Yes folks, it’s official… I’ve got dairy on the brain! Shavuot is right around the corner, a Jewish holiday that celebrates the giving of the Torah on Mt. Sinai. On Shavuot we eat dairy foods. There could be a number of reasons for this tradition. There is a verse in the Song of Solomon (4:11) which says that the Torah is like “milk and honey under your tongue,” which might indicate a connection between the Torah-centric holiday and dairy foods. Some believe that on the first Shavuot, because the Israelites had not yet received the kosher laws, their foods did not follow kashrut. When they received the Torah, they read the new laws of kashrut and realized their meat dishes were not kosher, so they opted to eat dairy dishes only. Still others say that Shavuot occurs during the fertile spring period, when animal mothers produce lots of fresh milk.
Whatever the reason, I love dairy foods, so this is my kind of holiday! As I was flipping through my recipe archives, I suddenly realized that I’ve never shared my basic recipe for a Sweet Lokshen Kugel. Gasp! How did that happen??
Kugel is a Jewish dish similar to a casserole or pudding. The dish originated over 800 years ago in southern Germany and became a staple with Jewish families throughout Eastern Europe. Jewish immigrants brought the kugel with them to the United States, where it continues to be a popular holiday dish today. There are many kinds of kugel, all made with three basic ingredients: eggs, fat, and starch. The starch used to make kugel varies; I’ve seen kugels made with matzo, matzo farfel, noodles, bread, or rice. They’re all yummy in their own way, but my favorite is noodle kugel.
The word lokshen is Yiddish for noodle. A lokshen kugel is a kugel made with noodles. There are endless variations on the noodle kugel theme; they can be made savory or sweet, topped or untopped, with dried fruit or nuts or seasonings. Sweet lokshen kugels tend to be the most popular in the U.S., with good reason! They are simple and affordable to throw together with just a few ingredients. They can be easily transported, making kugel a good choice for potlucks or family get-togethers. Most importantly, they are delicious.
This is a great basic dairy kugel recipe– moist and creamy, with a nice crunchy noodle topping. My family likes it exactly as written. You can feel free to adapt it to suit your taste, kugel is very forgiving. Raisins can be substituted with another dried fruit, like cherries or chopped dried apricots. Nuts and spices can be mixed in before baking. Add a topping if you’d like. The kugel will taste best when made with full fat ingredients, but if you’re watching your figure you can use lowfat dairy. It will still taste great.
Enough chit-chatting, time for a slice of kugel. Shabbat Shalom!
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Sweet Lokshen Kugel
Ingredients
- 1 cup raisins (optional) - you may substitute other fruits like craisins, dried chopped apricots, or chopped drained pineapple
- 12 ounces wide egg noodles
- 6 large eggs
- 1 pound sour cream (2 cups)
- 8 ounces cottage cheese (1 cup)
- 8 ounces cream cheese, softened - OR farmer's cheese, crumbled (1 cup)
- 1 cup sugar
- 1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- Cinnamon and sugar for dusting
- Nonstick cooking oil spray
NOTES
Instructions
- Place a rack in the middle of your oven and preheat to 350 degrees F. Cover the raisins with hot water and let them soak to plump while you prepare the other ingredients.
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add the noodles to the pot, bring back to a boil, and let them cook until tender (not overly soft), about 5 minutes. Drain and return the cooked noodles to the pot.
- In a food processor or blender, blend together the eggs, sour cream, cottage cheese, cream cheese, sugar, melted butter, and salt.
- Pour the egg mixture over the cooked noodles in the pot and stir until well combined.
- Drain the raisins. Stir them into the noodles.
- Spray a 9x13 inch baking dish with nonstick cooking oil. Pour the noodle mixture into the dish.
- Top the kugel by sprinkling generously with sugar and lightly with cinnamon. Alternatively, you can use your favorite kugel topping (streusel, crushed graham crackers, cornflakes, etc.).
- Bake the kugel for about 60 minutes, turning once halfway through cooking, till the center of the kugel is set and the tips of the noodles turn golden brown. Remove from the oven.
- Let the kugel rest for 15-20 minutes before slicing. Kugel can be served warm or cold.
Nutrition
Fattening but delicious. First time making noodle kugel. My mother used to make it when she was alive. Love all Tori’s recipes when I don’thave a Jewish recipe of my own.
Her hamantashen were amazing last year!
Thanks
Good recipe. Custard needs vanilla and nutmeg.
Lots of sugar and cinnamon on top.
Hi Tori – love this recipe. I am serving it tomorrow and making today. Wondering if I should do everything but bake it and just refrigerate and bake tomorrow? Or should I cook it and just reheat?
Either way will work. If making ahead, do not leave it unbaked longer than 24 hours, and make sure it’s tightly covered in the fridge. If baking ahead, bake it until it’s baked through but not quite browned yet (I like to say about 85% done), then refrigerate – then bake it through and brown it the following day.
My BFs mother moved to Florida and I wanted to try and recreate her kugle for Rosh Hashanah for him. Thank you this was delicious! I halved the recipe and used a 8×8 dish and baked for a half hour. We loved it! Next time I may soak the raisins in brandy.
Hi Tori! I’d like to get ahead with my food prep this year. Does the lokshen kugel freeze well? Thanks!
Yes! I tend to freeze kugel when it’s almost-but-not-quite done (baked, but not fully browned – like 85% done), then reheat it straight from the freezer in the oven and continue baking at 350 degrees F until browned and fully baked. Enjoy!
Can this recipe be adapted to make ahead and frozen?
I like to freeze kugel when it’s almost-but-not-quite done (baked, but not fully browned – like 85% done), then reheat it straight from the freezer in the oven and continue baking at 350 degrees F until browned and fully baked.
Amazing recipe….I always think about modifying it a bit (e.g. crushed corn flakes on top with cinnamon sugar), but the recipe as is, is soooo freaking good!!!! My bubbee would be so proud of me if she knew I was able to make this!!!
Great recipe! However, as I am on a sugar and fat-restricted diet, I’ve modified a bit, as follows;
1 cup raisins
12 oz egg noodles
1 carton (16 oz) of Bob Evan’s egg whites
1 lb fat-free sour cream (2 cups)
8 oz fat-free cottage cheese (1 cup)
8 oz low fat farmer’s cheese, no salt added
½ cup Splenda
1/8 cup coconut oil
For topping:
1 ¼ cup frosted flakes, crushed
2 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp Splenda
2 tbs melted olive oil margarine
Blend solid ingredients, then mix in the melted margarine
The preparation is the same. Depending upon the size of the portion, there is about a 50% reduction in total calories per serving. Of course, the final preparation is not quite as rich or creamy as I remember, but it is still satisfying as far as taste is concerned. My wife gave it the thumbs-up!
Thank you for sharing your modifications Kenneth, as they may be helpful to others. Glad you enjoyed the kugel!
Hi Kenneth
Just be careful with fat free ingredients. They often remove the fat BUT add in more sugar. When sugar is not burned off in our bodies, It gets stored as fat…..ususlly ends up in belly fat.. So compare labels of full fat low fat and no fat
Dear Tory,
I really appreciate what you publish.
One question is whether it is possible to easily convert or directly write the ingredients in metric measurements?
All the best to you.
Fanny
Hi Fanny! My recipe plugin used to auto-calculate metric measurements, but I removed it because it was very buggy and would often calculate things incorrectly. However, there are a lot of recipe calculators online that will allow you to plug in the recipe, then convert to metric. Just search “convert US recipe to metric” and you should get several options.
Hi Tony!
I would love to try this one. But, my problem is I dont have a big processor. Can i use hand mixer instead?. If so, how long should I mix them together. Thank you and looking forward for your response.
Hi 🙂 yes you can, it will be easier if your ingredients are close to room temperature. You want to mix them together until smooth, so that the liquid looks like the picture in the recipe.