Christmas Eve Varenyky: Lean Dough and Four Fillings for Sviata Vecheria
The UAFest kitchen team
November 3, 2026 · 7 min read
Varenyky and borscht from the festival kitchen, UAFest 2026, Carleton Place
Varenyky are on almost every Ukrainian Christmas Eve table, and on that night they are lean. Sviata Vecheria, the Holy Supper, is twelve dishes without meat, so the dough is made with water and oil, and the fillings are potato, sauerkraut, mushrooms or, for something sweet, sour cherries.
The supper falls on December 24 for most Ukrainians since the church calendar change of 2023, and on January 6 for families who keep the older date. Either way the varenyky are best made a week or two before, frozen on trays, and cooked straight from the freezer on the evening itself.
Why the Christmas Eve dough is lean
Everyday varenyky dough often has an egg, milk or kefir in it. The Christmas Eve dough has none of these: flour, warm water, a spoonful of sunflower oil and salt. It is softer to roll than people expect, and it stays tender after boiling as long as it rests for half an hour under a bowl before you roll it.
The same rule shapes the topping. On other days varenyky arrive with sour cream and butter; on Christmas Eve families serve them with onions fried golden in sunflower oil.
Four fillings, and which one goes first
Potato with fried onion is the filling every family makes. Sauerkraut, squeezed dry and fried with onion, gives the sour note the rest of the table lacks. Dried forest mushrooms, soaked, chopped and fried, are the festive one, and in some homes they are mixed into the potato or the cabbage. Sour cherries, pitted and drained, with a little sugar, end the meal in families that keep a sweet varenyk for last.
Make the potato filling a day ahead and chill it: cold filling is firmer and the dumplings close more easily. Taste every filling for salt before you start. The dough is plain, so the filling carries the flavour.
Making them ahead
One batch of 500 g of flour makes about 50 varenyky, enough for a family table where they are one dish among twelve. Lay the shaped varenyky on a floured tray so they do not touch, freeze them for two hours, then tip them into a bag. They keep in the freezer for up to three months.
On the evening, drop them frozen into a wide pot of salted, gently boiling water, a dozen at a time, and cook them for three to four minutes after they float. Lift them out with a slotted spoon, toss them with the fried onion, and keep them warm in a covered dish while the next batch cooks.
Recipe
Christmas Eve Varenyky (Lean Ukrainian Dumplings with Potato Filling)
A lean dough of flour, water and oil around a potato and fried onion filling, for the Ukrainian Christmas Eve supper.
- Prep
- 1 hour 30 minutes
- Cook
- 20 minutes
- Total
- 1 hour 50 minutes
- Makes
- About 50 varenyky
Ingredients
Lean dough
- 500 g (about 4 cups) all-purpose flour, plus more for rolling
- 250 ml warm water
- 2 tbsp sunflower oil
- 1 tsp salt
Potato filling
- 1 kg floury potatoes, peeled
- 2 large onions, finely chopped
- 4 tbsp sunflower oil
- Salt and black pepper
To serve
- 1 onion, sliced and fried golden in 3 tbsp sunflower oil
Method
- 1Make the fillingBoil the potatoes in salted water until tender, drain and mash them dry. Fry the chopped onions in the oil until golden, stir them into the potato, season well and leave to cool completely.
- 2Make the doughMix the flour and salt, pour in the warm water and oil, and knead for 5 to 7 minutes into a smooth, soft dough. Cover with a bowl and rest for 30 minutes.
- 3Roll and cutRoll a quarter of the dough at a time on a floured board to about 2 mm, and cut rounds with a 7 to 8 cm glass or cutter. Keep the rest of the dough covered.
- 4Fill and sealPut a heaped teaspoon of filling on each round, fold it into a half-moon and pinch the edge firmly from one end to the other, so no air stays inside.
- 5Freeze or cookFreeze on a floured tray for two hours, then bag them. To cook, boil fresh or frozen varenyky in salted water, a dozen at a time, for 3 to 4 minutes after they float.
- 6ServeLift them out with a slotted spoon, toss them with the fried onion and serve hot.
Notes from the kitchen
- Re-roll the dough trimmings once; after that they turn tough.
- For the sauerkraut filling, squeeze 500 g of sauerkraut dry, chop it and fry it with one onion for 15 minutes.
- Sour cherry varenyky leak juice: toss the pitted cherries with a spoonful of sugar, drain them for 20 minutes and seal those edges twice.
Varenyky, borscht and Ukrainian sweets are cooked fresh at the festival kitchen every September.
UAFest 2026 took place on Sunday, September 13 · Riverside Park, Carleton Place
What people ask
Yes. Varenyky are one of the twelve dishes in most families, served lean: no egg or milk in the dough, and fried onion on top in place of sour cream.
Potato with fried onion, sauerkraut, mushrooms and sour cherries. All of them are meatless, because Sviata Vecheria is a meatless supper.
Yes. Freeze them on a floured tray, then bag them; they keep for up to three months and go straight from the freezer into boiling water.
About 3 to 4 minutes after they float to the top of gently boiling salted water. Cook a dozen at a time so the water keeps boiling.
December 24 for most Ukrainians since the church calendar change of 2023, and January 6 for families who keep the older date.
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