This delicious potato kugel is based on my friend Lauren’s recipe and she swears by using red-skin potatoes. The cup idea comes from my husband’s best friend Adam’s mom, Geanie (what a mouthful). Hubby remembers going to their house on Saturday nights and raiding the fridge for these cups. The best part about them is that every piece is a crusty corner piece, so nobody has to fight over that coveted crunch.
MORE: BROWSE ALL OUR KUGEL RECIPES
Make Ahead Tip: While potato kugel will be at its best made fresh (refrigeration or freezing will cause it to lose some crunch), you can make it ahead and even freeze it with these instructions.
1. Slightly under bake, cool completely , wrap tightly and freeze.
2. Thaw at room temperature, reheat, uncovered at 375°F for 10 minutes.
Potato Kugel Cups
Servings
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 3 eggs
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 6 large Idaho potatoes
- 1 large onion quartered
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425°F. Liberally oil six (4- to 6-ounce) glass dessert dishes or custard cups with 1 to 2 tablespoons of evoo each. Place custard cups on a baking pan.
- Fill a large bowl with cold water and, as you peel potatoes, place them in cold water to prevent browning.
- Place the pan of cups in 425°F oven to heat up the evoo (be very careful with glass, extreme temperature changes can cause it to shatter) .
- Beat eggs in a small bowl. Add salt and pepper, mix well, and set aside.
- Pour ¾ cup of evoo in a small saucepan and place over medium-low heat.
- Cut potatoes lengthwise into halves or quarters so they fit into food processor feed tube. Process potatoes and onions using the blade that creates thin, shoestring-like strips.
- Transfer potatoes and onions to a large bowl, add egg mixture and heated oil from stovetop, mix very well. Remove any large pieces of potatoes or onions that weren’t processed properly.
- Remove heated cups from the oven and spoon potato mixture evenly into hot, oiled cups.
- Bake at 425°F for 1 hour. If the sides are still pale, cook for 20 minutes longer until the tops look crunchy and sides look golden and browned. Loosen edges with a knife, unmold and serve on a platter.
Tips:
- To make this as a potato kugel pie, bake at 425°F in a 9-inch round glass baking dish for 1 hour 20 minutes, depending on desired crunchiness.
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Should I double the recipe if I”m having 12 people? Also, how far in advance can I make them? If I’m using muffin tins, does it matter what size they are?
I think you can use large muffin pans you will need 30 potatoes, but if you use smaller pans, less potatoes. Making each person an individual cup is very cute, but a lot of work. I cannot tell you what my suggestion would be. I think a Side dish is lovely and delicious but not the centerpiece.
Reheating the cups take some of crunch out of them and storing them in the fridge takes a lot of crunch out of them.
Hope this helps.
Enjoy!
I have 18 people coming, so does that mean I need to 5X the recipe….30 potatoes, 15 eggs, etc. I am assuming the 4-6 per serving would be more like 4 to get a nice rise on the cups? I love the idea of the cups, but do you think I should do the tray and if so, would it be as crunchy and yummy?
You can use a box grater in the small side and be sure to squeeze out as much water as possible. I suggest rolling the shredded potatoes in a clean towel and squeezing.
Then proceed with the recipe.
Thank you, thank you. I will definitely be putting this recipe on my to do list. Can’t wait. Thank you again.
Hope you love it.
Planning to freeze the kugel cups. Is it best to freeze the raw batter, or to bake then freeze. If baking do I underbake & then reheat frozen? Any suggestions for freezing & either baking later or baking then reheating before serving would be appreciated. Thanks. Paula
Usually an 8 ounce or more is a large potato. Enjoy!
Thank you, that helps.
hopefully this helps, when it comes to large onions I tell people about the size of a soft ball. that to me is large, medium a hard ball and small about the size of a tennis ball. Its like potatoes if I don’t tell my husband when he is out shopping for fist size and just say large, he comes back with spuds you can use in a football game.
Thank you for the visual.
This recipe sounds fantastic. Only thing, sadly I don’t have access to a food processer. I guess my question runs like this, is there another way the potatoes completely changing the end result? In other words would hand shredding them make them to thick and thereby would not crisp up the same?
I’m sorry, I can deal with guessing what one large onion is, but can you please give me an approximate weight for 6 large Idaho potatoes? Thank you.
they will be delicious but may not be as crispy as before they frozen. freezing food is a great way to enjoy food later…but freezers are harsh environments and it takes its toll on texture.
Enjoy!
Are they still good after frozen?
So awesome, good to know it works well with the skin.
Delicious. We found them a tiny bit salty but otherwise YUM! A definite keeper recipe. Oh BTW I left the skins on. 🙂
You can either peel or use unpeeled potatoes. Not peeling them will only slightly change the appearance and not the flavor or cooking time. The recipe is similar to a kugel recipe and because it is baked in a similar way, it is like a mini kugel.
Shalom Jamie. Why do you peel the potatoes? I usually keep the skins of the potatoes on because the skin has lots of vitamins. It also saves a lot of time not peeling.
Why is this called a Kugel?
Gentile Mormon girl here preparing a Seder/Pesach meal for my family of ten in order to better understand our friends in the House of Israel. Thank you for this recipe. I can’t wait to eat it!
All you do to bake in a 9 x 12 pan is to use 9 potatoes and 1.5 quantity of everything, the video lists 6 potatoes and that will work too if you want a thinner kugel
Ty!! Making It today Chang samaech!!
how do I get the recipe for the kugle in the video, in the 9 x 12 pan.. thick and full ,not the cups
Thank you Jamie. It makes the recipe even easier. I plan to make these in muffin cups in the morning and reheat them before serving for my seder. I can’t wait. They look delicious.
Hi Debbie, squeezing water from potatoes after shredding makes sense when frying up latkes to ensure they are extra crispy. Here you want a soft, thick center and when baked a high temp in a glass baking dish with this amount of oil the top, sides and bottom have no trouble crisping to perfection.
I am curious why you do not need to squeeze out the water from the potatoes after shredding. I plan to make this for Passover.
I find potato kugel works great to make ahead and I am not sure a popover pan would work as well, but if it is all you have you can try it.
yes agreed with Tamar – whatever you use just make sure you grease really! well – enJOY!
The Potato Kugel Cups look so yummy, I will be making them for Passover this year. Can they be baked the day before and just warmed up the day of the Seder? Also, rather than baking them in Pyrex or muffin/cupcake tins, how about using popover pans?
Could I use a muffin tin instead? Doing this for a catered seder, and do not want to purchase additional kitchen ware to make these.
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Yes, of course.
Oh Andrea!!! Thank you thank you thank you!!! SO are you :-)!!!!!!!!!
Jamie Geller is the best!
YAYEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!! Thanks for sharing again 🙂
hese Kugel Cups is the second recipe I’m sharing on this post. My grandkids love this recipe and the fact that they have their own individual little potato cupcake. I love the lacy effect the potato shreds make when they bake
ok Debby so sorry that shouldn’t happen. So you probably didn’t put enough potato mixture into each pyrex – pack it in to the top so you have more of a muffin than a thick pancake. Also if you found the oil overheated shorten the warming time – heat it just for a few minutes toward the end of your prep and not at the beginning of your prep. But it’s important to note that either way the pyrex/glass cups are hard to clean and can become stained from this recipe. That’s why some people opt to use disposable muffin tins – you don’t get the same all around crunch as glass BUT you also don’t get the same mess or time consuming clean up — so like all things it’s a toss up as to what you prefer. Good luck next time around. Let us know how it comes out.
Hi there I am so so sorry just getting to this now… I have never worked with the pre shredded potatoes but just know that it’s almost impossible to cook this kugel for too long. Meaning if it’s not done or browning to your liking you can loosely cover it with tin foil to keep the top from burning lower the oven temp to 375 even 350 and just let it go. (Uncover when you like it to crisp the top if it’s not already crisp). Note that the color may turn from white inside to light brown in color (it takes A LOT of time for that to happen but just warning you) but it’s still divine!!! There is this “thing” out there called “Overnight Potato Kugel” which literally cooks overnight or you can even put cooked kugel in a slow cooker overnight – it turns caramel in color but really there is nothing quite as divine as good overnight kugel. So anyway point us you can keep cooking it longer at lower temp until you feel it’s done to your liking.
Sorry, Jamie sent this message, but I wasn’t able to get to it until now – I am so so very sorry to confuse you. Both work 6 potatoes will just be thinner 9 a deep dish/thicker potato kugel.
Yes, it will be great.
I baked these for the Passover Seder and although they tasted good, they looked more like thick mini pancakes. What did I do wrong? The heated oiled containers mostly overheated the oil so it was brown and thick. Now it is super hard to clean. Help! I want to make them again, but need your advice. Thanks.
I love the idea of these little potato cups and not having a lot of free time before Passover this year I bought the OreIda shredded potatoes to use instead of shredding my own. I let them thaw completely and then proceeded with the recipe as written. They have now been baking in the little 6 oz Pyrex glass dishes for one hour. The tops are nice and browned and the sides and bottoms are bubbling with the oil I generously rubbed in the dishes. However they are not browning. What do I do now? Bake them longer???? Please help. This is a dry run before actually making them for tomorrow night.
Sorry, I’m back. Still confused about quantities. You mention baking in a 9 by 13 pan with 9 potatoes and 1.5 quantity of everything, but the video shows 6 potatoes, 3 eggs, and it’s baked in a 9 by 13 dish! Help! I know Pesach starts tomorrow, but I am confused! Thanks!
Can I use ramekins or small soufflé dishes. Will they be as crispy
so sorry LP I have never heard of a sweet white potato kugel but I have loads of sweet kugel recipes like: sweet noodle kugels, sweet potato kugels, butternut squash kugels etc… check out this link for 100+ great kosher kugel recipes: http://bit.ly/1M4r9fE
Hey Judy! So happy you are making this again… SO… it really depends on the size/weight of your potatoes and your pie pan. A 9-inch deep dish round casserole dish should do the trick but if you are using a standard shallow pie pan/plate then yes you would need 2. I have also made this in an 8 inch high sided (deep) casserole dish or I have multiplied the recipe by 1.5 (9 potatoes, 5 eggs, etc…) and baked it off in a 9 x 13.
It’s safe to leave out until it becomes room temp at which point you will want to refrigerate or rewarm for serving. Should take about an hour or so to cool completely.
(I am sorry I am late to answer this Q – I was travelling but) YES YES YES!!! If you made kugel “cups” then remove from the glass cups/muffin tin and rewarm on a baking dish/sheet in a low oven.
Heyyyyy Carol! I like extra virgin olive oil but you can also use canola oil in this recipe with GREAT! success. (Especially if you don’t use olive oil much some find the taste strong, canola oil being more neutral flavored of course.) Please come back and let us know here in the comments how you liked the recipe. enJOY!
Do you have a sweet version of this??
Hi Jamie. I made this in individual glass cups last year for a small seder, and it was fabulous. But this year I’m having 13 people, so I’m going to do it as a kugel pie. Can you please advise me about quantity? One person commenting here said that your recipe filled TWO 9″ pie pans, but it looks like you say ONE. Help!! Thanks!
Dinner is at 6. How early can I make it and feel out and just reheat for few minutes? In other words how long can I keep at room temp?
Ok. Dinner at 6 pm. Can I make at 3 pm and leave out and just warm up. Can they stay out for few hours?
Hi Jamie, My processor does not have the blade you suggested using, so, I ordered the Kitchen Aid, 9 cup which comes with the potato blade.
My question is, as I don’t use olive oil much,… which one should I buy as the selection of different tastes,. like “light, or extra virgin? Can’t wait to make this…so crispy, so good!
Oh Iris I am soooooooooo happy you found us! EnJOY the site and let us know if you have any Qs or need any help navigating/finding what you need.
Just found your website when googling potato kugel
Hi Devorah! So happy you think it’s divine! OK so the easiest way to do this is 3 super large potatoes or 4 large potatoes, use 2 whole eggs and half everything else.
Hi I’ve made your kugel and it’s divine! Question: my family is small so 4 potatoes would suffice-what is the proper amount of each ingredient for that amount of potatoes?