Kreplach are small dumpling

Dumpling

Dumplings are cooked balls of dough. They are based on flour, potatoes or bread, and may include meat, fish, vegetables, or sweets. They may be cooked by boiling, steaming, simmering, frying, or baking. They may have a filling, or there may be other ingredients mixed into the dough. Dumplings may...

s filled with ground meat

Meat

Meat is animal flesh that is used as food. Most often, this means the skeletal muscle and associated fat and other tissues, but it may also describe other edible tissues such as organs and offal...

, mashed potatoes or another filling, usually boiled and served in chicken soup

Chicken soup

Chicken soup is a soup made by bringing to a boil and then simmering chicken parts and/or bones in water, with various vegetables and flavorings. The classic chicken soup consists of a clear broth, often served with small pieces of chicken or vegetables, or with noodles or dumplings, or grains such...

. They are similar to Italian tortellini

Tortellini

Tortellini are ring-shaped pasta. They are typically stuffed with a mix of meat or cheese. Originally from the Italian region of Emilia , they are usually served in broth, meat broth, either of beef, chicken, or both...

 and Chinese wonton

Wonton

Not to be confused with WantonA wonton is a type of dumpling commonly found in a number of Chinese cuisines.-Filling:...

s. The dough is traditionally made of flour, water and eggs, kneaded and rolled out thin. Nowadays, they are often made with frozen dough sheets or wonton wrappers. Ready-made Kreplach are also sold in the kosher freezer section of supermarkets.
In many Ashkenazi homes, kreplach are served on Rosh Hashanah

Rosh Hashanah

Rosh Hashanah , , is the Jewish New Year. It is the first of the High Holy Days or Yamim Nora'im which occur in the autumn...

, at the pre-fast meal before Yom Kippur

Yom Kippur

Yom Kippur , also known as Day of Atonement, is the holiest and most solemn day of the year for the Jews. Its central themes are atonement and repentance. Jews traditionally observe this holy day with a 25-hour period of fasting and intensive prayer, often spending most of the day in synagogue...

, and on Hoshana Raba. Kreplach with vegetarian or dairy fillings are also eaten on Purim

Purim

Purim is a Jewish holiday that commemorates the deliverance of the Jewish people in the ancient Persian Empire from destruction in the wake of a plot by Haman, a story recorded in the Biblical Book of Esther .Purim is celebrated annually according to the Hebrew calendar on the 14th...

 because the hidden nature of the kreplach interior mimics the "hidden" nature of the Purim miracle. A variety with a sweet cheese filling is served as a starter or main dish in dairy meals, specifically on Shavuot

Shavuot

The festival of is a Jewish holiday that occurs on the sixth day of the Hebrew month of Sivan ....

. Stuffed pasta may have migrated from Venice to the Ashkenazi Jews in Germany during the 14th century.

The word krepl is probably derived from the Old High German kraepfo meaning grape. The Middle English word grapple is related (from a grape vine hook).

Similar dishes

Dishes similar to kreplach are Baozi

Baozi

A bāozi or simply known as bao, bau, humbow, nunu, bausak, pow or pau is a type of steamed, filled bun or bread-like item in various Chinese cuisines, as there is much variation as to the fillings and the preparations...

, Buuz

Buuz

Buuz are a type of Mongolian steamed dumpling filled with minced mutton, or beef meat. The meat is flavoured with onion or garlic and salted. Occasionally, they are flavoured with sprouted fennel seeds and other seasonal herbs...

, Guotie, Gyoza, Jiaozi

Jiaozi

Jiǎozi 餃子 or 饺子 , bánh bột luộc , gyōza , Mo:Mo: or Momocha म:म: or ममचा , or pot sticker is a Chinese dumpling widely spread to Japan, Eastern and Western Asia.Jiaozi typically consist of a ground meat and/or vegetable filling wrapped into...

, Kalduny

Kalduny

Kalduny or kolduny are stuffed dumplings made of unleavened dough in Belarusian, Lithuanian, and Polish cuisines, akin to the Russian pelmeni and the Ukrainian vareniki. In Slavic languages the word means “magicians” or “sorcerers”, but it is unclear how the word became associated with the dish...

, Khinkali

Khinkali

Khinkali are Caucasian dumplings filled with various fillings such as mushrooms or cheese, but mostly with spiced meat with greens, onions and garlic. They are eaten plain, or with coarse black pepper. The meat filling is uncooked when the Khinkali is assembled, so when cooked the meat's juices...

, Mandu

Mandu (dumpling)

Mandu are dumplings in Korean cuisine. They are similar to pelmeni and pierogi in some Slavic cultures. The name is a cognate to the names of similar types of meat-filled dumplings in Central Asia, such as Turkish manti, Kazakh manty, and Uzbek manti.In Korean cuisine, mandu generally denotes a...

, Mantı

Manti

Mantu are a type of dumpling in Turkish and various Central Asian and Northwest China and Caucasian cuisines, closely related to the east Asian mantou, baozi, and mandu and the Nepali momo. Manti dumplings archetypically consist of a spiced meat mixture, usually lamb or ground beef, in a dough...

, Maultasche

Maultasche

Maultaschen are a Swabian specialty food, consisting of an outer layer of pasta dough with a filling traditionally made of minced meat, smoked meat, spinach, bread crumbs and onions and flavored with various herbs and spices...

, Momo

Momo (food)

Momo is a type of pastry native to Nepal as well as among the Tibetans. It is similar to the Mongolian buuz or the Chinese jiaozi.The Tibetan word momo is a loanword from the Chinese mómo .-Production:...

, Pelmeni

Pelmeni

Pelmeni are dumplings consisting of a filling wrapped in thin, unleavened dough that originated in Siberia and is a dish of Russian cuisine. Pelmeni are common in Russia and have similar names in other languages: , pyal’meni; pilmän; , pel’meni; ; .- Ingredients :The dough is made from flour and...

, Pierogi

Pierogi

Pierogi are dumplings of unleavened dough - first boiled, then they are baked or fried usually in butter with onions - traditionally stuffed with potato filling, sauerkraut, ground meat, cheese, or fruit...

, Tortellini

Tortellini

Tortellini are ring-shaped pasta. They are typically stuffed with a mix of meat or cheese. Originally from the Italian region of Emilia , they are usually served in broth, meat broth, either of beef, chicken, or both...

, Vareniki

Vareniki

thumb|right|Varenyks with [[curd]]Varenyky are a kind of stuffed dumpling associated with Ukrainian cuisine. Variants are also found in Moldovan, Mennonite, Belarusian, Russian, Lithuanian, and Polish cooking. They are believed to originate from Chinese and Siberian influences, although sometimes...

 and Wonton

Wonton

Not to be confused with WantonA wonton is a type of dumpling commonly found in a number of Chinese cuisines.-Filling:...

s.