What is charoses? It’s part of the Passover celebration and is meant to represent the mortar that the Israelites used to build Pharoah’s cities when we were slaves in Egypt. My grandma used to make enormous batches of it, but being unable to eat 5 or 6 apples worth of food, this is a small batch charoses recipe.
If you are not familiar with charoses, the Ashkenazi (Eastern European) version is a mixture of nuts, apples, wine, and sugar. The Sephardim (Jews from Spain and the Middle East) make it with dates and oranges. Think of it as sort of a chunky applesauce with nuts and wine.
Charoses is traditionally eaten each year as part of the Seder (the Passover service) with matzo. It’s also good as a snack on more matzo during the week.
It’s both vegan, dairy-free, and gluten-free. Charoses is traditionally made with red wine, but if you don’t want wine, you could substitute grape juice instead. I’m sure my grandma used something like Manischewitz concord grape wine or malaga (both heavy and super-sweet). However, I find both undrinkable, so I used old vine zinfandel instead.
Small Batch Charoses
A mixture of apples, wine, sugar, and warm spices meant to resemble bricks and mortar.
Ingredients
- 2 apples (preferably Gala or Fiji), peeled, and cored
- 1/2 C nuts (either walnuts or a mixture of walnuts and almonds)
- 3-4 T wine
- 1 T brown sugar (add up to 1 or 2 tsp more depending on sweetness of apples)
- 1/4 tsp cinnamon
- pinch nutmeg
Instructions
- Chop the apples into small chunks with a mini chopper or food processor.
- Pour into a bowl.
- Repeat with the walnuts and add to the bowl.
- Add remaining ingredients and stir to combine.
More Passover Recipes
Eat your charoses with a small batch of homemade matzo. Unlike the stuff from the store, this has actual flavor!
Once you’ve made your matzo, it’s time for the soup. This is rich, flavorful, and really the centerpiece of the Passover meal as far as I’m concerned. And your house will smell wonderful while it’s cooking.
Stovetop Coq au Vin Chicken with Red Wine Sauce
An easy version of a French classic. This is much less effort than the usual, but still special/fancy enough for a special occasion. Use potato starch instead of flour to make in Passover-friendly. If you don’t want to mix meat and dairy, use oil instead of butter.
Crispy Garlic Basil Potato Bites
Tiny bits of potato kicked up with garlic and basil. Crispy outside and tender inside. Almost like fries (but a lot less messy).
Finish off with these easy-to-make bananas, sprinkled with cinnamon. They take only a few minutes to make and the brandy is OK for Passover.