58 Hanukkah Recipes to Fill Your Holiday Table
Gather your family and friends and celebrate the Festival of Lights with recipes for latkes, brisket, rugelach and more.
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Our Favorite Hanukkah Dishes
There’s no better time than the holidays to gather your nearest and dearest for a special meal. Whether you prefer a traditional dinner or one filled with creative takes on the classics, you’ll find all of the recipes you need for your Hanukkah celebration right here. We’ve got golden-brown latkes, kugel, plenty of Hanukkah desserts and, of course, brisket. The main dish that’s sure to please, this tender brisket is beefy and delicious, with a bounty of flavorful root vegetables to serve alongside. The veggies are braised in red wine and brisket juices, making them the perfect addition to any celebratory meal.
Get the Recipe: Braised Brisket with Root Vegetables
Spinach and Feta Noodle Kugel
This spanakopita-inspired version of noodle kugel is loaded with spinach, onions, herbs and feta. If you're looking for a new take on a classic holiday dish or a simple vegetarian side, here's your answer.
Get the Recipe: Spinach and Feta Noodle Kugel
Spiced Apple-Pear Sauce
Get the Recipe: Spiced Apple-Pear Sauce
Potato Latkes
It isn't a Hanukkah celebration unless there are hot latkes on the table. This year, try pan-frying the shredded potatoes in clarified butter — it's the key to light, perfectly crisp texture.
Get the Recipe: Potato Latkes
Honey Balls
These orange-scented fried dough balls are a fun and delicious way to celebrate Hannukah, plus the warm honey sauce they’re doused in makes them a lovely and fitting dessert for Rosh Hashanah.
Get the Recipe: Honey Balls
Matzo Ball Soup
Get the Recipe: Matzo Ball Soup
Chicken Soup Knishes with Creamy Gravy
The best thing about my Nana Celie's chicken soup (other than how comforting her house smelled when she had a pot simmering on the stove) was how tender the chicken meat was no matter how long she cooked it. I later learned that her secret was to use only dark meat, which was rendered so silky it practically slipped of the bone in one piece. In this twist on a classic knish, I use only chicken thighs and turn the soup into an uber-chicken-y gravy for dunking. While you can replace the schmaltz with any neutral cooking oil, I strongly recommend sticking with dark meat chicken since white meat will cook up mealy and dry.
Get the Recipe: Chicken Soup Knishes with Creamy Gravy
Muffin Tin Latkes
Skip the skillet with this hands-off method to “oven fry” latkes in a muffin tin for Hanukkah—or any time of year. It’s important to use both nonstick cooking spray and a splash of neutral cooking oil to prevent the naturally starchy potato batter from sticking to the tin. The result: 12 crispy, golden-brown, sizzling potato pancakes—and minimal cleanup.
Get the Recipe: Muffin Tin Latkes
Slow Roasted Salmon with Sage and Parsley Pistou
Get the Recipe: Slow Roasted Salmon with Sage and Parsley Pistou
Sufganiyot
Hanukkah is known as the festive of lights, which commemorates the miracle of the small amount of holy oil that lasted the eight days it took for more to be found. During these eight days of Hanukkah it is customary to eat lots of sweet and savory foods fried in oil and there is no better or more delicious way to honor that tradition than by making and eating these sweet, pillowy, lemon-scented sufganiyot, or jelly doughnuts, which are typically filled with raspberry, strawberry or apricot jam.
Get the Recipe: Sufganiyot
Noodle Kugel
Get the Recipe: Noodle Kugel
Olive Potato Focaccia with Asparagus Menorah
On Hanukkah, we eat food fried in oil to remember the miracle of a small amount of oil lasting for eight nights when the Jewish people were rededicating the Temple. What better way to celebrate than with an oil-rich olive potato focaccia decorated with a totally edible asparagus menorah?
Get the Recipe: Olive Potato Focaccia with Asparagus Menorah
Potato Latkes
Get the Recipe: Potato Latkes with Spiced Apple-Pear Sauce
Potato-Kasha Knishes
Get the Recipe: Potato-Kasha Knishes
Latke Hotdish
We love Molly's take on this latke-inspired dish. She says, "Hotdish is such a good holiday food. It's like a hug for your insides." And, we couldn't agree more!
Get the Recipe: Latke Hotdish
Gelt Magic Bars
These sweet Hanukkah treats come together quickly and are easy to transport to a party or school event. The bars are quite gooey so be sure to let them cool completely before cutting. There are a lot of fun holiday sprinkle blends available online or you can make your own.
Get the Recipe: Gelt Magic Bars
Challah Crowns
Get the Recipe: Challah Crowns
The Ultimate Braised Brisket
Get the Recipe: The Ultimate Braised Brisket
Jelly Doughnut Babka
Rich, sweet babka is most often flavored with cinnamon or chocolate, and it’s usually baked in a loaf pan. Here we decided to take inspiration from round jelly doughnuts and bake this bread in a circular springform pan. We love raspberry jam in this, but feel free to use whatever flavor is your favorite—just be sure it’s thick enough to hold its own against our classic buttery babka dough.
Get the Recipe: Jelly Doughnut Babka
Challah French Toast
Get the Recipe: Challah French Toast
Rugelach
Roast Chicken With Apricot Stuffing
Get the Recipe: Roast Chicken With Apricot Stuffing
Kugel Muffins
Kugel, or noodle pudding, can be sweet or savory and is typically baked in a large baking dish and served as a side dish during the Jewish High Holidays or at Shabbat dinner on Friday evenings. This recipe is a sweet version, baked up as muffins and perfect for toting to potluck dinners or giving as gifts during the winter holidays. Thinner noodles are easier to scoop into the muffin cups, but if only wide egg noodles are available, simply break them up a bit by gently banging the bag with a rolling pin before boiling.
Get the Recipe: Kugel Muffins
Tyler Florence's Blueberry Blintzes
Get the Recipe: Blueberry Blintzes
Marshmallow Dreidels
Get the Recipe: Marshmallow Dreidels
Buttered Egg Noodles
Get the Recipe: Buttered Egg Noodles
Horseradish-Crusted Brisket
Get the Recipe: Horseradish-Crusted Brisket With Carrots
Caramelized Onion and Potato Knishes
As a young girl I was always baffled as to why my grandparents were so fond of knishes--to me, they were too big, too dense and too boring. These are much smaller and lighter, more like fluffy sour cream-and-herb-loaded baked potatoes wrapped in light, flakey pastry dough. For those intimidated by making and rolling out pastry dough, I can assure you that this is the most forgiving, most foolproof dough ever. I've made this recipe on both warm, humid days and cold dry days with nary an issue. Schmaltz lends both depth of flavor and flaky texture, but any neutral oil will work just fine.
Get the Recipe: Caramelized Onion and Potato Knishes
Roast Chicken with Wild Rice Dressing
Get the Recipe: Roast Chicken with Wild Rice Dressing
Oven-Fried Latkes
Get the Recipe: Oven-Fried Latkes
Apple Cider Doughnuts
Get the Recipe: Apple Cider Doughnuts
Challah Bread Pudding with Chocolate and Raisins
Get the Recipe: Challah Bread Pudding with Chocolate and Raisins
Potato Latkes
With a shiny 5-star rating, this is our most-popular latke recipe.
Get the Recipe: Potato Latkes
Brisket with Parsnips, Leeks and Green Onions
Get the Recipe: Brisket with Parsnips, Leeks and Green Onions
Duff's Slightly Adapted Mamo's Potato Pancakes
Get the Recipe: Slightly Adapted Mamo's Potato Pancakes
Chard and Caramelized Shallot Noodle Kugel
Get the Recipe: Chard and Caramelized Shallot Noodle Kugel
Sugar and Spice Doughnuts
Get the Recipe: Sugar and Spice Doughnuts
Parsnip-Potato Latkes With Cinnamon Applesauce
Get the Recipe: Parsnip-Potato Latkes With Cinnamon Applesauce
Sweet-and-Sour Short Ribs
Get the Recipe: Sweet-and-Sour Short Ribs
Chocolate Chip Challah Bread
Get the Recipe: Chocolate Chip Challah Bread
Spanolatkes
Get the Recipe: Spanolatkes
Chicken Liver Crostini
Get the Recipe: Chicken Liver Crostini
Doughnut Holes With Strawberry
Get the Recipe: Doughnut Holes With Strawberry Syrup
Crispy Potato Cake
Get the Recipe: Crispy Potato Cake
Fried Pastries with Wine Syrup
Get the Recipe: Fried Pastries With Wine Syrup
Jelly Doughnuts
Get the Recipe: Jelly Doughnuts
Smoked Salmon Toasts
Get the Recipe: Smoked Salmon Toasts
Veal Shank Paprikash
Get the Recipe: Veal Shank Paprikash
Chocolate Macaroons
Get the Recipe: Chocolate Macaroons
New Mexicali Green Chile Cheese Kugel
Get the Recipe: New Mexicali Green Chile-Cheese Kugel
Kugel with Apricot Nectar
Get the Recipe: Kugel with Apricot Nectar
Gravlax with the Works
Get the Recipe: Gravlax With the Works
Rose Jam Doughnuts with Vanilla Glaze and Pistachios
If you're looking for something extra-special to serve during Hanukkah, try Molly's take on doughnuts. She says, “The dried rose petals and colorful pistachios give these doughnuts an extra spark."
Get the Recipe: Rose Jam Doughnuts with Vanilla Glaze and Pistachios
Roasted Capon with Quinoa-Olive Stuffing
Get the Recipe: Roasted Capon with Quinoa-Olive Stuffing
Matzo Ball Soup
Get the Recipe: Sephardic Chicken Soup with Sofrito and Herbed Matzo Balls
Doughnuts and Chocolate Sauce
Get the Recipe: Doughnuts and Chocolate Sauce
Black-and-White Cookies
Get the Recipe: Duff's Black and White Cookie
Slice-and-Bake Dreidel Cookies
These beautiful dreidel cookies are perfect for Hannukah. They each have a blue dreidel in the center inscribed with a different letter from the Hebrew alphabet when arranged together to represent the Hebrew phrase, "a great miracle happened there." The simple shape of a dreidel is especially striking for slice and bake cookies; the key is to keep the colored dough frozen and firm and the uncolored dough soft but still chilled. You can bake the cookies right away or keep the entire log wrapped in the freezer, then slice off and bake cookies as needed!
Get the Recipe: Slice-and-Bake Dreidel Cookies