The 23 Best Hanukkah Recipes for Your Celebration

By Food & Wine
Updated October 06, 2020
Credit: David Cicconi
From crispy potato pancakes to a juicy herb-and-lemon-roasted chicken, here are delicious recipes for a Hanukkah celebration.
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Renée's Latkes

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Gail Simmons’s mother, Renée Simmons, uses a food processor’s shredding disk to get long potato strands that fry up extra-crispy.

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Gail Simmons's Horseradish Brisket

Credit: PHOTO © LUCY SCHAEFFER
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Rubbing prepared horseradish on the brisket and whisking it into the meaty sauce punches up the rich flavors here. Like most braised dishes, this brisket tastes better on the second or even third day.

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Potato-Quinoa Cakes with Smoked Salmon and Beets

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Quinoa gives these crisp fried cakes a great chewiness; the cornichon dressing is creamy and piquant.

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Kate's Supercrispy Potato Latkes

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Grilled Lamb Shoulder Chops with Manischewitz Glaze

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The sweet wine glaze for these chops started as a joke. “Someone kiddingly told me to try Manischewitz, so I bought a bottle,” says Rich Torrisi. “I found out it was made from Concord grapes, which are my favorite. And the grapes are from New York state, so I love them even more.”

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Jessamyn's Sephardic Challah

Credit: Zubin Schroff
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Jessamyn Waldman grew up in Canada eating challah, the Jewish Sabbath bread. Unlike the eggy challahs of the Ashkenazi Jews of Eastern Europe, this version comes from the Sephardic Jews of the Mediterranean, who flavored their challahs with caraway and anise. Many challahs are braided, but this one is twisted into a round, turban-shaped loaf.

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Roasted Carrot and Cumin Puree

Credit: PHOTO © HANNAH QUEEN
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Roasting carrots until they are golden brown brings out their sweetness and provides a perfect foil for tart lemon juice and musky cumin. Our silken puree is a particularly good side dish for lamb and also for roasted chicken.

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Herb-and-Lemon-Roasted Chicken

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This roast chicken is foolproof and fantastic. Plus, it’s versatile enough for a weeknight dinner or weekend dinner party.

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Doughnuts in Cardamom Syrup

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These doughnuts, from Esther Sabach, Rachel Klein’s boyfriend’s mother, are a nod to Sephardic Jewish tradition.

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Zucchini Latkes with Red Pepper Jelly and Smoked Trout

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“My mom used to make zucchini fritters on the Jewish holidays,” says Rachel Klein. Klein’s latke version is unexpected and delicious, especially with red pepper jelly and smoked trout.

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Jewish Turkey-Wonton Soup

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This soup is made with David Ansel’s version of kreplach, a Jewish dumpling usually filled with beef. Here, Ansel tweaks the traditional recipe by stuffing delicate wonton wrappers with lots of turkey and chopped vegetables, serving them in a simple turkey broth.

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Vanilla Raised Doughnuts

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According to writer and recipe developer Jess Thomson, it’s best to weigh flour on a kitchen scale instead of using measuring cups. “When we tested the recipes for the book, that seemed to make a big difference,” she says.

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Sweet Potato Latkes with Wasabi and Wasabi Tobiko

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Rachel Klein mixes sweet and spicy flavors in this whimsical recipe, stirring pungent wasabi paste into crème fraîche to top the slightly sweet latkes and garnishing them with wasabi tobiko (flying fish roe) and peppery radish sprouts.

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Easy Short Ribs Braised in Red Wine

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“A good sauce is the bridge between the meat and the wine,” says Ken Frank. When pairing beef with Cabernet, he usually serves a hearty red-wine sauce, like the one on these short ribs. Veal stock gives the dish extra-deep flavor, but chicken stock (preferably homemade) works well too.

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Hanukkah Doughnuts


Credit: John Kernick
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Hebrew for “doughnuts,” sufganiyot are the most popular Hanukkah food in Israel. These fried treats are simply made from balls of yeast dough and filled with chocolate, creams, curd or, as here, jam. Bakeries and markets start frying them weeks before the actual holiday and keep going until the week after. With TV chef Andrew Zimmern’s recipe, you can prepare them year-round.

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Brisket with Sweet-and-Sour Onions

Credit: David Cicconi
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This brisket recipe is from Jessamyn Rodriguez, the founder and CEO of Hot Bread Kitchen, the New York–based social enterprise that helps immigrant women and others launch careers and food businesses. She calls the brisket her “crowning glory,” and says the secret is cooking it low and slow.

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Brisket with Apricots and Prunes

Credit: © Christina Holmes
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For extra-tender brisket, cookbook author Julia Turshen cleverly uses a damp piece of crumpled parchment as a protective blanket for the meat to prevent it from drying out while it roasts. “In this case, a wet blanket is a good thing!” she says.

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Beer-braised Brisket

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Choose a light or dark beer of your choice to add flavor and depth to the beef brisket and root vegetables.

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Hanukkah Brisket

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Andrew Zimmern likes to roast his brisket whole, because the fatty nose of the wide end will help to keep the roast moist. This juicy brisket also freezes well when cooked and bagged with the vegetables and liquid, so even a small family can make it.

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Master Latkes

Credit: Victor Protasio
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For a more traditional latke, grate the potatoes and onions by hand; they’ll release more moisture before frying and be slightly denser. Using a food processor will result in a thicker cut and a more hash brown–style fritter.

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Giant Jerusalem Artichoke Latkes

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Jerusalem artichokes are one of Leetal and Ron Arazi's favorite ingredients to cook with. Here, they make an oversize version, which they top with yogurt, herbs and the spice paste they make called l’ekama. The hot latke paired with the cold yogurt and intense spices and fresh parsley makes for a winning dish.

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Potato-Apple Latkes

Credit: Christina Holmes
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These crisp potato pancakes come from Eric Bromberg and Bruce Brombergs' grandmother, Martha Finkelstein, who insisted that there is no flavor substitute for schmaltz (rendered chicken fat).

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Best-Ever Potato Latkes

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Niki Russ Federman makes the tastiest, crispiest latkes with both scallions and onion.

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