Kasha, an earthy and fiber-filled grain, is one of the oldest known food staples in Eastern European cuisine. Also known as buckwheat groats, kasha is popular with descendants of Ashkenazi and Yiddish-speaking Jews from Eastern Europe and Russia. In this preparation known as Kasha Varnishkes, toasted kasha is tossed with egg noodles, fat, salt and pepper to create a warm, comforting meal. In America, the most popular noodle choice for this dish is bowtie pasta, leading to the recipe’s American nickname– Kasha and Bows.
When cooking Ashkenazi Jewish cuisine, we might be tempted to steer clear of unhealthy traditional ingredients like schmaltz (rendered chicken fat). And yet, nothing can compare to the way that schmaltz enhances a dish like Kasha Varnishkes. Substitutes pale in comparison to the real deal.
When faced with the decision to make a dish either healthy or authentic, for me authentic wins hands down. Dishes like Kasha Varnishkes are a “treat” and should be enjoyed that way. If that means coating my pasta and kasha in melty, savory schmaltz, so be it.
Kasha Varnishkes might be considered the ultimate in Ashkenazi comfort food. It’s great as a side dish, or as a simple entrée for a chilly winter evening. Butter makes a creamy, tasty substitute for those who can’t handle the idea of chicken fat. Olive oil will work too. But please, don’t fear the schmaltz. While your cardiologist might frown, your tastebuds will certainly thank you. As the immortal Julia Child once said:
Everything in moderation… including moderation.
~Julia Child
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Kasha Varnishkes (Kasha and Bows)
Ingredients
- 1 large egg, beaten
- 3/4 cup uncooked kasha (also called buckwheat groats - medium or coarse grain)
- 1/3 cup schmaltz, butter, or olive oil divided (or more to taste)
- 2 onions, chopped
- 1/2 pound bowtie pasta
- Salt and pepper
- 1 tablespoon fresh parsley, chopped (optional)
NOTES
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. In a small bowl, mix together kasha, beaten egg, ¼ tsp of salt and a dash of black pepper.
- Stir with a fork until the kasha is well coated. Spread mixture into a small oven-safe nonstick skillet in an even layer.Place in the oven and let the mixture cook for 15-20 minutes until it's dried all the way through. This will “toast” the kasha.
- As the kasha is toasting, heat 2 tbsp schmaltz, butter, or olive oil in a large skillet or sauté pan over medium. Fry the diced onions for 15-20 minutes, stirring often, until they are very tender and caramelized golden brown. Reserve both the onions and the oil.Meanwhile, boil 3 cups of water and ¼ tsp of salt in a medium saucepan for the kasha. In a separate pot, boil about 8 cups of salted water—this is for your bowtie pasta.
- Remove the kasha from the oven and break it apart completely with a fork, separating all the chunks into small pieces.
- Pour the kasha into the medium saucepan with 3 cups of boiling water and stir. Cover the pot, reduce heat, and simmer for about 15 minutes. Check periodically to make sure the kasha isn't becoming overly dry or burning.
- When the kasha is nice and fluffy and the water is fully absorbed, after about 15 minutes of cooking, remove from heat and fluff with a fork. Break apart any clumps that may have formed.
- Pour the cooked kasha and the sautéed onions with oil over the pasta. Add the remaining 3 tbsp of schmaltz, butter, or oil to the pasta.
- Mix all ingredients together until well combined. Add more schmaltz, butter, or oil, if desired, to moisten the pasta. Season generously with salt and pepper. Serve hot. Garnish with chopped fresh parsley, if desired.
Nancy White says
I see someone has alluded to this, but may I reiterate – to enhance the flavor of this dish, and in lieu of schmaltz, why not cook the groats in homemade chicken stock rather than water? You get your chicken and get to eat it too (weak attempt at humor)…
Lucy says
I cook mine in broth or stock it gives it another layer of flavor
harriet says
i’ve always “dry cooked” the kasha in a cast iron pan or in a regular pot. this way i can watch it more closely than by putting it into the oven.
Tori Avey says
That works too! As long as you keep it on a low even heat. Cooking it too fast can scramble the eggs.
Tobie says
I love this dish and used to make it frequently when my children were small. As I remember I carmalized onions and mushrooms and mixed them in. Also, I use much more kasha than pasta. Thanks for the reminder and I will get some kasha again.
Sunny says
Hi there! If making the day before, how can I reheat?
Tori Avey says
Hi Sunny! Pasta like this is always best served fresh, but if you need to make ahead you can reheat it on the stovetop or in the microwave. I would suggest adding a bit of water to the pan or dish you’re reheating in to help refresh the pasta and keep it from sticking together/clumping. Stir well (but gently) after reheating to break up any clumps of pasta. Good luck!
Abraham Baron says
I make a lot of your KOSHER recipe
Oh Soo Good
Chef Abe
Linda says
I’m making this for Rosh Hashana. I need to increase the recipe to feed at least a dozen people. Any tricks that I should know about?
Tori Avey says
Use a big pot for the pasta and stir a lot, especially at the beginning of boiling, to ensure the pasta doesn’t stick together or clump. Otherwise it should be fairly straightforward 🙂
Dia says
Hello.
I am wanting to introduce my kids to this meal. But I have a question.
I have seen buckwheat come in 2 different styles, “green” or raw (untoasted) buckwheat,
Or brown, ready toasted buckwheat.
Do I need to retoast the ready toasted buckwheat, or is that only for the green buckwheat?
I am looking forward to your answer!
Many thanks in advance.
Tori Avey says
Hi Dia! You should only use toasted buckwheat for kasha varnishkes (not green), and yes I do recommend the additional stovetop toasting step to add more flavor and a light texture.
Lindsey says
Just like my bubbe made, it tasted like home! Thanks for the recipe!
Sandy Lamovsky says
Great recipe: I used olive oil along with butter and it came out wonderfully. I especially liked the commentary on schmaltz. My mom was from a shtetel in the Carpathian mountains in what was then pre W,W. II Czechoslovakia, near Hungary. She made everything with schmaltz. Back then, the kosher chickens were much fatter than the ones sold today in supermarkets. She would render the fat by heating it, along with the skins to which the fat clung . I am nearly 70 years of age now and I can still recall the the odor of the rendering chicken fat wafting throughout the house. My brother an I would scarf up the leftover crispy skin “cracklings”, what she called גרייבן, sometimes referred to as greIIbelich. I imagine today that this blood vessel clogging delight would not be recommended by cardiologists! However, we loved it and have survived thus far. LOL
An interesting sidelight of whole process, which I observed when my mother would take me along with her to shop for food., was the interesting manner in which she purchased a chicken, way back in the early to mid 1950’s. Within walking distance of our house was a kosher poultry market. In the market , and outside in the back, were crates of live chickens. The owner, a bearded “shoichet”, a ritual slaughterer, would pick out a chicken and weigh it on a specialized scale with a spring like device to hold and keep the poor bird on the scale’s platform. After my mom ok’d the purchase, he would proceed to say a prayer and immediately slice its neck an hang it upside down to allow its blood to drain and kill it. Supposedly this is humane and painless way to die. I’m not so sure about that now. Afterwords, slaughtered fowl would be brought to the back of the room where there were women who removed the feathers. The Yiddish word for this is “flikken”, פליקענ That this rhymes with “chicken” I guess is just a somewhat macabre coincidence. At any rate, the final preparatory step would be to pass the chicken a large gas burner yo burn away any last remaining bits of feather, and wrap it in news paper. Most of this was usually done while we went to a green grocer, a kosher botcher shop, a Jewish bakery, and/or a supermarket. On the way home, we would revisit the poultry market, where my mom would pay for her purchase and hand the still warm package for me to carry on our way home . The bird was usually our dinner that very same evening. These experiences are unusual by today’standards. I guess I don’t get grossed out because I associate the memories with my om at a very innocent time of my life. Still, that I eat very little any type of animal flesh today may not be a coincidence.
Alex G says
Thank you for your story! My family is from Odessa, once home to a massive Jewish diaspora, so a lot of culture kinda seeped everywhere. My parents used to cook with schmaltz, we called it “smaletz”.
You know, recent research is actually showing that fat in general, and even animal fat is not as bad as previously thought, and in many cases is better than vegetable oils.
Eli says
Buckwheat is actually a fruit seed and not a cereal grain, as you wrote. Sorry I had to nerd out on you on this largely irrelevant point.
Elaine says
My memories are so similar! Mrs. Plotnick, from the butcher shop, would walk across the wood shavings covered floor, go to the gas jet at the far corner of the shop, and open up a box of wooden matches. She’d turn on the gas and light the flame, then slowly turn the chicken over the flame to burn off the pin feathers. How I remember that smell!
I still make my own schmaltz and gribenes- with chopped onion and chicken fat and skin- twice a year, for Pesach and Rosh Hashannah. Add water to the pot and put on a low fire and slowly the water cooks out, the fat melts into oil and it’s done when the skin becomes cracklings and the onions are brown and soft. Add to knoedlach and chopped liver. Heaven 🙂
Bill says
Sandy,
Thanks for sharing your story and great memories. My mother would stir the fat from the chicken and onion before Shabbos dinner. I used to love eating “gribnes”!
Enid says
I Elaine, I love your description of the process of butchering the chicken! My grandfather was a kosher butcher, from Russia, and I remember those chickens coming home, and my grandmother doing the “flicken!” I haven’t heard that word since I was a child-I think I was about 5 or so, watching my Baba with great interest do this!!
Julie says
Were can u buy kasha in a can at I heard they don’t make it any more
Ashley at ToriAvey.com says
Hi Julie, Tori’s assistant Ashley here! Unfortunately I’m not sure where you can find canned kasha. I would try your local kosher market and if they don’t carry it they may know where it can be found.
Alex G says
You can buy toasted buckwheat in many European, Polish, Ukrainian or Russian groceries or supermarkets, or occasionally in European/International section of regular supermarket.
Anna says
In russian store. It is called grechka.
Jorge Jedwabnik says
I had a hard finding it at a regular grocery store myself. Found a small Ukrainian shop that carried it. But when all else fails, go online to http://www.bobsredmill.com
Bea says
Can cooked Kasha varnishkes be frozen?
Ashley at ToriAvey.com says
Hi Bea, Tori’s assistant Ashley here! I would not recommend freezing this recipe, as I don’t think it would thaw well.
Evelyn Norwood says
My father loved kasha varnishkes, and I made it for him many years ago. I add sliced crimini mushrooms to mine with the sauteed onions. The addition is an added delight to the taste buds as well as a nutritional benefit.
joyce kruger says
When I make my Kasha Varnishkes I like a lots of Kasha with the bowtie noodles. I also put in sauteed onions and different kinds of mushrooms
Michelle says
I’m Italian, and I’ve never tasted schmaltz, and it sounds like something I’d better not get introduced to if I’d like to continue to fit through doorways, into the car, into my clothes, etc, LOL
My friend taught me this recipe; she used vegetable broth, and added mushrooms to the sauteed onions. I’m not vegetarian, and I don’t know from kosher, but I use beef broth to cook the toasted kasha.
And those Barilla mini bowties….? WONDERFUL!!!
Sandy Lamovsky says
My wife’s Italian and she she absolutely loves all the Jewish dishes I cook for her, especially kasha varnishkes. Sometimes I even use an Italian broad egg noodle called pappardelle. I also use these to prepare my mother’s lukshen (noodle) kugel. Talk about fusion cooking!!
Mariette Feldman says
You can find schmaltz in the kosher frozen section of your supermarket…mine is Publix. It comes in a 7 oz container put out by Empire Kosher.
Bobbie says
Ty I was trying to figure out where to find it.
Darlene Newman says
There are no real words to articulate how much I appreciate you, your ideas and your wonderful recipes! Thank you, thank you, thank you. I have been making kasha varnishes my whole life. My physical disabilities from a car accident (not my fault) has worsened considerably and I can no longer stand or wal. Your idea to toast the kasha in the oven saves me from having to stand by the stove toasting it!! Wow!! You saved me!! Shana Tova. All the best !
Tori Avey says
Sweet Darlene, bless you! Shana tova, have a wonderful holiday!
Rachael says
Grandma and Papa used to also add finely diced carrot, and the beef juices (fat removed) from the brisket. (((sigh … I miss them))) This recipe makes my stomach wake up with a growwwwwl! 🙂
janet zimmerman says
I am looking for a good stuffed cabbage recipe without raisens
Tori Avey says
Hi Janet, here is my recipe: http://theshiksa.com/2011/10/22/stuffed-cabbage-leaves/ and here is my “Unstuffed Cabbage” recipe, also without raisins: http://theshiksa.com/2010/05/04/shiksa-unstuffed-cabbage/
Ann Ilton says
After rolling meat mixture inside a cabbage leaf do this
For about 16 rolls or more
3 cans of diced tomato drained
One can of whole cranberry sauce
1/2 cup brown sugar or more
2 to 3 lemons squeezed on top
A bit more sugar
Cover and cool about an hour at 350
Buy two cabbages and freeze them
To roll around meat put cabbage in sink running warm water over them and they will come apart easily for you to roll I use two to get larger leaves
meat is good grade ground sirloin or your choice mixed with an egg and crumbs I use whole-wheat Panko crumbs a little salt and an onion that has been pulverized in a small food processor
Amy says
Hi! love your site…so many great soul food recipes for me to try! How many servings would you say this recipe makes as a side dish? I’m going to serve along side brisket with portobellos, steamed asparagus and green bean salad for a dinner party tomorrow!! Thanks so much:)
Tori Avey says
Hi Amy! I’d say about 8-10 depending on how hungry everybody is 🙂
bella says
hey, I was wondering what vegetables would go well with this dish? thank you
Tori Avey says
Hi Bella! Do you mean in the kasha varnishkes or alongside them? Pretty much any veggie would work alongside– I’m thinking steamed young green beans might be nice, or broccoli, or a spinach salad. If you’re talking about cooking veggies in the dish, that’s a different story… I’ve never mixed in vegetables before.