I love holidays. Hanukkah, Christmas, Arbor Day- it doesn’t take much for me to revel in merriment, with a coordinating themed cupcake in hand. Even more so, I love celebrating with others. In college, I had the rather brilliant idea to have an annual Ghetto Seder to share the tradition of Passover with friends of all religions, complete with Seder plate, Ghetto Haggadah (I embellished the story just a bit for dramatic appeal, and added a few mostly appropriate jokes), and a keg. Just like Bubbe! (I never said it was a traditional Seder). Then we all took turns reading the story of Passover, polishing off a case of Manischewitz and eating a big meal prepared by yours truly. It was all Kosher, minus the keg and Easter candy (hey I wanted my friends to actually like the meal). Mazel! One component that especially wooed the gentiles was potato kugel, which is essentially a potato casserole. I decided to recreate this classic recipe with sweet potatoes, to make it a bit healthier. Plus, more room for Easter candy that way!
First, dice your onion and saute in olive oil until brown. While your onions are cooking, peel and chop up sweet potatoes into perfect 1-inch cubes, or irregular 3D triangles like I tend to do. After your onions have cooled, put them and the sweet potatoes into a blender in batches and puree. Alternatively, shred your potatoes using a hand grater or food processor for a different texture. After blending, put sweet potato/onion mixture into a bowl and squeeze out extra moisture, just like we did with our latkes. Then, add in eggs, scallions, matzah meal, salt, pepper and butter.
Mix that sucker up, and you are almost done! Butter your glass or ceramic pan and pour your batter right in.
Bake your kugel for an hour until the top is crispy. Voila!
- 3.5 lbs sweet potatoes (I used 4 large sweet potatoes)
- 2 large onions, diced
- 1 Tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- ½ cup scallions, minced
- 5 eggs
- ½ cup matzah meal (or flour if not during Passover)
- ¼ cup butter, melted and cooled (or margarine if serving with a meat meal and keeping kosher)
- 2 teaspoons salt
- ½ teaspoon pepper
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
- Saute diced onions in 1 tablespoon olive oil until brown.
- Dice sweet potatoes into 1-inch cubes and mix onions and sweet potatoes in a blender until shredded or shred with a hand grater or food processor.
- Squeeze out excess water from onions and sweet potatoes and transfer to a bowl.
- In a separate bowl, mix together eggs, matzah meal, scallions, salt, pepper and butter. Add in potato mixture and combine until well mixed.
- Butter a 12x9x2 inch glass baking dish. Pour mixture into the dish and bake for one hour until cooked through and brown on top.
Bubbe says
April 3, 2011 at 8:36 PMOne potato, two potato, three potato, four
All I can say is we want MORE!!!
Your ever luvin Bobie!
Amy says
April 3, 2011 at 9:31 PMAw, Bubs, I have lots of Jew goodies in STORE!
Melissa says
April 10, 2011 at 10:39 PMI am making this when I am home! YUM!!!
Amy says
April 11, 2011 at 10:34 AMIt is even better 2nd day- Mazel!
Brad says
March 23, 2013 at 9:40 AMI am going to make thus fit Seder on Monday. You say it is better the 2nd day. Do I need to do anything to ensure this? Do I simply reheat it? It won’t be touched after it is cooked until Monday. It will sit for 2-3 days in the fridge! Thanks -Brad
Amy Kritzer says
March 23, 2013 at 10:11 AMHey Brad! Yes you can just reheat it in the oven. It’s just one of those things like chili or brisket that is even better the next day. Enjoy!
Alyssa says
April 21, 2016 at 9:08 AMIs it better to let it sit after its cooked, or to let the mixture sit in the fridge and then cook it the next day when I need it?
For example with traditional noodle kugel I’ll mix it all up the night before and just pop it in the oven the next night when I need it
Amy Kritzer says
April 21, 2016 at 1:18 PMI would cook it when you make it as the potatoes can brown, and then reheat!
Hillary says
October 24, 2011 at 5:47 PMI need to make this NOW.
Amy says
October 25, 2011 at 10:29 PMIt’s tasty and healthy! Just like chocolate. Or cheese. Mmm I like cheese.
Alissa says
April 3, 2012 at 11:34 AMLooks great! I didn’t know it was Passover, just looked great! I will try this out.
Amy says
April 3, 2012 at 2:54 PMThanks, Alissa!
Prag says
December 5, 2012 at 11:43 AMYou really have a recipe for everything, just found this one with a google search!
thanks.
Amy Kritzer says
December 5, 2012 at 11:44 AMI try! 🙂
rachel says
March 5, 2014 at 1:16 AMhey, just wondering if this is freezable? I’m looking for recipes that can be prepared beforehand and frozen so that I am not in a cooking frenzy up to the seder…
Amy Kritzer says
March 5, 2014 at 9:01 AMHi Rachel,
It sure is! Cut into pieces and wrap tightly in foil and place that in a plastic bag. Reheat in the oven.
rachel says
March 5, 2014 at 11:28 AMthanks!
lynn says
March 28, 2014 at 5:01 AMsweet potatoes get peeled, right?
Amy Kritzer says
March 28, 2014 at 7:18 AMYup!
KareninSaintLouis says
April 16, 2014 at 6:27 PMMade this for our extended family Seder last night. It was a HUGE hit. Thanks for a fabulous recipe.
Amy Kritzer says
April 16, 2014 at 10:54 PMGreat to hear!!
Laurie Sporn says
April 20, 2016 at 9:56 PMI am confused…do you shred or blend the potatoes? Are they ray when you do this? Please help!
Amy Kritzer says
April 21, 2016 at 12:45 AMYes, raw potatoes. You can hand shred with a grater, or use a food processor to shred and then remove as much water as you can before adding the other ingredients.
Shoshie says
October 20, 2016 at 2:43 PMWill this recipe work well if i grind the sweet pot with a hand mixer? I prefer that smooth texture. Love your blog!
Amy Kritzer says
October 20, 2016 at 2:53 PMThank you! I don’t see why it wouldn’t work. Potato Potahto! (Get it?)
Shoshie says
October 21, 2016 at 12:31 PMHa, ha! Got it! Thanks!
Prag says
November 24, 2016 at 1:25 PMyour book is amazing, I wrote a recommendation on amazon.uk
Amy Kritzer says
November 25, 2016 at 9:21 AMAw thanks so much! I appreciate that!