Edmonton is a bit of a hotbed for perogies, due to our large Ukrainian population, but it seems that everyone has their own ideas on where to find the best ones.
Since the demand for perogies goes way up at Christmas, I decided that I should make an effort to find the best ones for myself (and for you) before the season arrives. Armed with a bunch of recommendations, and after doing a bit of scouting, I narrowed down the list to 8 contenders I felt could have a reasonable shot at the title.
A few notes about how I selected the contenders:
- They had to be readily available. That means churches that hold occasional perogy dinners where you can buy frozen ones to take home were out. If a church group sells perogies anytime the church is open, they’re elegible for my list.
- For the sake of standardization, all perogies tested would be potato and cheddar. Apples to apples, and all that jazz.
- Similar to my Fried Chicken Crawl, samples would be tasted blindly with no prior knowledge of it’s source. Only Robyn who, again, was in charge of cooking and portioning the samples knew who’s was who.
- All perogies were cooked with the same method, and served only with butter and optional sour cream, to maximize focus on the perogies themselves.
- The top 2 finishers in each of the 2 rounds will go on to the finals, where the tasting panel will again taste all 4 blindly and select a winner.
Round 1 had 5 judges
- Cynthia Strawson– former president of Slow Food Edmonton
- Kara Fenske– Co-owner of Drift Food Truck and Dovetail Deli
- Nevin Fenske– Chef, and Co-owner of Drift Food Truck and Dovetail Deli
- Robyn Wilson– podcaster (The One), and taste tester of all my cooking
- Me, of course. I’m not missing out on perogy gluttony.
In alphabetical order, here’s the list of contenders for round 1:
A Taste of Ukraine– #40, 516 St. Albert Trail, St. Albert, Alberta.
- This St Albert restaurant sells their perogies frozen to take home as well as serving them in the dining room. Cost- $14.70 for 2 dozen
Sandy’s Ukrainian Foods– #9 8103 127 ave
- Sandy’s sells all kinds of Ukrainian foods and you can see them all being hand made from the very open front counter. They retail for $11.50 for 2 dozen
Mundare Sausage House– 4824 118 ave
- The Mundare Sausage House is renowned for their Stawnichy’s sausage, but also sell frozen perogies to take home as well as serving them in the attached restaurant, Uncle Ed’s Ukrainian Restaurant. The perogies retail for $8.00 per 2 dozen, making them the least expensive on the list.
Shumka– 2 locations
- Shumka is best known for their food court location in Kingsway mall, but also sell frozen perogies to take home from both locations. Retail price- $11.50 for 2 dozen
The Great Perogy Showdown
Sample A
Tasters found perogy A’s dough to have a bit of a gummy texture, with that word appearing on 4 of 5 comment sheets. The filling was seasoned well, but despite the bright orange colour, lacked much cheddar flavour. The tasters also found the filling a bit undercooked, resulting in a grainy texture.
Perogy A
Sample B
This perogy definitely had the largest amount of filling, and was practically bulging at the seams. They were certainly the most visually appealing of the group and had a more tender dough than A. The edges were a little tougher, but that was noted on all samples.
The filling had more cheese flavour than A, but all tasters noted an onion flavour that overpowered everything else.
Perogy B
Sample C
This perogy had a thicker dough, which tasters noted as toothsome, yet mostly tender. The edges were a touch firm, probably due to the thickness.
The testers found this filling to be the cheesiest, with strings of cheese easily visible when the perogy was cut. All that cheese was evident in the silky mouth feel of the filling too. This filling was seasoned quite well with salt and pepper also, and even the potato flavour came through.
Perogy C
Sample D
Perogy D’s dough was quite thick also, but was judged the most tender of the 4 samples. Tasters enjoyed the consistency of this dough, but a couple of testers noted an overly large dough rim around the filling.
The filling here didn’t have as much cheesiness as C, but had a good flavour. A couple tasters found it a overly salty, with the others noting that the saltiness would pair well with the sweetness of some fried onions.
Perogy D
After some discussion, we came to agreement on our results.
- Sample C- A Taste of Ukraine
- Sample D- Shumka
- Sample B- Stawnichy’s (Uncle Ed’s)
- Sample A- Sandy’s Perogies
As a group, we unanimously agreed that after tasting all 4 side by side, the deliciously cheesy filling from A Taste of Ukraine earned it the top spot of this round. Shumka placed second, and their dough was rated the best of the bunch.
Stay tuned for round 2, which will follow shortly. In the mean time, I’d like to hear your thoughts on the local perogy scene. Thankfully, you don’t have limit yourself to just butter and sour cream – I find the best way to enjoy a big plate of perogies is with fried onions and some nice crispy bacon. My bacon of choice is Irvings Farm, who’s local, free-range pork is the best around. If you haven’t already, check them out for yourself and thank me later.
Click the link below to learn more about Irvings and the products they offer:
Baconhound is an Edmonton, Alberta food blog, focusing on the best restaunts and dishes in Edmonton and beyond. Phil Wilson is also the host of Edmonton, Alberta based food podcast, Off Menu.
Seriously missing out if you don’t have Wendy’s on 99st just north of whitemud on your showdown. Hidden gem. Good, huge, traditional perogies. But you miss out if you don’t try the Shepard Pie perogies.
Wendy’s is in round 2. We’re sticking with potato and cheddar for the testing, but I may grab some shepherds pie ones for me later! You’re the second one to mention them.
When is round two?
It’s up now!
You should try Widynowski’s cheddar perogies. It’s located on 42st and 118 Ave a family owned and operated business, they make their food with the utmost care and quality. BEST perogies I’ve ever had the pleasure of experiencing. They do everything by hand from peeling the potatoes to pinching the little clouds of cheesy-potato perfection. The dough they use is my favorite part, because they don’t use machines to make the perogies it’s not so thick. Seriously amazing. A great contender in your search for perogie greatness.
It’s like you snuck a peek at my notes! They’re in round 2!
That’s great to hear!
Love Widnowski’s perogies..
I also agree with Wendys as one of my top favourites for perogies but want to also add Goth babuska perogies as well for amazing unique flavours like chocolate walnut. Yum!
Thanks Judy. I hadn’t heard of Goth babuska before, and though I don’t see a location listed on the website I’m assuming they’re available in Edmonton?
I got them at the St Albert Farmers Market but she also does home deliveries throughout Edmonton on Fridays if you put an order in before Wednesday.
What about farmers market perogies?
If they’re available on a regular basis, I’d consider adding a couple for a third round.
This is out of scope as its perogies to cook and eat at home, but by far this is the winner in my books for best in Edmonton: http://gothbabushka.com/
Perogies to cook and eat at home is exactly IN scope. That’s all I’m testing. I’ll give them a look.Thanks for the heads up!
Phil
You missed Baba’s Own. Voted Canada’s Best by Readers Digest.
I agree!!
What about Baba’s Own pyrohy? They were voted Canada’s best by Readers Digest readers.
Baba’s Own is coming up in Round 2
I second Baba’s Own they are the best. http://babasown.ca/store/
You should swing by smoky lake and go try the ones at the old fashion bakery you won’t regret it
Time for a Pyrogy crawl, with some Kozak shots after!!!
Ok potato cheddar perogies are ok and all, but to me not very traditional. I would love to know who and where to get pure cottage cheese perogies from in Edmonton. As this is what I grew up with. And just a tip for the bacon hound, if you ever have the chance to try cream gravy on your perogies Do It!! If you want the recipe reply and ask. But please let me know if there is anywhere in this city to find cottage cheese perogies.
I believe MARU Ukrainian Food at the Strathcona Farmers Market has cottage cheese pyrogys
Hi Brad.
Pretty much every place I’ve grabbed perogies from so far has a cottage cheese version. Sorry I can’t vouch for any of them, as eating every variety from every place would probably put me in an early grave.
If you’d like to post the recipe for the cream gravy in the comments here, that would be great! Then everyone can see it.
Phil
St. Basil’s parish on 109st has theirs available for sale all the time as well. made by church babas!
Yes, I’ve been to a perogy dinner there before. I may have to go give them another go. Thanks for the input!
Gotta try St Anthony’s Ukrainian Orthodox Parish! Great perogies and they often donate a portion of their proceeds to local and international charities. ☺
Thanks for the tip!
My thoughts, as a Ukrainian, do not believe that a “Cottage Cheese” or “Sauerkraut” perogy should ever contain any potato in the filling as is normally provided in a retail environment. As to this particular challenge, “potato & cheddar” are made mostly made with either Cheese Whiz or Actual Shredded Cheddar. Both of which are not cheap. Price differs with whether they are Hand-Made or a device is used to close them. Labor is twice if hand-made.
Hi Darcie,
I’ve also hear of people using the dehydrated cheddar (think Kraft Dinner cheese), which I find unnecessary. I did my first attempt at homemade perogies recently, and found straight up cheddar worked just fine. You’re right though, it get’s expensive.
St Sophia’s Ukrainian Parish in Sherwood Park. Tried various church’s in Edmonton area, and rate these as the top!
Oh nice! I’ll check that out. Thanks Terry!
If you do a third round with farmers market vendors, MARU Ukrainian Food at the Strathcona Farmers Market has some amazing pyrogys, they are my favorite for sure!
Thanks for the heads-up, Amber. With all the responses, there just might be a third round.
Hey baconhound, I’m not sure if baba Jenny’s is on your list, they are from vermillion, but they are in many stores across Alberta. Babajennys.com
You should try some of the local farmers markets.
There is a lady at the Onoway Market that makes the best perogies. She has had people say they won’t buy Babas Own or Stawnichy’s again.
I used to make freezers full of them with my aunt and polish uncle in Saskatchewan. we did this for years and years. I would never have considered buying and then one day I was in Prince Albert with my aunt and she threw a bag of the no name superstore perogies in our cart. I was speechless. But she looked at me and shrugged, saying “They are nearly as good as my own and you can’t beat the price”. I dare you to throw them in the challenge.
That’s 2 mentions for Superstore perogies.