matzo ball soup
Honestly, it’s not all chicken soup that I do not like; it’s just the stuff I can normally get. Those short noodles? I can never get them on my spoon! Those bits of chicken? Always overcooked. Those carrot specks? They’re just mush. I’ve tried X Deli’s and Y Market’s and Z Restaurant’s and they always disappoint, namely because these three ingredients were never meant to be cooked for the same amount of time, nor kept warm for hours on end, which is why I was given no choice this weekend but to take the matter into my own hand and make my favorite variety of chicken soup: matzo ball soup.
It helped that Alex had gotten a two-day lead on being sick, because it got me to take some assorted stock ingredients out of their freezer bags, into a pot and make a batch of stock so enormous, I was pretty sure I used every large dish in the apartment. Of course, by Friday I was laid out too and the gap between defrosting chicken stock from the freezer and making it into something seemed impassable. But the thought of eating anything else depressed me, with the help of my also-infirmed husband, turned it into matzo ball soup.
It was not difficult. It was absolutely delicious. It did not, however, draw us up from the depths of flu season, but I forgive it because it solved a different dilemma for me: I had always been convinced I couldn’t make chicken stock or matzo balls the way our mothers do. Some things are just like that–they’re just not the same when you make them yourself–and I am relieved this wasn’t one of them. Not as relieved as I would have been if, say, our mothers had come to our apartment and cooked it for us, but let’s not get crazy, huh?
Chicken Stock
The single most helpful thing you can keep on-hand if you wish to make your own soups and stocks is a stock bag, a concept I picked up from Sara Moulton way back when. This is a bag you keep in your freezer with ingredients you’re saving to flavor a soup base. It’s especially awesome for those of us who hate throwing things away–you never have to. Chopping leeks tonight? Throw the tough green ends in your stock bag. Discarding mushroom stems? Add them too. Only using half that onion? Don’t let it grow old and forgotten in your fridge.
This works for chicken as well. When you go to buy chicken for a dish, grab a whole one and ask the guy behind the counter to chop it for you. It costs a lot less and you can then save the back and wings (because who eats wings?) in a separate stock bag, so they’ll be ready when you are.
Yield: Approximately 3.5 quarts
3 1/2 to 4 1/2 pounds chicken necks, backs and wings
3 celery ribs, cut into big chunks
3 carrots, scrubbed and cut into big chunks
2 parsnips, scrubbed and cut into big chunks
2 onions, unpeeled and quartered
1 head garlic, cut horizontally in half
1 Turkish or 1/2 California bay leaf
1 tablespoon black peppercorns
1 tablespoon Kosher salt
4 quarts cold water
–and/or–
Any vegetables you have stashed in your Stock Bag (described above)
Bring all ingredients to a boil in an 8- to 10-quart heavy pot. Skim froth. Reduce heat and gently simmer, uncovered for 3 hours.
Pour stock through a fine-mesh sieve into a large bowl and discard solids. If using stock right away, skim off and discard any fat. If not, cool stock completely, uncovered, before skimming fat, then chill, covered. Reserve a few tablespoons of the skimmed fat if you wish to use them in matzo balls (below).
Stock can be chilled 3 days in the refrigerator or frozen 1 month.
Matzo Ball Soup
There are two matzo ball camps: those that like them heavy and leaden at the bottom of a bowl and those that like them light and fluffy–these are the latter, and in my mind, the better ones.
If you can’t find matzo meal, pulse a few pieces of matzo in your food processor until it is a coarse powder. If you can’t find matzo, well, you obviously do not live in New York City.
Makes 8 to 12 matzo balls
Matzo Balls
1/2 cup matzo meal
2 eggs, lightly beaten
2 tablespoons reserved chicken fat or vegetable oil
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
2 tablespoons chicken stock or seltzer (which both of our mothers swear by for making the balls extra light)
For soup
2 to 3 quarts prepared chicken stock (recipe above)
1 carrot, thinly sliced
A few sprigs of dill
Mix all matzo ball ingredients in a bowl. Cover and place in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.
Bring 1 1/2 quarts of well-salted water to a brisk boil in a medium sized pot.
Reduce the flame. Run your hands under water so they are thoroughly wet. Form matzo balls by dropping spoonfuls of matzo ball batter approximately 1-inch in diameter into the palm of your wet hands and rolling them loosely into balls. Drop them into the simmering salt water one at a time. Cover the pot and cook them for 30 to 40 minutes.
About ten minutes before the matzo balls are ready, bring prepared chicken stock to a simmer with the sliced carrot in it. Ladle some soup and a couple matzo balls into each bolw and top with a couple snips of dill. Eat immediately.
If ever you make it to San Francisco, Max’s Opera Cafe has a wonderful matzo ball soup waiting for you.
Sorry you’re ill!
Oh, to eat meat again. Sigh.
Oh that soup is to DIE for — well to GETTER for!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I wish I had a bowl here — even tho I’m not sick — poo poo poo! Don’t want to jinx myself. Did you not get a flu shot this year? Now I wish I had all the stuff to make matzo ball soup…wait…I think I do have all those ingredients! Better get to it! Get well soon!
A few times a year while I’m visiting my parents, my mom will make an enormous amount of matzo ball soup, put it in freezer containers, and send it back to LA with me and my sister. That way, whenever we get sick, we can defrost mom’s matzo ball soup (the best ever, btw) and be on the road to recovery.
One of these days I’ll attempt making it myself, but I know it will never be as good as my mom’s.
Is it really bad to put a little chicken in there? I do not want to anger the matzo ball soup gods…
You figured out how to turn me from a lurker into a commenter! I was JUST thinking about making chicken soup w/ matzo balls for a sick coworker, and wishing I could telepathically get the shopping list from my cookbook at home so I could stop by the grocery store on my home from work. In the midst of this thought process, I decided to check your blog for the 5208th time today (what can I say, I’m bored), and Voila! Just the recipe I was looking for!
My mom’s secret ingredient for matzo balls was always Nyafat vegetable shortening. And my mom’s matzo balls are the BEST. Though yours look pretty good. And the above-mentioned Max’s are not bad, though often so large that they cannot properly cook through. Still, not bad for not-Mom’s!
Lemmonex — I don’t think it’s bad to add anything that you wish to a soup. The only food gods should reside in your stomach. ;)
I like greek avgolemono soup for my Chicken soup replacement. Your chicken is the egg, the pasta is the rice, and the refreshing lemon taste is just amazing. Creamy but with no cream… And I think I might have snagged me a Greek bred honey because of it “your avgolemono is better than my Mother’s!”
I think matzo balls are even better if you cook them in chicken stock instead of salt water. It makes your broth cloudy, but it is definitely worth it.
I swear by Pho when I am sick. I had a really amazing bowl of it at a now-defunct chinese place that knocked an oncoming cold clear out of my body. Fabulous broth, tender chicken, lots of noodles to slurp, bean sprouts, chopped chilis…..SO fabulous. Of course, it might have also been the spicy noodle dish I slurped alongside it…..
I loooove matzo ball soup! My mom simmers her matzo balls directly in the stock instead of boiling them separately, which is something you might try. Never heard the seltzer thing – great tip!
I’m seriously craving some matzo ball soup now. Hope you feel better soon…
Yeah, it sucks to live far away from your mom when you’re sick( like me). There is nothing worse than having to make a pot of matza ball soup when you’re sick. Btw, did you use schmaltz or oil?
OMG, I love Matzo ball soup. It was my favorite thing to get at 2:30 AM at Canter’s Deli in Los Angeles! I’m coming over…..
I will give you my secret recipe for the most wonderful chicken soup. Take the bones, sprinkle them with spices (salt, pepper, paprika, garlic powder) and bake them at 400 degree F until they are almost burnt. Then places those in your soup when you make the stock. You will love it!
Sending much health and happiness your way. Last month when I was down with the LA version of this flu I found the Cook’s Illustrated Soup issue. I’m never buying chicken soup again. I totally agree with you about how it comes from the store. The CI version… Nectar of the food gods!!!
I agree about can soup. Chicken soup should not leave your lips feeling greasy. Gross.
I like the stock bag idea! Thanks for the tip. Here’s my chicken soup recipe.
Hi Deb, I love love your site, and my friends love when I try your recipes. Thank you for the months of pleasure I’ve gotten from it.
Now for a question: I seem to remember you used to be vegetarian, so do you have any tips for vegetable stock as glorious sounding as your above chicken stock? (and would matzo ball soup be as good with veggie stock? I used to love it…) Would just leaving out the chicken do it? I would love to make my own, but whenever I’ve done the basic, I always feel like it’s rather bland and I’m ruining a bunch of veggies that could be otherwise delicious.
Aahhh…a woman after my own heart. There is no better soup than matzoh ball soup. My mother and my grandmother both swear by seltzer too, but I didn’t have seltzer once and I found that a bit of baking soda and beating the egg whites separate from the yolks also yields light and fluffy balls.
http://foodiefashionista.blogspot.com/2007/09/matzoh-ball-soup.html
Sorry to be a dolt, but I live in Idaho. What is Matzo?
Kate–Thanks for the idea! I ordered some for dinner. I didn’t chose Vietnamese places well, so it was average, but still, I like your thinking!
Randi–I used schmaltz, oh yes, I did.
Ailo–Yes. Simply use all of those veggies above, and skip the chicken. You’ll want more of them, of course, to make up for the volume and flavor of them lose from the bones–at least double. And be creative, use those mushroom stems, those leeks, and anything else (including a favorite herb) you think will nicely flavor the water. You can make the matzo balls veggie, too, of course, just using oil and not chicken fat.
Dori–Agreed on the baking soda, of course that would make it spectacularly un-Kosher for Passover, which is usually when this soup is made. I did see a couple egg white beating recipes when I was reading up this week, however, and totally want to try that next time. Just to see. Even though this classic version was just perfect.
Britney–Cracker-like unleavened bread, eating by Jews on Passover. Loads more information over here and elsewhere on the Web.
I totally feel your pain right now,Ive spent the last 24 hours glued to my bed with chills and the flu :( that soup looks good
I love my moms homeade chicken noodle soup,it might be the chicken soup of your dreams big chicken chunks and she used frozen egg noodles,try it!
Deb, the thought of a warm bowl of matzo ball soup is making me wish I’d had the balls (haha, pardon the pun) to make that tonight instead of my lame student-budget dinner! However, I am in the “matzo balls should be like lead” camp, so I can’t participate on the best fluffing agent discussion. To make her (best in the world) matzo balls, my mother leaves the batter in the fridge for 10-15 minutes longer than the recipe calls for, so everything can become dense. Of course, she doesn’t use selzer and uses schmaltz – lots of it. Great post, as usual! Get well soon, hun!
I too love the stock bag — not to mention matzo ball soup! I especially love it when sick. Hope you’re feeling better!
Yay! Another chicken noodle soup hater! I feel so vindicated that I am not alone in my disdain for chicken in broth. Mind you, I love chicken broth…just hate the parts that you listed above with the addition of really hating limp celery. EWWW!
I’d make you some veggie beef soup with homemade biscuits, it’ll fix you right up!
My family has a great recipe for swedish dumplings and chicken noodle soup. Whenever I think of comfort food when I’m sick, I think of that. So I’ll have to give this a try.
Your photography… it never has an “off” day. That’s what picks me up when I’m sick!!!
I’m not a matzo ball soup expert, but yours looks pretty darn good.
I’ve only made it once, but I sort of made it Italian, with kale and herbs.
God bless those people at Manischewitz.
Did you have a little cherry wine with your soup?
I’m not big into soup in particular – so last week’s foray with the flu (while pregnant and unable to take antibiotics) was not. fun. I subsisted on popsicles and ginger ale, and that worked quite well for many days.
For your nose? Try this, you can buy Cloverine Salve at the Vermont County Store (online). I swear by it – my family swears by it. I used it last week continuously and my skin was never more than a bit pink. And I’ve now gone through four boxes of lotion-enhanced-only tissues. It’s hard to find in stores – even down here in the South.
Seriously. Try it. (And on anything else that ails you, too. Chapped lips especially.)
Chicken noodle’s a mood thing rather than a malady thing for me. When the current plague struck our house, I made a chicken and barley soup with leeks, spinach, lemon, and as much garlic and cayenne as we could stand! I developed it Ayears ago, based on foods that were either nutritional powerhouses (spinach and barley), or had a rep for bug-busting properties (leeks, garlic, plus cayenne to clear the sinuses)
Having only recently started getting in touch with my Jewish background, I haven’t tried making matzo ball soup yet. Fortunately, we are close to DZ Akins, which serves up a bowl that will knock a bug into next Tuesday!
I hear the reason that chicken noodle soup helps you get over sickness is because it generally has an obscene amount of salt/sodium, which you miss out on when you make it yourself.
Just a question– why do you have to discard the veggies that you make broth out of? I get not wanting to eat the chicken neck etc. but woudn’t the veggies be good? I mean, they are good– to be honest I’ve eaten them and been fine (though I think I may have a lead stomach) but is there some reason why I should not be doing this?
A huge thank-you for answering my question about half and half (over at the spinach quiche – it was delicious) while you are sick. I hope you feel better soon. I will sadly remain un-nourished by matzo ball soup, living very far away from NYC. (A quick search revealed there is one deli in Brisbane that stocks ’some’ Jewish foods.) Deb’s flu be gone! Did that help?
Yum! Sounds and looks awesome! Can I just check on the stock bag that you mention… what kind of bag is it? Is it a plastic bag or a cotton/muslin fabric? I’m not sure what would keep vegies best in the freezer?… I think this is a great idea and can’t wait to try it out. Oh, and the soup as well! :)
I hope you’re both feeling better soon, Deb. Rest up and have more soup. xxoo
Whitney — After boiling vegetables for three hours, they’re mush, very unpleasant mush that have been sapped of all of their flavors, so we discard them.
Courtney — Hear, hear on the sodium. I tend to need to chug three glasses of water after most deli soups.
Bindi — A freezer bag, like a Zip or Glad-lock or such. You want them to stay as fresh-tasting as possible, and then of course discard the bag before cooking what is within them.
Wow, I come from a long line of matzoh ball makers, and none of them ever put seltzer into the matzoh ball batter. What a brilliant idea! I am definitely going to try this next time!
i want that soup and i want it now. i just had chicken soup with dumplings in it for the first time the other day (what can i say? my italian mom had the greatest disdain for “american” food) and loved it – and those were bisquick dumplings. this soup looks like heaven in a bowl.
also, +1 on the veggie bag. makes me feel a little better about not composting.
–Us vs. Food
This post makes me so happy and hungry for matzo ball soup! It came out beautifully and looks JUST like my grandmother’s (I know you were expecting us to all say that but seriously, it does). I’m glad the matzo balls came out with the right texture, I’ve been told it’s hard to master and I hope to achieve the same success when I make matzo ball soup for my future family.
I made matzah ball soup in December and was pleased with it… I think I’ll try the seltzer to make the matzah balls lighter next time and see how we do. My boys love this soup so, your post reminded me I haven’t made it in awhile! We are due for some warm comfort from the soup that cures everything!
I’m sorry you’re sick. This sounds like the perfect thing to soothe away the flu. I love matzoh ball soup, but my matzoh balls always disintegrate. Maybe I’ve been using the wrong recipe. What do I know – I’m Italian!
I’ve always wanted to try making my own matzo balls but I never do because I can’t figure out what is meant by chicken fat? Do you just pull some off the chicken? Use the fat that hardens on the broth? Seriously I’ve wondered about that for years. Thanks
Deb, this is so funny! Not only did we publish our posts at about the same time, both with a discussion of Matzoh Ball camps, but: “This is a bag you keep in your freezer with ingredients you’re saving to flavor a soup base.” I sooo almost went on a paragraph discussion of how I save up my vegetable ends :D I love your idea of keeping them in the freezer. I’ve been making veg stock from a tupperware in the fridge, but it kind of grosses me out a bit that all the odds and ends sit around – freezing them would appease my food safety wishes.
Also, I like the looks of the Matzoh Balls you made. My dad has a habit of rolling them so tight that they have the texture of hockey pucks – ugh. Your’s look a tad denser than I normally make mine, which is good, because I’ll bet the denser ones keep together (mine fall apart the next day).
How ironic that you posted this now… just a few days ago I was searching your site for a good chicken soup recipe and ended up wondering why there wasn’t one… now I know.
I officially ADORE you for posting this!! I am actually pretty good at the stock part. once I figured out that even cooking with homemade was a gazillion times better than canned stock I never looked back.
but the matzo balls! I loved the soup so much growing up and my grandmother made a mean batch. I was always scared to try them on my own. but you make it actually seem possible. thank you!
i also hate limp soggy noodles in my mazto ball soup. i pout them in at the very end—after i turn the flame off. the soup is still very hot and the noodles cook quickly. you can also cook the noodles separately and put them in the bottom of the bowl and ladle the soup on top. imake this a few times a month for friday nigth dinner. my kids love matza balls.
That looks great — the dill especially is really lovely. And I am definitely taking your advice on the stock bag!
I can’t stand chicken soup! I dont’ know why, but I just have never liked it. Something about the smell of boiled chicken. That said, I do love Matzoh! I went to a primarily jewish college (even though I’m not), and since I was the “cook” among my friends, I was always called upon by my friends to cook for the seders. I graduated with enough Jewish recipes to make any mother in law proud! Matzoh is one of my favorites though and this recipe sounds lovely. I’ll definitely be giving it a shot!
Btw, totally unrelated, but every time I come here I notice that the large text box and small font makes it so nice to keep writing and writing… Maybe that’s why all your comments are so long. I might have to try and figure something out like this for my blog! :)
I’m not Jewish…. just Jew adjacent… and I LOVE matzoh ball soup. I’ve never tried to make it myself though. I think the cold weather outside and your fantastic pictures might just be the perfect impetus I was needing!
Feel Better!
Erin
You are awesome! And timely. I too am sick and wanted to email you for a chicken stock recipe. Now I don’t have to. I’m confused about one thing. The bag of stock veggies is in addition to the parsnips, celery, onion, and carrots, right? What if you don’t have a stock bag? Can you just use the other four?
And, in my humble opinion, the denser the matzoh ball the better. My Bub used to get so mad when she made “matzoh ball bearings”, but I loved ‘em.
Howard — Aw, feel better! No worries if you don’t have a stock bag, just use all of the vegetables listed above. As you have stuff stored in the freezer, you can swap out fresh ingredients. You’ll have to share with us the “bearings” recipe.
I think I know what a lurker is now and I am one. I have been reading your blog and I am offically going on record as a reader and more importantly a cook of some of your recipes. Yeah. I so enjoy sneaking a peek while at work but must confine myself to doing my job – oh bother. I am going to make this soup verry verrry soon. I have not had it since my Jewish boyfriend made it for me over thirty years ago. Yes, I am old but I still appreciate good food. Thank you for being here and letting me in on your world of cooking and wonderful photography.
wow, I’ll have to try that one!!!
p.s. I feel a little silly but I just gave you an award on my blog. your recipes always make my day.
Finally! Someone else that doesn’t like chicken soup! All these years, I felt I was the only one! ;)
Great entry! But Sinkers are better!
The last time my girlfriend was really sick, I made her matzoh ball soup, and added curry spices to the matzoh balls and red chilis to the broth. The extra kick helped a lot with her congestion. I cheated, though, and used boxed matzoh ball mix. Can’t wait to try your recipe for making them from scratch!
Harold’s New York Deli – Raritan Center, Edison, NJ: Matzoh balls the size of grapefruits. Probably not as good as yours, but definitely BIG. Did I get that message across?
B I G ! !
I LOVE matzo ball soup. The problem is, I always find myself eating bits of the matzo batter before I have cooked it… so salty and delicious!
I do the same thing in my freezer–I hate waste and since I can’t have a compost heap in the city, I might as well get some use out of my veggie scraps and bones. I wonder how matzo balls would taste with some chopped up jalapenos mixed in, or would that be just too wrong?
Deb- I just wanted to thank you for this recipe. I posted a comment the other day about how my matzoh balls never came out right. Today, I was feeling under the weather and decided to try your recipe. The matzoh balls came out great! Light and fluffy like clouds! I’ll never make them any other way. :)
the soup has already worked some of its magic by getting you up to make it and blog about it. I do love me some good matzo balls in a soup…
My mother, God rest her soul, was a gentile who made the most wonderful matzo ball soup for my Jewish father when I was a child. Mom passed away before I got a chance to ask her the secret to fluffy matzo balls, as mine always turned out like hockey pucks…Deb, you said a proverbial mouthful when your instructions say to form the balls loosely (shhhh…that’s the secret..now that it’s out Bobby Flay will be showing up for showdown!) Ha! He should be so lucky!
the stock bag in the freezer is genius! (Genius I tell you!) Thanks for bringing that to my attention. Now, can you come over and help me clear out my freezer? It’s in need of some serious, professional intervention ;-)
“Who eat’s wings?”…down here in Tulsa it is THE favorite part of the bird…
I remember as a little girl in Chicago a local eatery had a Chicken Soup Bar: it was
the first that I had ever seen, and have never come across another one since. The
stock was WONDERFUL and you could add anything you wished to it from the buffet bar: pieces of chopped chicken, noodles, rice, matzoh balls, kasha…I thought it was a great concept and enjoyed eating there many times with my family.
Your recipes are super!
You’ve made me into a lurker, too. These matzoh balls are all WRONG! This is not how my German grandmother would’ve made ‘em. Hers were delicate, SMALL, morsels, so light that you had to sit on a ladder to eat them from the ceiling! And they were made from matzohs, NOT the matzoh meal, and had lots of nutmeg and parsley!!!
Funny that you should mention Matzo Ball Soup… since it was a conversation in our office today.
I’m a big fan of Matzo Ball Soup, but have been disheartened by the fact that rarely can you find a vegetarian version. So, I’ve begun to work on my own version and have come up with a pretty hearty veggie stock that makes even my meat-loving boyfriend salivate every time he sees me make it.
Put the carrot, onion, garlic, celery, parsley, salt, pepper, AND olive oil (a couple of tablespoons should do the trick) in a big pot of boiling water. Keep that puppy simmering until all the veggies have cooked nicely. Don’t strain… the veggies are almost as good as the matzo balls. ALMOST…
For the matzo balls, I alway like mine fluffy (this doesn’t mean that they’re light… they’re just not dense). The key is this: while they are boiling, do NOT lift the pot top! No peaking…
Deb…I have used a Joan Nathan recipe very similar to yours…they are great and in a pinch I use a boxed mix…for those times, when I or one of my tribe are just too sick to deal with a home made “ball”…but I was recently turned on to a Claudia Roden recipe with just matzo meal, separated and beaten eggs, and salt…I am a convert…they were light and fluffy…fat free…and
really delicious!
There is nothing like Jewish chicken soup when you are sick…it has magical restorative powers!
I must be an anomaly because I love my balls hard.
Honest to god, I didn’t mean for that to sound kinky.
I love a good soup stock directive.
Also, I can give you all a handy hint on how to accomodate the protocol and self confidence of manifesting a recipe just as good as our own mother can.
A) have a baby or two;
B) invite your parents over to eat with you and your babies during the festive season;
C) it helps if the babies are grown up enough to remember their manners
however, I must add that I have witnessed that the less expedient method incorporates doing a lot of cooking together with your mother in her own kitchen, however, I could never quite come at that, and neither could my mother, and so I undertook to make my grandmother my role model, which seems to have necessitated the having babies part of the qualification
Grandmothers are perfect for using as role models for coping with formality, cooking, and child birth; while mothers are altogether too afraid that their daughter’s (and sons, but mothers are more likely to call their husbands to task about their sons) mistakes are their own fault.
Give me a daugher who relates will with her father to find kitchen bliss.
oops that was meant to read “who relates well with her father”
and here are two easy peasy soup recipies stockless, just in case the kids are at our throats:
chuck into a pot as much diced root vegetables as you can muster, the only rule is that it has to be root vegetables, and that potatoes are not allowed: cook it until it is cooked and then dissolve a dessert spoon of miso into each bowl just before serving
chuck into a pot more onion that seems viable, more salt than seems viable, and more olive oil than seems viable, all with presoak black eye beans, and cook for as long as until you can remember that it’s on the stove and you are hungry, but not before you already forgot about it for a while, (but don’t go out with the stove on)
ps the pot needed to have water in it first
pps but not before frying the onions of course . . .
. . . . this being the result of motherhoods influence on the instructive capcity: bad luck if you ain’t my own children, who have the exact precise instructions rammed down their earholes as often as possible
I love my mom’s chicken noodle soup. She makes chicken base (also known as simmering the hell out of a whole chicken until bits fall off when you poke it), separates the chicken (half right back into the pot and the other half into the fridge for chicken and dumplings), and brings the liquid back to a simmer. Once it’s there, she sautes celery, onion and carrots (and mushrooms if she’s making it for me), adds a liberal dose of salt, and adds them in. She then brings that to a rolling boil (this cooks the veggies) and adds several handfuls of those wide egg noodles. 15 minutes later, there is soup that won’t fall off even the thinnest of spoons. Yum.
“If you can’t find matzo, well, you obviously do not live in New York City.” Love it! Tonight’s my first night ever making Matzah ball soup — wish me luck!
just made my first matzo soup (sadly from the box!) but I was looking online for some new recipes and came across your site….. I LOVE the stock bag in the freezer idea….I was trying to figure out what to do with some on its way out celery today and ended up tossing it! if only i had read an hour earlier
yumm… these were perfect! light, perfect texture, and super-easy. thanks deb. :)
I don’t know if anyone else in the world does this, but my mother in law’s chicken stock is some of the most fragrant and yummiest in the world, and her one secret ingredient seems to be parsley(along with the other veggies you mentioned)! She also puts in dill just for the last 10 minutes. Another thing she does differently, although it is much more expensive, is she uses chicken breasts only–she says it makes the broth sweeter. She might be a little nuts, but man is her matzo ball soup the best in the world!!!
Just made a big ol’ batch of chicken stock. The matzo ball recipe is just what I’m looking for!
I can’t remember if there’s some reason not to use a “fowl” chicken. Anybody know? It’s in the pot now but not emitting the usual great fragrance. I’m enjoying everybody’s comments as well as Smitten’s suggestion to accumulate stock ingredients in a freezer bag until ready to use.
i eat wings :D theyre my favourite part of the chicken!!
Hi Deb, I have made many pots of matzah ball soup and have always been underwhelmed with my results. My daughter is on the couch with a 102 degree post-motrin fever, so I decided to follow your recipes. Both came out better than my previous efforts. Thank you so much. I happen to like the taste of meat that has cooked in the soup so I did use some boneless breasts. And the matzah balls are light. It’s a miracle. And it’s not even Chanukah.
2nd Avenue Deli = Best Matzo Ball Soup E-V-E-R. They bring it out with matzo balls and noodles in a bowl and then pour their broth on it at your table, so they’re not all mushy. SO SO SO GOOD.
I notice your recipe list indicates ” unpeeled onions” but the photo shows them peeled……the colour of chicken soup itself has healing powers….leaving the light brown skin on the onions will give the soup an incredible golden glow!
Anyone who is watching their salt intake can add sundried tomatoes to the mix of vegetables for natural saltiness.
The onions were unpeeled, except for a lingering peeled half I found in my fridge and was thrilled to find a use for.
I am not sure I am following the other part — sundried tomatoes have a tremendous amount of salt in them.
this soup was EXCELLENT! I made it for the first time on Sunday – which is when our family had our Passover Seder – since we won’t be here Wed. I’m converting to Judaism and my husband is Jewish. There were other Jewish people there too. Everyone said “you’re a natural. you’re soup is PERFECT!” (i credited your recipe, of course). My husband said it was as good as his mother’s. Oy vey!!! I am thrilled! Thanks so much for the recipe. I really enjoyed making and eating it.
oh, this is so cool! My Hebrew teacher was just talking about this soup in class, and I really wanted a recipe to take home and try out (I’m not Jewish, but I’ve been studying in Jerusalem for the past semester and have learned soo much about Jewish culture–it’s been great!), but she forgot to bring it. I can’t wait until I have access to a kitchen again to try this recipe out! Actually, going through your blog, it looks like there are a lot of recipes I need to try… I’m going to be pretty busy once I get home, I think ;)
I made this today for a late passover treat for my boyfriend who is Jewish, and also because I’m sick, sick, sick. It was so easy and SO GOOD. My friend and I have been on a matzo ball soup kick, searching out which diner makes it the best, if the store bought mixes or canned versions are passable….we are novices because we are good Irish catholics. The mix I made….I couldn’t even keep it in my mouth. I spit it out. The can……I didn’t have to spit it out, but I couldn’t finish it. This recipe….heaven! And just as easy to make as the box mix. I did cheat and buy Swanson’s broth, though. I doctored it with a little squeeze of fresh lemon juice. Is that allowed??????????
Question: matzo or matzah? never sure which to write. I bought all the ingredients and am going to make some stunning MB soup sometime soon. I cant wait!!!!
It’s a transliteration, so there isn’t one correct spelling, from what I understand.
Hi! Ever since I found your recipe for this soup I have had it bookmarked and I make your recipe every other week! Yes, I eat that much soup, haha. Thanks so much for sharing!
a stock bag in the freezer! Sooooooooo clever!!!!
I already had made the stock with another recipe (it was fine, I will try yours next time) but used your recipe for the matzo ball and they were perfect! I would cook the carrots a little longer next time (or try to slice them even thinner) and add some noodles and/or rice for extra body.
I just made these matzo balls and seriously, they’re the best I’ve ever made.
I love (despise) how people on this blog who are not Jewish make the point to say that he or she is not a Jew. By the way, I love (don’t despise) chicken soup with dumplings…in this case, made with Matzah…and I’m not a Jew (j/k). Thank you, Deb, for the info on the transliteration; I had no idea. Totally appreciate and now, I’m about to make your balls. Hopefully, they float. Nice blog.
Ok, I confess – I cheated and used Swanson’s because I was dying to try this recipe and I was sort on time. The matzo balls were amazing – light, tasty and easy – but next time I am going to spend the time (and the freezer bag trick!) and make the homemade broth because really, there is no substitute. Also, I think I will also try to use reserved chicken fat instead of the veggie oil in the balls – the added flavor would probably be great.
Thanks again Deb – another winner.
someone might have asked this already, but is there any particular reason why u don’t keep the stock vegetables in the soup? just curious.
Yes. They’d be soggy and mushy, and pretty zapped of flavor after the length of time they’d been boiled.
Even though I am a nice Jewish girl, I like to jazz up my matzah balls in a non-traditional way with a bit more flavor. I like to add a bit of finely minced green onion and finely chopped ginger. I leave the first few balls plain, since my son doesn’t care for those flavors, and the rest have the additions–the green specks make it obvious which are not the plain ones. To my chicken broth I add either baby spinach or bok choy a few minutes before the balls are ready. So good!!!!
Thank you for this enticing recipe and all your fans for the great tips! I’ve been searching for an authentic recipe for my Mom since she mentioned it at Christmas… I can’t wait to turn her on to this recipe and your website! Forgive my use of the many exclamation points… I’m hungry now!
My grandmother used to fry chicken skin and onions in chicken fat until the skin is slightly puffed up and crispy, like kosher pork rinds. The Yiddish word for it is “schkvarkes”. If you salt them, they become the most un-healthy snack food you can imagine. But you must keep your family away from them until you’re done with the soup ;-)
Then, when she made matzo balls, she would mix the schmaltzy onions into the batter, and push a morsel of schkvarke into the middle of every matzo ball. They taste incredible, it adds a huge dimension of flavor (toasted onions, rich chickeny flavor) to the matzo balls!
THis is the first chicken stock i have ever made that i didn’t think tasted weird. It tasted in my opinion like chicken stock should. I had never eaten Matzo Balls before, but i did make these. Wonderful! Gosh this opens up a whole new world of soups for me!!!
Thanks for the wonderful site and the hard work that goes into it! I am envious of your photography and availablity of ingredients, but this site is such a fun read and elicits a euphoria everytime there is a new post.
Thanks!