If you think “Jewish bread” starts and ends with challah, you’ve clearly never been to a Bubbe’s house on a Sunday morning.
Yes, challah is the MVP. Braided, golden, eggy, essential for Shabbat. But Jewish bread spans centuries and continents. There’s the chewy NY bagel and its flat, onion-stuffed cousin the bialy (my personal favorite). There’s sour rye that New York delis made famous. And babka, which is barely bread and mostly an excuse to eat chocolate for breakfast.
I’ve been making challah from scratch for over a decade and I’ve gone deep on Jewish bread in that time: scallion pancake challah, everything bagel challah, latkes-stuffed challah (yes, it’s exactly what it sounds like). This roundup covers the whole spectrum, from Shabbat staples to weekday bagel situations. Bake everything or bookmark one.
Shabbat & holiday breads
Challah
The classic. Six-strand braided, egg-washed to a deep golden, and basically IS Shabbat. This is the base recipe you’ll come back to every Friday and the jumping-off point for every variation below. If you’re new to challah, start here.
How to braid a six-strand challah
Once you nail the six-strand braid, three-strand feels almost boring. More impressive at the table, not that much harder to execute, and it bakes up beautifully puffed. This is the tutorial for the braid you’ll use every week.
Rainbow challah bread
The six-strand braid, make it rainbow. Beautifully colored, genuinely fun to make, and the kind of thing that gets people talking at Friday night dinner. Great for kids, pride month, and adults who want something beautiful on the table. Get the recipe.
Everything bagel challah
When two iconic Jewish breads have a baby. Sesame seeds, poppy seeds, dried garlic, dried onion, all on top of a braided loaf. The braid is challah. The vibe is everything bagel. Get the recipe.
Cinnamon roll challah
Challah dough with cinnamon roll filling swirled in. Technically a morning bread. Gone by 10am. Get the recipe.
Spinach and cheese challah
Savory challah stuffed with spinach and cheese. Perfect for a dairy Shabbat, Rosh Hashanah (being round and having spinach, a symbolic ingredient) a brunch, or honestly just a Tuesday when you want bread that also functions as dinner. Get the recipe.
Matcha challah
Challah dough tinted green with matcha powder, braided into something that looks as good as it tastes. The matcha flavor is subtle — earthy and slightly bitter against the sweet enriched dough — and the color is genuinely stunning on the Shabbat table. Don’t forget the sprinkles! Get the recipe.
Cheesy garlic bread challah
Challah stuffed with garlic butter and melted cheese, braided so the filling is swirled through every slice. It’s garlic bread and challah at the same time, which is exactly as good as it sounds. Great for a dairy Shabbat dinner or whenever you want bread that upstages the main course. Get the recipe.
Latkes-stuffed challah
The Hanukkah collab nobody asked for but everyone needs: challah dough wrapped around actual potato latkes. Festive, impractical, and it will absolutely become a tradition. Get the recipe.
Scallion pancake challah
Challah dough rolled with scallions and sesame oil, with all the pull-apart quality of a Chinese scallion pancake. By Molly Yeh! One of my all-time favorites to bring to a Shabbat dinner where you want people to ask questions. Get the recipe.
Challah rolls
When you want everyone to have their own fresh braided loaf instead of slices from a shared one. Challah rolls use the same dough, scaled to single servings — the braid still holds, and they bake up faster than a full loaf. Practical for big Shabbat dinners and they disappear immediately. Get the recipe from Food52.
Kubaneh
The Yemenite Shabbat bread you need to know about. Kubaneh is a pull-apart, buttery bread traditionally started Friday evening and slow-baked overnight in a covered tin, then served Saturday morning with grated tomato and z’hug. It’s been described as a three-way between brioche, monkey bread, and a crescent roll, which is accurate. Brought to Israel by Yemenite Jewish communities and now a Shabbat morning classic. Uri Scheft’s recipe on Food52 is the one to make.
Everyday Jewish breads — bagels, bialys & rye
Homemade bialy recipe
A bialy is what a bagel looks like when it skips the boiling step. Instead of a hole, there’s a depression filled with caramelized onions and poppy seeds. It’s chewier than you’d expect, flatter than a bagel, and the onion-poppy filling beats a plain hole every time. A New York Jewish deli staple and honestly easier to make at home than a bagel. Get the recipe.
Lox and schmear stuffed everything bagels
You stuff the lox and cream cheese inside the bagel before baking. The result delivers the full lox-and-schmear experience in every single bite. Get the recipe.
Rainbow bagels
The bagels that launched a thousand brunch photos. Still delicious, still photogenic, still a little magical to pull out of the oven. If you’re making bagels on a Sunday anyway, go rainbow. Get the recipe.
20 homemade bagel recipes (and schmear!)
Flavored, stuffed, sesame-everything, holiday-themed, with schmears to match. Everything I’ve figured out about bagels, in one place. See all the bagel recipes.
Homemade rye bread
Deli-style rye, made from scratch. Caraway seeds, a slightly sour crumb, enough density to hold up to corned beef without flinching. The bread your pastrami has been waiting for. Get the recipe.
Marble rye
The bread that exists to make a perfect Reuben. Light rye and dark dough twisted together before baking — the swirl is decorative but also signals you’re getting the full deli experience in every slice. If you’ve made the plain rye and want to take it further, this is the next step. King Arthur’s marble rye recipe.
Pumpernickel
Darker, denser, and earthier than regular rye. Molasses and dark rye flour give it the deep color and the flavor that holds up to smoked fish, strong cheese, or just a thick layer of butter. The other essential Eastern European Jewish deli bread. King Arthur’s classic pumpernickel.
Pletzel (onion board)
A Jewish flatbread from the Ashkenazi deli tradition — thin, topped with caramelized onions and poppy seeds, somewhere between focaccia and a cracker. Easier to make than any loaf bread and genuinely great with smoked fish or just on its own. Lesser-known than bagels or challah but equally worthy of a spot on the Shabbat table. Everything pletzel on Food52.
Pita
This Middle Eastern staple is so embedded in Israeli Jewish cooking that it belongs here. Hot from the oven it puffs into a real pocket — nothing like store-bought. Once you’ve made pita at home, the bag in the freezer doesn’t cut it anymore. Get the recipe.
Sweet breads & babka
Jewish sweet breads live in the gray zone between dessert and breakfast. That is the correct place for them.
Babkallah
Challah and babka collided in my kitchen and I’ve never recovered. Braided on the outside, chocolate-swirled on the inside. Once you make it, plain challah feels like it’s holding back. Get the recipe.
Birthday cake babka
Babka stuffed with funfetti birthday cake filling and cream cheese. For the person who wants their birthday bread and eats it too. (That person is me. I’m that person.) Get the recipe.
20 babka recipes
Chocolate, cinnamon, halva, pumpkin, carrot cake, and more. If it can go inside a swirled enriched loaf, it’s in this roundup. See all 20 babka recipes.
FAQ
Can you make challah without eggs?
Yes. Aquafaba — the liquid from a can of chickpeas — works surprisingly well as a substitute. Use 3 tablespoons per egg. The texture is slightly less rich but still really good. Use plant-based milk for the egg wash too. You can also make water challah!
Is challah vegan?
Traditional challah has eggs and sometimes honey, so no. But it’s easy to veganize: aquafaba for the eggs, maple syrup instead of honey, oat milk for the wash.
Can you freeze challah?
Yes, and it freezes really well. Slice it first, wrap tightly in plastic wrap then foil, freeze up to 3 months. Toast directly from frozen and it comes out great.
What’s the difference between a bagel and a bialy?
A bagel is boiled then baked, which gives it that glossy chewy exterior. A bialy skips the boiling entirely and gets a filling pressed into the center instead of a hole. Different texture, different flavor, both essential.
Can I make challah ahead for Shabbat?
Yes. Make the dough Thursday night, do an overnight slow cold rise in the fridge, and bake the next day. Or bake Thursday, cool completely, wrap tightly — it stays fresh through Friday dinner. You can also freeze a fully baked challah for up to a month. Thaw at room temp, warm briefly in the oven.
