41 Recipes to Satisfy Your Kugel Curiosity

41 Recipes to Satisfy Your Kugel Curiosity

Kugel is a curious casserole that can take on many shapes and flavors for Jewish holidays. Sometimes sweet, sometimes savory, but always delicious — we picked out a few favorites to try for Hanukkah.

How do you kugel? Wait. You do kugel, don’t you? Let me explain. If you’ve never heard of any sort of kugel, here are the basics: kugel is a starchy pudding often associated with Jewish holidays such as Rosh Hashana, Chanukah and Passover.

And if you’ve only heard of noodle kugel or potato kugel, know that those are but parts of the kugel rainbow! (Full disclosure, the kugel rainbow is mostly beige. Delicious. Sometimes golden brown too. But there’s a lot of beige.)

While it is often served on Jewish holidays, there’s no reason to relegate this delicious comfort food to certain parts of the year. And there’s no reason to narrowly define its taste, either — you can make a sweet kugel or a savory one. Serve it as a side dish or for breakfast. Make it as a potato kugel, one with noodles or even base it on zucchini.

Now, which kugel recipe will you choose?

Lokshen Kugel (Savory Noodle Kugel)

Lokshen Kugel (Savory Noodle Kugel)

Lokshen Kugel (Savory Noodle Kugel) by My Jewish Learning
This lokshen kugel (named after the type of wide egg noodles it uses) from Saveur lands on the savory side with its onion and garlic. It looks and tastes like classic kugel comfort, with both cottage cheese and sour cream bringing richness to the dish. Cooking it in a cast-iron skillet gives it a rustic touch.

Sweet Lokshen Kugel RecipeSweet Lokshen Kugel Recipesour cream, sugar, sugar, cooking oil, salt, large eggs, raisins and 5 more
Cheese Lokshen Kugel RecipeCheese Lokshen Kugel Recipesalt, eggs, sour cream, butter, curd cheese, medium egg noodles and 1 more
Jewish Sweet Noodle Casserole - Lokshen Melba Kugel RecipeJewish Sweet Noodle Casserole - Lokshen Melba Kugel Recipebreadcrumbs, cream cheese, sliced almonds, large eggs, unsalted butter and 10 more

Slow Cooker Noodle Kugel Casserole

Slow Cooker Noodle Kugel Casserole

Slow Cooker Noodle Kugel Casserole by Fit SlowCooker Queen
This recipe takes the mystery of out of making kugel in the slow cooker. One teaspoon cinnamon joins honey and raisins for a sweet kugel that frees up your oven. Yes, the cook time is longer, but it’s mostly hands-off. One key tip takes just a few minutes of prep time: First partially cook the noodles and drain them before placing them in the slow cooker with the rest of the ingredients.

Slow Cooker Noodle Kugel (Noodle Pudding) RecipeSlow Cooker Noodle Kugel (Noodle Pudding) Recipesugar, raisins, frozen peaches, cinnamon, liquor, coconut milk and 3 more

Potato Kugel

Potato Kugel

Potato Kugel by Smitten Kitchen
Smitten Kitchen’s gorgeous potato kugel has a simple list of ingredients — russet potatoes, kosher salt, large eggs — that adds up to much more than the sum of its parts. She makes it in a cast-iron skillet but includes a note on substituting a casserole baking dish. As she notes, people have definite opinions on whether you should use a food processor for the potatoes or grate them by hand, but she includes instructions for both methods. (She also has some interesting background on its European or Eastern European origins and its place in Jewish cuisine.) The shredded rather than sliced potato gives the dish a beautiful potato-latke look.

Perfect Potato Kugel RecipePerfect Potato Kugel Recipeblack pepper, eggs, kosher salt, kosher salt, olive oil, onion and 7 more
Passover Potato Kugel RecipePassover Potato Kugel Recipesalt, black pepper, eggs, russet potatoes, onions, potato starch and 2 more
Sweet Potato Kugel RecipeSweet Potato Kugel Recipescallions, eggs, onions, extra virgin olive oil, pepper, salt and 3 more

Broccoli Kugel

Broccoli Kugel

Broccoli Kugel by Joy of Kosher
While kugel is not typically a low fat dish, this version approaches that description, with light mayonnaise and broccoli standing in for the heavier ingredients typically used. No one thinks kugel is a salad, but can you add a little green to your kugel? Yes! Yes, you can.

Roasted Vegetable Kugel with Gluten-Free Noodles RecipeRoasted Vegetable Kugel with Gluten-Free Noodles Recipesea salt, rice noodles, freshly chopped parsley, cheddar, zucchini and 19 more
Broccoli Kugel RecipeBroccoli Kugel Recipeblack pepper, cayenne, frozen chopped broccoli, nonstick cooking spray and 3 more
Vegetable Kugel RecipeVegetable Kugel Recipezucchini, freshly ground black pepper, onion, broccoli, eggs and 4 more

Aunt Helen's Noodle Kugel

Aunt Helen's Noodle Kugel

Aunt Helen's Noodle Kugel by Food52
The recipe name may sound old fashioned, but this kugel has a few tricks up its sleeve. It gets richness from a combination of cream cheese, sour cream, eggs, and melted butter added to the noodle mixture. But the coup de grace (coup de kugel?) is in the topping, which gets a lift from a little sugar and graham cracker crumbs, lending a crunchy golden brown topping to the kugel. Ingenious.

Basically Noodle Kugel RecipeBasically Noodle Kugel Recipeextra-wide egg noodles, ground cinnamon, cottage cheese, kosher salt and 5 more
Noodle Kugel RecipeNoodle Kugel Recipewide egg noodles, pure vanilla extract, ground cinnamon, whole milk and 8 more
Myrna's Apple Raisin Kugel (Noodle Pudding) RecipeMyrna's Apple Raisin Kugel (Noodle Pudding) RecipeGranny Smith apples, sugar, salt, eggs, butter, cinnamon, egg noodles and 1 more

Cacio e Pepe Kugel

Cacio e Pepe Kugel

Cacio e Pepe Kugel by MUNCHIES
One of the world’s simplest and most satisfying pasta dishes meets the kugel format in this lovely casserole built on cheese and black pepper (that’s the “cacio” and “pepe”). Copious amounts of ricotta, mascarpone and pecorino romano are combined in a large mixing bowl, with a bit of the pecorino reserved for later. Cook the noodles until barely al dente, add them to the cheese mixture and then sprinkle on that reserved pecorino for a deliciously cheesy finish.

Cacio E Pepe Kugel RecipeCacio E Pepe Kugel RecipePecorino Romano cheese, kosher salt, mascarpone, butter, freshly ground black pepper and 2 more

My Family’s Noodle Kugel

My Family’s Noodle Kugel

My Family’s Noodle Kugel by Smitten Kitchen
Smitten Kitchen is on it once again in the kugel department, this time with a noodle kugel that calls for a surprise ingredient: cherry pie filling. Oh, sure, all the old favorites are there too: egg noodles, cottage cheese, sugar and vanilla extract. Almost everything gets mixed in a large bowl, but the cherry pie filling is held back, poured atop during the baking. Deliciously intriguing.

Heimish Carrot Kugels RecipeHeimish Carrot Kugels Recipeorange juice, baking powder, eggs, flour, ground cinnamon, sugar and 4 more
Cinnamon Apple Noodle Kugel RecipeCinnamon Apple Noodle Kugel Recipecinnamon, nonstick cooking spray, kosher salt, large eggs, large egg whites and 4 more
Sweet Kugel RecipeSweet Kugel Recipecottage cheese, raisins, nutmeg, butter, sugar, butter, applesauce and 6 more

Vanilla Noodle Kugel

Vanilla Noodle Kugel

Vanilla Noodle Kugel by Tori Avey
This sweet noodle kugel gets its flavor not just from vanilla extract, but also from vanilla pudding. For a finishing touch, vanilla wafer cookies are combined with butter and sprinkled atop the dish. The recipe says it can be served warm or cold, but let’s be honest: It would be delicious at room temperature too.

Pumpkin Kugel RecipePumpkin Kugel Recipevanilla, spray oil, ground ginger, cinnamon, sugar, nutmeg, wide noodles and 6 more
Apricot ‘n Apple Kugel RecipeApricot ‘n Apple Kugel Recipebrown sugar, sugar, salt, eggs, lemon juice, butter, apricot preserves and 8 more
Cakey Crunch Sweet Potato Kugel RecipeCakey Crunch Sweet Potato Kugel Recipenutmeg, brown sugar, mini marshmallows, vanilla extract, medium sweet potatoes and 4 more

Sweet Potato Kugel

Sweet Potato Kugel

Sweet Potato Kugel by What Jew Wanna Eat
What a beautiful idea for a side dish, swapping sweet potatoes for the traditional spuds. This gives it a little more color than your typical kugel and of course, gives it a rich sweet potato flavor. Use margarine instead of butter if serving with meat and keeping kosher. It’s a creative spin on a longstanding Jewish dish.

Spiralized Sweet Potato Parsnip Kugel RecipeSpiralized Sweet Potato Parsnip Kugel Recipebaking powder, parsnips, Vidalia onion, eggs, olive oil, sweet potatoes and 2 more
Vegan Sweet Potato Kugel RecipeVegan Sweet Potato Kugel Recipechopped walnuts, cinnamon, raisins, apples, sweet potatoes, matzo meal and 2 more

Potato-Apple Kugel

Potato-Apple Kugel

Potato-Apple Kugel by Williams-Sonoma
This Williams-Sonoma recipe skillfully straddles sweet and savory, with an onion adding a savory note while two Granny Smith apples contribute a light sweetness. Billed as “only slightly less traditional for Hanukkah than latkes,” this potato-centric kugel starts off with two pounds of baking potatoes. The first task is to peel and shred them before combining with the rest of the ingredients, piling them into a dish and baking until golden brown. A suggested grace note: a dollop of sour cream when served.

Paleo Apple Kugel RecipePaleo Apple Kugel Recipeapples, sea salt, baking soda, raw honey, coconut flour, arrowroot flour and 4 more
Apple Cinnamon Kugel RecipeApple Cinnamon Kugel RecipeGranny Smith apple, cinnamon, granulated sugar, granulated sugar and 6 more
Caramel Apple Kugel RecipeCaramel Apple Kugel Recipevanilla, butter, sour cream, granulated sugar, Granny Smith apples and 12 more

Spring Zucchini Kugel

Spring Zucchini Kugel

Spring Zucchini Kugel by My Jewish Learning
Not only does this kugel get a fresh twist with zucchini instead of noodles and potatoes, but it has a pair of surprising ingredients: Chopped fresh basil and mint give it an herbal note. (If there are objections to either of those flavors, parsley can serve as an herb stand-in.) The recipe and a commenter sound one note of caution: Make sure you get as much liquid out of the zucchini as possible — really squeeze it out! This gives the kugel the right texture. And it sounds like it might be good stress relief, too.

Cheesy Potato and Zucchini Kugel RecipeCheesy Potato and Zucchini Kugel Recipecanola oil, colby jack cheese, black pepper, russet potatoes and 8 more
Potato Zucchini Kugel Cupcakes RecipePotato Zucchini Kugel Cupcakes Recipesalt, eggs, zucchini, pepper, garlic, sugar, white onion, vegetable oil and 2 more
Vegetable Kugel RecipeVegetable Kugel Recipeleeks, vegetable oil, medium zucchini, salt, sweet potato, matzah meal and 5 more