mustard-spiked sour cream sauce over noodles, 19th-century Moscow at its most elegant.
Grechnevaya KashaToasted buckwheat simmered until fluffy and served with butter, the quintessential Russian porridge.
PelmeniSmall dumplings of thin dough around a juicy meat filling, boiled and served with sour cream, a Russian staple.
Browse all Russia recipes →
Good to know
You’ll need: Whisk.
Storing it: Fried food is best eaten fresh while crisp. Re-crisp leftovers in a hot oven or air fryer; the microwave makes them soft.
Make it a Russia meal
KvassDrink
MedovikDessert
Similar dishes from around the world
Sfenj (Moroccan Doughnut Rings)Morocco
Pyrizhky z Kartopleiu (Ukrainian Fried Potato Buns)Ukraine
Klui-Klui (Beninese Peanut Sticks)Benin
Baya Kyaw (Burmese Split Pea Fritters)Myanmar
Empanadas de Viento (Ecuadorian Fried Cheese Empanadas)Ecuador
Turon (Filipino Caramelised Banana Rolls)Philippines
Cuisine
Diet
Frequently asked questions
What is Pirozhki s Kapustoy (Russian Fried Cabbage Buns)?
Soft, enriched yeast dough wrapped around buttery braised cabbage with onion and carrot, pinched into ovals and fried golden, the Russian hand pie sold on the street and made at home.
Where does Pirozhki s Kapustoy (Russian Fried Cabbage Buns) come from?
Pirozhki s Kapustoy (Russian Fried Cabbage Buns) is a Russian dish from Moscow, Russia.
Can Pirozhki s Kapustoy (Russian Fried Cabbage Buns) be made vegan, gluten-free, or dairy-free?
This Pirozhki s Kapustoy (Russian Fried Cabbage Buns) recipe includes substitution suggestions for vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free, egg-free, and pork-free versions. Treat the substitutions as a starting guide rather than a guarantee, and see the allergen note below.
Is Pirozhki s Kapustoy (Russian Fried Cabbage Buns) safe for people with food allergies?
Our dietary labels and substitutions are a cooking guide, not medical or allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we still count coconut as a tree nut to be cautious, although the FDA stopped listing it as one in 2025), fish, and shellfish, but we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, always read the label on every product you use, and remember a home or commercial kitchen can cross-contaminate ingredients in ways a recipe cannot control.
How long does Pirozhki s Kapustoy (Russian Fried Cabbage Buns) take to make?
About 3 h 20 min in all: 45 minutes prep and 50 minutes cooking, plus 1 h 45 min of hands-off waiting the method needs, serving 8.
Get the Sunday Spin
One dish from somewhere in the world, in your inbox every Sunday. No spam, just dinner inspiration you can cook that day.