Active Time
10 minutes
Total Time
90 minutes
Like many iconic Jewish dishes, noodle kugel recipes invite heated debates: Sweet noodle kugel or savory?! Naked or topped with cornflakes? Wide noodles or extra-wide noodles? Golden raisins, dried cranberries or apricots, or no fruit at all? What about cream cheese? Or cottage cheese? Everyone has an opinion.
When Sarah Jampel developed this recipe, she writes: “I putzed! I fussed! I schmoozed! I schlepped! I kvetched! I ate a lot of kugel until, finally, we landed on one (so soft! so bouncy!) we felt would please the fanatics, persuade the haters, and entice the uninitiated.”
Her version of every Jewish holiday’s favorite noodle pudding is a touch sweet and a little eggy, landing somewhere between airy and rich, with small curds from cottage cheese. Tugging on a few noodles so they breach the surface means you get golden brown bits that crunch. And don’t tell your guests, but we like the pieces from the corner of the casserole dish—where the noodles get crispy from the heat of the pan—best. Save those for yourself. Make it for Shabbat. Make it for brunch. Just make it—we promise you’ll love it.
Looking for more kugel recipes? Try Michael Twitty’s apple and honey rice kugel. Or if you need a kosher for Passover side dish, go with Bonnie Frumkin Morales’s mushroom matzo kugel with Swiss chard.
All products featured on Bon Appétit are independently selected by our editors. However, when you buy something through the retail links below, we earn an affiliate commission.
What you’ll need
Measuring Spoons
$10 At Bon Appétit Market
Measuring Cups
$28 At Bon Appétit Market
Large Pot
$55 $48 At Amazon
Tongs
$21 At Amazon
Colander
$11 At Amazon
13x9" Baking Dish
$20 At Amazon
Paring Knife
$10 At Amazon
Small Bowl
$15 At Amazon
Whisk
$10 At Amazon
Large Bowl
$18 At Amazon
Large Basting Spoon
$16.37 At Amazon
Ingredients
10–12 servings
12
2
½
8
½
1
1
2
1
Preparation
Step 1
Preheat oven to 350°. Cook 12 oz. extra-wide egg noodles in a large pot of boiling salted water, stirring occasionally, until al dente, about 4–5 minutes. Drain, leaving a little bit of water clinging to the noodles.
Step 2
Generously butter a 13x9" baking dish (we prefer glass for even heating, but metal is okay, too).
Step 3
Make the creamy sauce: Cut 1 stick butter into a few big pieces and transfer to a small heatproof bowl. Microwave until butter is melted, about 1 minute. Let cool slightly. Whisk 8 large eggs and ½ cup (100 g) sugar in a large bowl until sugar is dissolved and eggs are frothy, 1–2 minutes. Add 1 lb. full-fat cottage cheese, 1 lb. full-fat sour cream, 2 tsp. vanilla extract, 1 tsp. ground cinnamon, and 2 tsp. Diamond Crystal or 1 tsp. Morton kosher salt to egg mixture. Whisk vigorously to combine. Pour in melted butter and whisk again to combine.
Step 4
Add hot noodles to bowl and toss to coat with a spoon or spatula.
Step 5
Transfer noodle mixture to prepared baking dish, tipping dish to evenly distribute. For a really crispy top, pull a few noodles to the surface so that they’re poking out over the sauce.
Step 6
Bake kugel, rotating pan halfway through, until custard has souffléed, top is browned, and noodles on the surface are crispy, 50–55 minutes.
Step 7
Let cool at least 20 minutes before slicing. Fight over those almost-burnt noodles on top.
Editor’s note: This noodle kugel recipe was first printed in September 2019 as ‘Basically Noodle Kugel.’ Head this way for more of our best recipes for Rosh Hashanah →
Leave a Review
Reviews (96)
Back to TopI can't read the recipe with all the damn pop up ads that block it. Try getting rid of the ads. Don't be so desperate for sponsorship that you loose readers.
Anonymous
Southern California
12/4/2021
I made this kugel for RH 2021. Turned out great! I made a few mods: 6 eggs instead of 8, added about 1/2 cup raisins to general recipe, and in the bottom of the glass dish, I spread a few tablespoons of brown sugar on top of the butter with a few raisins before pouring in the batter. Everything else, I did as the recipe specified and it was a huge hit! The brown sugar in the bottom gave it just a little extra oomf (and sweetness, we like it sweet!) and despite all the food served at this dinner, many people had seconds! Thank you!
Robin Robins
9/20/2021
A big hit at my family's pre-Rosh Hashanah dinner last night. I knew I needed to amp up the sweetness for my family, but my kids dislike raisins (heresy!), so, in the RH spirt I sliced some apples. They were a hit, but they also express a LOT of water when cooking, so next time, I may pre-cook them, or use dried apples, or just cook a bit longer, as I did yesterday. Anyway, a keeper recipe!
JT Daddio
Los Angeles
9/7/2021
The constant pop-up ads made it impossible to read the article or recipe.
Anonymous
costa rica
9/5/2021
The best kugel recipe around. I have made it at least two dozen times. The recipe has the ideal proportions of ingredients. It is neither to dry, wet or sweet. You can even add raisins for more sweetness. Yummy!
Sarah M.
San Jose, CA
6/6/2021
I love Noodle Kugel and wouldn't use any other recipe. I've tried others but they just didn't taste as good to me. And yes...put the salt in the water not in the custard.
Anonymous
Corunna, Mich
5/1/2021
yummmmmmmmmmyyyyyyyyyyy it taste like a nice eggplant
horn nudel
weiner city
2/9/2021
This recipe is definitely not too salty if you use kosher salt. If you use table salt, then yes, you'll throw this in the trash.
Jesse
NYC
12/22/2020
All y'all putting the all salt in your egg mixture? Please add it to the noodle water. Always think and don't do anything that will clearly not work. Typos happen, and miscommunication happens. If it was too salty, try putting the salt in with the noodle water and see how that works.
Martha
Ithaca NY
12/18/2020
Mine turned out great and I and my family ate it over 3 days. It was especially good for breakfast! I did use unsalted butter and regular cottage cheese, but switched the sour cream to non-fat Greek yogurt (Fage). Maybe that is why another person said theirs was too salty, from their sour cream? Because mine was more on the sweet side, if anything. Also, I used 6 eggs instead of 8 eggs, since other recipes appear to call for closer to 6. It turned out perfect with those two modifications (6 eggs instead of 8 and non-fat Greek yogurt instead of sour cream), otherwise followed it to a T. I will definitely use this recipe again!
Anne
San Francisco, CA
12/16/2020
This recipe was way too salty and basically inedible. Used unsalted butter and only the required amount of salt, but still tasted savory instead of sweet. Ended up taking a few bites, and then throwing the rest out. I think it was because of the cottage cheese, so if you're making this recipe I would recommend omitting that.
Maddie
Boston
12/13/2020
We always put raisins into noodle kugel. Excellent that way
joyce pustilnik
New York City
11/21/2020
If you lose the vanilla & cinnamon, this is nearly identical to my mother's luchen kugel. I detest kugels with fruit (pineapple or raisins), and I prefer crunchy, slightly burnt noodles to corn flakes, but my mother insisted on the Kellogg's version that had never been seen back in the shtetl. One year, in my youth, she inadvertently sprinkled on frosted flakes instead of the obligatory corn flakes. To this nine year-old, it was the greatest thing since sliced bread. However, I was the only one with that opinion, so alas, that "mistake" was never to be repeated...
Neil Morris
Florida
10/6/2020
This is almost perfect. A couple more eggs than I usually but the article this came from that said cottage cheese or raisins but never both is a lie. Both raisins and cottage cheese please. Never pineapple or corn flakes, sometimes apple, sometimes topped with a little cinnamon/sugar/butter blend.
Anonymous
Alexandria, VA
7/11/2020
add raisins for an extra sweet punch.........
Anonymous
USA
3/2/2020