From the YummyYucky team, founded by Nancy Nash

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Can Babies Eat Kugel? Yes, From About 12 Months

Kugel is fine from about 12 months. Sweet noodle kugel is closer to a dessert than a side dish, with a lot of added sugar and often raisins, while savory potato kugel is mainly potato, egg and oil. Cut a small square into strips, take out the whole raisins, check the topping for nuts, and treat the sweet kind as the treat it is.

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When to introduce: From about 12 months, as a small taste on an occasion; added sugar is best kept rare before age 2
Common allergen?: Egg and wheat from the noodles, milk in any kugel made with cottage cheese, sour cream or cream cheese, and tree nuts if it has a walnut or pecan topping.
Texture: Soft baked noodles that hold together in a slab. Cut a small square into finger length strips and pick out whole raisins.
Key nutrients: Carbohydrate and protein from egg noodles and eggs, calcium from the dairy, and usually a lot of added sugar.

Yes, babies can have kugel, and about 12 months is the sensible start. It is worth knowing which kugel is in front of you, because the name covers two fairly different dishes. Sweet lokshen kugel, the one that shows up at Shabbat lunch, at Rosh Hashanah, at the Yom Kippur break fast and on a dairy table at Shavuot, is egg noodles baked with cottage cheese or sour cream, sugar, cinnamon and usually raisins. It sits somewhere between a side dish and a dessert and it is often very sweet, and the dark peppery Yerushalmi version manages to be sweet and sharp at once. Savory potato kugel, the one that goes with a meat meal, is grated potato, egg and oil, and it is the easier of the two for a baby. Either way the handling is the same: cut a small square into strips, pick out any whole raisins, check what is on top, and make sure it has cooled through, because a kugel holds heat in the middle long after the top feels warm.

Prep School: how to prepare kugel for baby-led weaning (BLW) and purées

🍴 Baby-led weaning

Around 12 monthsCut a small square from the middle of the dish rather than the corner, since the edges bake hard and crunchy, and slice it into strips about the length of your finger for your baby to hold. Go through it first and pull out any whole raisins, which are a firm round shape a new eater can struggle with, and take off any nut or crushed cornflake topping. Press a strip between your fingers to check it gives easily, and make sure it is cool all the way through, because a kugel holds heat in the middle long after the top feels warm. Ask what went into it: a kugel sweetened with honey waits until after the first birthday. If wheat, egg or milk is still new, meet it on its own in a plainer food first. From about 12 months, a small taste on an occasion is fine, and added sugar is best kept rare before age 2. One small square is plenty for a first try.

18 months and upBite sized pieces work now, around half an inch, for your toddler to pick up or spear with their own fork. Raisins baked into the dish can be chopped finely rather than removed entirely. A nut topping still comes off, since chopped nuts are a choking risk for young children. Keep sweet noodle kugel as an occasional food rather than a regular side, and serve it next to something savory like chicken so the meal is not sugar on sugar.

A baby version worth bakingCook egg noodles soft, mix them with beaten egg, a little unsalted butter or oil and a spoon of plain full fat yogurt or cottage cheese, and leave out the sugar and the raisins entirely. Bake until set. It comes out like a soft savory noodle custard that slices into strips that hold their shape, so your baby can pick one up and gnaw it, and it works as a regular meal rather than a holiday exception.

🥄 Purées

Around 12 monthsCut a small square from the middle of the dish rather than the corner, since the edges bake hard and crunchy. Go through it and pull out any whole raisins, which are a firm round shape a new eater can struggle with, and take off any nut or crushed cornflake topping. Mash the soft noodles with a fork or chop them small for the spoon, checking that they give easily, and make sure it is cool all the way through, because a kugel holds heat in the middle long after the top feels warm. Ask what went into it: a kugel sweetened with honey waits until after the first birthday. If wheat, egg or milk is still new, meet it on its own in a plainer food first. From about 12 months, a small taste on an occasion is fine, and added sugar is best kept rare before age 2. One small square is plenty for a first try.

18 months and upMove on from the mash to bite sized pieces, around half an inch, on the spoon or for your toddler to pick up. Raisins baked into the dish can be chopped finely rather than removed entirely. A nut topping still comes off, since chopped nuts are a choking risk for young children. Keep sweet noodle kugel as an occasional food rather than a regular side, and serve it next to something savory like chicken so the meal is not sugar on sugar.

A baby version worth bakingCook egg noodles soft, mix them with beaten egg, a little unsalted butter or oil and a spoon of plain full fat yogurt or cottage cheese, and leave out the sugar and the raisins entirely. Bake until set. It comes out like a soft savory noodle custard that mashes easily with a fork for the spoon, and it works as a regular meal rather than a holiday exception.

🍪 A soft, sweet dairy bowl for their place setting →

Is kugel safe? Choking & prep

The reason kugel waits rather than coming earlier is sugar. From about 12 months, a small taste on an occasion is fine, and added sugar is best kept rare before age 2. The CDC is blunt that infants and young children should not have added sugars, and a sweet noodle kugel can carry a lot of it between the sugar in the custard and the sugar on top.¹ That is not a reason to refuse a piece at Rosh Hashanah, it is a reason to serve a small one and not make it a weekly side. Some recipes sweeten with honey instead of sugar, and that changes the answer completely under 12 months: honey can carry the spores that cause infant botulism, and the CDC says not to give honey or the products made with it to a child younger than one year.² Ask what went into it. Raisins are the choking piece. A plump raisin is a firm round shape, and the AAP's guidance on round firm foods is to keep them away from young children unless they are chopped into very small pieces, with nothing larger than half an inch.³ Pick whole raisins out for a baby, and chop them finely for a toddler. Check the topping too. A lot of sweet kugels are finished with a streusel of crushed cornflakes, or with chopped walnuts or pecans, so a kugel can carry tree nuts without anyone thinking to mention it, and chopped nuts are a choking risk for young children on top of the allergen question.³ If there are nuts on it, lift the topping off or pick a different square. Kugel also carries three major allergens in the body of the dish: wheat and egg from the noodles, and milk from the cottage cheese, sour cream or cream cheese in a dairy kugel. All three are worth introducing early rather than delaying, but meet them one at a time in plainer foods first so you can read a reaction.⁴ Two smaller points. The crunchy top and corner edges bake hard, so cut from the middle. And a savory potato kugel is often salted more heavily than a sweet one, which matters because a child under one should stay under 1g of salt a day and a one to three year old under 2g.⁵ Let any kugel cool all the way through before serving, since a baked dish holds heat in the center long after the top feels warm.

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Nutrition

The bones of a kugel are good. Egg noodles bring carbohydrate, protein and, if they are made with enriched flour, some iron and B vitamins. The eggs add more protein plus choline, and a dairy kugel adds calcium and fat, both of which toddlers use well. What tips it is what gets added: the sugar in a sweet noodle kugel is the part with no nutritional job, and it can be a lot. Potato kugel skips the sugar and brings potassium and vitamin C from the potato instead, with more oil. Neither version is an iron meal on its own, so put kugel next to chicken or another iron source rather than serving it as the centerpiece of a toddler's plate.

Goes well with

Shredded chicken, which brings the iron kugel does not · Applesauce on the side · Plain whole milk yogurt, if you skipped the dairy in the kugel itself · Soft cooked carrot · Cooked apple slices

Storage & freezing

Cool kugel to room temperature, then refrigerate it in an airtight container within about two hours, especially a dairy one, which should not sit out on a buffet all afternoon. It keeps 1 to 2 days in the fridge, or 1 to 2 months in the freezer.⁶ Reheat portions until piping hot the whole way through, then let them cool before serving to a baby, and reheat only the amount you plan to eat rather than the whole dish twice. Kugel freezes well, either as a whole dish or in portion sized squares, which is the more useful way to do it. Throw out anything your child has already been handling.

More grains to explore

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LasagnaFrom about 9 months (some wait to 12 months for restaurant or jarred versions because of sodium)

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Macaroni and cheeseFrom about 9 months (many families wait until 12 months for boxed versions due to sodium)

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NaanAround 9 months

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PancakesAround 6 months

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MilletAround 6 months

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MaqlubaAround 9 months

Introducing this allergen

Common questions

Can my baby have kugel at Rosh Hashanah or the break fast?

From about 12 months, yes. Cut a small square from the middle of the dish, slice it into finger length strips, pull out any whole raisins, take off a nut topping, and check it is cool all the way through. Keep the portion small, because sweet noodle kugel is closer to a dessert than a side dish.

Is sweet noodle kugel too sugary for a baby?

For a baby under one, yes, and the CDC's position is that young children should not be having added sugars at all. After 12 months a small piece at a holiday meal is a reasonable exception rather than a problem. The thing to avoid is kugel becoming a regular weekly side.

What is the difference between potato kugel and noodle kugel for a baby?

Potato kugel is grated potato, egg and oil with no sugar and no dairy, so it is the easier one nutritionally, though it is often saltier. Sweet noodle kugel brings dairy and calcium but also a lot of added sugar and usually raisins. If you get to choose, a small piece of potato kugel is the simpler serve.

My mother already gave the baby a spoonful of kugel. Should I worry?

A spoonful is not a problem for a healthy baby over about 6 months who has already had egg, wheat and dairy. The things to check are whether there was a whole raisin or a nut topping in it, and whether the recipe used honey. If your baby is under one and the kugel was made with honey, call your pediatrician and mention it, and watch your baby for signs of botulism over the next month. Botulism is a medical emergency, so do not wait if your baby shows any sign of it. Call 911 (or your local emergency number) if your baby goes floppy, limp, or very weak, is suddenly sleepy or hard to wake, or has trouble breathing, sucking, or swallowing. Go to the ER now for poor feeding, a weak cry or one that sounds different, drooping eyelids, a face with less expression than usual, or head control that is weaker than usual. Constipation is often the first sign, but it has plenty of other causes, so if it is the only sign in the month after honey, get your baby seen today, by your doctor or at the ER, rather than waiting it out. If your baby has had honey, tell the ER or the doctor what they ate and when.

Are the raisins in kugel a choking hazard?

A whole raisin is a firm round piece, which is the shape to be careful with in young children. Baking softens them, but they plump back up. Pick them out for a baby and chop them finely for a toddler, and keep everything on the plate smaller than half an inch.

Can my baby have kugel if they have not had dairy yet?

Introduce milk protein on its own first, in something plain like full fat yogurt, so that if there is a reaction you know what caused it. A dairy kugel mixes milk with egg and wheat all at once, which makes it a poor place for a first meeting with any of the three. A potato kugel skips the dairy entirely.

What can I bring for the baby instead?

Bake a small pan of plain noodle kugel with no sugar and no raisins, using egg noodles, beaten egg, a little unsalted butter and a spoon of plain yogurt or cottage cheese. It slices into strips, it travels well, and your baby gets something that looks like what is on everybody else's plate.

Sources

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Last updated November 2026. Next review February 2027. How we write these: built from current published guidance from the AAP, CDC, FDA/EPA, NIAID, WHO, and other pediatric and public-health authorities, with sources cited on the page. See our editorial and medical policy for how we research, source, and update these, and how we double-check the food advice.

This is general information, not medical advice, and is not individualized for your baby. Always talk to your pediatrician about your baby's diet, introducing allergens, and any reaction. In an emergency, contact emergency services.

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