Shortcut Lazy Pierogi Casserole

This Shortcut Lazy Pierogi Casserole is the ULTIMATE lazy pierogies! You can't get any easier than this. Made quicker with instant mashed potatoes, farmer's cheese (dry cottage cheese), and oven-ready lasagna noodles, then loaded with cheese, bacon, and diced onions, this Easy Lazy Pierogi recipe is like eating loaded perogies in the form of a casserole!

This Lazy Perogy Casserole is especially popular during the winter months and was inspired by my Potato and Cottage Cheese Perogies on this site, and pairs well with Air Fryer Kielbasa and Cooker Cabbage Roll Casserole. It makes a great side dish or main dish and it's the ultimate cozy comfort food!

My Auntie Tania made me Lazy Perogies many years ago, but when I asked her for the original recipe, she couldn't find it. So, I decided to make up my own quicker version by memory.

🥘Ingredient Notes

You'll need the following simple and inexpensive ingredients:

• Pre-cooked bacon. I use this because it's fast, easy, and very little mess. *I buy this at Costco
• Oven-ready lasagna noodles. These cook faster than regular lasagna noodles.
• Instant mashed potatoes (2- 113 g pkgs) * I use Idahoan Buttery Homestyle
• Dry cottage cheese. I use dry cottage cheese because I don't want the liquid from regular cottage cheese.
• Unsalted butter. I like to control the salt in my cooking and baking

*Please see recipe card for full list of ingredients and quantities

📖Variations & Substitutions

• Potatoes- you can use any type of instant mashed potatoes (Idahoan and Honest Earth are my favorites) or leftover mashed potatoes
• Bacon- you could use regular bacon and cook it up in a frying pan, or use bacon bits
• Cottage Cheese - you can use regular cottage cheese instead of Farmer's Cheese (dry curd) but drain it first.
• Lasagna Noodles-you can use fresh lasagna noodles instead (and you don't have to worry about soaking them) You could use regular lasagna noodles but you'll need to boil them. You could also use whole wheat lasagna noodles.
• Dill - you could use dried dill if you don't have fresh but you'll need to use ½ the amount.

🔪How to Make Lazy Perogy Casserole

PREP: Spray a 9x13 pan with non-stick cooking spray and heat the oven to 350 degrees F/176 degrees C. (or do this after the noodles are done soaking so you can use the same pan)

Soak lasagna noodles in hot water for 20 minutes.

*Be sure to stir them up regularly so they don't stick together. If they stick together, you won't get them apart! You can also split them into two dishes

Meanwhile : Make both packages of mashed potatoes as per package directions (in one bowl). If you use Idahoan Buttery Homestyle, you only have to add boiling water. 

Mix 1 ½ cups of the cheddar cheese (reserve ½ cup for the topping), dry cottage cheese and salt into warm mashed potatoes together in a large bowl.

Remove lasagna noodles and place onto paper towel and pat dry

In a microwave-safe bowl cook onions in butter in microwave for 3 minutes.

Microwave bacon and pat with paper towel to remove grease. I do about 2 minutes and 50 seconds. Then chop into small pieces.

Add bacon to butter and onion mixture

In the bottom of a prepared 9×13 pan, place 3 lasagna noodles to cover the bottom.

Add ⅓ of the potato and cheese mixture on top of the noodles, making sure they are completely covered.

Then pour ⅓ of the melted butter, bacon and onion mixture over the potatoes

Repeat this 2 more times (another 2 layers of noodles, potato mixture, then butter/bacon/onion mixture)

Sprinkle the remaining ½ cup of cheese over the top.

Seal with aluminum foil.

Bake for 55 minutes. Then turn up to 500 degrees F/260 degrees C (broil) and cook for another 1-2 minutes until cheese on top is bubbly and browning. Let cool for 5 minutes.

Hint: It's important that the dish is well-sealed with foil so that the liquid in the dish softens the noodles (or they will be hard and dry)

🥗 What to serve with Shortcut Lazy Perogy Casserole

In addition to kielbasa, my favorite dishes to serve with Lazy Man Perogies are Lazy Slow Cooker Cabbage Rolls (shown below), Beef Borscht (with canned beets), and Ukrainian Walnut Cake.

🌡️Storage

Store this leftover Lazy Perogy Casserole in an airtight container in the fridge for 4-5 days. These Lazy perogies also freeze well in an airtight container for up to 3 months.

👪 Serving Size

This recipe makes 8 servings. However, you can half, double, or triple the recipe by clicking on the number and selecting the number of servings you'd like. The ingredient quantities will automatically adjust.

🔢WW Points

I'm not even going to tell you what the points are for this recipe because it is indulgent! BUT it can be made WW friendlier by using light butter, fat-free cheese, fat-free dry cottage cheese, whole wheat lasagna noodles (Catelli Healthy Harvest), and turkey bacon. Using homemade mashed potatoes (leftover is ideal) instead of instant will cut those points in half as well. Making these changes will bring the points down to 7 ww points per serving (⅛ of the whole recipe)!

❔Recipe FAQ's