Tzimmes is a traditional Ashkenazi Jewish side dish made with sweet root vegetables. Preparations often include carrots, sweet potatoes, yams, and dried fruits. This lovely, sweet, colorful dish is often served for Rosh Hashanah. The word tzimmes is a Yiddish expression for “making a fuss” over something.
The Yiddish name for this dish is accurate. Tzimmes is a bit of a fussy dish. With all of those root veggies, the recipe involves peeling and chopping, then more peeling, then more chopping. That said, the recipe is actually pretty simple once you get past the vegetable prep.
This side dish is most often served for Rosh Hashanah, where sweet foods are served to signify our hope for a sweet new year. Carrots may be chopped into circles, which are reminiscent of coins, symbolizing prosperity. Sometimes tzimmes are served with meat, like chunks of flanken or short ribs, in a luscious sort of savory/sweet stew. Most often, they’re served as a side dish to accompany the holiday meal.
But here’s the most important question about tzimmes… how the heck do you pronounce it??
Tsi-miss!
You’re welcome.
If your kitchen is anything like mine during the holidays, oven space is precious. With brisket and chicken in the oven, kugel warming, and challah baking, I try to find ways to cook my side dishes on the stovetop. Hence the name of this recipe – Stovetop Tzimmes!
To make this dish parve or vegetarian/vegan, use “no-chicken” broth (a vegan broth option) to cook the ingredients. I like using chicken broth because it adds a savory element to this naturally sweet dish, giving it a nice balance of flavors. This dish is gluten free and kosher for Passover (if you use KFP certified broth/ingredients). Enjoy!
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Stovetop Tzimmes
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 pounds orange yams, peeled and cut into 1-2 inch pieces (2 potatoes)
- 1 1/2 pounds white sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-2 inch pieces (2 potatoes)
- 1 pound carrots peeled and cut into 1-inch rounds (8 carrots)
- 6 ounces dried apples (1 1/2 cups)
- 6 ounces dried cranberries (1 1/4 cups)
- 2 cups orange juice
- 1/2 cup honey
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 1/2 cups chicken broth (you may substitute "no chicken" broth)
- 12 ounces pitted prunes (3 cups)
Instructions
- Place cut yams, sweet potatoes, and carrots on the bottom of a large heavy pot.
- Pour dried apples and cranberries on top.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together orange juice, honey, brown sugar, cinnamon, salt, and black pepper. Pour mixture over the fruits and vegetables in the pot.
- Add chicken broth or "no chicken" broth to the pot, covering the vegetables halfway. Heat pot over medium high until it begins to simmer. Stir the ingredients once gently.Reduce heat to a gentle but constant simmer. Cover the pot.
- After 45 minutes, open the pot and gently stir again. Place pitted prunes on top of the simmering ingredients.
- Cover pot. Continue to cook on lowest heat for another 15 minutes, until potato pieces are tender and prunes have warmed and softened. Don't cook too long, or the prunes will dissolve-- it will make a nice sauce for the tzimmes, but it won't look so pretty on the table.Serve warm as a side dish to a festive holiday meal.
Nutrition
Hi Tori, Thanks so much for this wonderful recipe. I am going to make it for Passover. My son is vegan and doesn’t eat honey, What should I do? Thanks.
Susan
Susan, you can use agave nectar.
not sure if it had been emntioned but another alternative would be to use vegetable stock inplace of the chicken or salted water.
I am so excited to try this recipie for rosh hashana. If I omit the prunes, will that change the dish drastically? Also, is it possible to freeze it? Thanks! I am a big fan!
Perel it is great without the prunes too. I’ve never frozen this one, I’m afraid reheating might make it mushy… I could be wrong though!
Hi Tori! Can I make this in the morning without the prunes and just reheat it?
Shana Tova,
Dana
Hi Dana, yes you can. You may not want to cook it for the whole time (perhaps stop 10 minutes before the end of cooking) and when you reheat, finish cooking. That way it won’t turn mushy when you reheat. Enjoy!
HI there Tori, can this recipe be made in a slow cooker and if so how long to cook it on low?
Thank you it sounds wonderful!
hug sameach.
Hi Tori, it looks delicious! Can I substitute white sweet potato with butternut squash? Also can I omit sugar since our family is on a healthy diet? Shana Tova! Thank you so much!
Rachel yes to both questions. Enjoy!
Love this dish!! It’s easy to make and it’s delicious. This will be my 3rd or 4th Passover making this dish. It wouldn’t be a proper Seder without it. Thanks.
So happy this has become part of your holiday tradition Robyn! Thanks for writing. 🙂
I am preparing this dish for 9 adults and 9 kids for Erev Yom Kippur. Have you ever doubled it? If yes, did it still turn out OK? Any suggestions?
Thanks. Looks so yummy.
Hi Marlo, I haven’t ever doubled it. The only problem I foresee is it being difficult to stir in one large pot… there are a lot of chunks, and the more you stir/agitate the more likely they are to fall apart. No big deal if they do flavor-wise, but they won’t look as nice. You might want to try making the two batches in separate pots, it might be easier to manage. Enjoy!
I’ve tried over the years to reproduce my grandmothers tzimmes. Finally I think I found the recipe here!
A bit of trivia if someone is curious …
I never understood what the symbolism was aside from being sweet for a sweet new year (traditionally served on Rosh Hashanah – the Jewish new year). I finally found out, and the symbolism may change the way you cut your veggies!
The sweet potatoes and carrots represent golden coins so cut your veggies in rounds. My grandmother did this, as her mother did, as her mother did … Who knows if any of them knew the reason.
This dish represents a blessing for a sweet and prosperous new year!
Shanah tovah from Israel!
This was a delicious and easy tzimmes to make. Finding white sweet potatoes was the only slight hitch. I went to the Asian grocer and they carried a white fleshed yam from Japan that did the trick. I found that the liquids were better absorbed the second day after cooking. This was great for Rosh Hashana and I will be making it for Pesach as well.
Great sub on the white Japanese yam Phyllis! You could also use a Yukon Gold potato for a more savory tzimmes, or just sub more orange yams if you like. So happy you liked it!
Outstanding dish! I made it parve, added a dash of cumin to contrast with the sweetness. Also, used whatever I had at home: dried apricots, raisins, and prunes along with the carrots and sweet potatoes, no white potatoes.
My Yiddishe mamaleh (for real…a survivor from Poylin whose first language was Yiddish) couldn’t get enough. Really delish and a great Rosh Hashana treat. Thank you, Tori, and Shana Tovah!
Fantastic Malka! Makes my heart happy to know that your Yiddishe mamaleh liked it too!
I think, the word tzimmes, originated BEFORE the food dish. 🙂
I didn’t mean to imply that the word was inspired by the dish, but the way it read you’re right, it did seem that way. I have clarified the post. 🙂
I am also making this right NOW 😀
Thanks for the great idea!
Only problem is I may have added too much liquid and now I am not sure what to do… drain the excess? Any tips?
Oh goodness, I’m probably too late to help here… I would have drained the excess. Hopefully you were able to figure it out!
I am making this right now for the holiday. My house smells “delicious”. I am also making 2 sweet kugels, 1 gluten free and 1 with egg noodles.
L’shanah tovah
Shana tova Pam! 🙂
this looks delish ( as does everything on your site) – can i make it a day in advance and if so would i reheat it on top of the stove or cover it and heat in the oven ?
If making it a day in advance, I would leave out the prunes when you first cook it. Then, the next day, toss the veggies with the prunes and reheat everything on the stovetop with a little broth in the bottom of the pan (maybe 1/2 inch) till the veggies are warmed through and the prunes are softened. Of course, if you prefer the prunes to be cooked down to a mush and make a sort of “prune sauce,” you can cook the prunes in advance too… it just won’t look quite as nice as the picture, since they get soft quite easily.
We are running a Passover at our Church this Saturday and I going to make this yummy looking Tzimmes for 100 people! I have bought carrots & orange sweet potato as the root crops as I don’t think we have yam down here in Australia (well not readily available). I was going to make 4 pots of double quantity and I think that will be enough as there is lots of children who won’t eat much. Will it work making double quantity in a pot or will I run the risk of the bottom catching or vegies not being cooked through? Or should it work the same? Hope you can help!! Also I made 270 or your Matzo balls (just mini size though) and attempting 25L of your Chicken soup tomorrow!!! With all your positive reviews I’m counting on a good outcome. Thanks for your blog. The step by step photos really help!
Orange sweet potatoes are known as yams in the U.S., so you’re fine there. A double quantity should be fine, just make sure to keep the heat moderate/low and check often to make sure no burning or drying occurs. That’s a big job, best of luck with it!
I’m making this dish for a late Pesach seder. I’m a bit confused, though. What does “covering the vegetables halfway” mean? How is something half covered by liquid? Is that like being half-way pregnant? 🙂 Thanks.
It means to cover the vegetables with liquid till it reaches halfway up the sides… So, if the vegetables are 6 inches deep in the pot, cover them with 3 inches deep of liquid. Hope that makes sense!
Love the colors!
Hi Tori,
I’d like to make this in advance to serve on Passover. Can it be cooked and then frozen?
Thanks!
Hi Alice, I think this will probably freeze well. Just know that the prunes will likely dissolve after freezing, then reheating. They are already quite soft, which is fine… when they dissolve it makes a sort of rich, sweet sauce. Hope that helps!
question: do you think this is possible done in the oven? Really prefer yams that are baked, not boiled. So much sweeter. If so, what temp? 325????