Eastern Home Kitchen

Ukrainian Recipes

Potato Zrazy with Meat

Mashed potato worked into a dough, wrapped around fried minced meat and onion, then pan-fried until the outside is crisp and the inside is soft.

Golden potato zrazy on a plate, one broken open to show the meat filling

https://easternhomekitchen.com/recipes/potato-zrazy-with-meat/

Prep
25 mins
Cook
35 mins
Total
1 hr
Yield
8 zrazy
Cuisine
Ukrainian

Zrazy are the answer to leftover mash and a small amount of mince. The potato is turned into a proper dough with egg and flour so it can be shaped and fried without collapsing, and the filling is the plainest thing imaginable — onion, mince, salt.

The one test that matters is the dough: turn a spoonful upside down and it should cling. Anything looser will spread in the pan.

Ingredients

Makes 4 servings

For the potato dough

  • 1 kg8 cups floury potatoes, peeled and quartered
  • 2 eggs
  • 3 tbsp plain flour, plus more for shaping
  • salt, to taste

For the filling

  • 500 g1 lb minced pork or beef
  • 1 onion, finely chopped
  • salt and black pepper, to taste

To finish

  • 4 tbsp sunflower oil
  • sour cream, to serve

Instructions

  1. Set out the potatoes, mince, onion, eggs and flour.

    Potatoes, minced meat, an onion, eggs and flour laid out

  2. Quarter the potatoes, cover with cold water and bring to the boil. Salt the water once it boils and simmer gently until completely tender.

    Quartered potatoes simmering in a pot

  3. Meanwhile fry the onion until translucent, add the mince, season and cook for 15 minutes, breaking up any clumps, until browned and dry.

    Onion and minced meat frying in a pan

  4. The filling is ready when there is no liquid left in the pan. Wet filling will steam its way out through the potato.

    Cooked meat and onion filling in the pan

  5. Drain the potatoes very well and mash while hot. Beat in the eggs, then work in the flour. You want a firm dough: a spoonful turned upside down should stay put.

    Mashed potato mixed with egg and flour into a firm dough

  6. On a floured surface, take a handful of potato dough and flatten it into a disc about 1 cm thick. Put a spoonful of filling in the middle.

    A disc of potato dough with meat filling in the centre

  7. Fold the dough around the filling, seal it and shape it into an oval. Roll it lightly in flour so it releases from the pan.

    A sealed oval zraz dusted with flour

  8. Fry in hot oil for about 5 minutes a side, until a firm golden crust forms. Turn them once only — the crust is what holds them together.

    Zrazy frying in a pan, crust turning golden

  9. Serve hot or warm with sour cream. This quantity makes eight.

    Finished zrazy on a plate with sour cream

Notes & tips

  • Dry the potatoes properly. After draining, return them to the hot pan for a minute to steam off before mashing.
  • Mash while hot and add the egg off the heat, or you will scramble it.
  • Do not chase a thin coating. A generous layer of potato is what stops the zrazy splitting.

Substitutions

  • Minced meat — Fried mushrooms with onion, or sauerkraut squeezed dry, for a meatless version.
  • Plain flour — Potato starch, a tablespoon at a time, for a lighter dough.
  • Frying — Bake at 200°C for 25 minutes, brushed with oil and turned once, for a lower-fat version with a softer crust.

Storage & freezing

In the fridge
Up to 3 days.
In the freezer
Freeze shaped but uncooked on a tray, then bag. Fry from frozen over lower heat for 8 minutes a side.
Reheating
In a 190°C oven for 12 minutes so the crust comes back.
Make ahead
Both the filling and the potato dough can be made a day ahead and kept separately.

Frequently asked questions

My zrazy fell apart in the pan. What went wrong?

Usually a wet potato dough. Dry the boiled potatoes in the hot pan before mashing, and add flour a spoonful at a time until a spoonful of dough clings when inverted. Moving them too early has the same effect — let the crust form.

Can I use leftover mashed potato?

Yes, if it was not made with much milk or cream. Beat in the eggs, then add flour until it is firm enough to shape.

What do you serve with zrazy?

Sour cream and something sharp — pickled cucumbers, or a plain tomato and onion salad. They are rich enough that they do not need a starch alongside.