I kind of wore myself out this past weekend with long days and lots of exciting activities. So when I finally made it home to New Orleans, I was feeling tired, achy, and in need of a warm cozy meal. Matzo ball soup has been on my “to do” list for a looooong time, so I thought this was the perfect opportunity to give it a try.
This post contains some affiliate links, which means that we make a small commission off items you purchase at no additional cost to you.
What Is Matzo Ball Soup?
Matzo or Matzah Ball Soup is a traditional Ashkenazi Jewish dish that is often served during Passover. It’s a chicken soup filled with delicious dumplings made out of matzah meal (crushed unleavened bread), eggs, chicken fat (or another fat or oil), and broth. The dumplings cook in the soup and soak up all the delicious flavor of the soup as they cook. This soup is absolutely delicious and soul-warming, and there’s just nothing in the world like it.
I’m a Newbie
I’ll readily admit, I’ve never made matzo ball soup before this week, but part of this blog is sharing with you as I learn how to make new things. I read through some fantastic tutorials and myth busters about matzo balls over at Serious Eats, looked through a bazillion matzo ball soup recipes, and then I finally felt confident trying it myself. I created a hybrid recipe between what was on the package of my matzo meal and the tips given by Serious Eats. They were surprisingly simple to make and the final soup was like a big, warm hug. Success!
Try These Authentic Matzo Ball Soup Recipes
Before you try the version I made below, make sure you check out some of these authentic Matzo Ball Soup Recipes to see what it’s really all about. And hopefully, you’ll get to learn some more about the rich culture and history behind this awesome soup in the process.
Matzo Ball Soup
Servings 5 (2 cups soup, 3 matzo balls each)Ingredients
SOUP
- 1 Tbsp vegetable or canola oil ($0.04)
- 2 cloves garlic ($0.16)
- 1 yellow onion ($0.37)
- 3 carrots ($0.32)
- 3 stalks celery ($0.56)
- 1 chicken breast (about 3/4 lb.)* ($1.33)
- 6 cups chicken broth** ($0.76)
- 2 cups water ($0.00)
- Freshly cracked pepper ($0.05)
- Few sprigs fresh dill ($1.19)
MATZO BALLS
- 3 large eggs ($1.13)
- 3 Tbsp vegetable or canola oil ($0.12)
- 3/4 cup matzo meal ($0.80)
- 1 tsp salt ($0.05)
- 1/2 tsp baking powder ($0.02)
- Freshly cracked pepper ($0.02)
- 3 Tbsp water ($0.00)
Instructions
- Mince the garlic and dice the onion, celery, and carrots. Sauté the garlic, onion, celery, and carrots with the vegetable oil in a large pot over medium heat until the onions are soft and transparent (about five minutes).
- Add the chicken breast, chicken broth, 2 cups water, some freshly cracked pepper, and one or two sprigs of dill to the pot. Place a lid on the pot and let it come up to a boil. Once it reaches a boil, turn the heat down to low and let it simmer for 30 minutes.
- While the soup is simmering, mix the matzo ball dough. In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs and vegetable oil. Add the matzo meal, salt, baking powder, and a little freshly cracked pepper to the eggs and oil. Stir until well combined. Finally, add 3 Tbsp water and stir until smooth again. Refrigerate the mixture for 30 minutes to allow the matzo meal time to absorb the moisture.
- After the chicken soup has simmered, carefully remove the chicken breast and shred it with a fork. Return the shredded chicken to the soup. Taste the broth and adjust the salt if needed.
- Once the matzo ball mix has refrigerated and stiffened up, begin to form it into ping pong sized balls. Drop the balls into the simmering soup as they are formed, returning the lid to the pot after each one. Once all the matzo balls are in the soup, let them simmer for 20 minutes without removing the lid. Make sure the soup is gently simmering the entire time.
- Add a couple sprigs of fresh dill just before serving.
See how we calculate recipe costs here.
Notes
Nutrition
Have you tried this recipe?Mention @budgetbytes or tag #budgetbytes on Instagram!
How to Make Matzo Ball Soup – Step by Step Photos
I made a very simple/quick chicken soup as a vehicle for my matzo balls. It begins with 2 cloves of garlic, one yellow onion, three carrots, and three stalks of celery. Mince the garlic and dice the onion, carrots, and celery.
Sauté the garlic, onion, carrots, and celery with 1 Tbsp vegetable or canola oil in a large pot over medium heat until the onions are soft and transparent (about five minutes). Once the onions are soft, add one chicken breast (about 3/4 lb.). You can buy skin on and bone in chicken, just be sure to remove the skin first. The bones can be removed when you shred the chicken and will give the soup great flavor.
Also Add six cups of chicken broth and two cups of water (or all chicken broth, if you prefer). Also, add a couple of sprigs of dill and a little freshly cracked pepper. Place a lid on the pot, let it come up to a boil, then turn the heat down to low. Let the soup simmer for 30 minutes. I use Better Than Bouillon to make broth because it has great flavor, is quite inexpensive compared to boxed or canned broths, and it keeps in the refrigerator for just about forever.
While the soup is simmering, mix the matzo ball dough. Add 3 large eggs and 3 Tbsp vegetable or canola oil to a bowl. Whisk until smooth.
Add 3/4 cup matzo meal, 1 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp baking powder, a little freshly cracked pepper, and 3 Tbsp of water to the bowl. Stir until smooth. Let the mix refrigerate for 30 minutes so the matzo has time to absorb water and plump up.
This is what the matzo meal looks like, BTW. Kind of like bread crumbs, but it’s cracker crumbs. Take note, this is plain matzo meal, not matzo ball “mix”.
Once the soup has simmered for about 30 minutes, remove the chicken breast and use two forks to shred it. Return the shredded chicken to the soup. Taste the broth and adjust the salt if needed.
After the matzo ball mix has been refrigerated, it should be more stiff and dry.
Start forming the matzo ball dough into small balls, about the size of ping pong balls. Keep in mind that they’ll puff up a little as they cook. I got about 15 balls out of my mix. Drop the balls into the simmering soup one by one as they’re formed, making sure to return the lid after each one (to keep the broth simmering).
Once all the matzo balls are in the broth, let them simmer for about 20 minutes. Make sure the broth is simmering the whole time and the lid is not removed.
Once the matzo balls are puffed and cooked through, add a few more sprigs of fresh dill, then serve!
Mmmm, so warm and delicious!
You can’t go wrong with chicken and dumplings… in any form!
I used leg and thigh meat (skinned and deboned) and made schmaltz from the removed skin and used the removed bones to make a broth… also used bouillon, pulverized matzoh crackers in a food processor for the balls, and followed the directions faithfully otherwise (ok I used dried dill instead of fresh…) it’s PERFECT. Light, herbal, the balls float… LOVE IT!
you can freeze the soup but not the matzah balls
I make this a few times a year for my Jewish boyfriend and his pop. Pop says this is the second best Matzo ball soup he’s ever had (his mother’s is number one)!! I pre-make matzo ball dough the night before. This allows balls to become very moist and enables them to float in the soup! Great recipe, it’s now a family favorite ❤️
This was really easy and pretty quick. Tasted fantastic! Good consistency for the matzah balls too.
Very tasty! I used homemade chicken broth which really amped up the flavor. The matzo balls were very tasty, I appreciate the photographs to show the texture at each step. I will definitely come back to this recipe!
Love this recipe, is totally better with lemon zest in the matzo balls!
I’m a 78 yr. old husband expanding my cooking skills beyond Breakfast and BBQ. My wife of 55 years deserves a break and asked me to make this soup for Valentine’s Day dinner. I followed this recipe to the letter including wetting my hands to form the balls. My wife has never tasted a Matzo Ball but I get the soup when we eat at my favorite Jewish Deli. My wife really liked it and it was very close to Deli taste. I had read that light Matzo Balls float and was really unhappy when mine sank as I put them in the pot. 5 minutes later I checked for a soft simmer and had 9 big Matzo Balls floating in the broth. I’ve been burned by some Internet recipes but this one is a winner. It goes good with candlelight, flowers, and best friends.
Can I use flour instead of matzo?
We haven’t tried it that way but a few commenters below have tried it with flour. “I make the balls of dough from eggs, butter, and buttermilk left at room temperature, add sifted self-raising cake flour gently until moistened, don’t over stir or handle too much; let dough sit at room temp 30 minutes to melt flavors together; when pot of bone broth; chicken or turkey or duck; is simmering with tender veggies like parsnips , carrots, cubes of sweet potato or yams; cubed pumpkin; are tender; drop T of dough balls; put on see thru glass lid on pot ; let dough balls puff up fluffy; turn off heat simmer; let the steam puff up dough balls 15 to 20 minutes; mince parsley, sage, rosemary, thyme, chives – fresh!- for top sprinkle on each bowl.😃😁😘”
I used leftover turkey and a nice, rich turkey broth. This recipe for matzo balls was light and tender. The only thing I did differently was to put a bit of oil on my hands as I formed the balls. Worked like a charm.
Oh yes they can be sticky! Oiling your hands can be really helpful.
Have not made this recipe yet. To Wendy: my mom used freezer containers for freezing matzah balls separately from the broth. Be sure to thaw the containers 24 hours before re- warming everything.
You’ll have to let us know when you make it Marsha! But great freezing tip, thank you for sharing.
I can only comment on the Matzah ball recipe. I followed directions, had the meal and these are very dense. We get matza soup in philly often and the matza is light as a cloud, literally. A soup spoon slides through those like cutting a cloud.
I had this same problem. They were extremely dense and tough. The soup portion tasted great though.
I have been making this recipe for so a while and I just realized that I shouldn’t be using matzo mix!!! That said, I use low sodium broth so it hasn’t been too salty or over-seasoned. I love this recipe and everyone who I’ve made this for loves it too! Such a good soup!!!
I used 8 bone in skin on thighs, cooked 1 hour the put in fridge. Skimmed smalz off top and used in matzoh balls instead of oil. Used seltzer instead of water ( makes the calls more fluffy). Also added a little chopped dill to matzo batter. It was great!
I use thighs, too! (I boil the bones to add to the broth, and/but could see how they would enhance the flavor when just left in…) I love using the schmaltz from rendering the skins for the cooking oil and/or for the balls; yes! I haven’t tried using seltzer and/but will totally try that… and I LOVE dill and/so will try putting some in the batter; yum!
Listed is “Prep Time: 10 mins.” Walking into the kitchen and reading the recipe takes longer than that! What are you including? Has someone processed all the ingredients for you??
The prep time is anything that happens outside of the cook time, so just mincing the garlic, and chopping the onion, carrot, and celery. The cook time is 1.5 hours, so the total time to make this recipe is 1 hour 40 minutes.
can you freeze the soup and matzo balls ?
I would think that would work, although I haven’t actually tried it to know for sure.