The classic Jewish recipe potato kugel is easy to make, though it requires at least an hour in the oven — so plan ahead! This vegan potato kugel recipe proves how easy it is to make it plant-based. Golden and deliciously crisp, this goes down easy; for larger gatherings, you may want to double the recipe, then bake in two separate casserole dishes.
What is kugel? In the Ashkenazi Jewish tradition, kugels are baked casseroles, often based on a primary ingredient like noodles or potatoes. The former is usually sweet, and the latter, savory. They’re favorite side dishes to serve at holidays and on the Sabbath.
What isn’t about the original recipe for potato kugel is that it’s held together by eggs. So I drew on my method for binding my vegan latkes — oatmeal. Potato kugel is definitely a close cousin to latkes, so it works beautifully in this case as well.
How to make Passover-friendly potato kugel
If you’d like to make this potato kugel for Passover, I’ve included an alternative to oatmeal — oats are not allowed during the Passover week in the Ashkenazi tradition. And that alternative is quinoa flakes, since quinoa is indeed allowed. See the Notes section of the recipe.
Basically, all you need to do is substitute an equivalent amount of quinoa flakes for the oats. Ancient Harvest ® quinoa flakes are Kosher, though not specifically Kosher for Passover. Pereg ® makes quinoa flakes that are Kosher for Passover.
More tips for vegan potato kugel
- I highly recommend doubling the recipe if you have a larger crowd to serve. This simple and tasty dish doesn’t make a huge helping and goes down easy. So make extra!
- See the Notes section in the recipe box for shortcuts that will make this dish a snap to prepare, and which will make this do-able even if you don’t have a food processor with a grating blade.
- This is a great dish for Rosh Hashanah (the Jewish New Year). It’s welcome most any time, though, and you need not wait for a holiday to enjoy it. You don’t have to be Jewish to enjoy kugel, but if you are, this dish will evoke all kinds of food nostalgia, even if you don’t have a bubbe in your past who made it for you!
- Can I make this ahead of time and freeze it? Sometimes you want to get ahead of holiday food prep, so this question is understandable. Sadly, the answer to this, at least in my opinion, is no. Potatoes change texture when frozen after being cooked, losing flavor and becoming watery.
Photos by Hannah Kaminsky, BittersweetBlog.com.
Explore more …
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Vegan Potato Kugel
Vegan potato kugel, a Jewish classic for holidays and Sabbath, is easy to make. It requires at least an hour in the oven — so plan ahead! I highly recommend doubling the recipe for holiday meals — everyone wants seconds!
Ingredients
- 2/3 cup quick-cooking oats (or use quinoa flakes, see Note)
- 2 pounds potatoes, preferably golden or red-skinned (or see shortcut in Notes)
- 3 medium carrots, peeled (or see shortcut in Notes)
- 2 medium onions, or 1 large
- 1/4 cup neutral vegetable oil, such as safflower
- 2 teaspoons salt-free seasoning (like Mrs. Dash® or Frontier®)
- 1/4 cup finely chopped fresh parsley, optional
- Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400º F.
- Place the oats in a small heatproof bowl and cover with 1 1/3 cups boiling water. Cover and set aside.
- If the potatoes are organic and clean, scrub and leave the skins on. Cut into chunks and grate with the coarse grating blade of a food processor. Transfer to a mixing bowl (transfer in batches as needed, as the container gets filled).
- Cut the carrots and onion into chunks and grate in the food processor. Transfer to the mixing bowl with the potatoes.
- Add the cooked oats, oil, seasoning, and parsley to the potato mixture and stir together. Season with salt and pepper and stir again.
- Generously coat the bottom and sides of a 9- by 13-inch casserole dish with oil. This will help the kugel to develop a nice crispy crust.
- Pour in the potato mixture and pat in evenly using the back of a spatula. If you’d like to give the top an extra crispy crust, mist with cooking oil spray; this is entirely optional.
- Bake for 60 to 70 minutes, or until golden brown and crusty. Let stand for 10 minutes or so, then cut into squares to serve.
Notes
To double the recipe, simply double the recipe! You can then bake this in two casserole dishes.
To make this Passover-friendly, substitute an equivalent amount of quinoa flakes for the oats — 2/3 cup quinoa and 1 1/3 cups boiling water; let stand for a few minutes. Ancient Harvest® quinoa flakes are Kosher, though not specifically Kosher for Passover. Pereg® has quinoa flakes that are Kosher for Passover.
Shortcuts, or if you don't own a food processor:
- Use a 2-pound bag of frozen organic hash brown potatoes, which are basically raw grated potatoes. Sometimes they’re seasoned (salt, pepper, garlic), sometimes not; your choice. Why organic? Frozen organic hash browns have a lot more flavor. I learned that the hard way one Hanukkah when my latkes came out really meh. You can let the thawed hash browns thaw for a bit on the kitchen counter, but you can use them straight out of the bag, frozen.
- You can also use pre-grated carrots. These are a little long, so you might want to cut them here and there with kitchen shears or a knife. Use about 1 packed cup; a bit more doesn't hurt.
- As for the onion, use two medium onions, then quarter and slice them very thinly.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
8Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 154Total Fat: 7gSaturated Fat: 1gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 6gCholesterol: 0mgSodium: 55mgCarbohydrates: 20gFiber: 3gSugar: 2gProtein: 3g
Nutrition data is always an estimate depending on program used to calculate and exact products used.
See more delicious vegan casseroles and skillets.
My son is allergic to eggs, so thank you!
You’re very welcome, Ellie! See our vegan challah, as well: https://theveganatlas.com/vegan-challah-a-tender-loaf-for-holidays-and-shabbat/
Im confused. So are oats ok for passover or not? U said to sub with quinoa flakes for passover.
Lauren, oats are not Passover friendly. That’s why I suggest subbing quinoa flakes for Passover in the Notes section of the recipe. I’m sorry that wasn’t made clear!
Can potato starch be substituted for quinoa flakes? I have a severe intolerance to quinoa but woukd love to make this!
Stacy, if you don’t need to make this during Passover week, oatmeal works great, but since you’re inquiring now, I assume you’re looking to make it within the week of Passover. I can’t say with any confidence that potato starch would work, as I haven’t tried it; but several readers have asked about using potato starch in the vegan matzo balls as well (https://theveganatlas.com/vegan-matzo-balls/), so I’ll have to experiment!
Meanwhile, if you want to take a chance and make this with potato starch, can you come back and report?
I thought your vegan matzo balls came out really good ( I’ve tried like every recipe out there btw ) so now I’m trying something else. This looks like it’s going to be a winner, too. I’m trying out your shortcut method first, since you say the kugel can’t be made ahead and frozen. I found the frozen organic hash brown potatoes but what do I do with it? Do I thaw it or cook it? I assume you don’t use it from frozen but who knows? Anyway, I look forward to your reply because I’d like to make this as soon as possible. Thanks so much!
Hi Marlene — thanks for your kind thoughts on the matzo balls! You can use the hash browns straight out of the bag. The other ingredients in the recipe warm them up a bit as everything is mixed together, or you can thaw for a little while. I just clarified that in the Notes section. Because they’re in the hot oven for a good while, they come out nicely. I hope that helps!
Oops! Sorry for the ( now unnnecessary ) second comment. I thought maybe I did something wrong and this one had gotten lost. Thanks for clarifying!
Hello Nava. Thank you for this recipe. I made it yesterday as a pre-Passover test. There are no instructions here for using the frozen potatoes so I took a swing at it and thawed them briefly in the microwave (@ 2-3 minutes ). They were moist but not wet so they didn’t seem to require draining. I hope that was all that I needed to do. I used the thawed potatoes along with the other ingredients and it came out delicious. In fact, my husband said he’d rather have this kugel than the regular one we’d normally have. The only thing I’d like to mention is that it was just under a half-inch thick once done, so it was really more like a large 9 x 13″ latke than what I’d call a kugel. I think next time ( this Passover ) I will double the recipe so it will be thicker and have the onion and carrot pieces be a little larger, I think my pieces were perhaps a bit too small. If I double it will it need to cook longer? Anyway, thanks for the recipe. I know it’s going to be a real hit with everyone, vegan and non-vegan alike.
Thank you so much for the feedback, Marlene. I’m wondering if I should make this in a smaller casserole dish or as you suggested double the recipe so it will be thicker … will do so before Passover!
How far in advance can this be made without compromising texture or flavor?
Hi Leslie — I’d say two days; perhaps bake but not all the way through, then when it’s close to serving time, finish up with about 15 minutes in the hot oven, or until golden and crisp.
Hi there, this looks great! Do you know if you could you use normal quinoa instead of flaked quinoa? How might that affect the cooking time? Thank you!
Hi Lena — You might try this with regular quinoa, overcooked to the point of being a bit mushy, to be the “glue” that holds this together. Start with 2/3 cup quinoa cooked in 2 cups water until absorbed; if not quite mushy, add 1/4 cup water at a time and continue to cook until it is.