Noodle Kugel
Noodle kugel is the sweet, custardy, comforting casserole that turns up at every Jewish brunch, holiday table, and break-fast worth attending. If you have never had it, picture a noodle pudding: egg noodles baked into a soft custard, usually a little sweet, often with a crunchy topping.
As a kid, you could make me very happy with bagels, lox, the Sunday paper, and a square of kugel. These days my brunches lean more toward mimosas, but the kugel still steals the show. This is the recipe I come back to: creamy, never dry, with a cornflake-cinnamon topping that goes shatteringly crisp in the oven. I offer you three versions below- custard style, a more noodle-forward style and a healthier version too.
What is kugel?
Kugel is a baked casserole, or pudding, from Ashkenazi Jewish cooking. The word is Yiddish, and the dish has been on Jewish tables for hundreds of years. It can be sweet or savory and is made with noodles, potatoes, or vegetables. You will see it at Shabbat dinners, holidays, break-fasts, and brunches. More than almost any other dish, kugel is comfort food, and most Jewish families have strong, inherited opinions about exactly how it should be made.
The two most common kinds are potato kugel, which is savory, and noodle kugel, which is usually sweet. If someone just says “kugel” at a Jewish event, it could be either, so it is always fair to ask.
What is noodle kugel?
Noodle kugel is kugel made with egg noodles. It is bound together with a custard of eggs and dairy, baked until set, and most often served sweet, somewhere between a side dish and a dessert.
A sweet noodle kugel usually has sugar, vanilla, and a soft, creamy texture from sour cream, cottage cheese, or cream cheese. Some have raisins or a crunchy topping, some are plain and custardy. Either way, it is equally at home at brunch and on the holiday table. It is also the kind of dish people are weirdly passionate about, because everyone’s grandmother made it slightly differently, and everyone is sure their grandmother’s was the best.
Sweet noodle kugel vs savory noodle kugel
Most noodle kugel is sweet, but savory versions exist and they are very good.
Sweet noodle kugel leans dessert-adjacent: sugar, vanilla, dairy, and sometimes cinnamon, raisins, or fruit. It is served at brunch, at break-fast after Yom Kippur, and alongside the main meal at holidays.
Savory noodle kugel skips the sugar and goes the other way with onion, black pepper, and sometimes schmaltz. It eats more like a true side dish next to brisket or roast chicken. This recipe is a sweet noodle kugel. If you want to go savory, my vegetable kugel with caramelized leeks is a good place to start.
The history of noodle kugel
Kugel started out savory. The name comes from a German word for something round, a nod to the rounded pots the dish was first cooked in. The earliest kugels, going back something like 800 years, were bread or flour puddings tucked right into the pot with the Shabbat cholent and cooked low and slow overnight. Over time the dish moved out of the stew pot and into a baking dish of its own.
Noodle kugel came later, once egg noodles were common, and the sweet, dairy version became a favorite among Ashkenazi Jews in Eastern Europe. Jewish immigrants carried it to America, where it settled onto deli menus and holiday tables and never left. The cornflake topping is a more modern, very American addition, and I am fully in favor of it.
Ingredients for the best noodle kugel
Here is what goes into a classic sweet noodle kugel. Exact amounts are in the recipe cards below.
- Egg noodles. Wide egg noodles are traditional and hold the custard well.
- Eggs. They set the custard so the kugel slices cleanly.
- Dairy. A mix of milk, sour cream or yogurt, and cottage cheese gives the creamiest result. Cream cheese works too.
- Sugar and vanilla, for a sweet kugel.
- Butter. Some for richness, more if you are feeling festive.
- Salt. Even a sweet kugel needs it.
- Cornflakes, cinnamon, and sugar, for that crunchy topping.
Nothing fancy and nothing hard to find. Kugel is humble that way, which is a good part of its charm.
How to make noodle kugel
Here is the whole process. The full recipe with measurements is in the cards below, and there is a video to follow along with.
Step 1: Cook the noodles
Boil the egg noodles in well-salted water until just al dente. They will keep cooking in the oven, so do not take them all the way. Drain them well, return them to the pot, and toss with a little butter so they do not clump while you make the custard.
Step 2: Make the custard
Whisk together the eggs, milk, sugar, vanilla, and salt. A hand mixer instead of a whisk gives you a frothier base and a fluffier kugel. Then stir in the sour cream and cottage cheese. If visible curds are not your thing, blend the cottage cheese smooth first; if they do not bother you, leave it as is.
Step 3: Combine and bake
Fold the noodles into the custard until every noodle is coated, then pour it into a well-greased baking dish. A glass dish bakes more evenly than metal and gives you nicer golden edges. Press the noodles down gently so they settle into the custard rather than poking out the top and drying out.
Step 4: Add the topping
Crush the cornflakes and toss them with cinnamon, sugar, and melted butter. Scatter the topping evenly over the kugel and bake until the topping is golden and the center is set rather than jiggly, about an hour. If the top browns too quickly, tent it loosely with foil.
Tips for the best noodle kugel
- Do not overcook the noodles. Al dente in the pot means tender, not mushy, after baking.
- Use a hand mixer on the custard for a lighter, fluffier kugel.
- Bake in glass. It heats evenly and gives you those nice golden edges.
- Let it rest 10 to 15 minutes before slicing so it sets up and cuts cleanly.
- For a richer kugel, lean into the butter and full-fat dairy. For a lighter one, use yogurt in place of sour cream.
- Grease the baking dish well. Kugel loves to stick, especially around the caramelized edges.
- Soak any raisins or dried fruit in warm water first so they plump up instead of staying chewy.
- Doubling it for a crowd? Use a bigger, deeper dish and add 15 to 20 minutes to the bake time.
Noodle kugel variations
Kugel is endlessly adaptable. A few directions to take it:
- Raisin: the classic add-in. Soak them first so they plump up.
- Apple: grated or diced apple makes it cozy. My caramel apple kugel takes that idea further.
- Cherry or pineapple: canned fruit folded in is an old-school move.
- Candied pecans: for crunch and a little fancy. See my noodle kugel with candied pecans.
- Chocolate: chips or chunks, because why not.
- Dairy-free: use a non-dairy milk and sour cream and skip the cottage cheese. That also keeps it pareve.
- Gluten-free: use gluten-free egg-style noodles.
For even more, here is my roundup of 15 must-have kugel recipes.
Lokshen kugel
You will also see noodle kugel called lokshen kugel, pronounced roughly LUK-shen. Lokshen is the Yiddish word for noodles, so lokshen kugel just means noodle kugel. If your bubbe called it lokshen kugel, she was not making anything different, just using the older, more traditional name. You may see it spelled lokshen, lukshen, or a few other ways, since Yiddish transliteration is famously a free-for-all.
Noodle kugel for Passover
Regular noodle kugel is not Passover-friendly, because egg noodles are chametz. The classic workaround is matzo kugel, where pieces of matzo stand in for the noodles. Break the matzo into pieces, soak them briefly in warm water or milk until pliable but not mushy, then fold them into the same kind of custard and bake. You get the same custardy, sweet, baked-casserole result with a Passover-safe base. If you are building a Passover menu, it slots right in next to matzah pizza and the rest of my Passover recipes.
How to store and reheat noodle kugel
- Fridge: cover and refrigerate for up to 4 to 5 days.
- Freezer: kugel freezes well for up to 2 months. Cool it completely, wrap it tightly, and thaw in the fridge before reheating.
- Reheat: warm it in a 350°F oven until heated through. Keep it covered so it does not dry out, then uncover at the end to re-crisp the topping.
And yes, kugel is also very good cold, straight from the fridge. I will not tell anyone.
Noodle kugel FAQ
Is noodle kugel served hot or cold?
Both. It is usually served warm or at room temperature, but plenty of people, myself included, happily eat it cold from the fridge.
Can you make noodle kugel ahead of time?
Yes, and it is better for it. Bake it a day ahead and reheat, or assemble it unbaked, refrigerate overnight, and bake the next day.
Can you freeze noodle kugel?
Yes. Baked kugel freezes well for up to 2 months. Cool it completely, wrap it tightly, and thaw in the fridge before reheating.
Why is my noodle kugel watery?
Usually too much liquid, not enough egg, or it was underbaked. Mix the custard well, drain the noodles thoroughly, and bake until the center is set rather than jiggly. Letting it rest before slicing helps too.
Is noodle kugel sweet or savory?
This one is sweet, which is the most common style for noodle kugel. Savory noodle kugels exist and skip the sugar in favor of onion and pepper.
How do you keep kugel from drying out?
Do not overbake it, and do not skimp on the dairy and butter. When reheating, keep it covered so it stays moist, and uncover only at the end to crisp the top.
What noodles are best for noodle kugel?
Wide egg noodles are the classic choice and the easiest to work with. Medium egg noodles work too. The wide ones give you that traditional ribbony texture and hold the custard nicely.
Is noodle kugel dairy or pareve?
This version is dairy, since it uses milk, sour cream, and cottage cheese, so it belongs at a dairy meal. To make it pareve and serve it after a meat meal, swap in non-dairy milk and sour cream and leave out the cottage cheese.
Two versions are below: a classic noodle kugel and a more custardy one. Make one, bring it to brunch, and watch everyone kvell.
Noodle Kugel – Custard Style
Ingredients
- For kugel:
- 1/2 pound 8 ounces noodles
- 1/4 pound butter 1 stick, plus more for buttering pan
- 1/2 pound cream cheese softened
- 1 pound cottage cheese
- 1 pint sour cream (16 oz)
- 5 extra large eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1/2 cup sugar depends on how sweet you like it
- For topping:
- 2 cups crushed Special K or other flakes
- 2 tablespoons or whatever you like! brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons melted butter
Instructions
- Preheat to 350 degrees F.
- Butter a 9x13x2 inch glass or ceramic dish and set aside.
- Cook noodles according to directions until al dente.
- Drain well, then return to the pot. Add the butter immediately to melt. In a separate bowl, mix together the other kugel ingredients with a hand beater. Add to the noodles, and pour into the 9×13 dish.
- To make the topping, toss together ingredients and sprinkle evenly over noodles.
- Bake for 45 minutes. Let stand at least 5-10 minutes before serving. Serve warm or at room temperature.
Noodle Kugel – Noodle Style
Ingredients
- Noodle ingredients:
- 1 pound wide egg noodles
- 1/2 cup butter healthy version, 1/6 cup
- 1 cup whole milk healthy version, low fat
- 4 large eggs yolks are healthy! And give texture to your kugel.
- 3/4 cup sugar healthy version, 1/2 cup
- 2 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1- pound container sour cream healthy version, Greek yogurt
- 1- pound container cottage cheese healthy version, low fat
- Topping ingredients:
- 3 cups crushed cornflakes
- 3 tablespoons sugar
- 1 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 3 tablespoons soft butter cut into bits (this topping is so tasty, I shunned all healthy versions)
Instructions
- Preheat to 350 degrees F.
- Butter a 9x13x2 inch glass or ceramic dish and set aside.
- Cook noodles according to directions until al dente.
- Drain well, then return to the pot and add amount of butter of your choosing, totally coating the noodles.
- Mix together milk, eggs, sugar, vanilla, and salt.
- Then stir in sour cream or Greek yogurt.
- Lastly, mix in cottage cheese.
- Combine your noodles with the mixture, and transfer into the dish.
- To make the topping, toss together cornflakes, sugar, cinnamon and butter and sprinkle evenly over noodles.
- Bake kugel for 1 hour until golden brown. Let stand at least 5-10 minutes before serving. Serve warm or at room temperature.
More Jewish comfort food
Kugel is the gateway to a whole genre of Jewish comfort food. If this is your kind of cooking, here are a few more to bring to the table.
39 Comments
YUM!!! Should I be concerned about my arteries, though?? Oh, never mind, nosh away!
If you are worried about your arteries, try my healthy version. If not, butter is better!
[…] for you brownie edge fans, this all edges brownie pan is a must! This Wednesday I am cooking up my noodle kugel- both a healthy and less healthy version. Make sure to follow me on Google+ in order to […]
Do you cover the kugel while baking? Crazy how most of us are still looking for the perfect kugel recipe, when in fact our mother’s or bubbie’s was the best!! Cannot wait to try this one and tell my cousin Adele that she has met her match!!
Nope I cook it uncovered. Let me know how you like it!
Thank you and will let you know how it turns out. Not sure when the next kugel will be made. “Keep the kugel koming”
I made this for my family’s passover seder last night, and everyone loved it! I even asked my mom if she would change anything about it, and she said “no, its perfect”! mom-approved! thanks for the recipe!
Awesome!! Glad you liked it.
[…] for you brownie edge fans, this all edges brownie pan is a must! This Wednesday I am cooking up my noodle kugel- both a healthy and less healthy version. Make sure to follow me on Google+ in order to […]
[…] Twitter for recipe updates and Google+ for interactive cooking videos. I’ll be whipping up a kugel LIVE on my profile at 6pm CT today! Here are a few of my favorite recipes to show you what WJWE is […]
I think the tool you are using to crush cornflakes is a rubber brayer. Used in stamping and block printing, available in most craft stores. Just thought I’d share for those who haven’t figured out where to find your awesome cornflake crusher.
HAHA good to know! It was advertised as a pastry roller but that makes more sense!
[…] Bubbe’s Noodle Kugel […]
[…] I frowned on most of my Bubbe’s Eastern European dishes—her matzo ball soup, or her famous sweet lukshen kugel. […]
My favorite kugel recipe!! Always comes out perfectly and have made everybody who’s had it absolutely love it. Thank you! 🙂
Aw that makes my day! Can’t wait to tell Bubbe.
Thank you! This is the same recipe my mom made us!
[…] kugel. Fun to say and eat, right? I’ve made traditional noodle kugel tons of times for y’all, but I haven’t shared the spicy kugel cousin known as Jerusalem […]
Could I use a metal disposable pan? I want to take it to work for a Potluck. And I don’t have a class or ceramic dish at the moment I’ve made this kugel before and everyone loves it.
Hi Rachel- sure, that would work. Thanks!
I use crushed Frosted Flakes with melted butter & brown sugar. My family & all others love the topping.
Great idea!
If I wanted to make this for Break the Fast a few days from now, are there any adjustments you’d recommend? Can I bake it as stated then keep in the fridge for a few days before reheating? Or leave the topping off til I reheat?
I would bake as is and reheat covered, but uncover the last few minutes so the top will crisp up a little. Enjoy!
Can I make this tonight, refrigerate it overnight, and then bake it in the morning? Or better to bake it tonight and then reheat it tomorrow morning?
I would do the first option if you want it warm with a crunchy top! It’s best right out of the oven. But cold you can do either way.
[…] is what I grew up with. Those are the recipes I made with my Bubbe and know so well. I could make kugel in my sleep. It would get a little messy, but I could do […]
Can I leave out the cottage cheese?
It will be dry but you could try adding more of another wet ingredient instead.
Kugel is a “PARVE” food item that is generally eaten on Friday night and Shabbat day. A Friday night Shabbat main meal and also a Shabbat day meal in the majority of homes throughout the world is a meat meal, your “Dairy” kugel wouldn’t exactly fit in. It would be great for those that are not meat eaters and have dairy meals on Shabbat, holidays and especially on Shavuot.
Hi Alan- not sure where you got the idea that noodle kugel is only parve. While parve kugels exist, and I have parve potato and vegetable ones on my blog, this type of noodle kugel is extremely common and popular. It’s one of the top recipes on my blog.
When the word kugel first appeared in Webster’s Dictionary in the early twentieth century, it was defined as “a suet pudding,” a characterization derived from similarities between kugel and British steamed puddings. Later, the Merriam-Webster Dictionary updated the definition to “a baked pudding.” Baking, however, was actually a late step in the kugel’s evolution. For the kugel’s (kuglen plural) origin lay not in a casserole, but rather as bread dumplings in a stew pot.
By the 12th century, the concept of dumplings spread from China along the Silk Road to Italy then Germany, around the same time that cholent reached Germany from Spain by way of France. Within a century or so, German cooks began dropping a bread batter containing a little egg as a binder into the center of the Shabbat stew, the dumpling developing a rich flavor and texture as it simmered overnight and, after morning services, served warm alongside the stew for lunch.
Then emulating an emerging German practice of steaming puddings in a clay pot instead of in a stew or in intestines, Jewish housewives began cooking the dumpling in a kugeltopf –kugel was the Middle High German for “ball” and topf meant “jar/pot”– a commonplace small rounded Teutonic earthenware jar. The kugeltopf was placed in the top of the stew, the steamy environment keeping the batter moist and preventing burning. This not only transformed the batter into a pudding with the potential for greater versatility, but also gave rise to a new name. In order to differentiate the pudding from the stew, people began calling it variously weckschalet (weck was German for “bread roll”), semmelkugel (semmel/zemmel was another Teutonic bread roll), and schaletkugel, a reference to the resulting round shape. In western Europe, these puddings are still called schalet, while in eastern Europe, kugel became the generic term for all these puddings. Whether pronounced kugel (by Poles and Lithuanians), koogle (by Germans), or keegal (by Galitzianers), this dish ranks high in the pantheon of Jewish foods.
As the kugel came out of the Shabbat cholent, the rudimentary bread dumplings gradually evolved into an array of dishes. Onions, ubiquitous in Ashkenazic cookery, were sautéed and added for extra flavor. Gribenes, cracklings made while rendering schmaltz, provided another possible flavor element. The popularization of sugar in 17th century Europe led to sweet puddings. The common denominators of all true kugels are a starch base, eggs (or egg substitute), and fat, without the addition of water or other liquids. If the dish lacks any of the basic ingredients, it is technically a casserole or cake, not a kugel.
Kugel achieved new gastronomic heights when cooks substituted farfel and noodles and, on Passover, matza for the bread batter. The Frankfort rabbi, Joseph Yuspa Hahn (1570-1637) in Yosif Ometz, a collection of local customs, mentioned three types of schalets: weck, vermicelles(Western Yiddish for “noodles”), and matza. Hanh also instructs, “Do not forget to taste your schalet on Friday (before the onset of the Shabbat) to test whether it be properly cooked!” By the sixteenth century, rice kugels, typically reserved for special occasions, emerged in parts of eastern Europe, influenced by the Ottoman advances into Europe and their introduction of numerous Middle Eastern foods. Potatoes, after their popularization in the mid-19th century, provided an inexpensive and filling kugel, subsequently becoming the predominant type in the impoverished shtetls of eastern Europe. Whence the popular Yiddish folk song, “Sunday potatoes, Monday potatoes, Tuesday and Wednesday potatoes, Thursday and Friday potatoes, but Shabbat, for a change, a potato kugel.”
Beginning in the late 1700s, groups of Chasidim and students of the Vilna Gaon began moving to Israel, bringing with them the traditions of eastern Europe, including clothing and foods. In Jerusalem, they developed a distinctive noodle kugel, a hybrid of traditional salt-and-pepper noodle kugel and sweet noodle kugel, featuring a tantalizing contrast of ground black pepper and caramelized sugar, Yerushalmi kugel.
During the Middle Ages, only some wealthy families owned a home oven. Most foods were cooked on the hearth over an open fire, while baked foods had to be lugged to the town bakery or to the occasional private home oven, typically using the facilities for a fee. In addition, temperatures were difficult to regulate in those wood-burning brick or clay ovens and baked goods had to be carefully watched during the entire baking time. On the other hand, the temperature of stews or water in a pot could be reliably controlled. Consequently, for most of history, cooking was usually performed directly over a fire (roasting, braising, boiling, steaming, and poaching) and kugels were commonly steamed. In this vein, the first Jewish cookbook in English, The Jewish Manuel by Judith Montefiore(London, 1846), which contains the first record of the word kugel in English, offered a recipe for “Kugel and Commean,” (hamin) entailing a sweetened and spiced bread mixture in a covered “quart basin” steamed in a meat-and-bean stew. Similarly, Esther Levy, of German roots, in the first American Jewish Cookbook, Jewish Cookery (Philadelphia, 1871), included a recipe for “Coogle, Or Pudding, and Peas and Beans,” consisting of a sweetened noodle mixture steamed in a covered basin set in a soupy cholent.
Technology played an essential role in creating the kugel’s predominant modern form, particularly in America. With the popularization of the home oven in the mid-19th century, kugels suddenly shifted from the stew pot to baking it in a separate shallow container. The kugel, as we now know it, a baked casserole pudding, had arrived. Baking the kugel in an oven had another consequence, changing it from being primarily a Shabbat lunch dish and accompaniment to the cholent to one also served as a side dish for Friday night dinner and even during the weekday. [Sorry, but no dairy kugels at the origin of the kugel as that was a later culinary discovery]
Wow I am not sure what point you are trying to make by copying and pasting Wikipedia spam onto my blog. I never said dairy kugel was the first or only kugel. Of course recipes similar to mine did not exist before cream cheese was invented in the late 1800’s! Like I said, I have parve kugel recipes on my blog too. What is your point?
I make this recipe every rosh hashana, but we always
have left overs! Can we freeze this and what is the best way to do it?
Thank you
Kugel isn’t the best frozen as it can get mushy, but you can try wrapped well in foil.
no raisins?
Not for me but you can add it!
Would you double the recipe to make it in a large aluminum disposable pan? I need kugel for a crowd!
Sure you could do that!