Matzo Ball Soup - Day two of Passover Recipes

Matzo Ball Soup - Day two of Passover Recipes

Matzo Matzoh Matza Matzah, no matter how you want to spell it, I've always thought that it tastes best in ball form, preferably floating in some nice soup.

So, about 5 years ago, I went through a phase where I was obsessed with making matzo ball soup. Not from scratch, mind you; I liked to just buy the box from the store that had all of the components of the soup in it, and make it that way.

One day, I mentioned to my gram my newly found love for making matzo ball soup. She was so pleased and excited- until I told her I was buying the pre-packaged mix. Yes, although my gram loved boxes of cake mix, the idea that her granddaughter wasn't making matzo ball soup from scratch was an affront to all that she believed in. She promptly launched in to an explanation of what to use to make it from scratch, rattling off ingredients and measurements. I brushed it off, saying the boxed stuff was less work, and soon moved on from my matzo ball obsession.

Oh, younger me, why did you ever think that boxed matzo ball mix could measure up to matzo balls made from scratch? The foolishness of youth... Now that I've made my gram's recipe, and seen that it only takes about 3 minutes longer than the pre-packaged mix... Well, I'm never going to go back! I definitely plan to keep on making this, even when it's not Passover.

One of nice things about this recipe is that on one of her recipe cards, my gram included a vegetarian version of the matzo balls, using peanut oil instead of rendered chicken fat- this is the version I made, although I'm sure if you want to make some schmaltz, the matzo balls will be even better.

Soup time!

1 Cup matzo meal
3/4 Cup chicken or veg. stock, boiling (Plus stock for the soup)
2 TBSP rendered chicken fat or peanut oil
2 eggs
3/4 TSP salt
1/2 TSP dill or parsley (fresh or dried)

Place matzo meal in a bowl.

Pour in the stock and oil, mix well.

In a separate bowl, mix the eggs, salt and herbs until light.

Stir the mixture into the matzo meal and mix thoroughly.

Cover and refrigerate several hours, or overnight.

To form matzo balls, moisten hands in cool water, then form mixture into approximately 2" balls.

Drop the balls into boiling, salted water.

Reduce heat, cover pot and simmer for 30 to 40 minutes.

I was so excited to make the soup that I forgot to take photos of these steps, but just imagine some ping pong ball sized balls of the mix floating in a pot, and you'll get the idea. Please forgive my forgetfulness.

Drain from water using a slotted spoon, and place in chicken (or vegetable) soup.

I like to chop up some carrots and celery and add that to the soup stock. It just makes it feel a little heartier to me. For the stock, I used the basic light stock from Love Soup, which is an awesome vegetarian soup cook book. If you're not in to making stocks, your favorite canned or boxed chicken or veggie stock will work out just fine.

I almost want it to get cold out again, just so I can eat more matzo ball soup. almost.


  1. Your soup looks absolutely delicious, and what a pretty bowl! I can't wait to try this recipe :)

  2. Hi! I found your blog searching for mix vs. scratch matzoh balls. Love your post. I'm about to write about our Matzoh Balls. Hope you had a lovely Passover.
    Lori Lynn