Yes folks, it’s official… I’ve got dairy on the brain! Shavuot is right around the corner, a Jewish holiday that celebrates the giving of the Torah on Mt. Sinai. On Shavuot we eat dairy foods. There could be a number of reasons for this tradition. There is a verse in the Song of Solomon (4:11) which says that the Torah is like “milk and honey under your tongue,” which might indicate a connection between the Torah-centric holiday and dairy foods. Some believe that on the first Shavuot, because the Israelites had not yet received the kosher laws, their foods did not follow kashrut. When they received the Torah, they read the new laws of kashrut and realized their meat dishes were not kosher, so they opted to eat dairy dishes only. Still others say that Shavuot occurs during the fertile spring period, when animal mothers produce lots of fresh milk.
Whatever the reason, I love dairy foods, so this is my kind of holiday! As I was flipping through my recipe archives, I suddenly realized that I’ve never shared my basic recipe for a Sweet Lokshen Kugel. Gasp! How did that happen??
Kugel is a Jewish dish similar to a casserole or pudding. The dish originated over 800 years ago in southern Germany and became a staple with Jewish families throughout Eastern Europe. Jewish immigrants brought the kugel with them to the United States, where it continues to be a popular holiday dish today. There are many kinds of kugel, all made with three basic ingredients: eggs, fat, and starch. The starch used to make kugel varies; I’ve seen kugels made with matzo, matzo farfel, noodles, bread, or rice. They’re all yummy in their own way, but my favorite is noodle kugel.
The word lokshen is Yiddish for noodle. A lokshen kugel is a kugel made with noodles. There are endless variations on the noodle kugel theme; they can be made savory or sweet, topped or untopped, with dried fruit or nuts or seasonings. Sweet lokshen kugels tend to be the most popular in the U.S., with good reason! They are simple and affordable to throw together with just a few ingredients. They can be easily transported, making kugel a good choice for potlucks or family get-togethers. Most importantly, they are delicious.
This is a great basic dairy kugel recipe– moist and creamy, with a nice crunchy noodle topping. My family likes it exactly as written. You can feel free to adapt it to suit your taste, kugel is very forgiving. Raisins can be substituted with another dried fruit, like cherries or chopped dried apricots. Nuts and spices can be mixed in before baking. Add a topping if you’d like. The kugel will taste best when made with full fat ingredients, but if you’re watching your figure you can use lowfat dairy. It will still taste great.
Enough chit-chatting, time for a slice of kugel. Shabbat Shalom!
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Sweet Lokshen Kugel
Ingredients
- 1 cup raisins (optional) - you may substitute other fruits like craisins, dried chopped apricots, or chopped drained pineapple
- 12 oz wide egg noodles
- 6 large eggs
- 1 lb sour cream (2 cups)
- 8 oz cottage cheese (1 cup)
- 8 oz cream cheese, softened - OR farmer's cheese, crumbled (1 cup)
- 1 cup sugar
- 1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
- 1/4 tsp salt
- Cinnamon and sugar for dusting
- Nonstick cooking oil spray
Notes
Instructions
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Place a rack in the middle of your oven and preheat to 350 degrees F. Cover the raisins with hot water and let them soak to plump while you prepare the other ingredients.
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Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add the noodles to the pot, bring back to a boil, and let them cook until tender (not overly soft), about 5 minutes. Drain and return the cooked noodles to the pot.
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In a food processor or blender, blend together the eggs, sour cream, cottage cheese, cream cheese, sugar, melted butter, and salt.
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Pour the egg mixture over the cooked noodles in the pot and stir until well combined.
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Drain the raisins. Stir them into the noodles.
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Spray a 9x13 inch baking dish with nonstick cooking oil. Pour the noodle mixture into the dish.
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Top the kugel by sprinkling generously with sugar and lightly with cinnamon. Alternatively, you can use your favorite kugel topping (streusel, crushed graham crackers, cornflakes, etc.).
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Bake the kugel for about 60 minutes, turning once halfway through cooking, till the center of the kugel is set and the tips of the noodles turn golden brown. Remove from the oven.
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Let the kugel rest for 15-20 minutes before slicing. Kugel can be served warm or cold.
JBHoren says
Been following your blog since the “Shikse in the Kitchen” days.
Traditional ingredients, clear directions, and perfect accompanying photographs. What more could an old man want? No food processor or blender, so it was drain/rinse noodles, then return ’em to the pot; add all other ingredients and mix by arm-power. The only thing I added to the list was vanilla extract; oh, I also replaced sugar with stevia. Can’t wait until it’s ready! (THEN begins the battle of waiting until Shabbat, before eating/tasting it, lol).
PS: The word for “noodle” in Yiddish is לאקש (oksh); “noodles” (pl) is לאקשן (loksh’n). Still, we translate “loksh’n kugel” (לאקשן קוגל) as “noodle kugel”, not “noodles kugel”.
A. says
This is truly my favorite website. Now living in Texas, from the Northeast, there is so little Jewish foods available that are good. Thankfully I found your website and everything from chicken soup to kugel is fantastic! The Kugel reminded us of home. Thank you for the details, thank you for the suggestions, thank you for putting together this website. Your recipes are wonderful!
Tori Avey says
So glad you’re enjoying them!
ROBYN DEROSIER says
I purchased ricotta cheese instead of cottage cheese in error.Will the rocotta cheeses work or should I go get the cottage cheese to make the kugel
Robyn Derosier
Tori Avey says
Ricotta works great!
Diana Lynne says
Gramma always made this but I never got her recipe. This is deja vous of my senses…Quite delicious…worth the time and prep…the kids loved it too…oh yummmmm
Mary johns says
Hi I always thought this was a gypsy recipe! A very similar dessert with lots more sugar and some cream cheese instead of sour cream… it’s been passed of through generations ( I don’t even know how many) I heard other ethnicities make is so I googled noodle dessert and yours came up! I’m in shock because its almost the same. Down to the raisins and pineapple! The younger generations have been doing chocolate chips which is fantastic and some use Velveeta cheese (weird I’ve never tried it)
Next time you make it try making more liquid. (more eggs, cottage cheese, a can of evaporated milk, creamcheese) when you pour in into the pan make sure your liquid rises above the noodles. This will give it a different consistency. Yours looks more packed with noodles. Give it a try and let me know if you like it! You can brown it more to give it a little crunch at the top!
Thanks for sharing
Carol says
Made this last night & shared half with my daughter
And grandson today . Reminds me of the kugel my grandmother used to make. So delicious served warm or cold ! Thanks for making the recipe easy to follow . We I’ll be making it again for sure😃
Tori Avey says
Glad to hear that!
Devon Goldberg says
Thanks for making this Shiksa look like I’ve been cooking Jewish meals for decades and used recipes passed down for generations. I’ve never even had Kugel before let alone made it. So I was going in blind. We just got married and I had to take over cooking for the high holidays because my MIL just can’t do it anymore. I followed your recipe to the letter. Thanks to Covid I couldn’t have my MIL guide me so this was an adventure. I got rave remarks from all that attended. Especially my FIL. I look forward to continuing to explore your recipes.
Beth Eckstein says
Happy new year. Your recipes are great!!
Tori Avey says
Thanks Beth! Glad you’re enjoying them. 🙂
Linda Day says
My mother’s recipe from Eastern Europe was a simpler version made without any cream cheese etc. Contained eggs to bind, sultanas or raisins, sugar and cinnamon. Was also delicious.
Angie says
This was a huge hit!!! My family loved it and so did I. I followed the instructions, but since my family isn’t a big raisin fan, I used 3/4 cup of crushed pineapple and a 1/4 cup of dried mangoes. It was AMAZING!!! This one is a keeper! Will definitely be making it again.
Cathy says
I made a low fat version. Can’t tell the difference.
Diane says
I top mine with crushed frosted flakes.
Lucy Fox says
I always put vanilla in mine!
Really good
I also use graham cracker crumb on bottom and the top! Some melted butter on both
Linda says
Hi Tori!
I love your recipes and stories behind them!
My family has been making a very similar recipe to this for-ev-er (like my grandmother made this and I’m 63yo)!!! I’ve actually never seen a recipe before, that’s so close to the one we’ve always used! I actually think I’ll mix the 2 recipes for one FABULOUS “new” recipe!!
Thanks for reminding me to make this again!! You don’t need a holiday to enjoy it!
Allison Foret says
This was delicious. I put it together this morning and cooked later in the day. I wish it was DIET!!!
Amy says
So wondering if I substituted pineapple for the raisins is there any special prep for that. I assume just drain an add? I don’t like raisins in my Kugel but I remember my bubbi (actually it was my great grandma) making it with pineapple….the family recipe though has been lost to time so would love to try yours to see if it’s close.
Tori Avey says
This recipe might be closer to what you remember: https://toriavey.com/toris-kitchen/pineapple-raisin-noodle-kugel/
Joslyn says
Just popped it in the oven! Can’t wait to try it 🙂
Nancy says
I halved recipe and then halved sugar to 1/4 cup. My book club group agreed that it was delicious and sweet enough. Also omitted sugar topping. Recently found this recipe after losing the one I used in the past and will stay with it. Thanks.