Hanukkah Foods: Latkes, Sufganiyot, and Why We Eat Fried Food

If you have ever walked into a Jewish home during Hanukkah, you probably smelled it before you saw anything: oil sizzling in a pan and potatoes turning golden at the edges. Or maybe you have stood in a bakery in December staring at a tray of powdered-sugar doughnuts piled high. Hanukkah is a holiday you can taste, and almost every traditional dish has the same secret ingredient. This guide explains why, and walks you through the foods families love most.

What foods are eaten on Hanukkah? The most traditional Hanukkah foods are fried in oil, to remember the miracle of the oil that burned for eight days. The best known are latkes, crispy potato pancakes, and sufganiyot, jelly-filled doughnuts. Many families also eat dairy foods like cheese, and Jewish communities around the world have their own fried treats.

Why Do We Eat Fried Food on Hanukkah? It Starts With the Oil

The answer goes back to the story of Hanukkah itself. According to the Talmud, tractate Shabbat (21b), when the Maccabees rededicated the Temple in Jerusalem, they found only one small jar of pure olive oil, enough to light the Temple menorah for a single day. It burned for eight. Eating foods cooked in oil is a delicious way of remembering that miracle at your own table.

There is no law that says you must eat fried food on Hanukkah. It is a custom, and a very old and beloved one. If you are new to the holiday, our guide to what Hanukkah is tells the full story of the Maccabees and the oil.

Latkes: The Crispy Heart of the Hanukkah Table

For Jewish families with roots in Central and Eastern Europe, Hanukkah means latkes. Latke is a Yiddish word for a pancake, and the classic version is made from grated potatoes and onion, bound with egg and a little flour or matzah meal, then fried until crisp.

How Latkes Became Potato Pancakes

The potato latke is newer than you might think. Potatoes only became a common crop in Eastern Europe in the 1800s, and they were cheap and easy to grow through the winter. Before that, Hanukkah pancakes were often made with cheese or other grains, and Italian Jewish communities are said to have fried cheese pancakes for the holiday long before potatoes arrived. Once potatoes took over, the potato latke became the Hanukkah food for millions of families.

Applesauce or Sour Cream? The Great Latke Debate

It is one of the great friendly debates of the holiday. Many families serve latkes with applesauce, whose sweetness balances the salty crunch. Others swear by sour cream. Plenty of people put both on the table and let everyone choose. You can also try latkes with smoked salmon, a dollop of yogurt, or a sprinkle of sugar.

Sufganiyot: The Jelly Doughnuts of Hanukkah

In Israel, the Hanukkah food is the sufganiyah, plural sufganiyot: a round, deep-fried doughnut filled with jelly and dusted with powdered sugar. Bakeries across Israel make them for weeks before the holiday, with fillings like strawberry jam, custard, chocolate, and dulce de leche.

How Jelly Doughnuts Became an Israeli Tradition

Fried dough has been part of Hanukkah in many communities for centuries. A teaching often credited to Rabbi Maimon ben Yosef, the father of Maimonides, speaks of eating sofganin, fried dough, on Hanukkah. The jelly-filled version came from Central European bakeries and became a national favorite in Israel in the 20th century, helped along by bakeries and labor unions that promoted them as a holiday treat. Today, sufganiyot are to Hanukkah in Israel what latkes are to Hanukkah in America.

Why Some Families Eat Cheese on Hanukkah

There is a second, lesser-known Hanukkah food custom: eating dairy. It comes from the story of Judith, Yehudit, a brave woman whose story became linked to Hanukkah in medieval times. According to the tradition, she fed a salty cheese to an enemy general, gave him wine to quench his thirst, and when he fell asleep, she saved her town. The Rema, Rabbi Moshe Isserles, mentions the custom of eating cheese on Hanukkah in his notes to the Shulchan Aruch (Orach Chaim 670:2).

That is why some families serve cheese latkes, cheese blintzes, or a dairy meal on one night of Hanukkah. It is also a lovely way to bring a woman's courage into the holiday story.

Hanukkah Foods Around the World: Fried Treats in Every Kitchen

Jewish communities around the world each found their own way to celebrate with oil.

Bimuelos: The Sephardi Fried Puffs

Sephardi Jews, whose families trace back to Spain, make bimuelos or buñuelos: light, puffy fritters fried and then soaked in honey or sugar syrup. They are especially popular in Turkish and Greek Jewish homes.

Sfenj, Frittelle, and Other Fried Treats

Moroccan Jewish families make sfenj, airy fried doughnut rings often dipped in sugar or honey. Italian Jews have long made frittelle, sweet fritters. The ingredients change from place to place, but the oil, and the miracle it stands for, stays the same.

Hanukkah Sweets and Treats Kids Look Forward To

If you are cooking with children, Hanukkah is one of the most fun weeks of the year in the kitchen. Kids can help grate potatoes (with an adult close by), roll dough for fritters, or shake powdered sugar over sufganiyot. Even the smallest helpers can unwrap chocolate gelt for the dreidel game.

Chocolate Gelt and the Tradition Behind It

Chocolate coins wrapped in gold foil are a Hanukkah favorite for children. They grew out of the older custom of giving real coins, called gelt, during the holiday. Today they double as dreidel tokens, so you can play first and eat your winnings after. Our guide to how to play dreidel explains the game.

Hanukkah Cookies to Bake Together

Many families bake sugar cookies in Hanukkah shapes, like menorahs, dreidels, and stars, and decorate them with blue and white icing. They are not a traditional food in the religious sense, but they have become a modern favorite, and they make a lovely thing to bring to a neighbor or a friend who is celebrating alone.

Lighter Ways to Enjoy Hanukkah Foods

You do not have to deep fry everything to keep the custom. The point is to remember the oil, and there are many lighter ways to do it.

Baked and Air-Fried Latkes That Still Taste Like Hanukkah

Brush latkes with olive oil and bake them on a hot sheet pan, flipping once, or cook them in an air fryer. They will be less rich than pan-fried latkes but still crisp at the edges. Olive oil is a meaningful choice here, since it was olive oil that burned in the Temple.

Keeping Olive Oil at the Center of the Meal

Some families honor the holiday simply by using good olive oil throughout the meal: drizzled over a salad, roasted with vegetables, or served with bread for dipping. It is a gentle way to keep the custom if fried food does not suit your health or your taste.

A Simple Latke Method You Can Make Tonight

You do not need a recipe card to make good latkes. Here is the basic method most families follow:

1. Grate the potatoes and onion. Use about one onion for every four potatoes.
2. Squeeze out the liquid. Wrap the grated mix in a clean towel and wring it hard. This is the secret to crisp latkes.
3. Mix in egg and flour. Add one egg and two tablespoons of flour or matzah meal for every four potatoes, plus salt and pepper.
4. Heat the oil. Pour about a quarter inch of oil into a heavy pan and heat until a shred of potato sizzles right away.
5. Fry in small batches. Drop spoonfuls into the oil, flatten them a little, and fry until deep golden on both sides.
6. Drain and serve hot. Rest them on paper towels for a moment, then serve with applesauce, sour cream, or both.

A Full Table for Every Family

Hanukkah food is really about the table: the moment when everyone sits down together while the menorah burns in the window. Jewish tradition has always made sure that every family can take part. Maimonides taught that even a person living on charity should be helped to light the Hanukkah lights, and communities have long made a point of sharing holiday food with neighbors who have less.

At 18.fund, offered in collaboration with the Shabata Demalkata Foundation, donations help provide Shabbat meals and holiday essentials for families in need across the US, so more families can gather around a full table this Hanukkah. Our guide to what Hanukkah is tells the whole story behind the food. To make giving part of each night, read our night-by-night Hanukkah guide, and to learn the blessings you will say before you eat, see our guide to Hanukkah prayers and blessings. For more on giving to mark life's moments, read Chai traditions and when to give.

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