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Schmaltz

Rendered chicken fat used in Ashkenazi cooking.

Schmaltz — illustrative ingredient image

About Schmaltz

Schmaltz is rendered chicken fat used as a cooking fat in Ashkenazi Jewish cuisine. It can replace other fats for frying, sautéing, roasting, or enriching dishes, and is also used in some traditional spreads, dumpling mixtures, and savoury preparations.

Its flavour is rich, savoury, and distinctly chicken-like, with intensity depending on rendering and filtration. At cool or room temperatures it is typically soft or semi-solid; when heated it becomes liquid and coats ingredients smoothly. The exact flavour of a product may vary.

Schmaltz is sold as a pale yellow to golden fat in jars, tubs, or other containers, either strained or with browned rendered pieces retained. It may be used cold, spreadable, or solid, or warmed for cooking. Rendering clarifies the fat and browning can add deeper savoury notes.

Ingredient type
oil

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Where schmaltz appears

1 linked foods

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Soups

Ingredient connections awaiting review · Coverage is still growing, including packaged snacks.

Name examples awaiting language review. Confirm the specific food or product.

Local names for schmaltz

Names and romanised forms to recognise on menus and labels.

English

Schmaltz

Available names only. Languages may be spoken in other countries; a name alone does not identify every ingredient in a dish.

Schmaltz nutrition & diet

Schmaltz nutritional value

Reference: Chicken fat

Per 100 g of 100 g edible portion in the named official reference form.

Calories
900kcal
Protein
0.0g
Carbs
0.0g
Fat
99.8g

Official national food-composition reference. The displayed food form is part of the estimate; cultivar, recipe, brand, processing and preparation can change values.

Portions & preparation

Use rendered chicken fat as the reference form, distinguishing clarified liquid fat from chilled spreadable schmaltz containing browned skin or onion. Portion and preparation should match whether it is used alone for frying or incorporated into a dish with broth, flour, vegetables, or other ingredients.

Compare the right form: Match the reference to rendered chicken fat, with or without browned skin, onion, solids, seasoning, or added ingredients, in liquid or chilled form.

Diet considerations

Schmaltz is an animal-derived chicken-fat product. It is not a plant oil, and compatibility changes when mixed with onion, broth, flour, dairy, meat, or other recipe ingredients. Fried foods made with schmaltz may also contain cereal coatings or portion-dependent carbohydrate ingredients.

AI-authored reading notes · Awaiting editorial review. Measured values, where available, have a separate source above.

Dietary compatibility

  • Vegan
    Not established
  • Vegetarian
    Not established
  • Pescatarian
    Not established
  • Keto
    Not established
  • Paleo
    Not established
  • Low-carb
    Not established
  • Halal
    Not established
  • Kosher
    Not established
What these diet assessments mean
Vegan · Not established
The available profile does not establish the full composition or processing for this dietary pattern.
Vegetarian · Not established
The available profile does not establish the full composition or processing for this dietary pattern.
Pescatarian · Not established
The available profile does not establish the full composition or processing for this dietary pattern.
Keto · Not established
A defined serving and sourced carbohydrate data are needed before assessing this dietary pattern.
Paleo · Not established
The ingredient form and processing have not been assessed against this dietary pattern.
Low-carb · Not established
A defined serving and sourced carbohydrate data are needed before assessing this dietary pattern.
Halal · Not established
Sourcing, processing and any applicable certification have not been verified. A food name alone does not establish halal status.
Kosher · Not established
Sourcing, processing and any applicable certification have not been verified. A food name alone does not establish kosher status.

For the plain ingredient · Awaiting review. Diet compatibility is not allergy suitability or halal/kosher certification. Keto and low-carb depend on the portion.

Reviewed ingredient entryIngredient reference · Preparations vary

AI-generated illustration for visual context. It does not identify a particular product or establish allergen content.

Sources & review

Nutrition reference: Korean Standard Food Composition Database 10.4 (2026) — N0010000009a ↗. Values are scaled from 100 g of the recorded edible form. Individual portions have no assumed fixed weight.

Expanded overview, name examples and nutrition notes are database drafts awaiting editorial review. Numeric nutrition values, where shown, have their own source and food-form reference.

The ingredient description and dish connections come from the draft catalogue and may change after review.

Last recorded verification: .