Anybody who wants to make truly authentic Ashkenazi Jewish cuisine must first learn how to make schmaltz and gribenes. Schmaltz is rendered chicken fat, which is an important component of many traditional recipes. Sometimes referred to as “Jewish bacon,” gribenes are crispy, salty, sinfully delicious morsels, a byproduct of the fat rendering process.
To the modern health-conscious cook, schmaltz and gribenes might sound like a heart attack waiting to happen. Schmaltz is a high cholesterol fat, but it adds a very unique flavor to dishes that is unmatched by any other type of oil. While many people find gribenes delicious, others might consider them too strange or unhealthy to enjoy.
Take them or leave them, schmaltz and gribenes are quintessentially Jewish. Schmaltz in particular adds an authentic flavor to many Ashkenazi Jewish recipes, including matzo balls and chopped liver.
Though richly flavored, both schmaltz and gribenes were born of frugality. In Eastern European countries, chicken meat was an expensive treat. When a chicken was purchased from the butcher, every part of the bird was used. Schmaltz and gribenes are two creative ways of using parts of the chicken that might otherwise be thrown away.
Schmaltz is collected by slowly sautéing chicken skin and fat, then collecting the liquid fat that melts as it cooks. Most of the time onion is added to the mix, which flavors the schmaltz and makes the gribenes extra tasty.
As the schmaltz collects, the chicken skin, fat, and onion to produce a batch of crispy little gribenes. They can be snacked on as-is or added as a condiment to other dishes.
You might be wondering, “Where do I get a whole pound of chicken skin and fat?” Well, you can collect it from your everyday chicken recipes (store it in the freezer and thaw before using). You can try asking your butcher if they have any for sale. Or, you can buy a bunch of bone-in skin-on chicken thighs, which are the fattiest cut of the chicken. Remove the fat and skin, then reserve the thighs for another dish.
As for rendering the fat, I have outlined two easy methods below. You can also collect schmaltz by cooling chicken soup in the refrigerator, then skimming the solid fat that rises to the top.
If you’re a fan of schmaltz and gribenes, most likely you grew up on chopped liver. Check out my recipe here, which incorporates both schmaltz and gribenes in the mix.
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Schmaltz and Gribenes
Ingredients
- 1 pound chicken skin and fat, cut into narrow 1/2 inch pieces
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 medium onion, sliced into thin 1/4 inch pieces
NOTES
Instructions
Skillet Method
- Rinse the pound of chicken skin and fat, pat dry, then chop it into small 1/2 inch pieces.
- Toss the chicken skin pieces with 1 tsp kosher salt and 1/4 tsp black pepper. Place the skin and fat into a skillet on the stovetop (make sure it's cast iron or nonstick!) and turn heat to medium low. Cover the skillet and let it cook on medium low for about 15 minutes. Liquid fat will start to pool at the bottom of the skillet.
- Uncover the skillet and raise heat to medium. At this point you can add onion, which will give you an onion-flavored darker colored schmaltz, or you can render the fat without onion for a cleaner, purer fat with no onion essence. Most Jewish cooks prefer to render the fat with onion. Let the skin and fat cook for another 15-20 minutes, breaking the pieces apart with a spatula and stirring frequently, until the skin starts to brown and curl at the edges. At this point there should be quite a bit of liquid fat at the bottom of the pan—this liquid is your schmaltz.
- Remove pan from heat. Pour the schmaltz from the skillet into a container, using a mesh strainer to catch any small pieces of skin. A golden oil will result—this is called schmaltz. It can be used in a variety of Jewish dishes or as a cooking fat.
- If you cooked the onions as the fat rendered, your oil will be a darker golden color with an orange hue. The schmaltz will stay liquid at room temperature; it will become solid and opaque if you refrigerate it.
- If you cooked the skin and onion together, return to medium heat and continue cooking in the skillet until the skin is deeply golden, curled and crispy, and the onions are dark brown. Drain on a paper towel and serve.
- If you did not cook the onions with the skin, you can cook them after the schmaltz is collected. Return the cooked chicken skin and fat to the skillet.
- Turn heat to medium and sauté the mixture for about 20 minutes, stirring frequently. Don’t leave them alone for long or they’ll burn! Adjust heat lower as needed to keep from blackening too much.When pieces are dark brown and crispy, remove the gribenes from the skillet with a slotted spoon and drain them on a paper towel. They become crispier as they cool.
- Gribenes can be snacked on as-is or added to other dishes as a topping.
Baking Sheet Method
- Rinse the pound of chicken skin and fat, pat dry, then chop it into small 1/2 inch pieces.Cut your onions into slices, then cut slices into pieces around 1/4 inch long.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Toss the chicken skin and fat with 1 tsp kosher salt and 1/4 tsp black pepper, then spread it out into a single layer on an ungreased baking sheet.
- Place baking sheet in the oven and let it roast for 20 minutes, until the skin starts to turn golden and curl at the edges. Fat will have started collecting on the sheet.
- Add onions to the hot baking sheet, spreading them out evenly throughout the chicken skin.
- Return to oven and continue roasting for another 40-50 minutes until the skin is golden brown and crispy and the onions are dark brown. When stirring, make sure to move the pieces on the outside towards the center, and move the center pieces out towards the middle, so the pieces evenly brown.
- When the pieces become crispy, remove from the oven and let the tray cool down. Strain the fat from the tray through a mesh strainer into a collection container.
- The gribenes are delicious to snack on or used as a topping. The schmaltz should be saved and used in a variety of savory dishes. In will keep for several weeks in the refrigerator.
CL says
Excellent use of photographs to illustrate the steps needed to make a deceptively simple recipe! While other recipes contributors do not get into the details of what really needs to be done to make this, your instructions are quite thorough. Now I’m sure not to ruin it! I very much appreciate how well you explained everything and thank you for your thoughtfulness in sharing such a delicious recipe.
Tori Avey says
Thanks CL! Some feel I “over explain” things, but I do it because not everyone is at the same experience level. I try to approach each recipe from the perspective of someone who is brand new not only to the dish, but to cooking in general. So glad it’s helpful!
Denny says
Wow, awesome I had my first bite. Brilliant.
Anna says
Tori how long can I keep schmaltz in the freezer? I have a vacuum sealer that I can make pouches to freeze. Thank you for your help and time. 😊
Tori Avey says
Putting them in pouches to freeze should work just fine! It should freeze for a few months, at least. It’s no longer good when it smells or tastes rancid.
Ellen Brenner says
Long time reader, first-time commenter – so first off, I love your site, especially the modernized instructions for foods I learned how to make from my mom, but only the old-fashioned laborious way. 😀 Which brings me to my question: I was just given an Instant Pot for my birthday and am wondering if I can use it to make schmaltz and gribenes – especially on pressure-cook. Looking forward to any insights you might have. Thanks!
Tori Avey says
Hi Ellen! Great question. I am not sure about that. I have an Instant Pot but have only used it a few times, and not for anything like this. Perhaps another reader will see this and respond if they have tried it?
Gongbu Daniels says
I feel like you could use it without the top, in saute mode, cover the skins and onion with water enough to cover everything, then maybe saute on medium heat until water is evaporated and fat has rendered? Would take some trial and error but I think it’s doable!
Jeremy says
This is genius, I imagine the gribenes would make for an epic topping on salads and ramen to add an umami crunch. I’m curious to know what other unique applications you would use this for.
Marny Fair says
My salivary glands are overworking now, after reading ‘schmaltz and gribbenes’.
If there is schmaltz in my refrigerator, there is schmaltz spread on matzo! Oh my …
I rarely make s&g so when I do, it’s because my memories need to be fed! On those occasions, I make lots more onions to crisp – and eat those almost immediately, with a bit of salt. I savor each morsel.
Thank you for sharing!!!
BTW, sometimes I brown lots and lots of onions in butter – and eat those crispies immediately.
Leslie says
I asked my Jewish friend about schmaltz because I have a lot in my freezer right now (I make a lot of chicken bone broth), she said she didn’t know what schmaltz was, but when she was a child she had a relative that owned a store on the Lower East Side that sold chickens.
When she would visit the store, they would give her Gribenes and she loved it.
So I did a search and found your website. I will probably making gribenes soon.
But my original goal was to look for uses for schmaltz.
I would love to see a blog post with your favorite Schmaltz recipes. I am trying to find uses for all of the rendered chicken fat in my freezer.
Tori Avey says
Here are a few ideas:
https://toriavey.com/toris-kitchen/kasha-varnishkes-kasha-and-bows/
https://toriavey.com/toris-kitchen/passover-potato-kugel/
https://toriavey.com/toris-kitchen/potato-latkes/
https://toriavey.com/toris-kitchen/chopped-liver/
https://toriavey.com/toris-kitchen/schmaltz-potatoes-lyonnaise/
If you search “schmaltz” in the search bar more will come up. 🙂
Lesly-Claire says
Is there a way to recover the fat when the onion burns ?
Michael Oknowsky says
Throw it all in the garbage, start again and pay attention to your heat…
MaggieB says
Being raised in south Louisiana and Catholic must be the reason I’ve never heard of this amazing food item.
I hadn’t ever heard of schmaltz! Chicken is often on the menu and I never had use for the excessive fat until now. Thanks!
I saw Valerie Bertenelli make and use it on her tv show.
Kit Read says
Looks delicious those crispy morsels. I do keep all the bones when I butcher up a whole chicken to make a stock for soups stews etc. But haven’t ever rendered down fat like this will give it a go in future. My grandmothers family was Jewish mostly from around Amsterdam and she would cook up some lovely food when I was a kid.
J.S. Kahn says
Some butchers in our area (Atlanta) sell chicken backs for next to nothing ($.99/ lb). They render well for both schmaltz and gribenes. Try seeking them out!
Henry Cohen says
I’m Syrian but my Ashkenaz mother told me about gribenes so I had to try it. My wife made fresh challah and together with these gribenes I think I died and went to heaven.
julie says
Can I use duck fat?
Tori Avey says
Absolutely!
Carl Dworman -Mexico# says
No duck fat.
Only chicken fat, the holy grail.
Mary says
Delicious recipe! I grew up in a predominantly Jewish neighborhood, and loved chopped liver. This recipe reminds me, both in taste and aroma, of the wonderful food my friends’ mothers and grandmothers prepared.
Our city boasted a large Arabic and Jewish population, and we all grew up in the same area of town. It wasn’t uncommon for us to share meals with one another, so it might be kibbee and grape leaves one night, and brisket or delicious roast chicken with all the trimmings, the next. The richness of our traditions holds to this very day.
I’m looking forward to your newsletter and more nostalgic recipes.
Stephen Grossman says
Until reading your comments, I had thought my Nanny said, “grivness.”
David Roy says
Q about what is rendered fat: Recently, I’ve been using the pressure cooker function of an Instant Pot to make chicken broth. I primarily use thighs — maybe 4-5 pounds. I cut the bones and add about 3 quarts of water, pressure cook for two hours. After straining the broth, I chill it and normally after overnight, there is maybe 1/8th of an inch of fat at the top. It is slightly hardened. Is that rendered fat?
Tori Avey says
Yes it is!
Maureen says
I see schmaltz used quite a bit in your recipes and I am wondering if one could buy schmaltz already made? I would love to make my own but really don’t get a chance to spend much time cooking anything from scratch right now.
Tori Avey says
Hi Maureen! Most kosher markets offer small frozen tubs of schmaltz in the freezer section.
Tim says
Thank you I am a goy that enjoyed chopped liver at a Jewish wedding. After 25 years or more I will make it tomorrow and enjoy it like nothing else since I love liver anyways..
Christine says
Thanks for the recipe. I love that so many delicious foods are also frugal. Those crispy bits would last about 3 seconds in my house, but if I managed to save a bit, how would you suggest I use them?
suzi says
very interesting article. can you also use the skin from a turkey to make a similar ingredient? there is always more skin on turkey, but perhaps the flavor would be too different?
Tori Avey says
Suzi, I think the turkey skin might work, but I have never tried it myself. Worth experimenting with it!
Lynne says
My mother always said that turkey fat didn’t make as good schmaltz. Okay, if necessary, but not desirable. Duck fat, on the other hand, is delicious.
She was a superb traditional Jewish cook, but one thing she did that was too much for me was using schmaltz instead of butter/margerine or mayonnaise/mustard on sandwiches. She was used to it on meat sandwiches, which fits kosher traditions, but to me, it was too greasy.
Peter says
I had the same question about using turkey, since there is always so much leftover fat when I roast one. Thank you, Tori and Lynne, for answering that. I like the idea of the duck fat, in terms of flavor, but I usually don’t eat duck because it isn’t kosher.
CL says
Peter, Duck is absolutely kosher if you buy a kosher duck! Contact a kosher butcher if want to buy one. They are easy to get that way.