Blintz Fillings
Blintzes can be filled with just about anything, really. Here are a few of the classics. Some people like their cheese fillings (and blintzes) sweet, some like them savory. I’ve tried to present options for both, but use your own imagination. Blintzes are terrific receptacles for all sorts of interesting leftovers.
Cheese Filling
1 cup small curd cottage cheese
1 cup farmer’s cheese or 1 cup cream cheese
1/4 cup powdered sugar (optional)
1/4 teaspoon vanilla (optional)
Combine all in a small bowl. Serve the finished blintzes with a fruit sauce or cooked fruit or preserves of your choice: blueberry, apricot, strawberry, cherry, peach, raspberry or apple.
Potato Filling
1 lb. Yukon Gold or Russet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1” cubes
1 onion
2 tablespoons vegetable oil or butter
2-3 tablespoons milk
salt and pepper
Bring an inch of water to the boil in a large pot. Put the potatoes in a vegetable steamer and insert in the pot, then put on the cover. Steam for about 15 minutes until soft and set aside. Chop the onion finely, and sweat them in a sauté pan with the butter until translucent but not brown. Mash the potatoes with the milk in a medium bowl and add the onions. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
Meat Filling
2 tablespoons butter or vegetable oil
1 small onion
1/2 pound ground beef or finely chopped brisket
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh parsley
1 tablespoon tomato paste
salt and pepper pepper to taste
Chop the onion finely and sweat it in a sauté pan with the butter until translucent but not brown. Set aside. Add the meat to the pan and sauté until browned. Strain the fat, then add the onion back to the pan along with the parsley and the tomato paste. Stir to combine, adding and salt and pepper to taste.
Sweet Potato Filling
1 lb. sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1” cubes
1 medium onion, sliced
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons milk
Salt and pepper to taste
Preheat your oven to 350. Toss the sweet potato cubes with the olive oil in a baking dish and and bake for about 1 hour, until the potatoes are tender. Meanwhile, chop the onion, and sweat them in a sauté pan with the butter until translucent but not brown. Mash the potatoes with the milk in a medium bowl and add the onions. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
Adding some cream cheese to the cottage cheese or farmers cheese is a good idea. I have found that it tend to make a less runny filling. I prefer a mix of farmers cheese with a little bit of cream cheese added in. Cottage cheese gets more liquid-ey when it gets hot and the curds can get a bit rubbery from heat, too.
I suppose there is a science lesson there, something about the milk proteins tightening up and expelling liquid. I’m not sure why this is less of a problem with farmers cheese and not at all with cream cheese. And I don’t know if it makes a difference whether or not you use a high fat or low fat or non-fat cottage cheese.
Thanks Laura! Cottage cheese just has a lot more residual whey in it, so it tends to run. Farmers cheese, being a curd-and-whey affair also, has a similar problem but usually contains less moisture. As for cream cheese, that stuff is pretty well emulsified at the factory, so, there won’t be any drainage problem there.
Hmm . . . I see. Interesting.
BTW, a little citrus zest and a pinch of cinnamon is very nice in the cheese filling.
Sounds good to me…
I love your website and so glad I came across it. We actually used your information about danishes in my culinary class.
When I make blintzes for breakfast, I fill them with applesauce and cinnamon, or fruit filling and sprinkle powdered sugar on top. Yum! Canned pie filling or canned fruit like blueberries works great, too.
Anita, you are speaking my language! Thanks for the note!
– Joe
I’m 73. My husband’s grandmother always used half farmers cheese and half cream cheese, 2 egg yolks and then a touch of sugar and a touch of lemon juice.
She also used mashed potatoes with onions browned in butter as another blintz filling.
Either one tastes good with sour cream or apple sauce on top.
She made the best blintzes ever.
Now THOSE are blintzes! Thanks, Emily!
– Joe
I am looking for a recipe close to my grand parents-way of making Blintezes. The inside was mainly eggwhites, cottage cheese, and some onions. It had Enriched flour. Hard and expensive to buy in the U.S. My grandmother made her blinztez from scratch. I wish I took the time to learn her recipe. Unfortunatley, I coundn’t. We mainly enjoyed sour cream over our Blintzez. Is there anyway you could go back to 1920- 1930 recipes for Blintzes to help me out.By the way, Borchtez soup is originally Ukrainian if you look your history up.
Old Russian/ Ukrainian they didn’t make cream cheese. None of the countries made it available. Pascka is NOT to have cream cheese in it. The roots of Paschka came before the Russian version where there was no cream cheese available. Paschka is only to remain true from generation to generation. We need to stop denying our pre-generations