35+ Best Hanukkah Recipes (2024)

FAQs

What do Sephardic people eat for Hanukkah? ›

Sephardic Hanukkah dishes include cassola (sweet cheese pancakes), bimuelos (puffed fritters with an orange glaze), keftes de espinaka (spinach patties), keftes de prasa (leek patties) and shamlias (fried pastry frills).

Fried foods, like potato pancakes and jelly doughnuts, are prepared and eaten throughout the holiday to celebrate the miracle of Hanukkah: oil that kept the menorah (an ancient lamp) lit for 8 days instead of the 1 day it was supposed to last.

You could say Sephardic food is the original Mediterranean fusion cuisine. The kosher laws also impact what Jews eat. There is no pork or shellfish allowed, and Jews will not mix meat and dairy in the same meal, so if a chicken is on the table, you won't find butter or cheese.

Brisket was and is still used as a special cut of meat on Jewish holidays such as Hannukah, Shabbat, and Passover. The cut of beef was decided to be celebratory and important due to its location. Brisket is found in the cow's front breast, making it kosher for Jews to consume.

Your host might appreciate gifts of chocolate, gourmet applesauce, candles, books or board games.

So many traditional Jewish foods double as brunch favorites, from potato latkes (hash browns, anyone?) to doughnuts and challah. Fried foods are a given, so don't be shy with the olive oil. And no brunch is complete without a champagne co*cktail — we recommend pretty pink cranberry mimosas.

As Jews live all over the world, from Italy and Morocco to Colombia and India, each community has their own way of celebrating Hanukkah. In Italy, you'll find fried chicken and in Colombia, it's fried plantains. In Spain it's fried eggplants, while Syrians love fried leek fritters.

A lesser-known Hanukkah custom is to eat dairy, to celebrate the heroism of Judith, slayer of the general Holofernes. Although Judith's defeat of Holofernes took place centuries before the Maccabees defeated the Romans, Jews in the medieval period began to associate Judith's bravery with the miracle of Hanukkah.

In honor of Judith, many Jews will dine on cheesy foods, like cheese pancakes, blintzes, or cheese danishes during Hanukkah.

Smoked Salmon and Latkes

As fried foods are often the theme during Hanukkah, latkes represent a classic. Already an Acme Smoked Fish Hanukkah favorite, the addition of smoked salmon, crème fraiche, red onion, and capers make this Hanukkah dish feel like the holiday on a plate.

What do Jews eat the first night of Hanukkah? ›

Latkes, jelly doughnuts and brisket: Inside Jewish Hanukkah food traditions. Just before the first night of Hanukkah, Alexander Chack made latkes.

Sufganiyot are the country's most popular holiday food, with more than 80% of Israelis eating at least one of them a day during Chanukah, according to Aish.com. They state that the IDF alone buys close to a half a million doughnuts, which they distribute to soldiers all over the country.

Some traditional Hanukkah foods include latkes (potato pancakes), sufganiyot (jelly doughnuts), and brisket. - Latkes: are fried in oil to commemorate the story of the oil lasting for eight nights in the temple. - Sufganiyot: also involves frying in oil, and their jelly filling represents the cruse of oil.

Unlike Christmas presents, Chanukah gifts, traditionally, are really just for children. 'Gelt'—shiny silver or gold-covered chocolate coins are traditional, as is 'gelt'—that is, money—in multiples of eighteen ('chai' means 'life' in Hebrew; the numerical value of 'chai' is 18).