This page requires that scripting be enabled in your browser to function properly. If you need help enabling scripting, please vist our
technical FAQ page.

READY IN 2 hr

Lithuanian Kugelis

Read Reviews (13)

"This is a Lithuanian dish that my family makes mainly during the holiday season. It goes great with ham or turkey. It is also served in many authentic European restaurants. This recipe is time consuming but well worth the work put into it. This is a 'stick to your ribs' dish and is in no way considered lo-cal or healthy. A dollop of sour cream on top of each piece is a great topping." — J Sell Sr/Jr

Ingredients Edit and Save

Watch video tips and tricks

Candied Sweet Potatoes

Potatoes Au Gratin

Baked French Fries I

Chef John's Cheater Pierogi

Oven-Roasted Red Potatoes

How to Make Baked Acorn Squash

How to Make Au Gratin Potatoes

Twice Baked Potatoes

How to Make Cottage Fries

How to Cut Onions

Battle of the Butter: Salted vs. Unsalted

All about Eggs

Original recipe makes 12 servings Change Servings

1 pound bacon, diced
2 large onions, diced
1/2 cup butter

5 pounds russet potatoes, peeled and shredded
1 (12 fluid ounce) can evaporated milk
6 eggs

Check All Add to Shopping List

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
Place bacon in a Dutch oven set over medium heat, cover, and cook until the bacon has softened and begun to release it's grease. Stir in the onion and cook until softened and translucent. Remove the cover, and continue cooking and stirring until the mixture caramelizes and turns a deep, golden brown. Remove from heat and stir in butter to melt.
Stir shredded potatoes into the onion mixture, then stir in the evaporated milk and eggs until well combined. Pour into a 9x13-inch glass baking dish.
Bake in preheated oven for 1 hour, or until golden on top. Remove and let stand for 10 minutes before slicing into 3x3-inch squares. Serve hot.

Kitchen-Friendly View

PREP 30 mins
COOK 1 hr 30 mins
READY IN 2 hrs

ADVERTISE WITH US

Reviews More Reviews

Most Helpful Positive Review

Jun 15, 2010

I'm a Lithuanian and tried to make Kugelis myself following this recipe. There were few things I have done differently to make it as closet to what I have eaten in my home country. First of all in Lithuania we do not use Russet potatoes. I actually hardy ever use this sort of potatoes at all - too dry. My favourites are, and this what I used in this recipe, "Yukon yellow". You most definitely have to use the smallest grader available. It has to be a "mash" out of row potatoes. Take a cheese cloth and squeeze out juice. Leave juice stand for a while for starch to build on the bottom. You will have to remove juice and put the starch back into potato mash. I used 5 pound of potatoes and 6 eggs. However after I fried onions and bacon, I only added about 1/3 into the potatoes mash and did not use any additional butter. Fat from bacon is more then enough for this dish. Also I did only use about 1/4 cup of evaporated milk. Just a note, next time I will use regular milk or cream. Can not remember even seeing evaporated milk in the stores in Lithuania, only the sugary type. Bake for a hour. Serve with sour cream and the left over bacon and onions mix. Gero apetito!!!

—marinka.p

See full review »

Most Helpful Critical Review

Jul 18, 2007

I hate rating this recipe so low. I made this tonight exactly as listed, and although the dish came out of the oven looking beautiful, it was very bland. I realized after the fact that there was no salt or pepper in the recipe, and even though I added salt on my plate, and tried it with a dollop of sour cream, it still wasn't enough. I'll try to salvage the leftovers with some cheese, but I don't imagine I can do much more. Sorry.

—sahm1607

See full review »

14 Ratings

See other versions of this recipe!

Mar 16, 2008

I made sure to drain-out the water from the shredded potatoes. The kugelis came out delicious -- good enough for my Lithuanian father-in-law to comment how great it is!

—vadamonis

See full review »

Jun 24, 2009

Everyone in my family has made this many times and I have been eating and making all the variations for 30 years now. Some things to note are that you need to finely shred the potatoes (like mashed raw, not like cheese); use salted butter at your own risk, but add salt and pepper to the mix to taste; use nice cheap fatty bacon, stick it in the freezer for a bit to make it easy to dice raw; coming from my Lithuanian family, a bit more bacon never hurt (I use and extra 1/2 lb); and, finally, serve with real sour cream (not light or fat free, this is a Lithuanian recipe!). All in all, this is a recipe you have to perfect on your own, but is well worth the trouble!

—zasquatch

See full review »

Apr 10, 2007

DELICIOUS!!! Being Lithuanian myself. I really LOVE these Ethnic Reciipes. Excellent for Parties - Makes a Lasting Impression.

—Donna

See full review »

Jul 16, 2009

This is a family tradition (yes, Lithuanian!) However we use chopped bacon & diced ham. We just chop everything up in the food processor, shred the potato, transfer all into a large bowl, add eggs & evaporated milk, transfer to a baking dish (coated with Pam for easy clean-up!) and bake at 350 for about an hour. The flavor is AMAZING!!! We also serve with a dollop of sour cream. Just as a note - you can freeze leftover ham (from holidays) and leftover bacon and thaw them out when you're ready to make the Kugeli! :) No need to have anything pre-cooked except the bacon, just to get rid of the excess grease. I disagree with the review who said the potatoes have to be thinly shredded - we just use a standard shred, my grandmother used to use an old fashioned grater and it comes out PERFECT!!! :) Enjoy!!!!

—Stormychick

See full review »

Jun 11, 2008

Time consuming but worth the effort. I liked that you did not have to squeeze the juice out of the potatoes. We made this for an ethnic day at my childs school, every one enjoyed this dish.

—radgal43

See full review »

Apr 17, 2011

Major flaw: where's the salt? You'll need about 1 T per kg, less if your bacon is on the salty side. I grate one raw onion in with the potatoes, and use extra bacon or other smoked meats (try smoked chicken thighs!). I always strain the potato mush and pour off the liquid, retaining the starch, but you don't have to. Absolutely delicious!

—Vaiva

See full review »

Rate This Recipe

Edit

Glad you liked it! Your friends will, too:

Did you tweak the recipe? Edit and save your own version of it!

Edit this recipe

More Recipes Like This See all

Lithuanian Kugela

Cold Beet Soup - Lithuanian Saltibarsciai

French Tartiflette

Old Fashioned Potato Kugel

Jansson's Temptation (Janssons Frestelse)

Teena's Bacon and Cheddar Potatoes

Ukraine Baked Potato Salad

Kartoshnik with Cheese and Onions

Scalloped Potato-Onion Bake

Gruyere Potato Gratin

ADVERTISE WITH US

Nutrition

Calories
475 kcal
24%

Carbohydrates
39 g
13%

Cholesterol
161 mg
54%

Fat
29.8 g
46%

Fiber
4.6 g
18%

Protein
13.9 g
28%

Sodium
450 mg
18%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.

Nutritional Information

Lithuanian Kugelis

Serving Size: 1/12 of a recipe
Servings Per Recipe: 12
Amount Per Serving
Calories: 475
Calories from Fat: 268

% Daily Value *
Total Fat 29.8g 46 %
Saturated Fat 12.8g 64 %
Cholesterol 161mg 54 %
Sodium 450mg 18 %
Potassium 1043mg 29 %
Total Carbohydrates 39g 13 %
Dietary Fiber 4.6g 18 %
Protein 13.9g 28 %
Sugars 5.9g
Vitamin A 9 %
Vitamin C 66 %
Calcium 16 %
Iron 22 %
Thiamin 35 %
Niacin 49 %
Vitamin B6 45 %
Magnesium 22 %
Folate 28 %

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs.
** Nutrient information is not available for all ingredients. Amount is based on available nutrient data.
(-) Information is not currently available for this nutrient. If you are following a medically restrictive diet, please consult your doctor or registered dietitian before preparing this recipe for personal consumption.