Crispy Potato Kugel
- Total Time
- 1 hour 20 minutes
- Rating
- Notes
- Read community notes
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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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- 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).
Private Notes
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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.
Bob Woolcock
I used a salad spinner to remove the liquid from the shredded potatoes/onions. Much easier.
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.
Jenny Wolkon
Or....put the mixture in muffin tins...crust for everyone. A little trick Bubbie taught us.
Barbara
Would it work to cut the recipe in half? It's just me.
Susanne
Can this dish be prepared ahead (day before)? If so, how to reheat--in the cast iron skillet in another vessel/dish?
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.
Kyra
Can you use duck fat instead of chicken fat?
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!
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.?
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.
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!
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.
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.
Nan Dem
Why peel potatoes? I never have, and the resulting dishes -kugel, potato salad, mashed potatoes, etc. - all seem better for it. I just don’t see the point. Enlighten me, please?
Beth from Portland
Used 1 Mayan sweet onion and 2 regular onions for 8 medium russet potatoes. Used 9x13 Pyrex, oiled and preheated. Two tsp coarse salt and lots of pepper. Grated potatoes then processed small batches for 4 seconds. Squeezed potatoes by hand before adding grated onion.
Queta
Does anybody know if this dish is good if prepared the day before?
Millimott
We use a salad spinner after grating the potatoes in the Cuisinart. Works well for latkes as well.
emily
I made with two 1 lb bags of frozen hash browns to spare myself all the shredding. Used only five eggs, since I thought my volume of potato was a bit less. Came out great. But I do wish a measurement for the salt was given!!
Diane
Kind of bland - needed a lot of salt. Recipe followed as written. Loading up with sour cream or applesauce would have likely helped.
SK19118
Kugel nirvana! This wasn’t all that complicated or time consuming to prepare, even though I grated the potatoes and onions by hand. Used salad spinner to remove water. Added fresh parsley to potato mixture because I was feeling inspired! Cooked on stove in cast iron until started to smell burnt, then placed in oven. Don’t be afraid to bake until brown and crispy! Perfection.
Nadine K
Wow!! So easy and delicious. I made it with duck fat as I had it on hand. I grated in the food processor and used a salad spinner to get the water out (I did it in 4 batches). It was a hit at the seder we went to! Looking forward to eating the leftovers with eggs for breakfast!!
WBFB
Made this for Passover night and probably will never do another recipe. I like how crispy it was by cooking for first 10 min on the stove before the oven. I also well seasoned it. Used a mix of butter and olive oil. Cast iron skillet is the only way to go!
Roberta Gottesman
Can you use Yukon Gold or Eastern/white potatoes instead of russets? I do not like russets, so only keep the golds or whites on hand.
great way to use avocados
Thank you for this recipe. My kitchen smelled so good. But my kugel came out dry and crumbly, and Iwonder why. I scrubbed the potatoes instead of peeling. Maybe that left too much potato matter for the eggs and oil to work on? During mixing I sensed as much and added oil and an extra egg. I’ll try again either way even more egg.
Nadine K
my whole house (even out on my deck) smelled sooo good.I used duck fat and mostly peeled the potatoes and it came out very moist
john golden
My mother, not a great cook, made a pretty good potato kugel. She would grate ny putting the potatoes through the counter top meat grinder using a large blade grater My own variation is to grate the potatoes using the food processor but then finish it off by putting the grated potatoes,drained, back in the bowl with the steel blade to finish the job
Joyce Garson
Use shredding attachment for potatoes and grating attachment for onions.
BJ
I have been making my mother's kugel recipes for decades. If you don't care about a light colored kugel, you don't have to peel the potatoes. We always use oil, not chicken fat. We heat the oil, only a tablespoon or two, in a deep pie dish before adding the potato mixture. Potato kugel is a must on our Passover table. It's best when freshly cooked, but I have never seen anyone turn down cold or reheated kugel.
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.
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