Try this delicious selection of delicious Jewish recipes, including everything from pastrami to challah bread.
This selection of delicious Jewish recipes highlights the diversity of this wonderful cuisine.
Jewish food has evolved greatly over time, shaped according to dietary laws, international influence and certain festivals and traditions. It varies by region, tradition, and family, but there are a few foods that are most common, particularly within Jewish families and communities in the United States.
Shabbat — the Jewish day of rest — is particularly significant. It starts when the sun goes down on Friday and ends on sundown the following day. It’s a time when many traditional Jewish recipes are enjoyed, including challah bread, gefilte fish, and matzo ball soup.
Jewish Recipes to Try
Challah Bread
Challah bread is simply delicious! Moist and slightly sweet, some people find it is quite similar to brioche. It contains lots of eggs – including extra egg yolks – giving it a wonderful richness and beautiful color.
It is usually served plain, but sometimes delicious extras are added – some savory, like seeds, garlic and rosemary – and some sweet, like cinnamon and sugar or toasted almonds.
If you’d like to try your hand at making it, here is the best Challah Bread Recipe to try.
Pastrami
Jewish immigration during the later half of the 19th century brought pastrami to the United States. The Jewish recipe has its roots in the Turkish pastirma, which was rather like jerky. Over time the recipe began to be made with goose meat, then adapted again by Romanian Jews who found beef a more affordable alternative.
Most pastrami recipes now use corned beef, which is a beef brisket soaked in sugar and a variety of spices. It is then smoked – which turns it into pastrami – and is then ready for slicing and using to pile high in sandwiches.
Learn how to make your own pastrami.
Falafel
It may not immediately spring to mind when you are thinking of Jewish recipes, but Israel’s proximity to its Arab neighbors means that new culinary influences are creeping in on both sides.
Falafel is so easy to make – a wonderful (and nutritious) mixture of chickpeas, onions, herbs and spices, blended together until perfectly smooth and then fried.
The dish can be made healthier still by baking instead of frying, but this doesn’t give such a great texture. The best alternative is to air fry it instead.
Try your hand at Air Fryer Falafel.
Bagel and Lox
This is one of the easiest Jewish recipes to put together! It is ready in minutes and is great served for lunch or brunch. In fact, some people enjoy it so much that they just add a side salad and turn it into a complete meal.
Lox is simply raw salmon that has been brined or cured with salt. To make bagel and lox, all you need to do is toast a bagel, spread it with cream cheese and top with the salmon. Additional, optional toppings include capers, red onion, cucumber slices, and seasonings.
Latkes
Latkes are the classic Hanukkah food. Like many other Jewish holiday foods, there’s symbolism involved with the oil for frying representing the oil that kept burning for 8 nights. Latkes are also called potato pancakes, and our editor’s favorite kind are the sweet potato latkes his mom made throughout his childhood and beyond.
You could also try this sweet corn elotes latkes recipe!
Speaking of Jewish holidays, be sure to check out our selection of Passover recipes!