12 Restaurant-Worthy Recipes to Keep You Fed Through All 8 Nights of Hanukkah

Our very best savory Hanukkah recipes include tender braised brisket, Roman-Jewish fried artichokes, crisp latkes, and more.

By
Yasmine Maggio
Yasmine Maggio
Yasmine Maggio
Associate Editor
Yasmine is an Associate Editor at Serious Eats. Her work has been featured in Women’s Health and on L’Officiel USA, and she recently graduated from New York University with a master's in journalism. You can find her at Bleecker Street Pizza on any given weekend.
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Published December 12, 2025
Plate of potato latkes with sour cream and applesauce additional latkes on a cooling rack

Serious Eats / Vicky Wasik

With most holiday meals, you're pressured to go all out on a single day. Hanukkah has the benefit of lasting for eight days, which gives you over a week to eat your fill. After the chaos of Thanksgiving, it's nice to slow down and try a variety of dishes at a slower pace. To keep you satisfied throughout all eight nights of Hanukkah, we've gathered our very best savory recipes, including tender braised brisket, whole roasted fish, and Tuscan-Jewish fried chicken.

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  • Red Wine-Braised Beef Short Ribs

    red wine braised short ribs on a white plate

    Serious Eats / Vicky Wasik

    For a restaurant-quality meal at your Hanukkah table, turn to this short ribs recipe. We cook the beef low and slow in the oven to ensure juicy results. The sauce gets a boost from reduced port wine, which deepens the wine flavor while balancing out the acidity of the dry red wine. A packet of gelatin helps the sauce achieve glossy results. You're left with glazed, fork-tender meat that's perfect alongside a bed of mashed potatoes. And if you're looking for a way to speed up the process, try our pressure cooker version.

  • Pan-Roasted Rack of Lamb

    20190418-rack-of-lamb-vicky-wasik-16

    Serious Eats / Vicky Wasik

    With nothing more than a pan and some butter, garlic, and herbs, you can make an astoundingly delicious rack of lamb. An optional dry-brining step pre-seasons the meat and dries the exterior for faster browning. Basting the racks all over keeps the hot fat in contact with the meat, ensuring even cooking.

  • Slow-Roasted Boneless Leg of Lamb

    Overhead view of leg of lamb sliced

    Serious Eats / Jen Causey

    We're big believers in the reverse sear. One of the most surefire ways to properly cook a big piece of meat is to roast it at a very low temperature until it's just about done and then sear it in an oven cranked up as hot as you can get it. The technique is perfect for this leg of lamb stuffed with garlic, rosemary, and lemon zest.

  • Salt-Baked Whole Fish With Fresh Herbs

    A whole roasted black bass that was buried in a mound of salt on a baking sheet is exposed after the salt crust was cracked and removed.
    Serious Eats / Vicky Wasik.

    Baking a whole fish in salt may look impressive, but it's very easy. Simply moisten the salt, stuff the fish with whatever aromatics you want (herbs, citrus, etc.), rub its skin with oil, then bury it in the salt and cook until done.

    Continue to 5 of 12 below

  • Jewish-Style Braised Brisket With Onions and Carrots

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    Serious Eats / Daniel Gritzer

    No need to choose between Jewish brisket that's tender or moist—our recipe gives you both. The technique involves browning the brisket first, then slicing the meat thinly and braising it covered. Sealing the brisket in a cooking vessel retains juices by preventing moisture loss, ensuring the meat turns out succulent. Our pressure cooker brisket offers similar results while cutting down on braising time.

  • Perfect Roast Chicken

    Side view of a roast chicken

    Serious Eats / Amanda Suarez

    This recipe produces the ideal roast chicken, one that's perfectly cooked, evenly browned, and magazine-cover-worthy. A dry brine fully seasons the chicken and allows the skin to dehydrate, improving browning and crisping during cooking.

  • Roasted Sweet Potato Soup

    Overhead photo of sweet potato soup in a bowl.

    Serious Eats / Vicky Wasik

    This simple soup is made with roasted sweet potatoes, a splash of orange juice, and topped with crushed pistachios, olive oil, mint, scallions, and orange zest.

  • Lemon-Marinated Tuscan-Jewish Fried Chicken

    20150709-tuscan-fried-chicken-vicky-wasik-6.jpg

    Serious Eats / Vicky Wasik

    This recipes offers a bright, lemony flavor to balance out the rich juiciness of typical fried chicken. A quick brine in lemon juice, along with garlic and spices, helps flavor the meat without making it tough from the lemon's acidity. Then, the chicken gets a simple coating of flour and egg before frying. It's an easy Hanukkah main that still feels bright and special.

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  • Old-Fashioned Latkes

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    Serious Eats / Vicky Wasik

    You absolutely can't celebrate Hanukkah without latkes. A perfect latke should have a plump center that tapers down to wispy edges and a deeply browned crust. This classic recipe is made with russet potatoes, onion, eggs, and matzo meal. If you're willing to break with tradition, try some of our other latke variations.

  • Roman-Jewish Fried Artichokes (Carciofi alla Giudia)

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    Serious Eats / Vicky Wasik

    These crispy, golden-brown fried artichokes are a gorgeous, festive appetizer or side dish that highlights the ingenuity and cooking skill of Rome's Jews, who were confined to the city's ghetto between the 16th and 19th centuries. Serve them piping hot with lemon wedges on the side.

  • Batter-Fried Chicken

    Platter of fried chicken pieces flanked by yellow drinks on a marble countertop

    Serious Eats / Vicky Wasik

    This fried chicken gets its thin, crispy shell from a blend of potato starch and wheat flour, which enhances the batter’s crispiness, inhibits gluten formation, and limits oil absorption.

  • Grilled or Roasted Carrots With Sweet Soy Glaze

    Overhead view of glazed carrots on a funky marble background

    Serious Eats / Robby Lozano

    Cook your carrots until tender, then brush them with a glaze of honey and soy to highlight their natural sweetness.

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