This post includes six symbolic gluten-free foods that can be enjoyed during the Jewish holiday of Purim. This post contains affiliate links. Please see my disclosures.
Purim is a festive spring holiday where Jews dress up, eat and drink (a lot), and give charity. During the holiday, Jews read the Book of Esther (Megillah Esther) and commemorate how, once again, an unruly empire (this time the Persians) tried to kill all the Jews, and again, the Jews miraculously survived.
There are four mitzvot (good deeds) Jews are commanded to perform on Purim, and two involve food.
One of the mitzvot is that Jews give gifts of food, known as mishloach manot. They put two or more ready-to-eat food items in a gift bag and hand out the bags to neighbors and friends to build friendships and community.
The second food-related mitzvah is that Jews enjoy a festive Purim meal, typically during Purim afternoon. This meal may contain some symbolic foods, but it’s most importantly meant to create a festive atmosphere, as the holiday is lively.
Purim, Food, and Symbolism
There are several symbolic foods associated with Purim that can be found inside mishloach manot bags or at Purium meals and festivities.
The most famous of all Purim foods is hamantaschen, which are triangle-shaped sugar cookies filled with a fruit center. I often make gluten-free hamantaschen and put them inside the mishloach manot bags of my gluten-challenged friends. I also serve them for dessert after the festive Purim meal.
There are many meanings behind the cookie’s appearance and why it’s symbolic during the Purim holiday. I’ll offer two explanations below:
One is that a hamantaschen cookie resembles Haman’s hat. Haman is the villain in the story of Purim, as he issued a proclamation to kill all the Jews. Jews boo every time his name is mentioned during the Megillah reading.
I’m not sure who decided Jews should use the hat of the Purim story villain as the shape of a delicious Purim cookie, but I’m glad they did! I guess the Jews have a knack for turning lemons into lemonade.
The second meaning is that the jelly filling is “hidden” inside a hamantaschen cookie, just like G-d is hidden in the story of Esther. G-d never leaves the Jewish people (and never has), but He is not mentioned anywhere in the Megillah.
You’ll see that hamantaschen and many of the other symbolic Purim foods mentioned below have goodies hidden inside. Eating foods with hidden goodies is how the Jewish people can bring spiritual meaning into a physical item, thereby connecting the spiritual and physical worlds.
Avoiding Gluten?
My list of symbolic Purim foods is unlike one you’ve seen before. Why? Every item on my list is gluten-free and safe for people with celiac disease, gluten intolerance, non-celiac gluten sensitivities, and wheat allergies to enjoy.
Gluten is a protein found in wheat, rye, and barley. I gave it up 11 years ago when I was diagnosed with celiac disease. Since that fateful day, I’ve been on a mission to recreate all my favorite foods, especially foods enjoyed for various Jewish holidays, to be gluten-free. I even list 18+ Gluten-Free Recipes For People Who Love Jewish Food.
Below is a compilation of my efforts to recreate symbolic foods for Purim and beyond. Enjoy!
(1) Gluten-Free Hamantaschen
As mentioned in the introduction of this post, hamantaschen cookies are served on Purim at the festive meal, and they’re often given as a gift inside mishloach manot bags.
I make a big batch of gluten-free hamantaschen cookies every year so I can share them with all my gluten-challenged and celiac friends.
My cookies are filled with traditional apricot jam, but sometimes I use raspberry jam or Nutella. I also sometimes drizzle the tops with chocolate for a more festive look.
Get my Gluten-Free Hamantaschen recipe.
(2) Gluten-Free Rugelach
My Aunt Ayala makes the best rugelach, taught me how to make it, and gave me her special recipe, which I, of course, make gluten-free. It took me a few tries, but I think I’m good at making this exceptional Jewish pastry today.
While rugelach isn’t native to Purim, these cookies make me think of Jewish holidays. The apricot jam and crushed walnuts are rolled inside the pastry dough, meaning the filling is “hidden” inside, just like G-d’s name is “hidden” in the Megillah Esther.
Get my Gluten-Free Rugelach recipe.
(3) Gluten-Free Kreplach
Another “hidden” food Jews love eating on Purim is kreplach. Kreplach is a Jewish dumpling typically filled with meat but can also be filled with a savory mashed potato.
I use my famous two-ingredient gluten-free dough to make these dumplings and fill them with the chicken I used to make homemade chicken soup. Of course, no Jewish holiday is complete without chicken soup, right?!?
Get my Gluten-Free Kreplach recipe.
(4) Gluten-Free Blintzes
For Jews who desire a dairy meal for Purim, blintzes are the answer. Blintzes are pancake-like crepes filled with sweet cheese. They can also be filled with potatoes or cherry pie filling.
While blintzes are more often than not served on the holiday of Shavuot, where dairy meals are king, because the sweet cheesy filling is “hidden” inside a blintz, it meets the criteria to serve on Purim and most Jewish gatherings and festivities.
Get my Gluten-Free Blintzes recipe.
(5) Gluten-Free Knishes
A knish is a pastry dough filled with savory potato filling and is often served as a side dish. I use kosher, gluten-free puff pastry from Easy Gluten Free to make these beautiful knishes, which are always a hit with my friends and family. You could also make your own homemade gluten-free puff pastry.
You could even make your knishes triangle-shaped for Purim, like Haman’s hat! You can do this by rolling out squares of puff pastry dough into a square, adding a dollop of the potato filling to the center, and folding the dough so the opposite corners meet and form a triangle.
Get my Gluten-Free Potato Knish recipe.
You could also use gluten-free puff pastry from Easy Gluten Free to make savory hamantaschen filled with stuffed mushrooms and seasonings and folded into a triangle.
Jewish Boston has a list of savory hamantaschen recipes that look amazing. Please note that the Jewish Boston recipes aren’t exclusively gluten-free, but they could be made gluten-free with gluten-free puff pastry and/or other flour swaps.
(6) Stuffed Cabbage
Along the same lines of enjoying foods where the goodies are hidden inside, many Jewish people eat stuffed cabbage as their main meal for Purim.
While I don’t have a stuffed cabbage recipe to share (at least not yet), I know you will find many recipes online.
More Recipes
As you can see, Purim offers many symbolic foods to help today’s Jews connect with an important story from long ago.
I’ve (re)created many of my favorite Jewish recipes to be gluten-free. Check out my list of 18+ Gluten-Free Recipes For People Who Love Jewish Food for more inspiration on baking and cooking your favorite Jewish foods.
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