Name: Vegan Potato Kugel
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 45 min
Total time: 1 h
Cuisine: American
Ingredients: 3 lbs russet (or other) potatoes, peeled if desired and coarsely grated; 1 large white or yellow onion, peeled and coarsely grated; 4 tbsp freshly ground flaxseed + 6 tbsp water (or any egg replacer); ½ cup potato starch (see note 2); 3 tbsp nutritional yeast; 1 ½ tsp sea salt; Freshly cracked black pepper, to taste; 3 tbsp coconut milk or high heat oil of choice; ½ tsp each garlic and onion powder; Pinch of sea salt

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Like a giant tater tot, this Vegan Potato Kugel deserves to be a main dish as well as a side. It’s so delicious: crispy on the outside, well seasoned, and full of gooey potato goodness on the inside.

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Kugel on a plate with information on Jewish ebook

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Hey Internet, I’ve shared with you a kugel before and y’all went crazy for it--and some of you didn’t even know what it was but you loved it anyway. I’m talking about my vegan spinach noodle kugel.

Well, I’m bringing you a new vegan kugel today in honor of the newest edition of my Plant Based Jewish Recipes e-Book now with 50 recipes! I added 14 more recipes, 12 of them kosher for Passover. And two, I’m a bit embarrassed to admit, were the hamantaschen recipes I didn’t get into the book in time for Purim this year. Oops.

But, blunder aside, I’m excited to be sharing this vegan potato kugel with you today because it’s amazing.

Potato kugel is another baked dish like regular noodle kugel, but it’s savory and made of shredded potatoes.

I compare it to a giant tater tot because that’s what it tastes like to me. It’s also kind of like a big latke, for my fellow Jews.

But no matter what you call it, this dish is amazing, easy to make, and I’m pretty sure you’re going to love it.

We didn’t think it needed anything but a cute little sprinkle of parsley on top, but you could load it up with salsa, avocado, herbs, vegan sour cream, vegan cheddar cheese, or anything you’d like, really!

You could also switch up the potatoes with sweet potato and that would be pretty dang good.

Oh man, I sound like I’m already talking about what you need to make this dish.

What You’ll Need

Surprise, surprise, I’m going to state the obvious: you need potatoes for this dish. I find that russet potatoes do best here, because they’re firmer and more starchy.

However, if you prefer gold potatoes, red potatoes, or sweet potatoes, you can use those instead.

You don’t need to peel your potatoes if you don’t want to--if you don’t, scrub them well with a vegetable brush.

Anyway, moving on.

I included onions in this recipe because it’s both somewhat traditional and also because it’s delicious. They get grated and cooked along with the potatoes so you’re not going to get a big bite of onion; it’s just going to enhance the flavor.

To bind this vegan potato kugel together, we’ll need a few things.

For its moisture and great binding properties, I’ve used flax eggs. A flax egg is made by mixing ground flaxseed and water--though I’ve lowered the normal amount of water to keep this kugel stiffer.

If you’re observing Passover laws (like not eating chametz), you’ll want to grind whole flaxseeds yourself in a spice grinder or similar.

For the dry ingredient, I’ve used potato starch which can be found in the baking section of most supermarkets. This ideal texturally because of its thickening properties.

You can substitute the potato starch with tapioca starch, arrowroot powder, or cornstarch.

For flavoring the potato mixture, I just recommend salt, freshly cracked black pepper, and nutritional yeast (optional)--it doesn’t make the vegan kugel cheesy, it just tastes savory.

You could add other spices and herbs if you’d like.

Now, one more thing. I’ll explain more about this later, but we’re going to be adding a small liquid mixture to the bottom of the baking dish to keep the potatoes from sticking and create a delicious crispy crust.

I don’t use oil, so I’ve used a bit of coconut milk as the base of this mixture. Oil will work just fine--so use a high heat oil like avocado or sunflower oil. If you go with coconut I promise you can’t taste it--we’re only talking about 3-4 tablespoons.

To this coconut milk (or oil) mixture I add a pinch of salt, garlic powder, and onion powder because it gives that bottom crust a really nice flavor.

Tips for Making Vegan Potato Kugel

So there’s a bit of a trick here to getting a super crispy and delicious crust. We start by preheating the pan with the oven.
The coconut (or oil) mixture gets added to the hot pan, spread around with a silicone pastry brush and then the potatoes get added and pressed down with a wooden spoon. If you are nervous about adding things to a REALLY hot pan, don’t preheat with the baking dish in it--just make sure you grease your baking dish well beforehand. The crust will not be AS crispy but it will still be good.
So, preheat your oven to 400° F (205° C) WITH a deep 9 inch square or a 16x9 inch baking dish in it (ceramic or metal work great, glass not recommended) -- or without it if you’re choosing that option.
Mix the ground flaxseed and water in a small bowl and let sit. Wash, peel, and grate your potatoes, either with a food processor with a grating attachment or a grater on the large size holes.
Squeeze excess water out of potatoes in a colander. These do not have to be quite as dry as the potatoes for the latkes, but you don’t want it to be too wet either. Drain the grated onion too.
Add the grated potatoes, grated onion, and flaxseed mixture and mix well with your hands. Rinse your hands, then add the potato starch, nutritional yeast, 1 ½ teaspoon sea salt, and black pepper and again mix well with hands.
In a small bowl, mix the coconut milk or oil, garlic powder, onion powder, and the pinch of salt. Open the oven door, use an oven mitt to pull the rack out slightly, and quickly pour the mixture over. Use a silicone basting brush or spatula to quickly and CAREFULLY spread the mixture over the pan, it will sizzle loudly. If you didn’t preheat with the pan in the oven, add the mixture now, then add the potato mixture. Bake for 10 minutes longer than indicated below.
Quickly add the potato mixture immediately after, it will also sizzle. Use the back of a wooden spoon to press the mixture evenly and firmly into your pan, being very careful not to touch the pan with your skin or getting too close to the steam. Use your oven mitt to push the rack back into the oven.
Bake uncovered for 40-45 minutes until the top is nicely browned. You can broil 5 minutes after if you’d like a browner top. If you notice the top burning before the 45 minutes is up, cover it with foil so the top doesn’t burn before the inside is fully cooked. Top with parsley and serve with vegan sour cream or anything else you like. Serve immediately.
Refrigerate leftovers in an airtight container up to 5 days. I suggest reheating in the oven, air fryer, or a toaster oven to retain crispy texture.

More Plant-Based Jewish Recipes

I grew up eating a ton of awesome Jewish foods. However, I haven't had many of them since going vegan 3 years ago. So I've set out to veganize my favorites!

I just updated (as in, this morning, hah) my e-Book with 14 new recipes including this one.

My Plant-Based Jewish Recipes e-Book is now available for purchase and now has 50 vegan Jewish recipes perfect for Chanukah, Passover, Rosh Hashanah and more.

Purchase and immediately receive your e-book that you can read digitally or print out and make tons of delicious Jewish comfort food recipes such as latkes, kugel, knishes, lox (!), black and white cookies, babka, chocolate toffee matzah crunch, and more! This book contains over 30 exclusive recipes that will never be released on the blog.

If you’ve already purchased my Plant-Based Jewish Recipes e-book, you’ll automatically get an updated version free of charge. Yup.

Click here to purchase or read more about the book.

Free Jewish Recipes

Not sure you’re ready to get the book yet? I understand. Try some of these free sample recipes right here on my blog, then if you like you can buy the book for an ad-free experience and tons of exclusive recipes.

Anything Else?

As always, I hope you love this recipe--I know I do, and Mr. Zardyplants does too. We devour the entire pan every time I make it.

This Vegan Potato Kugel is:

Crispy on the outside
Gooey and potato-y on the inside
Savory
Thick
Satisfying
And perfect for a great side or main for a nice family dinner or holiday meal, Jewish or not!

Let me know in the comments below if you make this recipe or tag me @Zardyplants on Instagram so I can see your beautiful recreations! If you tag me on IG, I will share your post in my stories :)

Also, one quick request: if you love how this recipe looks or tastes, please leave me a 5-star rating and a nice comment–ratings help more people find my recipes which helps me keep providing them! Thank you!

<3 Liz

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