This 3-ingredient slow cooker kielbasa and pierogies recipe is creamy, smoky, and wonderfully easy—you’re going to love it. Frozen potato pierogies, sliced smoked sausage, and condensed soup cook into a cozy dinner with no chopping or stovetop work. Put it in the crockpot, put the lid on, and walk away.
The creamy sauce gets loose and silky as the frozen pierogies cook, and the sausage gives the whole thing that smoky, salty flavor everybody likes.
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Why You’ll Love It
- Only 3 main ingredients — frozen pierogies, smoked kielbasa, and condensed soup are all you need.
- No chopping or stovetop work — layer everything in the slow cooker and let it cook.
- Cozy and filling — tender pierogies soak up the creamy sauce and pair perfectly with smoky sausage.
- Minimal cleanup — one slow cooker insert, one knife, one cutting board, and one spoon.
Ingredient Notes
Frozen potato pierogies are what you want here, the regular little dumplings filled with mashed potato. I buy whatever brand is on sale, usually the cheddar-and-potato kind if I’m being honest, though plain potato works beautifully too. The recipe calls for a 16- to 20-ounce bag, so don’t get hung up on whether yours is 18 ounces. We are making dinner, not building a spacecraft.
For the kielbasa, use smoked kielbasa and slice it into half-inch rounds. I prefer a beef or pork kielbasa because it has that old-school, smoky flavor, but turkey kielbasa is perfectly fine if that’s what your family likes.
The can of condensed cream of mushroom soup is the little workhorse here. Do not add water, milk, or broth. I know it looks thick when you spoon it in. It will loosen as everything cooks, I promise. Cream of chicken works too if mushrooms make somebody in your house suspicious. We all have one.
Ingredients
- 1 (16- to 20-ounce) bag frozen potato pierogies
- 1 (12- to 14-ounce) smoked kielbasa, sliced into 1/2-inch rounds
- 1 (10.5-ounce) can cream of mushroom soup, undiluted; cream of chicken works if you prefer
- Salt and black pepper, if needed at the end—I usually taste before adding either
- Chopped fresh parsley or sour cream, optional for serving, when I’m feeling a little fancy
Instructions
- Place the frozen potato pierogies in the bottom of a 4- to 6-quart slow cooker, arranging them as close to a single layer as you reasonably can. A little overlapping is no big deal. They are going to relax in there eventually, unlike the rest of us.
- Scatter the sliced smoked kielbasa evenly over the frozen pierogies. Try not to pile all the sausage in one spot, because then somebody gets a bowl full of pierogies and starts looking at you like you have personally betrayed them.
- Spoon the undiluted cream of mushroom soup over the kielbasa and pierogies, then use the back of the spoon to gently spread it around so most of everything has at least a little coating. Do not add water or broth. Adding it because it seems “too thick” results in a watery, beige mess. Live and learn. Or don’t learn and keep making the same mistakes—I’ve done both.
- Cover the slow cooker and cook on LOW for 3 to 4 hours, or on HIGH for 1 1/2 to 2 hours, until the pierogies are tender, hot all the way through, and the sauce is bubbly. Try not to lift the lid during the first half of cooking. Every time you peek, you let out heat and add time, which is irritating but apparently true.
- Gently stir the kielbasa, pierogies, and sauce together once cooking is finished. Be tender with the pierogies so they don’t break apart too much; a few will split, and that is life. Taste, then add salt and black pepper if you think it needs it.
- Serve hot right from the slow cooker, with chopped parsley or a dollop of sour cream if you want. I like a simple green salad or steamed green beans alongside it, mostly so I can tell myself we had a balanced meal. Roasted broccoli is good too.
Variations
Cream of chicken soup can work instead of mushroom, especially if mushrooms are not a favorite. Cream of onion or cream of celery soup can work as well, though cream of mushroom remains my favorite because it gives the sauce a little more depth without anybody needing to know why.
For a little kick, stir 1 to 2 teaspoons of prepared horseradish or a pinch of red pepper flakes into the soup before spreading it over everything. That technically takes it beyond three ingredients, yes, yes, the recipe police may come for us. It’s worth it if you like that sharp little bite with kielbasa.
You can also sprinkle 1/2 to 1 cup shredded cheddar or mozzarella over the top during the last 15 to 20 minutes of cooking, then cover it again until melted. Mozzarella can get a little stringy and strange after sitting too long—still edible, just not my favorite. Cheddar is more dependable. Like a sensible cousin who brings a folding chair to an outdoor concert.
Thinly sliced onions, bell peppers, frozen peas, or frozen green beans can be layered over the pierogies before the kielbasa and soup if you need to stretch dinner a bit. I don’t always add vegetables. Actually, I rarely do in the slow cooker itself, because I prefer a crisp green thing on the side. But when the refrigerator is looking bleak, frozen peas have rescued many a meal.
Storage & Reheating
Leftovers keep well in an airtight container in the refrigerator for about 3 days. The sauce thickens up quite a bit overnight, so don’t be alarmed when it looks more like a casserole the next day. It’s still good—maybe even better, depending on who you ask.
Reheat individual portions in the microwave until hot, stirring gently halfway through if you can. Add a small spoonful of sour cream after reheating if it seems dry or extra thick. You can also warm leftovers in a covered skillet over low heat, but keep an eye on them; pierogies are soft little things and can break apart if you stir them like you’re mixing cement.
I would not freeze the cooked leftovers. The pierogies tend to get a little mushy after freezing and thawing, and life is too short for disappointing freezer leftovers.
Final Notes
This is not fancy food. Nobody is going to mistake it for something from a restaurant with tiny lamps on the tables and a menu you need reading glasses to understand. It’s creamy, smoky, filling, and very kind to a tired person.
Some meals become part of the rhythm of a house without anybody announcing it. You make them once, then again, and before long somebody asks, “Are we having the pierogi thing?” That happened here.
The slow cooker clicks away on the counter. The kitchen smells warm. Somebody wanders in asking when dinner will be ready, even though the answer has not changed in the last ten minutes.
And for a little while, that’s enough.
3-Ingredient Slow Cooker Kielbasa and Pierogies
Ingredients
- 1 (16- to 20-ounce) bag frozen potato pierogies
- 1 (12- to 14-ounce) smoked kielbasa sliced into 1/2-inch rounds
- 1 (10.5-ounce) can cream of mushroom soup undiluted; cream of chicken works if preferred
- to taste salt if needed at the end
- to taste black pepper if needed at the end
- as needed chopped fresh parsley optional, for serving
- as needed sour cream optional, for serving
Instructions
- Place the frozen potato pierogies in the bottom of a 4- to 6-quart slow cooker, arranging them as close to a single layer as reasonably possible.
- Scatter the sliced smoked kielbasa evenly over the frozen pierogies.
- Spoon the undiluted cream of mushroom soup over the kielbasa and pierogies, then gently spread it around so most of everything is coated; do not add water or broth.
- Cover the slow cooker and cook on LOW for 3 to 4 hours, or on HIGH for 1 1/2 to 2 hours.
- Cook until the pierogies are tender, hot all the way through, and the sauce is bubbly, trying not to lift the lid during the first half of cooking.
- Gently stir the kielbasa, pierogies, and sauce together once cooking is finished, being careful not to break apart the pierogies, then taste and add salt and black pepper if needed.
- Serve hot from the slow cooker with chopped parsley or a dollop of sour cream if desired.
