This creamy Vanilla Noodle Kugel is sweet and aromatic, a slightly different take on a traditional lokshen kugel. Made with vanilla pudding, cream cheese and a crunchy wafer cookie topping, it’s a dessert-style kugel that is just perfect for brunches, potlucks and holiday gatherings.
There is nothing better than pulling a cold slice of noodle kugel out of the refrigerator as a midnight snack. Or for breakfast. Or whenever, really! If you’ve enjoyed a good traditional lokshen kugel before, you understand. This Vanilla Noodle Kugel is a simple yet luscious twist on the basic noodle kugel concept.
A kugel is a quintessentially Jewish dish that is best described as a baked pudding. The dish originated over 800 years ago in Germany. It quickly became popular with Jewish families throughout Eastern Europe. Usually kugel is served as a side dish. For families who keep kosher, either dairy or parve (neutral) kugels are prepared to suit kosher dairy or meat meals. This Vanilla Noodle Kugel, is a dairy kugel.
Dairy kugels are enjoyed on dairy meal holidays like Shavuot, Hannukah, and for the break-fast meal after Yom Kippur.
Today, you can order a slice of noodle kugel in almost any American Jewish deli… but why buy, when it’s so simple to make yourself? Kugel is actually one of the easiest Jewish dishes to cook. Once you know the basic components (starch, eggs, and dairy or non-dairy fat), there are endless possibilities. You can even get creative by adding fruit, flavorings, and different toppings to create your own “signature” kugel.
I’ve come up with many variations on kugel over the years. The one I’m sharing today will be a favorite with people who like vanilla. The addition of pudding makes it extra creamy, and the crunchy vanilla cookie topping adds texture. It’s a sweet, fun, unique dish for a potluck or family gathering.
I try to use organic ingredients whenever possible to cut down on our exposure to unhealthy additives and preservatives. To make this kugel, I bought organic kosher-certified vanilla wafers at Whole Foods (365 brand) and kosher organic vanilla pudding, too (Dr. Oetker brand). If you prefer to use more standard store brands, Nilla Wafers and Jello vanilla pudding mix are both kosher certified… they’ll work great. Feel free to cut down on calories by using lowfat ingredients, but I wouldn’t use the nonfat stuff. Fat = flavor. Enjoy!
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Food Photography and Styling by Kelly Jaggers
Vanilla Noodle Kugel
Ingredients
Kugel Ingredients
- 1 cup prepared vanilla pudding (homemade or from a mix)
- 1 pound egg noodles
- 8 ounces cream cheese, softened
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 4 large eggs
- 1 1/2 cups milk (any percentage is fine, except nonfat)
- 3/4 cup lowfat sour cream
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
Topping Ingredients
- 8 ounces vanilla wafer cookies (makes about 2 cups of crumbs)
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
NOTES
Instructions
- Take cream cheese out of the refrigerator to let it soften. Prepare pudding according to package directions and chill until soft set (thickened, but it doesn't need to be completely firm).Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- Boil the egg noodles according to package directions until they reach an al dente texture (cooked, but not too soft or limp). Drain and rinse with cold water until noodles are cool. Drain again.
- Use an electric mixer to cream together the cream cheese and sugar. Add the eggs and mix again until blended.
- Add pudding, milk, sour cream, vanilla and salt. Mix on medium high until all ingredients are well blended.
- Pour noodles into the liquid mixture. Stir to combine noodles and liquid, making sure all noodles are covered in liquid and no noodle clumps have formed.
- Pour noodle mixture into a greased casserole or baking dish.
- Crush vanilla wafer cookies to a crumbly texture using a food processor, or by placing the cookies into a sealed plastic bag and pounding them with a mallet. You want them crushed fine, but not to a powder-- a little texture is good. Place crumbs into a small mixing bowl.Add sugar, cinnamon, and melted butter to the crumbs. Mix with a fork for a couple of minutes until all of the crumbs are evenly moistened by the butter.
- Evenly sprinkle the crumbly topping across the top of the kugel.
- Bake kugel uncovered on the middle rack of the oven for 1 hour to 1 hour 15 minutes, turning the dish once during baking to make sure it bakes evenly. Kugel is done when the topping lightly browns all the way across. Remove from the oven.
- You can serve this kugel warm or cold. Store it in the refrigerator to avoid spoilage. The topping won't be as crunchy the second day, but it will still taste delicious. Enjoy!
Jenny Owens says
Tori, I LOVE this recipe, have made it several times. Always a big hit. Thank you! Question — this is a long shot. Any idea about how it would be after freezing it overnight and thawing? Thanks, Jenny
BARBARA SCHAEFER says
I MADE THIS WONDERFUL KUGEL AND I THINK IT’S THE BEST 1 I EVER MADE! THE CROWD WAS BLOWN AWAY! SOOO MANY COMPLIMENTS! I MADE THE KUGEL 1 EVENING- COVERED IT-AND PUT IT IN THE FRIDGE UNCOOKED FOR IT TO SET. THE NEXT AFTERNOON, I PUT THE TOPPING ON AND THEN POPPED IT IN THE OVEN TO COOK. VOILA! WHAT AN EXTRAVAGANZA! I WAS SOOO PROUD OF MYSELF! THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR SHARING! YOU MADE ME LOOK LIKE A ‘BELLABUSTA’!
Melissa says
I made this for break fast. It was delicious. Everyone raved!!! I highly recommend!
Phoenix says
Okay, so I don’t always follow the recipes!! What else is new? I changed the Vanilla pudding with Coconut Cream pudding, added softened yellow raisins, & chopped pecans. Added some shredded coconut and chopped pecans with the vanilla wafers crust. One bite and my eyes rolled back into to head. Love it!
Tori Avey says
Great subs Phoenix, sounds delish!
amy kriveloff says
Tori, do you think this would be good if I replaced the noodles with potatoes? I love the a sweet tasting side dish with brisket and usually make noodle kugel like your recipe. Can’t use noodles on Passover unfortunately!
What do you think? I love your website!!
Amy
Tori Avey says
Hi Amy– I wouldn’t use potatoes, however most kosher markets have Passover egg noodles that can be used during the holiday, and you can certainly use those!
Christine says
Thanks for this amazing recipe! My husband and daughter dislike any kind of fruit in a kugel so I thought I’d give this recipe a go (its a bit of a departure from traditional plain sweet kugel – which I like). I brought it to a friend’s break the fast. As the only “shiksa” cooking, I was nervous…but I was thrilled it was such a HUGE hit with everyone and I got many recipes requests so I sent them to your web page! Loved it so much and thanks for making me look so good!
Tori Avey says
Aww, thanks for spreading the word about my page Christine! I appreciate it more than you realize. 🙂 So happy the kugel turned out great for you!
Debbie kantor says
Now this kugel looks really really really good!! A good compromise to my mother’s and my daughter in law’s recipes! I think this one is the winner!!
Ilana Gross says
Tori
I just made this for my friend’s daughters batmitzvah, to help her feed all the out of town guests coming in. Just put it in the oven- so far it smells heavenly! Thank you so much! Do you have any good pareve cakes for shabbat to share? Recipes without margerine or any other icky hydrogenated stuff. Best regards Ilana
Tori Avey says
Hi Ilana! Try my Pumpkin Spice Cake or my Date Honey Nut Cake, they’re both pareve and delish.
angie says
This recipe is a WINNER!!! I added golden raisins (they added a little brightness to this very rich and sweet dish). This is now, officially, my sweetie’s favorite kugel (I hope his mom isn’t reading this!). thank you!
Sophia says
This looks amazing. i am a Nilla Wafers girl from way back, and i love Vanilla, and vanilla pudding. Best of all, i am a Kugel freakinator!! (LOL!!) I am going to try your recipe this week, and let you know how it turned out. thank you for sharing!!
Sophia says
Okay, i made the Kugel today, following the recipe to the letter. i am used to making Lokshen and Cheese Kugel, so i dont make topping, and it made a huge difference since there wasnt enough liquid. The noodles we over crunchy, almost raw from cooking so long.
there was way too much noodles, and not enough liquid. my usual recipe calls for 2tbsp sugar, 1/2lb noodles, but with the Cottage cheese, Sour Cream, and Cream Cheese it makes up for all the liquid that seemed to be missing.
The pudding didnt really sweeten it to my taste, but that may be because fo the amount of noodles, i could barely taste any vanilla.
I am sure that with 1/2 noodles, the recipe will turn out 100% different for me. this Kugel hubby will not eat this, because he doesnt care for the crunchy noodles on top, and even i ahd a problem and had to scrape them off.
Tori Avey says
Hi Sophia– if you try to make this again, I would suggest making it with the topping as written in the recipe. I have never made this particular kugel without the topping, and I’m guessing the issues you had came from letting the top brown without the topping. This is not a lokshen-style kugel, and the topping serves two purposes– to add crunch and sweetness, as well as to lock moisture in while it bakes. My readers who have made it with the topping have raved about it, so I’m guessing your problems came from that modification.
Barry Scott says
We made this for our Pot Luck Supper at the Synagogue last Friday night. People were lining up for seconds and begging for the recipe. It was outstanding.
GLENDA says
I rushed to try this kugel. However, my family recipe is more to my tastes. I thought I could spice it up with pineapple or apricots to give it more flavor.
Kathryn says
How far in advance can you make this recipe? I have a potluck at our synagogue on Friday evening and would like to make this in advance the Wednesday evening, will it go soggy?
Tori Avey says
You can assemble it in advance, then top it and bake it just before the potluck. I would avoid making the whole thing ahead if you can. The kugel itself will be fine, but the topping will get somewhat soggy if you make too far in advance. Hope that helps!
Siouxsie says
I made your pinepple kugel first and my husband really liked it, but I this one sounds even better. I used 2% Greek yogurt instead of low-fat sour cream because I’ve found it’s usually a good substitute in my recipes. Also I used vanilla sandwich cookies because that’s what I had. Just came out of oven, and looks delicious. Going to serve up some leftovers to my Brooklyn in-laws (I’m also a shiksa in the kitchen) tomorrow. Really loving your recipes-rugala, challah, etc. I always come to you during the holidays. Thanx!
Christine says
Love Kugel; can you substitute the sour cream with anything else?
Alysa says
OMG! THE. BEST. NOODLE. KUGEL. EVER!!! I made this for break fast and it was devoured! I added a little cinnamon to the batter and topped it with graham cracker crumbs instead of vanilla wafers, but it was amazing! I’ve had tasteless kugels before, and this certainly wasn’t for me. I’m pretty particular and stick to the Joan Nathan/Pineapple kugel. This one IMHO topped it by a mile. My new go-to kugel. Thanks so much for the recipe!
Tori Avey says
That’s great Alysa! This one is one of my favorites, too. Glad you enjoyed it!
Kelly says
I have made this twice and both times it got RAVE reviews! It was delicious! Thanks for being so generous with your recipes. You are a gift to the rest of us!
Honi says
Oh wow.. that looks amazing.. I have pinned it for My PINtrest page.. for Jewish recipes… I will have to try this soon… looks delicous never had a Kugel with Vanilla pudding, sour cream and Cream cheese.. WOW.. talk about rich… sounds wonderful!
Daveda says
I made this kugel and served it for Shalosh Seudas this past Shabbos – it was a huge hit. I actually made this recipe and divided it into two 8×8 pans – both came out beautifully and I froze one for the future …. I am thinking that it would be great to break our Yom Kippur fast on. Thanks for the wonderful recipes – love your blog!
Tori Avey says
So happy you enjoyed the kugel Daveda, thanks for reporting back! 🙂
Bizzy says
I have been making kugels for year but the idea of including pudding is new to me and very tempting. Thanks for such a good idea.