The classic taste of Yerushalmi Kugel – aka Jerusalem kugel – without any of the fuss! Your family will love this easy and delicious lokshen kugel flavoured with caramel and black pepper.
Sometimes, food can really change the way you experience a situation.
When I was quite small, my family went on holiday to Israel, and stayed in a self-catering apartment in Jerusalem. On the Friday, we were directed to a shop which sold “Shabbos dinner to go” – ready prepared chicken, potatoes, kugel, tsimmes etc. Good, solid, Ashkenazi food that just needed heating up.
Yerushalmi kugel
Among the delights on offer was Yerushalmi kugel. It wasn’t something any of us had eaten before. This golden noodle kugel, flavoured with caramelised sugar and black pepper, is a local specialty. It was developed in Jerusalem by groups of Chasidic Jews, some time around the late 1700s.
According to The Encyclopaedia of Jewish Food, these innovative cooks hybridised traditional savoury salt-and-pepper kugel with sweet lokshen (noodle) kugel. The Yerushalmi kugel, sometimes called ‘Jerusalem kugel’, was born!
Glorious aroma
But back to our Shabbat dinner take-away. The Yerushalmi kugel on offer looked, and smelled, amazing.
It smelled so amazing, in fact, that as we drove our dinner back to the apartment in our rental car, we were all in raptures about the wonderful aroma – sweet and spicy – rising from the still warm kugel.
When we arrived back, our landlady/neighbour rushed out to us. “Are you OK?!” she asked. She seemed really concerned.
We were puzzled. We’re fine, we said. What’s happened?
Apparently there had been an earthquake as we were driving home. The ground beneath us had literally shaken, and we were so swept up in the glorious fragrance of Yerushalmi kugel that we hadn’t even noticed.
That my friends, is the power of a good Yerushalmi kugel.
Yerushalmi kugel 2.0
I didn’t attempt to make a Yerushalmi kugel until about twenty years later. This time, I was actually living in Jerusalem, not just visiting. A friend of my flatmate came to stay one weekend, and she made the kugel. It was delicious!
I asked her for the recipe and was delighted when she obliged. It became a regular feature on my Shabbat table.
Cheat’s kugel!
Having very little experience of either making or eating Yerushalmi kugel, I had no idea until a few years later that her recipe was a bit of a cheat! It doesn’t caramelise the sugar, but uses brown sugar to give a similar flavour. However, after another friend got pretty bad caramel burns while making a Yerushalmi kugel, I’ve been quite wary of attempting the ‘real thing’ – especially when the cheat’s version tastes so good!
Over the years I’ve tweaked this Jerusalem kugel recipe here and there to give more caramel flavour. However I think this version is really fantastic. The combination of sweet caramel and spicy black pepper is surprising but completely delicious, and it smells amazing as it bakes in the oven!
Ingredients in Yerushalmi kugel
You can’t make an omelette without breaking eggs, and you can’t make a lokshen kugel without breaking lokshen… or something like that!
To make this fabulous Jerusalem kugel yourself, you will need:
- Lokshen – of course! Fine noodles such as angel hair or vermicelli are perfect.
- Sugar – the recipe uses both white and brown sugar for both sweetness and flavour.
- Caramel flavoured syrup – to provide the classic caramel flavour without the danger of boiling sugar yourself. Use any ‘coffee’ syrup or dessert syrup you like, as long as it’s caramel flavoured.
- Black pepper – to give your Yerushalmi kugel its spicy flavour.
- Egg – to hold everything together.
- Vegetable oil
- A pinch of salt
- Hot water – from the kettle.
Sweet? Savoury? Side dish or dessert?
Despite the sugar, and caramel, Yerushalmi kugel is often served as a side dish alongside the main part of the meal. It’s also a favourite treat at kiddush – the after-service refreshments served in many synagogues on a Shabbat morning. Although it’s undoubtedly sweet, real aficionados often enjoy their kugel with a tangy pickled cucumber on the side!
So, is it sweet or savoury? It’s both! You can enjoy your Yerushalmi kugel just exactly how you like.
Classic flavour
While this recipe is made without ‘real’ caramel, it still has the classic flavours of caramel and black pepper running right through it. This version is mildly spicy, but if you prefer a stronger taste, simply add a little more pepper.
I hope it helps to distract from whatever earth-shaking events are happening around you!
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📖 Recipe
Easy Yerushalmi Kugel
Ingredients
- 500 ml hot water (from the kettle)
- 3 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 50 g caster sugar
- 50 g dark brown sugar
- 1½ tablespoon caramel flavoured syrup
- ½-1 teaspoon ground black pepper
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 225 g fine noodles (lokshen) e.g. angel hair or vermicelli
- 1 egg, beaten
Instructions
- Put the hot water, oil, caster sugar, brown sugar, caramel syrup, pepper and salt into a large pan. Mix well and heat over a medium flame until just simmering and all the sugar is dissolved.
- Remove from the heat, add the noodles and mix well. Cover the pan and leave to stand for 15 minutes. Meanwhile preheat the oven to 190°C (375°F).
- After 15 minutes, uncover the pan, add the beaten egg, and mix well to combine. Pour the mixture into a roughly 15 x 25 cm baking dish (approx. 6 x 10 inches) and tap gently to level.
- Bake at 190°C (375°F) for 50-60 minutes until crisp and golden on top.
Notes
Nutrition
More delicious kugel recipes
If you want a recipe that does require you to caramelise the sugar (eek!) then check out this Yerushalmi kugel recipe from author Ariel Kahn, which helped inspire his wonderful novel Raising Sparks.
If you love a noodle kugel, you might also enjoy Mum’s lokshen kugel with apple, or this delicious sweet cheese and blueberry noodle kugel.
You might also like to try these noodle kugels from other bloggers:
- Cranberry orange noodle kugel from Ronnie Fein
- Noodle kugel with candied pecans from What Jew Wanna Eat
- Lokshen melba kugel from All That’s Jas
- Vanilla noodle kugel from Tori Avey
I’m joining in with #CookBlogShare.
Meke
Delicious recipe – I’ll make it again!
Helen
So glad you enjoyed it Meke!
Linda
This looks fantastic, already added to my erev Rosh Hashana feast menu! Question- in Israel where do you get carmel flavoured syrup, what is it called, who makes it? Toda, Shana Tova b’sorot tovot
Helen
Hi Linda. I hope you love it like we do! I had a look at Israeli online supermarkets and found this https://www.baladisupermarket.com/search/syrup?catalogProduct=116674 which is a caramel flavoured dessert syrup. Something like this would work.
Otherwise a caramel flavoured coffee syrup like this one from Monin or similar is also good.
I hope this helps. Shana tova! Helen x.
Bunny Peters
Hi Helen:
This recipe looks amazing!!! I can’t wait to try it out. I am especially interested in it because you don’t need to deal with hot, melted sugar (which scares me & I have 26+ years of kosher catering experience)!!!
I have an 8” x 8” glass baking dish and silan (date syrup). Would these work with your recipe? Do I need to Pre-oil the baking dish? I really appreciate your advice. Thank you very much in advance, Bunny
Helen
Hi Bunny, thanks for your comment! I’m also terrified of hot, melted sugar, which is why I love this recipe 🙂
The 8×8 inch baking dish is slightly larger than the one I use but should be fine. I haven’t tried the recipe using date syrup. The syrup really is to add a bit more caramel flavour in the absence of actual caramel! I think silan might work, or it might give the kugel a slightly different, but probably still delicious, flavour! Please come back and let me know how it turns out if you try it.
I hope this helps! Thanks again and all the best, Helen x.
Gail
I don’t understand what caramel flavored syrup is. What would be comparable in the United States?
Helen
Hi Gail. It is simply a sweet syrup with a caramel flavour, either the kind you would add to coffee to make it caramel flavoured, or else the kind you might pour over dessert or ice-cream. It simply adds a little extra caramel flavour to the kugel. I hope this helps! All the best, Helen.
Debby Y
If I want to make this Kugel in a high tube pan, the way it is done on Malchai Yisroel, in Geula, do I need to revise or amend the recipe ( i.e. baking time)?
Helen
Hi Debby. If you are planning to use a high tube pan, you will need to at least double the recipe, possibly even do 3x – there is a button on the recipe card to easily scale up the quantities for you. (As written, the recipe bakes in a 6 x 10 inch pan, so it is fairly small.) If you scale up, then yes, you will also need to increase the baking time. I would probably start with 90 minutes and see how it is doing. You can use a standard cake test of inserting a toothpick or skewer into the centre of the kugel, and if it comes out clean with no sticky mixture attached, then the kugel is cooked.
I hope this helps! Enjoy your kugel 🙂
All the best, Helen x.
Bracha
1 egg doesn’t seem to be enough. Other yerushalmi kugel recipes I’ve seen say 4, 5 eggs. Your thoughts?
Helen
Hi Bracha. This recipe only makes a small kugel (6-8 servings), so only needs 1 egg. If you want to make a larger kugel with more eggs, you’ll need to scale up the rest of the ingredients too. You can use the buttons above the ingredients list to multiply up by 2 or 3 times. I hope this helps!
Suzie Sholin
Do we put the noodles in uncooked?
Helen
Hi Suzie – yes, the noodles go into the hot liquid UNCOOKED. They will absorb water during the 15 minutes of ‘resting’ time and then cook fully when the kugel is baked in the oven. I hope you enjoy your kugel! All the best, Helen x.
Suzie Sholin
Hi Helen, wanted to lyk I made this today for a picnic tomorrow. It came out great (I took a little nibble!). There was a lot of liquid and I was nervous but it baked up perfectly. I wish I could show you a picture.
Helen
Thanks Suzie – that’s so great to hear. I’m glad you held your nerve and it turned out well 🙂
Chloe Edges
Oh fab, I’ve always wanted to try kugel but haven’t yet. I had no idea it was served as a savoury side and not just as dessert. I’m a big fan of sweet with my savoury so I’ll definitely have to give this a try!
Helen
Thanks Chloe! Sweet or savoury really depends on the kugel – potato kugel is definitely savoury, while lokshen (noodle) kugel has both savoury and sweet variations. Then there’s things like this Yerushalmi kugel that fall somewhere in-between! Things are further complicated because sometimes what is most definitely a sweet kugel (like my lokshen kugel with apple for instance) is served as part of the main course and not as dessert. In any case, I hope you enjoy this kugel!
Choclette
Goodness, if this has the power to hide earthquakes, it’s got to be good. Never heard of it before, but I’m totally intrigued by the caramel and black pepper. A noodle version of bread pudding – it has to be tried.
Helen
LOL! Thanks Choclette – it’s really yummy. I’m confident you’ll enjoy it!
sher
Would maple syrup work for the caramel syrup?
Helen
Hi Sher, you could certainly substitute maple syrup. The flavour would be slightly different but still delicious! (I think you may have just invented the maple kugel!)
Jess
Hi could I make this into individual mini kugels in foil muffin cases? Would I need to adjust the oven temperature or time?
Helen
Hi Jess, I’m sure this would work as individual mini kugels. They should cook more quickly. I would check after 20 minutes and see if they are done. If they seem to be getting too brown but not cooked inside, then cover with foil for the last few minutes. I hope they turn out delicious! All the best, Helen.
Alene
This sounds delicious, but I have to be gluten free. I do have gluten free skinny pasta (capellini-like) but I wonder if rice noodles would work in this, because I have those as well. And caramel syrup? Maybe I can find it online. This is really calling to me! I hope your new year is a sweet and healthy one.
Helen
Hi Alene. I haven’t tried this with gluten free or rice noodles but I don’t see why it wouldn’t work. Please come back and let us know how it turns out if you try it. There are various types of caramel syrup available – I used one based on agave syrup but any of those which are added to coffee would be fine. (You can also leave out the caramel syrup and still make a delicious kugel!)
Shana tova! Helen x.
Jackie
I live in the United States. What can I substitute for caster sugar?
Helen
Hi Jackie – in the USA, caster sugar is called superfine sugar. However since it’s dissolved in the water, you can use ordinary granulated white sugar and it should be fine. I hope you enjoy the kugel!
Shelley
Hahaha – an earthquake, even?!? That really is some powerful Yerushalmi kugel! But seriously – I enjoyed your memories of when you first fell in love with this dish, and also a bit about its history. The combination of caramel and black pepper flavors is super intriguing – I’m so excited to try this, and was thrilled to get to the recipe card and see that it truly is really easy (I love cheater shortcuts)! Thank you!
Helen
Thanks Shelley. Fortunately I’ve not experienced any more seismic activity while enjoying kugel! It is delicious though! So glad you liked the recipe 😊
Anita
I have a box of angel hair pasta sitting pretty in my pantry. I’m going to make this ASAP. It looks so delicious.
Helen
What luck! I’m sure you’ll love it!
Bintu | Recipes From A Pantry
I’ve never tried making this before but definitely going to be giving it a go – sounds delicious!
Helen
Thanks Bintu – it is delicious! I hope you enjoy it 🙂
Traci
You had me at sweet and savory! The fact that this is made with pasta makes it even more unique and interesting 🤩 Thanks for sharing!
Helen
Thanks Traci. It’s easy to forget how versatile pasta is! This recipe really uses it to its advantage.
Jessica Formicola
I have never made a Yerushalmi Kugel, but this looks incredible and I can’t wait to try it!
Helen
Thanks Jessica! I hope you enjoy it.