This tzimmes recipe is a colorful stew made with sweet potatoes, carrots and dried fruit. An easy traditional Jewish side dish option that pairs perfectly with chicken or beef.
When I want a taste of comfort food, I prepare classic dishes such as roasted root vegetables, garlic mashed potatoes and this simple, yet totally satisfying tzimmes.
Have you ever tried tzimmes? If not, you’re totally missing out. This dish combines root vegetables with dried plums and apricots to make a sweet and savory side dish that the whole family is sure to love. It pairs perfectly in a meal to celebrate the Jewish holidays alongside other favorites such as my matzo crack, charoset recipe, matzo ball soup and noodle kugel.
Tzimmes Ingredients
This recipe consists of sweet potatoes, carrots, dried plums (prunes), dried apricots, orange juice, water, honey, brown sugar, cinnamon and butter.
How do you make tzimmes?
Start by placing pieces diced and peeled sweet potato and carrot in a baking dish. Add dried plums and apricots, then stir to combine. Pour a mixture of orange juice, honey, brown sugar and cinnamon over the fruit and vegetables. Cover the pan, then bake it for one hour. Uncover the pan, and add slices of butter or margarine on top. Bake for another hour, or until potatoes are tender and sauce has thickened. Add some orange zest for garnish if desired, then serve and enjoy!
Tips for the perfect dish
- Cut your sweet potatoes and carrots into similar sized pieces so that they cook at the same rate.
- I typically use orange sweet potatoes, but the less sweet yellow variety will also work just fine.
- Freshly squeezed orange juice tastes best in this recipe, but store bought juice can also be used with good results.
- I prefer to use light brown sugar as I find that the molasses flavor in dark brown sugar can be overpowering.
- This dish can be assembled up to 8 hours before you plan to bake it. Store the pan covered in the fridge until you’re ready to heat it up.
- You can also make tzimmes in the slow cooker. Place all the ingredients in the slow cooker, then cook on low heat for 3-4 hours or until the sweet potatoes have softened.
- My favorite way to serve this dish is as an accompaniment to a whole roasted chicken.
Recipe FAQs
Tzimmes is a recipe that originated with Ashkenazi Jews, and is a sweet stewed dish of sweet potatoes, carrots and dried fruit such as raisins, cranberries, apricots or plums. This dish is typically sweetened with honey or sugar, and often contains spices such as cinnamon. Tzimmes is often served for Rosh Hashanah, as consuming items with honey on this holiday symbolizes the promise of a sweet new year.
This dish can be frozen for up to 2 months. Just keep in mind that the vegetables will soften more after being frozen and reheated.
The word tzimmes translates into “a big fuss”, but in culinary terms, it refers to a stewed dish.
Flavor Variations
While this dish is great as written, you can add other ingredients to customize the flavors to your tastes.
- Vegetables: Feel free to add other hearty veggies such as butternut squash or parsnips.
- Fruit: Swap out the plums and apricots for raisins, cranberries or even dried cherries.
- Flavorings: Amp up the flavor by stirring in orange zest, fresh or crystallized ginger, or a pinch of freshly grated nutmeg.
You don’t need to wait for the holidays to serve up a steaming hot pan of tzimmes. This one is great all year round!
More side dishes to try
- Maple Roasted Sweet Potatoes
- Glazed Carrots
- Candied Sweet Potatoes
- Fried Apples
- Roasted Acorn Squash
Tzimmes Video
Tzimmes
Ingredients
- 3 pounds sweet potatoes peeled and cut into 1 1/2 inch pieces
- 1 1/2 pounds carrots peeled, halved and cut into 1 inch pieces
- 1 cup dried plums pitted
- 1/2 cup dried apricots
- 1 cup orange juice fresh squeezed if possible
- 1/2 cup water
- 1/4 cup honey
- 3 tablespoons brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 4 tablespoons butter or margarine if you're keeping kosher, cut into thin slices
- orange zest for garnish optional
- cooking spray
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Coat a 9"x13" baking dish with cooking spray.
- Place the sweet potatoes, carrots, plums and apricots in the dish. Stir gently to combine.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the orange juice, water, honey, brown sugar and cinnamon.
- Pour the orange juice mixture over the fruit and vegetables. Cover the dish with foil.
- Bake for one hour. Uncover the dish, then arrange the slices of butter over the top.
- Bake uncovered for 45-50 minutes, stirring every 15 minutes, until sweet potatoes are tender and sauce has thickened. Garnish with orange zest if desired, then serve.
Notes
- Cut your sweet potatoes and carrots into similar sized pieces so that they cook at the same rate.
- Freshly squeezed orange juice tastes best in this recipe, but store bought juice can also be used with good results.
- This dish can be assembled up to 8 hours before you plan to bake it. Store the pan covered in the fridge until you’re ready to heat it up.
I had never heard of this dish before but I’m so glad I found it! It was easy to make and our family loved it. This will be a frequent side dish in my house. Thank you!
So many amazing flavors! I loved the plums and apricot added in. This recipe will definitely be revisited. Thank you!
This was delicious and everyone loved it. I served it with an apple cider based pork loin and all the flavors really worked well together.
Great way to celebrate Hanukkah! Thank you for sharing!
This recipe says to cook 1 hot then it says to uncover add the butter and cook 40/ 50 minutes. Won’t it turn into mush if I cook it over 2 hours?
It’s large pieces of vegetables that mostly cook covered in a lower heat oven, so they don’t come out mushy. But if you prefer your veggies to have a firm texture you could certainly take them out a little sooner, that won’t be a problem!
Easily, a new favorite recipe in our home; served this with dinner last night and even my picky eaters gobbled this up! Delish!
I had actually never heard of tzimmes before I came across your recipe but I’m so excited to try it! The combination of root veggies and dried fruits sounds absolutely delicious!
I have never heard about tzimmes’s recipe, but this colorful and yummy-sounding dish is on my cooking list! I am pretty sure it will become our new favorite! 🙂
I love roasted root vegetables! And I bet they taste amazing with sweet dried fruit. Love that’s it an easy make ahead dish too!
I’ve never heard of this recipe yet, but it looks and sounds amazing! Definitely making this tonight! This is going to be a big hit here!
I love how the sweetness of the fruits pairs with the root vegetables! Totally yummy!
I’ve never had tzimmes, but man does it look amazing! I can’t wait to try making this with dinner this week!
I’ve never heard of this dish before but I am very intrigued! I am going to try it with apricots and cranberries!
I need to try this dish! I’ve got all the ingredients for it
I’ve never heard of this dish, but I’m intrigued! Can’t wait to try it!