What does cholent mean?
Cholent is a slow-cooked stew associated especially with Ashkenazi Jewish cooking. It commonly contains meat, vegetables, dried beans or other legumes, barley, and seasonings, although recipes vary considerably. Its most characteristic culinary role is overnight cooking: the stew is placed on the heat before the Jewish Sabbath begins, allowed to simmer throughout the night, and served the next evening without requiring cooking on the Sabbath itself. The result is usually a substantial, warmly spiced dish with tender meat and soft vegetables. Outside Jewish culinary contexts, the word is relatively uncommon, though it is understood in communities where cholent is a traditional staple. The term is also associated with communal and holiday meals, including Shavuot, when a version without meat may be prepared. Cholent is consequently more than a synonym for an ordinary stew: it identifies a food with a distinctive combination of slow cooking, traditional ingredients, and Jewish observance.
nounA slow-cooked stew traditionally made with meat, vegetables, legumes, and grains, and strongly associated with Jewish cooking. Cholent is often prepared overnight so that it is ready for a Sabbath or holiday meal.
- A slow-cooked stew of meat, vegetables, legumes, and grains, traditionally prepared for Jewish Sabbath or holiday meals.
"She started the cholent before sunset so it would be ready for dinner the following evening."
"The cholent bubbled gently in its pot, filling the kitchen with the aroma of beef, beans, and vegetables."
"At the community potluck, volunteers served cholent alongside bread, salads, and fruitcake."
The regular plural is cholents, although the singular form is much more common in ordinary use.
"Several cholents were prepared for the holiday meal."
A cholent turns the Sabbath rule against cooking into a culinary advantage: simmer it all night, and wake up to a rich meal.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does cholent come from?
English borrowed the word from Yiddish טשאָלענט (tsholent), a term associated with slow cooking and with Jewish Sabbath food. Its deeper origin is commonly traced to Slavic vocabulary connected with the idea of coldness or slowness, especially words based on the Proto-Slavic root represented by Polish chłodny and Ukrainian holodnyi. The exact historical development has been debated, but the Yiddish borrowing and the dish's long association with overnight preparation are well established.
How cholent is actually used
This is primarily a culinary noun with strong associations with Ashkenazi Jewish food traditions. It is familiar in North American Jewish English and is also used in other English-speaking Jewish communities, but it is not standard general vocabulary.