Beyond Challah: Delicious Breads for Your Shabbat Table

A golden, braided challah has become one of the most recognizable images of Shabbat. It appears in photographs, illustrations, synagogue announcements, and family memories. For many of us, its familiar shape and slightly sweet flavor are part of the pleasure of welcoming the seventh day.

That association is so strong that challah can begin to feel mandatory. Someone setting out a basket of pita or a simple round loaf might wonder whether something essential is missing.

But braided challah is a cherished tradition, not a Torah requirement. You do not have to bake or buy it to keep Shabbat. Across the Jewish world, families have welcomed the day of rest with many different breads, shaped by the places they lived, the ingredients they had, and the tastes they loved. Exploring those traditions can bring wonderful new flavors to your own table.

The rich, braided loaf familiar in many Western Jewish homes is especially associated with Ashkenazic traditions from Central and Eastern Europe. Today it is enjoyed much more widely, including by many Sephardic and Mizrahi families. Yet other Jewish communities have long brought their own breads to Shabbat. Pita, round loaves, and regional flatbreads belong to Jewish life just as surely as the familiar braid.[^1]

The word challah itself has an older meaning. In Numbers 15:17–21, it appears in the commandment to set aside a gift from the first of the dough. That passage concerns an offering from breadmaking, rather than a recipe for the braided egg bread we now call challah.[^2] Likewise, the double portion of manna described in Exodus 16 underlies the familiar custom of setting out two breads for Shabbat, but the passage specifies no braided shape, egg wash, or sweetened dough.[^3] Families keeping the two-bread custom can use two whole pitas or other suitable whole loaves according to their practice.

This leaves us with a delicious opportunity: to discover how other Jewish families have made bread part of their Shabbat joy.

Soft pita and Syrian flatbread are an easy place to begin. Syrian Jews have a longstanding Shabbat tradition of serving khubz ‘adi, a regional flatbread. Syrian Jewish food writer Poopa Dweck describes returning to this bread after her family had spent years serving braided challah. For her, baking it again was a way of passing on her family’s heritage.[^5]

Pita is wonderful for scooping hummus, gathering up a little tahini, or catching the last spoonful of sauce from a plate of fish or vegetables. Put a basket in the center of the table with olives, salads, and a small dish of olive oil, and there is already something inviting to share. Larger flatbreads, such as laffa or breads sold as tannour bread, offer other possibilities for families who enjoy tearing and sharing their bread.

Moroccan round loaves bring a different pleasure. Khob’z is the familiar round bread remembered in Moroccan Jewish kitchens, where home-prepared dough was often sent to a communal oven. Shabbat and festival breads could receive extra attention, with decorative shaping and the fragrance of anise.[^6]

A round loaf beside a colorful spread of cooked salads, olives, and fish makes a beautiful Shabbat table. For someone who finds braiding intimidating, shaping a round bread can also be an enjoyable introduction to baking. A scattering of sesame seeds or a favorite family seasoning can give it its own character. The pleasure lies as much in learning a family’s way of making it as in the finished loaf.

Tunisian breads offer more shapes to explore. Bejma, associated with Tunisian Jewish Shabbat and festive tables, is commonly made from three joined rounds forming a triangle.[^7] Tunisian family traditions also include khubzh shaped as pointed oval loaves or decorative spirals.[^8] These breads invite a little creativity: children and adults can enjoy shaping the dough together, then seeing how it changes in the oven. A special loaf need not require a complicated braid.

Sephardic Shabbat mornings introduce another side of the story. In families with roots in Rhodes and the Ottoman world, desayuno, or breakfast, has included savory pastries such as spinach-and-cheese boyos, served with eggs, olives, and cheese. Fragrant roskas, including versions made with orange-blossom water, offer another delicious possibility.[^9]

These are foods to explore in their own setting. A savory pastry at Saturday breakfast and a loaf shared at Friday dinner may play different roles in the same household. Learning about both makes the whole of Shabbat feel richer. There is room to enjoy a plain bread at one meal and something fragrant or filled at another.

Yemenite kubaneh is particularly tempting for anyone who loves rich bread that pulls apart into soft portions. Commonly baked in a covered pot, it is closely associated with Shabbat morning. Jachnun, another beloved bread preparation associated especially with Jews from Aden, consists of rolled dough slowly baked until deeply browned. Both are often served with grated tomato, eggs, and spicy zhug.[^10]

Imagine sharing pieces of rich bread with the freshness of tomato and a little heat from the zhug. It is a very different flavor experience from sweet challah, and a wonderful introduction to another Jewish table. Traditional preparations involve overnight baking; households that complete all cooking before Shabbat can explore a version fully prepared on Friday. Check the particular recipe, too, since butter and other fats affect the flavor and how the bread fits the meal.[^11]

Persian breads provide several excellent choices. Sangak is a broad flatbread traditionally baked over small hot stones. Barbari is thicker and oval, while lavash is thin and useful for wrapping around other foods.[^12] These breads have a place in Persian Jewish Shabbat meals, including alongside fresh herbs and appetizers.[^13]

For your own table, choose the texture that suits the meal: thin bread for wrapping herbs and vegetables, or a more substantial loaf for tearing and dipping. Exploring a Persian bakery can be as enjoyable as trying a recipe at home.

Bukharian non, also known as lepyoshka, takes us into Central Asia. This round bread belongs to Bukharian Jewish communities connected especially with present-day Uzbekistan and Tajikistan. Its use at the Shabbat table, including for the blessing over bread, is recorded in JIMENA’s study of Sephardic and Mizrahi communities.[^4] It offers another way to share a loaf while learning about a Jewish history that receives too little attention in familiar accounts of Jewish food.

Cochini Jewish appam offers a fascinating example from India. In the tradition shared by Ilanit Menachem with the Jewish Food Society, appam is a Shabbat bread baked in a tube pan, made with wheat flour, semolina, yeast, eggs, and oil. Her grandmother prepared it on Friday mornings.[^14]

Look for a specifically Cochini Jewish recipe when exploring this bread. The name appam also describes the rice-and-coconut preparations familiar in other South Indian and Sri Lankan kitchens. The Cochini Jewish version discussed here is a different bread with its own place at the Shabbat table. Trying it is an opportunity to discover a Jewish baking tradition many readers may never have encountered.

Chinese breads offer possibilities for contemporary Jewish households as well. Mantou, plain steamed wheat buns, have a soft texture and a mild flavor that works beautifully beside savory dishes.[^15] Shaobing, baked flatbreads often coated with sesame, provide another direction to explore.[^16]

There is even a documented example of mantou being shared at a Jewish Sukkot gathering in Kaifeng in 2013. That tells us something about contemporary Chinese Jewish holiday food, although it does not establish an ancient weekly Shabbat custom.[^17] A family choosing mantou or sesame bread for Shabbat today can enjoy it as a new household practice. New customs can grow from the foods a family loves, prepared in keeping with its observance.

Ethiopian dabo adds yet another flavor to the Jewish bread basket. It is among the Shabbat bread traditions preserved by the Jewish Food Society, whose archive includes a version flavored with fenugreek, coriander, and nigella seeds.[^18] Family recipes vary, giving curious bakers more than one approach to discover. Alongside the breads of Europe, the Middle East, and Asia, dabo reminds us how much Africa contributes to Jewish food and memory.

You can also keep things very simple. A good sourdough, a whole-wheat loaf, plain rolls, or bread from a local bakery can become part of your household’s Shabbat meal. Choose ingredients that fit your dietary practices and take guests’ needs into account. Some of the foods described here are main-meal breads, while others belong especially to breakfast or have their own customs concerning blessings; learning how a community serves them is part of the enjoyment.

There is no need to turn Friday into a baking marathon. Purchase bread ahead of time, bake earlier in the week, or freeze a favorite loaf for a quieter Friday afternoon. Trying something new should add pleasure to Shabbat preparation and leave room for rest.

Perhaps begin with one new bread. Serve pita with a spread of salads one week, try a Moroccan round loaf another, or explore an Indian Jewish recipe when you have time to enjoy the process. Invite family members to choose the next bread, help shape it, or learn a little about the community that makes it. A modest change to the menu can open a conversation about Jewish life around the world.

Keep baking challah if it brings you joy. Let its familiar taste carry the memories you treasure. And when you feel curious, make room beside it for something new: a fragrant roll, a sesame-covered flatbread, or a round loaf ready to be shared. The Jewish Shabbat table has room for all these flavors, and discovering them can become a pleasure of its own.

[^1]: Rabbi Rifat Sonsino, “Why Is Challah So Beloved by the Jewish People?”, Reform Judaism. See also Leah Koenig, “Challah and Other Sabbath Breads”, Tablet.
[^2]: Numbers 15:17–21, Hebrew–English text, Mechon Mamre.
[^3]: Exodus 16:22–30, Hebrew–English text, Mechon Mamre. For the later two-bread custom, see Koenig, “Challah and Other Sabbath Breads,” above.
[^4]: Mijal Bitton, research director, Sephardic & Mizrahi Jews in the United States: Identities, Experiences, and Communities, JIMENA, August 2025; definitions of Sephardic and Mizrahi identities and the Bukharian community portrait, especially printed page 119.
[^5]: Poopa Dweck, “Shabbat Meals: Syrian Flatbread Transcends Generations”, The Forward, July 27, 2011. Includes a khubz ‘adi recipe.
[^6]: Sharon Gomperts and Rachel Emquies Sheff, “Les Petits Pains (Little Rolls)”, Jewish Journal, with Sheff’s account of Moroccan family bread traditions.
[^7]: Leah Koenig, “Challah and Other Sabbath Breads”, Tablet. For the joined-round shaping, see the Joan Nathan recipe reproduced in “Tunisian-style New Year”, Harissa.
[^8]: Shoshana Cohen-Levran, “Khubzh (Tunisian Shabbat Bread)”, Foodish, ANU Museum of the Jewish People. Includes a recipe and several shaping options.
[^9]: Lisa and Vivienne Capelouto, “How Zoom Helped Preserve a Sephardi Baking Tradition”, Jewish Food Society. Includes recipes for boyos and orange-blossom roskas.
[^10]: “Shabbat in Sephardic and Mizrahi Homes”, JIMENA, especially “Yemen and Aden.”
[^11]: Einat Admony, “Kubaneh (Yemenite Overnight Bread)”, Jewish Food Society. Includes a butter-based recipe; alternative preparation before Shabbat is a household adaptation suggested in this article.
[^12]: Hélène Desmet-Grégoire, “Bread”, Encyclopaedia Iranica.
[^13]: “Marcelle Kadkhoda”, Jewish Journal, a profile describing her Persian Jewish Shabbat cooking.
[^14]: Ilanit Menachem, “Appam (Cochini Shabbat Bread)”, Jewish Food Society. Includes the wheat-and-semolina recipe discussed here.
[^15]: Judy Leung, “All-Purpose Chinese Steamed Bun Dough (Man Tou)”, The Woks of Life. The Shabbat use proposed here is an adaptation, not a historical claim made by the recipe’s author.
[^16]: “A Thousand Years in the Heart of China: Kaifeng Jewry”, Foodish, ANU Museum of the Jewish People. Its discussion of shaobing concerns regional cuisine rather than a specific historic Shabbat custom.
[^17]: Moshe Y. Bernstein, “Sukkot and Mid-Autumn Festivals in Kaifeng: Conundrums at the Crossroads of Sino-Judaic Cultural Identity”, field account of the 2013 festivities, especially the discussion around pages 17–18.
[^18]: Jewish Food Society, “Our Favorite Challah Recipes, Plus More Jewish Breads From Around the World”; Yafit Amara, “Dabo (Ethiopian Bread)”. The latter includes the spice variation described here.