Kishke substitute

Best substitute

Mock kishke in foil

1 log serves 6 to 8, replacing 1 pound of kishke

Best for cholent topper

Close match

Combine 1 cup all-purpose flour or matzo meal, 1 cup total of finely grated carrot, onion and celery, 1/2 cup oil or melted schmaltz, 1 teaspoon paprika, 1 teaspoon salt and a good deal of black pepper. Shape into a log on foil, roll tightly and twist the ends. Bake at 350F for 60 minutes, then unwrap and bake 10 minutes more to crust the outside, or lay the wrapped log on top of a cholent and let it cook with the pot.

Other kishke substitutes

Ranked, with the exact amount to use

2Herb stuffing mix bound with oil, rolled in foil
Different taste
1 six-ounce bag plus ½ cup oil plus ½ cup water makes 1 log
Crush the stuffing mix slightly, stir in the oil and just enough hot water to make it cohere, add grated onion and carrot if you have them, then roll and bake as above.
What changes
Best for
quick cholent topper, weeknight Shabbat, when you are short on time
Ten minutes of work and a real time-saver. It comes out saltier and clearly herbier, with the sage and thyme of American stuffing mix rather than the plain paprika-and-onion flavor of kishke, and slightly drier. Skip added salt entirely. Widely used and widely accepted.
3Cracker or matzo crumbs with schmaltz
Different texture
1 sleeve of crackers or 4 sheets of matzo, crushed, plus ½ cup schmaltz or oil, plus ½ cup grated vegetables
The Passover-friendly and pantry version.
What changes
Crush the crackers or matzo coarsely, work in the fat and grated vegetables, roll in foil and bake as above.
Best for
Passover cholent, Shabbat side, when no flour is wanted
The texture is looser and more crumbly than a flour-based kishke and it browns faster, so check it at 45 minutes. Schmaltz makes it taste noticeably more like the real thing than neutral oil does. Use matzo rather than crackers if Passover is the point.
4Potato kugel
Taste and texture differ
Use 1 wedge for every slice of kishke
A baked grated-potato pudding with onion, egg and plenty of fat, cut into squares or wedges.
What changes
Best for
Shabbat table, holiday side, cholent accompaniment, gravy sponge
It does the same job on the plate, a starchy fatty square that soaks up gravy, and it is beloved in its own right. The texture is completely different: dense and moist with a crisp top rather than crumbly and pudding-like, and it tastes of potato and onion rather than of flour and paprika. Nobody will call it kishke and nobody will complain.
5Kasha varnishkes or plain kasha
Taste and texture differ
Use 1 cup cooked for every 2 slices of kishke
Toasted buckwheat groats cooked in broth with fried onion, on their own or tossed with bow tie pasta.
What changes
Best for
Shabbat side, cholent accompaniment, weeknight side
The starchy, savory, onion-heavy role is filled, and the flavor goes in a distinctly nuttier and more mineral direction. It is loose and grainy rather than sliceable, so it is not a swap where presentation matters, and it is much lighter than kishke because there is far less fat.
6Potato knish
Taste and texture differ
Use 1 knish for every 2 slices
The closest thing you can buy ready-made from a kosher grocery or deli freezer.
What changes
Best for
cholent accompaniment, Shabbat side, no-cook option
It brings the same starchy, savory, fatty presence and requires only an oven. It is drier and has a distinct pastry shell, so it does not soak up cholent gravy the way kishke does, and it is much more potato-forward. Heat it uncovered so the pastry stays crisp.
7Sliced kielbasa or salami in the cholent
Taste and texture differ
Use ½ pound for every pot
Not a real substitute, but worth listing honestly, because a good number of people add kishke to cholent for the fat and savor rather than the starch.
What changes
Best for
cholent, when the goal is richness rather than a side dish
This covers the meaty, fatty, seasoned side of what kishke contributes and none of the starch or the sliceable texture. The cholent will be richer and smokier and will have no kishke-shaped rounds in it. Use it alongside a starchy substitute rather than instead of one.

What is Kishke?

Kishke is a sausage-shaped Ashkenazi side dish, also spelled kishka and sold in English as stuffed derma, made of flour or matzo meal bound with grated carrot, onion, celery and a great deal of fat, then slow-baked in a casing until the outside crusts and the inside sets into a savory, fat-soaked pudding that soaks up gravy.

Cooking tips

Fat is the whole point, so do not reduce it. Half a cup of oil or schmaltz per cup of flour looks like too much and is not. Cut it back and you get a dry, chalky log rather than the rich pudding kishke is supposed to be.
Grate the vegetables finely, on the small holes of a box grater or in a food processor. Chunks of carrot and celery keep the mixture from binding and leave hard bits in the finished slices.
Cooking kishke on top of a cholent is traditional and it is also the best method, because the log absorbs steam and gravy from the pot for hours. Wrap it in a double layer of foil, sealed tightly, and lay it on the surface of the stew rather than submerging it.
Chill the baked log fully before slicing it. Warm kishke crumbles under a knife; cold kishke cuts into clean half-inch rounds that you can then fry in a little schmaltz or reheat in the oven until the edges crisp. Those crisp edges are the best part.
Schmaltz makes a real difference here in a way it does not in every dish. Rendered chicken or beef fat gives kishke its characteristic savor, and neutral oil produces something noticeably flatter. If you have no schmaltz, a mix of oil with a spoon of duck fat or beef drippings gets you closer.
Kishke is a cooked dish, not a cured one, so bake or simmer it until it is hot all the way through. Nothing about it involves curing, brining for preservation or fermenting, so there is no shortcut where a raw log sits at room temperature.

Frequently asked questions

What is the best kishke substitute?

Mock kishke rolled in foil, which most cooks would say is not a substitute at all but the normal way to make it. Flour or matzo meal, finely grated carrot, onion and celery, a lot of oil or schmaltz, paprika, salt and pepper, rolled tight in foil and baked an hour at 350F or cooked on top of the cholent.

Can I use stuffing mix to make kishke?

Yes, and plenty of people do. Bind a bag of herb stuffing mix with about half a cup of oil and enough hot water to make it hold together, add grated onion and carrot if you have them, roll in foil and bake. It comes out saltier and herbier from the sage and thyme, so add no extra salt.

Can I just leave the kishke out of the cholent?

Yes. Cholent is complete without it and many families never include it. What you lose is a starchy, fat-rich element that soaks up gravy, so if the pot is already heavy on potato and barley you will barely notice. If you want that role filled with no work, add extra barley or a couple of whole potatoes.

Is kishke the same as helzel?

They are close relatives. Both are a flour-and-fat stuffing baked inside a casing, but kishke traditionally uses beef intestine and helzel uses the skin of a chicken or goose neck. Helzel is smaller, richer and more distinctly poultry-flavored. Either can be replaced by the same foil-rolled mixture.

Do I need a real casing to make kishke?

No. Almost all home kishke today is rolled in aluminum foil or parchment, which holds the shape and traps the fat just as well. Natural beef casings are hard to buy outside a specialist butcher and, honestly, the only thing they add is a slightly chewy skin.

Related substitutes

More meat & protein substitutes

Kishke substitute

Other kishke substitutes

2Herb stuffing mix bound with oil, rolled in foil

3Cracker or matzo crumbs with schmaltz

4Potato kugel

5Kasha varnishkes or plain kasha

6Potato knish

7Sliced kielbasa or salami in the cholent