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.

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.

A quiet murmur: You don't have to worry too much about over-handling your matzo balls, but you should consider the vigorousness of your boil. Molly says it's incredibly important that your matzo balls cook at a simmer, because a roiling boil will be too harsh and could cause them to disintegrate.

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.

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!

German, Austrian, and Alsatian Jews were the first to prepare matzo balls for their soup; middle eastern Jews introduced additional variations. An early recipe for matzoh ball soup, made with beef stock, is found in The Jewish manual, or, Practical information in Jewish and modern cookery (1846).

The extra level of scrutiny — and the labor-intensive process required to make handcrafted matzah — is largely what accounts for its high price: anywhere from $20 to $60 for a single pound.

Traditionally, matzo ball soup was a Passover meal, consumed in remembrance of the unleavened bread that Jews ate when they were fleeing Egypt. During Passover, Jewish people would buy Matzo bread from their local bakery and use day-old leftover crumbs to make the balls.

Matzo reflects common Ashkenazi pronunciation (which dominated in English speaking countries in past centuries) but is not entirely accurate since it drops the “h” from the end. Matzah, on the other hand, retains the “h” and can be read accurately and easily by both Ashkenazim and Sephardim.

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

Can you overcook matzo ball soup? ›

You can't overcook a matzo ball. It's not possible. But you can absolutely under cook one. So if you need to leave it in longer, that's 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.

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

Matzo balls are a form of dumpling, but instead of a biscuit-type dough, they're made with matzo meal, a traditional Passover ingredient. As they cook in the broth, matzo balls lighten and become fluffy.

Depending on what you're making, you can substitute one for the other, but you do need to keep a few things in mind. You want to consider what you are making before substitution one for the other. Matzo meal is best in recipes for matzo balls, kugel, or Pesach rolls, so it's a good idea to stick to the original recipe.

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.

Matzo ball soup contains 145 calories per 241 g serving. This serving contains 4.9 g of fat, 6.3 g of protein and 19 g of carbohydrate. The latter is 2.2 g sugar and 1.2 g of dietary fiber, the rest is complex carbohydrate. Matzo ball soup contains 1.1 g of saturated fat and 87 mg of cholesterol per serving.

Matzo contains wheat, rye, and barley, which contain gluten. The solution for gluten-intolerant Jews, then, lies in gluten-free matzo. According to Tablet, gluten-free matzo is made from tapioca starch, potato starch, and potato flour. And, it's a wonderful, flavorful solution for a very specific problem.