Everyone knows that the best food comes out of grandma’s kitchen — with perfectly seasoned cookware, years of experience, the time and patience to make time-consuming dishes and a good dose of nostalgia, their food is oh-so comforting. We’ve rounded up The Nosher’s top 10 Jewish grandma recipes, to pay tribute to saftas, bubbes and babushkas around the world.
Savory
From slow-cooked staples Shabbat staples to quick weeknight meals, these savory dishes are packed with flavor.
1. Stuffed Cabbage
This quintessential Ashkenazi dish is comforting, hearty and proof that the tastiest food isn’t always the prettiest.
2. Iraqi Apricot Meatballs
This 2,000-year-old dish, known as mishmishiya, ingryieh and margat hamidh-Hilu, comes together in 1 hour. The whole family will love these sweet-and-sour meatballs that (bonus!) keep in the fridge for up to four days.
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3. Super Fluffy Matzah Ball Soup
“This is the only recipe I’ve come across that measures up to my grandmother’s,” writes Chef Andrew Zimmern. Enough said.
4. Jachnun
This caramelized, sweet-savory Yemenite pastry is the best way to begin the weekend. And while these days it’s rare to make it from scratch, if anyone is going to, it’s grandma.
5. Chraimeh
This savory, spicy fish dish from North Africa is a taste of home for many Jews across the world (and much more unifying than divisive gefilte fish). Make it for Shabbat or anytime you want a hearty meal.
Sweet
Whether it’s a quick dessert to whip up when things get rocky or the ever-present members of the cookie jar on the counter, nothing fills our hearts and bellies like grandma’s baking.
6. Sutlach
This creamy Sephardi rice pudding is super quick to whip up when you’re desperate for a bowl of comfort food.
7. Raspberry-Walnut Rugelach
From the grandmother of Jewish American cooking, Joan Nathan, comes this comforting rugelach recipe that will transport you back to yesteryear.
8. Chocolate Chip Mandel Bread
Every grandmother knows that a home-baked treat is a mandatory accompaniment to a cup of tea or coffee, and these chocolate chip mandel bread, aka mandelbrot, are perfect for dunking.
9. Kichels
It doesn’t get better than these perfectly crisp, puffy, delightfully light bow-tie cookies sprinkled with confectioners sugar.
10. Tayglach
We’re on a mission to save these Ashkenazi honey-soaked dough balls from extinction. Yes, they’re a bit patchke, but nothing says “Shana Tova” like a tumbling pile of tayglach, just like grandma used to make.
For more Jewish-grandma-approved recipes, check out these 18 dishes with big bubbe energy.
