6 Hanukkah Recipes You’re Gonna Love

Hanukkah is all about oil, miracles and that one hero who always remembers where the candles are stored. And, obviously, eating with family. Hanukkah food is top-notch: doughnuts, latkes, kugel, brisket—what’s not to love? But it’s also true that cooking beloved, traditional dishes for your whole family can be…a little fraught. 

First, accept that no one is ever going to admit your latkes are better than bubbe’s. But here’s the good news: Because you’re not bubbe, you’re allowed to try something new. (Honestly, imagine the revolt if bubbe showed up with beet latkes.) You can honor traditions while also having fun with unorthodox ingredients and creative spins on the classics. 

Grab your HexClad pans and let’s fry.

1. Build a better latke.  

Latkes are non-negotiable. You don’t host Thanksgiving without a pie; you don’t throw a Hanukkah party without latkes. These Hawaij Latkes with Labneh and Gravlax by chef Ben Siman Tov feature the classic crunchy, salty potatoes and onions but also hawaij spice, a warm and punchy Yemenite blend of cumin, coriander, cardamom, turmeric and black pepper. The assertive spice makes the familiar fried potato pancakes into something very special. They’re topped with smoked salmon and labne, a Middle Eastern yogurt so thick, rich and tangy it puts sour cream to shame.

Sizzle the latkes in a HexClad fry pan for gorgeous, even browning and no sticking, making clean-up a breeze.

2. Borrow a brisket from a legend. 

Nancy Silverton started her career as the first pastry chef at Spago, and she’s been cooking at some of the world’s best restaurants ever since. Her definitive Brisket al Forno is elaborate comfort food, a holiday-worthy extravaganza of meltingly tender beef seasoned with dried chiles, mustard seeds and an entire head of garlic. Silverton serves the brisket with both a rich horseradish cream and a zesty salsa verde. 

You can (and should) make the sauces three days in advance, so that when the party rolls around, all you need to do is let the brisket braise slowly in a Dutch oven, where it creates its own jus. We’d never kick a brisket seasoned with onion soup mix out of bed. But this brisket? It’s a Hanukkah power move. 

3. Make too much matzo ball soup. 

Just kidding: There’s no such thing as too much matzo ball soup. This is especially true around the holidays, when a bowl of comforting soup can work a special, necessary magic. Your uncle is mad about the traffic? Your siblings are fighting about politics? Your cousin has a new partner who double-dips? Take a deep breath, ladle out big bowls of soup and watch everyone chill out, like clockwork.

This Big Batch Matzo Ball Soup recipe by Natasha Feldman boasts a super-flavorful broth, seasoned with classics like carrots and dill, as well as generous, fluffy matzo balls. You can make the balls either with a regular matzo meal or with a gluten-free matzo meal, so everyone can enjoy it. Make it in a big stock pot and watch people go back for thirds. 

4. The only way to improve kugel is to fry it.

Kugel is a rich, eggy casserole of either wide egg noodles or potatoes, sometimes slightly sweet, always a nostalgic crowd pleaser. Since Hanukkah is the one time of year that you are practically required to make fried food, Jake Cohen decided to take this mandate all the way to its logical conclusion, and fry his potato kugel. The result? Kugel fries. 

Dollop the fries with sour cream and salmon roe. Bonus: Because the fries are sliced into neat rectangles, you can serve them as finger food appetizers. 

5. Punch up your donuts.

Donuts of all kinds are traditional at Hannukah, commemorating the miracle of the oil that lasted for eight days. These Moroccan sfinge from chef Ben Siman Tov are rustic: easy to shape and fry. Versions of these are made and served all over North Africa, often with a cup of mint tea or very strong, cardamom-spiced coffee. 

What makes these sfinge particularly extraordinary is their finishing coating: They get a dip in a mix of sugar and freeze-dried raspberries, giving them a fruity flavor as well as a glitzy, festive fuchsia color. 

6. Sufganiyot can be deluxe.

Israeli jelly donuts are a classic Hanukkah treat. This new sufganiyot recipe is flawless, resulting in fluffy, golden-brown, vanilla yeasted donuts. Choose-your-own adventure for the filling: We highly recommend the super-rich, silky vanilla pastry cream in Ben Simian Tov’s recipe, but you could also go off-script and fill them with nutella, peanut butter, or any jelly you like. Why choose? Two batches seems prudent.

Let Hanukkah be delicious, fun, a little chaotic, and fully yours. And don’t be surprised when bubbe asks for the recipes.