By Alison Roman
- Total Time
- 1 hour 20 minutes
- Rating
- 4(1,384)
- Notes
- Read community notes
At its core, kugel is a casserole. It comes in both savory and sweet varieties, often made with egg noodles and vaguely sweetened. This version, made with potatoes, is decidedly salty and savory, with onions in the mixture and chives to finish. It can best be described as something between a Spanish tortilla and a giant latke; the potatoes are shredded, not sliced, there are eggs but no flour, and it’s got crispy edges and a creamy interior. Sounds dreamy, doesn’t it? The most annoying parts of this kugel are also the most important: grating the potatoes (I use a box grater, but you can use a food processor with the shredding blade) and wringing out their moisture. For that, I use my hands and a colander or strainer to save a kitchen towel or a cheesecloth, but you can use those, if you like. Traditionally made in a casserole-style baking dish, this kugel starts off in a cast-iron skillet, but a stainless-steel skillet would do the job, and honestly so would a baking dish, just know you may be sacrificing that crunchy underside.
Featured in: Alison Roman’s Seder Table
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Ingredients
Yield:8 to 10 servings
- 4pounds russet potatoes (about 5 to 7 potatoes), peeled
- 1large yellow onion
- 6large eggs
- 10tablespoons chicken fat, melted, or use vegetable oil
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
- ⅓cup finely chopped chives, for serving
- Flaky sea salt, for serving
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (10 servings)
291 calories; 17 grams fat; 2 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 11 grams monounsaturated fat; 3 grams polyunsaturated fat; 29 grams carbohydrates; 2 grams dietary fiber; 2 grams sugars; 7 grams protein; 484 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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Preparation
Step
1
Heat oven to 425 degrees. Using a box grater or the shredding attachment on the food processor, grate the potatoes and onion into a colander fitted inside a large bowl (or in the sink).
Step
2
Using your hands and working with a bit at a time, squeeze as much water from the potatoes and onions as humanly possible and transfer the dry potatoes to a large bowl (you can use that same bowl, just make sure it’s drained and dry). For added insurance, you can also do this with cheesecloth or a porous kitchen towel, if you like.
Step
3
Add eggs and 6 tablespoons chicken fat to the potatoes, and season with salt and plenty of pepper, mixing well. Heat another 2 tablespoons fat in a 9- or 10-inch cast-iron skillet over medium-high. (This recipe will work in a 9- or 10-inch skillet, but the kugel will be slightly taller in a 9-inch.) Delicately place the potato mixture into the skillet, taking care not to pack it in tightly. (You want to keep the kugel light and airy.)
Step
4
Cook the potatoes, rotating the skillet occasionally to promote even browning, until it’s golden brown on the edges and up the sides, 10 to 12 minutes.
Step
5
Drizzle the top of the potatoes with the remaining 2 tablespoons fat and place in the oven. Bake until the top of the kugel is deeply golden brown, the edges are wispy and crispy, and the potatoes are completely and totally tender and cooked through, 45 to 50 minutes.
Step
6
Remove from oven and top with more pepper, chives and flaky sea salt. Slice and serve warm.
Tip
- If you don’t have chicken fat and are not keeping kosher, melted butter is great substitute, otherwise, olive oil or a neutral oil like grapeseed or canola will do the trick. But given the limited ingredient list on this recipe, you really do need the rest (potatoes, onion, egg).
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Cooking Notes
New Yorker
Preheat your cast iron pan with the oil in it as the oven heats. Pour potato mixture into pan and bake. No need for stove top and you can broil the top for the last few minutes if you want it more crispy, but the hot oven usually gets it crispy enough.
LKS
For those of who for reasons of aging or disability cannot hold a cast iron pan any longer, if you heat up the oil in your Pyrex/glass baking pan in the oven and then carefully put the potato mixture in once the oil is piping hot, you will get a nice crusty bottom.
Bob Woolco*ck
I used a salad spinner to remove the liquid from the shredded potatoes/onions. Much easier.
Barbara
Would it work to cut the recipe in half? It's just me.
Jenny Wolkon
Or....put the mixture in muffin tins...crust for everyone. A little trick Bubbie taught us.
Susanne
Can this dish be prepared ahead (day before)? If so, how to reheat--in the cast iron skillet in another vessel/dish?
Kyra
Can you use duck fat instead of chicken fat?
Candace
I haven't made this yet, but I will -- it's got my name all over it. I just wanted to offer that I have a tool for getting moisture out of potatoes, zucchini, greens, and more. It's a rather clunky thing, so if your kitchen is tiny, you might not want to bother. For me, it is a lifesaver as I am in the recently much-discussed "elderly" category, and my hands just can't take the squeezing and wringing anymore. It's made by Oxo and is called an "adjustable potato ricer" -- comes with three discs.
beth
Making this for myself for Passover with enough for 2 servings. Since this is not baking, measurements don’t have to be precise when making less than a full recipe. Alison was just on a local radio show and talked about this kugel, emphasizing the prominence of the eggs in it. The recipe as written is essentially one egg per potato so I am going with 3 medium potatoes, 3 eggs, half a large onion, and 3-ish Tablespoons veg oil. My grandmother made this in a Pyrex dish (right into the oven).
Bemused
For those of us feeding only ourselves or one other person, would you cut these measurements in half to make it in a 6-7 inch cast iron skillet? Any changes on timing, etc.?
Candace
Use frozen shredded hashbrowns for the potato, great hack (great for latkes too)--no need to squeeze moisture out of the potato, they are ready to go due to the freezing process and already prepped!
Michelle Gross
Preheat your cast iron pan with the oil in it as the oven heats. Pour potato mixture into pan and bake. No need for stove top and you can broil the top for the last few minutes if you want it more crispy, but the hot oven usually gets it crispy enough.
Phoebe
Alison: using butter instead of chicken fat does not make this recipe inherently un-Kosher. It just prevents it from being eaten at a meat meal. But it’s perfectly fine on a dairy or pareve vegetarian menu.
Devon
I’ve used my large salad spinner lined with a clean dish towel to spin the excess liquid from grated potatoes, zucchini. Works well!
Phyllis Tuchman
Good Pesach, everyone. I practiced different recipes all week. Thrilled with my Potato Kugel. Changed slot I used for grating onion. Used potato ricer to get rid of fluid. Put in b a different pan so would be thicker at end. Think my grandma who once was a chef at a Catskills hotel would have enjoyed it.
AngieA
Will admit that I should have added more salt. However, even with extra salt, it’s still a bit bland and the onions would have been better chopped and sautéed first. I plan on cutting the kugel in half, like a layer cake and pan frying the undone side. Maybe serve with a side of over-easy eggs.
JPK
This was a huge flop. My potatoes got blackened from being in the air. There was no eggy taste or texture. The taste was bland.
Stuart
5 lbs I less egg
yaya
Good, but required a lot of extra time in the oven. Don’t skimp on the oil/fat - it’s needed to keep the potatoes from sticking. Made twice and used frozen hashbrowns with no difference in flavor or texture and way less effort and clean up.
K D
Great base for flavor - add your favorite seasonings to the potato mixture. I added paprika and mustard powder as well as some left over dried green godess dressing mix. It was delicious! 45 minutes was too long - I kept my layer thin and 35 minutes plus 5 min under the broiler worked for a creamy center and crispy top and bottom. I skipped the stove top as others have suggested - only keeping pans out long enough to spread the potato mixture.
Cynthia
Love this recipe! I’ve made it a few times pretty much as is, except I do the cast iron bake and then broil method instead of on the stove top. But, I will warn - it does take more than 1 hour 20 as stated. By the time you peel, grate and get the water out of the potatoes - and then cook for 1 hour, you’re looking at closer to 2 hours if not more. Still worth it!! A salad spinner does help with speeding up the water removing process!
Add 1" Depth
Increase potatoes and/or onion mixture to ensure your pan has a 2" layer to avoid drying out. You can also add dill/chives/paprika/parsley directly to mixture - sour cream is a must.
Brad
This was a dud for me.I must not have gotten enough water out and the food processor shredded too fine.Mush inside, crispy on top.
Mel
I think salt and pepper should be species in recipe.usually sat and pepper as desired ad lib for end of recipe. I think it would be a shame to make this complicated recipe ruined by oversalting
Cook from Nj
Followed the recipe exactly. It was perfect. Light and crispy on the outside and creamy on the inside. Wouldn’t change a thing.
Richard Newman
A major kugel upgrade for me! Made a dairy Seder and used half melted butter and half canola oil. Served with sour cream and chives and we were somewhere between kugel and rosti. Thanks!
Emilie
Any suggestions for the amount of salt? I made this last night and it was delicious, but a bit undersalted. I also used closer to 3lbs of potatoes than 4
Neil
Just burnt the bottom of the kugel on the stovetop. I recommend skipping that step and do as others suggested by preheating the oil and pan in the oven and go straight to baking.
Ann
If using frozen shredded hash brown potatoes, how much is the equivalent in the recipe?
Amy
Nice recipe. Shredded potatoes/onion in food processor. Agree with increasing amount of onion. Cut eggs to 5, using flax seed mixed with 3 tbsp water to replace the 6th egg. Baked as suggested in notes in 9 x 13 pyrex. Used 1 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp pepper - was not salty, as I prefer. Could make in smaller dish and kugel would be taller. Suggest NYT offer alternatives to cast iron pan in oven as it is too heavy for some readers to remove especially from a free standing oven.
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