I made Martha Stewart's all-time favorite comfort food—pierogi—to find out whether the time spent (and dishes dirtied) are worth it.
When Taste of Home editor Lesley Balla attended a pierogi-making class at Martha Stewart’s Las Vegas restaurant, she brought back one special detail that caught my attention: While instructing the class, Martha lingered on memories of the pierogi her mother (affectionately nicknamed Big Martha) used to make, even singling out her favorite variety among them.
As someone who trusts Martha’s tastes implicitly, that sparked my curiosity. I wanted to understand what made that particular version stand out, so I decided to make it at home.
What is Martha Stewart’s favorite comfort food?
Of all the pierogi her mom made, Martha considers cabbage pierogi to be her favorites. It’s a humble choice—quiet and unfussy—compared to more in-demand fillings like potato or cheese pierogi. The appeal seems to lie in their simplicity. Tender cabbage is tucked into soft dough and finished with clarified butter. Nothing bold or flashy, just warm, familiar comfort food.
How to Make Pierogi with Cabbage Filling
You can find Martha’s original cabbage pierogi recipe on her website. This is how the process went in my kitchen.
I began with the dough, mixing and kneading it until it was smooth. It needs to rest, so I set it aside and turned to the filling. The cabbage is steamed until tender, then cooled and squeezed in a clean, linen cloth or dish towel to remove excess moisture. The recipe notes that you can make the texture even finer with a meat grinder, but mine was soft enough after being steamed that it didn’t need additional processing. From there, the cabbage is mixed with butter and cream cheese until it has a smooth, rich texture.
By this point, the dough had properly rested. I rolled it out and used a biscuit cutter to stamp out rounds. Each one got a spoonful of filling before I folded and sealed the edges. (Lightly floured hands and surfaces help; the dough is on the sticky side.) The recipe also suggests resting the cut dough and filled pierogi on a bed of yellow cornmeal to prevent them from sticking. I found this trick worked very well, keeping everything easy to handle while I continued to cut and fill pierogi.
From there, working in batches, I boiled the pierogi until they were cooked through. I topped each with with a drizzle of clarified butter, which added a delicious, velvety richness without weighing them down.
Are these pierogi worth the effort?
Short answer: Yes, with a gentle caveat. They take time. Between making the dough, steaming the cabbage, mixing the filling, cutting, stuffing, sealing, boiling and dressing everything in clarified butter, you’re committing yourself to a solid afternoon’s work. It’s the sort of kitchen project that leaves a trail of mixing bowls, saucepans, damp dishcloths and a respectable tower of dishes in the sink.
But the payoff is real. These pierogi are deeply comforting—soft, buttery and soothing in a cozy way that hit especially well on the cold, rainy night outside my window. The mild cabbage filling felt familiar, even though this was my first time enjoying the dish.
My kids—who, despite my best efforts, function almost exclusively on chicken tenders and macaroni and cheese—shocked me by going back for seconds. That alone felt like a small triumph that was well worth the flour-covered counters.
So yes, these pierogi are a small labor of love. But if you’re willing to make a mess and settle into the process, they deliver exactly what Martha promised: a special comfort that feels close to home.
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