Easy Matzo Ball Soup Recipe Anyone Can Make (2024)

FAQs

What is matzo ball soup broth made of? ›

This easy Matzo Ball Soup features tender poached matzo balls floating in a bowl of warm soup made from chicken stock and carrots. Make this classic comfort food for Passover, Rosh Hashanah, or to warm your soul any day of the year; it's a wonderful weeknight soup recipe!

One acceptable substitute is almond flour. During any other time of year, crushed crackers such as saltines or oyster crackers and any breadcrumbs, including panko, can be used.

MATZAH BALL HINTS:

* Unless otherwise stated, cover the matzah balls as they simmer. DON'T PEEK! Somehow, peeking causes the matzah balls to fall. * Add some of your favorite herbs or spices to any of these recipes.

While each family has its own recipe, all matzo balls are made of three key components: matzo meal, fat, and eggs. Matzo meal simply refers to matzo crackers that are ground up into a fine meal. You can also find matzo ball mix in most supermarkets; it consists of matzo meal, spices, and preservatives.

Add to that the benefits of vitamins A, C, and D in the broth, the anti-inflammatory properties of the soup vegetables, and a boost of energy from the carbohydrates in the matzo balls, and you've got a recipe for feeling better!

Get schmaltzy: Schmaltz, or rendered chicken fat, is like gold. And you deserve nothing but the best. The flavor and texture that schmaltz gives a matzo ball is nothing that vegetable oil can really compare to, which is why if you can get it (or make it!), use the good stuff.

We give you the choice: Using schmaltz (rendered chicken fat) produces the most flavorful matzo balls, while vegetable or canola oil offer convenience.

Meaning of matzo ball in English

a small dumpling (= ball of dough) made from crushed matzo (= thin, flat, Jewish bread), usually eaten in soup: I am planning to make my chicken soup and matzo balls.

When it's not Passover, you can use unsalted saltine crackers instead of matzo, but I prefer the flavor and texture of matzo.

Floaters vs. Sinkers. There is a great matzah ball debate – some people prefer airy, softy and fluffy matzo balls that bob on the surface while they cook, “floaters;” some prefer dense, richer ones with a toothsome quality that sink to the bottom of the pot, “sinkers.”

Why aren't my matzo balls fluffy? ›

If they still seem dense or tight, they haven't cooked long enough. The should look soft and airy. Test for doneness by slicing a test matzo ball in half.

Expiration date on bottom of box. If less than 9 months on your shelf, should be ok.

Carefully lower matzo balls into boiling water with a slotted spoon, adjusting heat as needed to maintain a low simmer. Cover pot and simmer over low heat, checking occasionally to make sure water isn't boiling too rapidly, until balls are very puffed and light in color, 30–40 minutes.

Store the mixture, covered, in the refrigerator for a minimum of 2 hours, or overnight. Boil 12 cups of water in a 4 to 5-quart saucepan. With greased hands, roll the batter into about 12 balls, a little smaller than ping-pong ball size, and drop into the boiling water.

Matzo is itself typically made of wheat flour mixed with some water, and salt and sometimes olive oil for flavor. It's rolled very thinly and baked quickly at a high temperature. Talmudic tradition dictates that matzo should be completed in under 18 minutes, from mixing the dough to fully baked.

First, just what is matzo meal? Matzo meal is made by grinding matzo, a traditional Jewish unleavened bread that's also known as matzah or matzoh. Matzo bread is made by mixing flour and water, rolling it out thin, then baking it in an extremely hot oven. It can be soft and pliable, or cracker crisp.

Matzo balls are the Jewish dumpling, and so naturally they fit into soup! Before matzo was crunched into tiny crumbs called and sold as “matzo meal,” European Jews would get the matzo crumbs from the local bakery and mold them into dumplings with egg and water.

Matzos which are labeled “Not Kosher for Passover” are made without a full-time mashgiach present during production, and the water used in kneading the dough is not mayim she'lanu (specially drawn water). Though we would not eat these matzahs on Pesach, it is not certain that the matzahs are absolute chametz.