Nothing says “Jewish holidays” quite like a delicious slice of kugel! This Pineapple Raisin Noodle Kugel is creamy and sweet, a delectable treat to be enjoyed any time of year. It’s very easy to make, and would be a perfect addition to a Shavuot table… or Hanukkah… or just because!
Kugel is a quintessentially Jewish dish similar to a thick noodle casserole. Kugels can range from sweet to savory, dry to moist, dense to fluffy. Some people like it topped with cornflakes. Others like no topping at all, preferring to let the top noodle layer brown and harden to a crunchy texture. This Pineapple Raisin Noodle Kugel is topped with a cinnamon sugar graham cracker crust, which happens to be my favorite topping.
No matter which way you enjoy your kugel, a good basic recipe is important. This recipe, a variation of lokshen kugel, is sweet (but not cloying), rich, creamy, and tasty. If you’ve never made noodle kugel before, this is a great recipe to start with.
I encourage you to use this recipe as more of a guide or technique . It can easily be adjusted to your tastes. Add a different variety of dried fruit to the noodle mixture, change the topping, or whatever you fancy. The only limit is your imagination!
Note: This recipe was previously called “Creamy Noodle Kugel.” I renamed it to make it more specific and removed the step of soaking the raisins (which I now find unnecessary). Otherwise the recipe remains unchanged. Enjoy!
Other Kugel Recipes You Might Enjoy
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Pineapple Raisin Noodle Kugel
Ingredients
Kugel Ingredients
- 16 ounces wide egg noodles
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 6 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 1 cup sugar (use 1 1/4 cup for dessert level sweetness, or 3/4 cup for just slightly sweet)
- 1 pound lowfat cream cheese (2 bricks)
- 1/2 cup lowfat cottage cheese
- 1/2 cup lowfat sour cream
- 16 ounces pineapple chunks in juice (1 can)
- 1/2 cup raisins
Topping Ingredients
- 3/4 cup graham cracker crumbs
- 2 tablespoons melted butter
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
NOTES
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add egg noodles, stir, and boil until tender. Drain. Melt 2 tbsp of butter in the hot noodles and stir to coat.
- In a food processor or blender, combine eggs, vanilla, cinnamon, sugar, cream cheese, cottage cheese and sour cream. Blend the ingredients until creamy.
- Add creamy mixture to the noodles in the pot along with the raisins. Drain the pineapple chunks and dice them into small pieces, then add them to the pot. Stir all ingredients until thoroughly mixed. Pour the noodles into a greased 9×13 baking dish.
- Combine graham cracker crumbs, melted butter, sugar and cinnamon in a small mixing bowl to form a crumbly topping.Sprinkle the topping evenly over the top of the kugel.
- Cover dish with foil and place in the oven. Bake the kugel for 40 minutes. Remove the foil and bake for 20 minutes more until the top is golden brown.May be served warm or cold. Refrigerate if you don’t plan on serving it the same day you make it. If you want to reheat your kugel, place it in a 350-degree oven for 15-20 minutes, or until heated through.
KentuckyBabs says
Lovely lady you have done it again! Goin to a pot-luck dinner tonight and am so excited to bring this dish! I sub’d out the cottage cheese for ricotta and the pineapple for cranberries, and added a dash of nutmeg! Thanks for the insite to take it there! Please keep doing what your doing!
Leah Notarus says
Hi Tori!
I’m about to try this recipe for the first time… I want to make it for my daughter’s birthday party, tomorrow, but I’m going to substitute the raisins (not a big fan, myself) and pineapple (MIL can’t stand them) for apples, yeah, I know it’s a stretch.
My real question is this… What do you recommend I do for making it today and serving tomorrow… I would like to prep it today and bake it tomorrow. Do you think I can layer it, put it in the fridge…then pop it in the oven tomorrow?
Thoughts? Anyone? Bueller? (Sorry…showing my age…)
Leah 🙂
Tori Avey says
Hey Leah! Sorry I’m not getting back to you sooner, I’ve been in meetings all afternoon. I’ve never tried assembling this ahead of time, but I’m thinking it should work… make sure you don’t add the crumbly topping till just before you bake it, otherwise it will turn soggy. Hope it turns out well for you! Please let me know, I’d love to hear how the apples taste! And please tell your daughter I said happy birthday. 😉
Sophia Aiken says
Thank you for posting this, i ahve the same exact recipe, but simpler. i really love the idea of the Pineapple, and will try it next time. Thank you!! My dad was Jewish, i am not. my ex is Jewish, and so is my daughter. I am not jewish, but i have an appreciation for their faith, and thier food and celebrations. <3<3
Tori Avey says
You’re welcome Sophia! I read on Facebook about the cherry topping, what a delicious concept. I have a few kugel recipes that suggest it, but haven’t tried it myself yet. It’s now officially on my “to cook” list! 😉
MarilynZ says
This looks like the recipe I need. Haven’t made a kugel in a really long time & can’t find my own old recipe anywhere. Plan to cut down the size of this one for way fewer servings (maybe 4). Would like to substitute all Whole eggs instead of whipping extra egg whites, also. Hope these two modifications work; they should. Cutting down the size is just math. Changing the eggs may be chance-y part. THANKS. MMz (PS haven’t seen this site before — looks great, I will back.) (grin)
Tori Avey says
MarilynZ– hope you enjoy it! My family loves this recipe. Whipping the whites lightens the kugel’s texture a bit, but using unseparated eggs will work fine too. Let me know how it goes. Happy you like the site! 🙂
John says
Can’t wait to try this, my grandma made this exact dish over 30 years ago and now I finally found it. This is wonderful!!
JerZgurl says
My mom always made her topping with crushed corn flakes. I’m thinking I need to try this recipe for the weekend. 🙂
Tori Avey says
Hi Richard! I have a few honey cake recipes, but I’ve only posted one on the website so far. The one I posted is a little non-traditional because it incorporates apple into the batter (no coffee). Here’s the link if you want to give it a try:
http://theshiksa.com/blog/2010/08/31/honey-apple-cake/
Richard Cohen says
Hi. Love your blog and site. Do you have a good recipe for honey cake? Do you put in coffee? And how much? Happy New Year – Mamele!
Socorro says
I can’t wait to try it!
ckayakdude says
Your recipes all sound so good, but I’ve never had the opportunity to make one. I’m gonna make this one, though … I’m on tap for break fast Saturday night. Got a good blintz recipe???
Tori Avey says
Yes on the blintz recipe… here you go! http://theshiksa.com/blog/2010/05/19/shiksa-blintzes/
Tori Avey says
Pierro’s Mom– Just saw this message, so sorry it took me a while to respond! The dishes are from Sur La Table. 🙂
Pierro's mom says
I have been looking for this recipe. thank you so much for this perfect one!
by the way, those dishes are adorable? Where ever did you find them?
Yehudit Steinberg says
Great recipe. I am going to try it out. Reminds me of the noodle kugel my grandma Nanny made. Thanks again for this blog
Tori Avey says
Wisconsin, you don’t need to add raisins– but you might want to double the pineapple or increase the sugar if you’re going to omit them, since they add a nice sweetness to the kugel.
Phil, looks tasty! It’s always good to have a pareve version on hand, isn’t it?
Norah, awesome! Let me know how you like it. 🙂
Janie, I don’t include nutrition info on this site at the moment, but there are some nutrition calculators online that will let you input the ingredients to find the nutrition info. I may add that feature in the future, stay tuned. If you’re looking for a way to lighten this recipe a bit, try using egg beaters in place of whole eggs, baking Splenda in place of sugar, and nonfat cheeses/sour cream. I’ve tried the kugel with those modifications and it holds up pretty well (I haven’t tried Agave but I’m guessing it would work as a sweetener, too).
Michael, you are too cute. It’s not easy keeping the girlish figure while working on all these amazing recipes, let me tell you!!
michael from Long Beach says
Um…okay…. Noodle kugel for dinner last night, noodle kugel for midnight snack, noodle kugel for breakfast this morning… yer killin’ me here! This is the most FABULOUSSSSSS DELICIOUSSSS kugel EVER!!!! OMG it’s so wrong. We are making such pigs of ourselves with this. Thank you again. How do you retain that girlish figure???
xo
Michael
janie says
do you calculate nutritional information for your recipes? calories? carbs? etc.
Norah L. says
Hey Tori, long time follower, first time writer. This kugel sounds amazing! I’m not a big kugel fan cuz they usually turn out dry and boring. I’ve been looking for a creamy one that stays moist in the oven, looks like this one might work. You’re converting me! (kugel wise!) Best, Norah
Phil Goldwasser says
Sounds a lot like the one my Mom makes! Yummy. As for toppings, I choose the cinnamon-sugar! It makes a great caramelized crunchy topping out of the noodles themselves. I mostly make pareve kugels as we serve them with meat meals. Here is a link to my pareve recipe. http://longandwinding.wordpress.com/2008/06/25/cooking-class/
Enjoy!
wisconsin kid says
Hey Tori
Haven’t written in a while. Hope your holday was good! How do you think this would taste without the raisins? I don’t really like raisins.
Leann says
Sounds scrumptious! You will make a great Member of the Tribe. 😉
Tori Avey says
Thanks Leann! I officially joined the Tribe in February. Feels like coming home. 🙂
Here’s the blog link:
http://theshiksa.com/blog/2010/03/01/the-shiksa-is-jewish/