Many people know about the custom of eating apples dipped in honey on Rosh Hashanah, but there are many more food-related customs for the Jewish New Year. Sweet foods are popular, to symbolize the sweet year we hope will follow. In the Sephardic community, many families hold a Rosh Hashanah seder where a series of symbolic foods are eaten before the meal.
Each of the chosen foods —generally a pomegranate, date, string bean, beet, pumpkin, leek, and fish head — symbolize a wish or blessing for prosperity and health in the coming year.
Find more Rosh Hashanah recipes here and on our lively Jewish food blog, The Nosher!
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Rosh Hashanah Recipes
Challah
Chocolate Cranberry Challah Rolls with Citrus Sugar
Rosh Hashanah Appetizers and Entrees
Brisket, a traditional cut of meat on Rosh Hashanah
Seitan Brisket, a vegetarian alternative to brisket
Pomegranate Brisket with Cranberry Succotash
Pomegranate and Honey Glazed Chicken
Crockpot Sweet and Sour Brisket
Molly Yeh’s Apple Cider Brisket
Cocktail Meatballs with Pignolis and Currants
Instant Pot Georgian Pomegranate Chicken
Sheet Pan Tzimmes-Roasted Chicken Thighs
Rosh Hashanah Sides
Tzimmes, a hot sweet carrot dish
Sephardic Jeweled Rosh Hashanah Rice
Saffron Rice with Raisins and Pine Nuts
Couscous with Seven Vegetables
Rosh Hashanah Desserts and Drinks
Tayglach, dough boiled in honey
Salted Honey Apple Upside-Down Cake
Sfratti, honey walnut stick cookies
Recipes Featuring Symbolic Rosh Hashanah Foods
Black-Eyed Peas with Turmeric and Pomegranate
Braised Leeks with Thyme and Pomegranate
Green Beans and Honey Tahini
challah
Pronounced: KHAH-luh, Origin: Hebrew, ceremonial bread eaten on Shabbat and Jewish holidays.
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Rosh Hashanah
Pronounced: roshe hah-SHAH-nah, also roshe ha-shah-NAH, Origin: Hebrew, the Jewish new year.
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Sephardic
Pronounced: seh-FAR-dik, Origin: Hebrew, describing Jews descending from the Jews of Spain.
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