This ‘gantze tsimmes’ is a rich vegan carrot stew, baked under a tasty savoury helzel topping. It’s perfect for Rosh Hashanah or any time.

One of the things I love about Jewish food is its ability to adapt and evolve as circumstances and preferences change. For instance classic gefilte fish was originally made with carp, but here in the UK, it’s now more usually made with sea fish like cod. Looking even further back, latkes have evolved from fluffy cheese pancakes into the crispy potato fritters we know and love.

So although this delicious vegan tsimmes definitely has some of the DNA of my Grandma’s heimishe original, it’s certainly come a long way. I’m sure she could hardly have envisaged a vegan version! But I hope she would have approved nonetheless.

A dish of vegan tsimmes with a helzel crust, being held using a cloth.

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Grandma’s tsimmes

My Grandma made tsimmes twice a year – Rosh Hashanah and Pesach – and it was quite the production. The day before cooking started, she would sit in an armchair in front of Coronation Street, with newspaper spread on her lap, and get started.

On one side of her would be huge bags of carrots and potatoes. On the other, an enormous shissel – a vast enamelled bowl. One by one she would peel the carrots and potatoes, collecting the peelings on the newspaper on her lap. Gradually, the shissel would fill up with peeled veg.

By the time the News came on, all would be tidied away – peelings in the bin, shissel of veg covered in the kitchen, and everything ready for the next step.

Side-on view of a glass dish of vegan tsimmes.

Gantze tsimmes

Grandma’s tsimmes was much more than simply a dish of sweetened carrots. It was a real gantze tsimmes!

The Yiddish phrase gantze tsimmes simply means “a whole stew”. This tsimmes was not merely a tasty side dish. Grandma’s tsimmes was slow cooked for hours with chunks of meat and fluffy knaidlach (dumplings), and was a hearty, savoury and filling dish.

Although we usually had the tsimmes as simply a part of the meal, I always felt that this rich and flavoursome stew ought to be the main attraction. With its balanced blend of protein, vegetables and carbs, it’s really a meal in itself!

A serving spoon taking a scoop of tsimmes with a helzel crust.

Vegan tsimmes

Making a slow cooked vegan carrot stew was a simple enough task. I substituted soya chunks for Grandma’s meat pieces, as I find they typically stand up to long slow cooking better than some of the more ‘sophisticated’ meat substitutes. The main problem I faced was the knaidlach, which rely on eggs for their fluffy texture.

I’ve yet to find a decent recipe for vegan knaidlach (although I haven’t stopped trying!) so in the end I opted to ditch them altogether and replace with a tasty helzel topping instead.

Helzel is a simple stuffing mixture, traditionally used to fill the skin from the neck of a chicken or other bird. It forms a delicious savoury topping to the sweet and hearty tsimmes and turns this dish into a worthy centrepiece for a Shabbat or YomTov meal.

A serving spoon full of tsimmes and helzel.

Family approved

My family loved this vegan version of an old favourite. My daughter Kipper had third helpings! Although she’s too young to have experienced my Grandma’s ‘classic’ tsimmes, she still thoroughly enjoyed the soft, sweetly-savoury carrots and potatoes, and the delicious helzel topping. She made a point of asking for the “crispy bits around the edge”, which of course are the best bits!

A plate with a serving of vegan tsimmes and helzel, seen from above, with a knife, fork and napkin.

Main dish or side

Personally, I’d serve this as a hearty vegetarian/vegan main dish, with some additional vegetables and salads on the side. However, if you’re also serving meat or fish as your main dish, this would make a terrific side dish. Either way, this vegan tsimmes will go down a treat!

This amount served three of us as a main dish with some left over. Obviously it would go further as a side dish. I’d estimate serves 3-4 as a main, 4-6 as a side dish.

Vegan 'gantze tsimmes' with a helzel crust.

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📖 Recipe

Vegan tsimmes with a helzel crust

Vegan gantze tsimmes is a rich carrot stew, with a tasty savoury helzel topping. Real Jewish comfort food!

5 from 13 votes

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Prep Time 25

Cook Time 2 30

Total Time 2 55

Course Main Course, Side Dish

Cuisine European, Jewish

Servings

Calories 422 kcal

Ingredients

For the tsimmes

50 g dehydrated soya chunks
600 ml hot vegetable or parve chicken stock (divided)
500 g carrots (approx. 6 large)
250 g potatoes (approx. 1 large)
½ teaspoon ground black pepper

For the helzel topping

75 g plain flour
50 g matza meal
¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 small onion
5 tablespoon vegetable oil

Instructions

Make the tsimmes

Preheat the oven to 175°C (345°F). Soak the soya chunks in 200ml (about 1 cup) of the hot vegetable stock.
Peel the carrots and potatoes and cut into 1½-2cm (½-¾ inch) chunks.
Place the carrots and potatoes into a lidded, ovenproof casserole dish together with the soya chunks and their soaking liquid, the black pepper, and the remaining hot vegetable/parve chicken stock. Stir well and cover. Place into the oven at 175°C (345°F) for about 30 minutes.

Make the helzel topping

In a bowl, mix together the flour, matza meal, ground pepper and cinnamon. Set aside.
Peel and grate the onion. Heat the oil in a small frying pan over a medium flame. Cook the grated onion, stirring occasionally, for 10-15 minutes until very fragrant and starting to turn golden in colour.
Add the onion and all the oil from the pan to the dry ingredients and mix together to give a moist, crumbly mixture.
Remove the dish from the oven and take off the lid. Sprinkle the helzel mixture in an even layer over the tsimmes. Replace the lid and return the dish to the oven for around 1 hour and 30 minutes.
Remove the lid from the dish and return to the oven for a further 30 minutes until the helzel topping is browning and crispy. Serve and enjoy!

Notes

I don’t like any added sweeteners in my tsimmes as I think that the carrots are sweet enough. However, if you prefer them sweeter, add 1 tablespoon honey (not vegan) or brown sugar to the tsimmes mixture before putting it into the oven for the first time.

Nutrition

Nutrition Facts

Vegan tsimmes with a helzel crust

Amount per Serving

Calories

422

% Daily Value*

Fat

Saturated Fat

Polyunsaturated Fat

Monounsaturated Fat

Sodium

692

Potassium

728

Carbohydrates

Fiber

Sugar

Protein

Vitamin A

21206

424

Vitamin C

Calcium

Iron

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

Keyword carrot, potato, vegan

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More delicious recipes & ideas

For more delicious Rosh Hashanah dishes, check out this list of over 80 delicious vegan and vegetarian recipes using traditional simanim – symbolic ingredients.

If it’s Jewish vegan recipe you’re after, take a look at this list of more than 20 recipes for Jewish classics made vegan – including chopped liver, gefilte fish and matzo ball soup!

And if you loved this tsimmes, you’ll probably also enjoy this vegetarian cholent with a British twist, these scrummy helzel potatoes, and this delicious lokshen pudding that’s just like my Mum’s!

Close up of pyrex dish containing tsimmes with a helzel crust.

I’m linking this recipe up with #CookBlogShare.

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