Soup of the Week – Matzah Ball Soup

OK, so Passover is…over.

But someone asked if I would be posting the recipe for our matzah ball soup, so I wanted to toss it up here because it was, after all, last week’s featured soup here.

If you ask me, matzah ball soup does not have to wait for Passover – it’s just good old fashioned chicken soup with a bunch of matzah balls floating around in it. And since everyone who has experienced matzah knows that it won’t taste much different two or three months down the line, I say use up that leftover matzah and go for it!

What exactly is a matzah ball, you ask? Easy. It’s kind of like a dumpling made from matzah meal, eggs, water, and some type of fat (butter, oil, margarine, chicken fat – really up to you). If you want the whole short story (and a pretty good laugh for those who appreciate junior-high boy humor) read here. But as we proceed here, please do try to be mature.

Matzah ball soup could not be easier, really, and you’ll find dozens of variations out there if you search the Internet. If you want to start with a whole chicken and make your soup from the very beginning, that’s an option. If not, use already-prepared broth. Some cooks make this with chicken pieces in the soup, some don’t. Some add parsnips, others don’t. As my Mother-In-Law would say, “there are about as many ways to make this as there are chefs.”

That said, this is how we make it in our kitchen…

Matzah Ball Soup Our Way

What you need:

• 8-10 cups chicken broth* (use your favorite box or can or your own homemade)
• 3-4 carrots, chopped, sliced, or diced
• matzah balls (see method below)
• fresh dill

*or vegetable, if you prefer

What to do:

1. Fill a large soup pot with your chicken broth and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Toss in your carrots.
2. Reduce heat and cook carrots to desired consistency (the Hub likes them to remain a bit crunchy; Zilla and I like them much softer).
3. Add cooked matzah balls** and fresh dill. Simmer for a few minutes to let everything blend.
4. Add salt and pepper to taste, if desired. Serve.

**You can cook the matzah balls right in the chicken broth if you like, but it may make your soup look cloudy. If you don’t want that result, cook the balls separately as detailed below.

Matzah Balls

The easiest way to do this, honestly, is to buy some Manischewitz Matzo Ball Mix and follow the instructions on the back. If you’d rather, you can buy a can of Matzo Meal or just use some matzah from your personal stash and make your own meal. I’ve done it all three ways and we don’t see any difference.

Most recipes will work pretty much as follows.

What you need:

• 2 Tbs. vegetable oil (or schmaltz, if you like)
• 2 eggs, slightly beaten
• 1/2 cup matzah meal
• 2 Tbs. water or broth
• 1 tsp. of salt, if desired

What to do:

1. In a bowl, beat eggs. Add oil, matzah meal, and salt. Blend together. Add broth or water and mix well.
2. Cover and chill mixture in refrigerator for at least 20 minutes. This is key, friends. If you don’t chill the matzah ball mixture long enough, your balls will fall apart. Trust me. See photo in this post. (And try not to notice that there is soup splashed on the counter in the photo.)
3. While the mixture chills, bring a large pot of water to a boil. You’ll need this to cook your balls later.
4. Remove chilled matzah ball mixture from refrigerator. Wet hands (also a key step) and form mixture into matzah balls. Use about 2 Tbs. of mix for large balls, 1 Tbs. for smaller.
5. To cook, drop the matzah balls into your pot of boiling water and simmer until thoroughly cooked, about 30-40 minutes.

When finished, add cooked matzah balls to your pot of chicken broth (see above for soup).

It’s as easy as that! And delicious – we all love this. Since my Passover batch didn’t turn out so well, I will probably use some of our leftover matzah to make another batch this week. We’re expecting several days of rainy weather and that sounds like soup to me!

Enjoy!