Matzo Ball Recipes Collection

Matzo Ball Recipes Collection 🍲 🫓 🐓

Over the years, I’ve made hundreds of matzo balls—mostly traditional, but often with a twist. In this collection, you’ll find nine of my favorites: saffron, horseradish & chives, Mexican and Vietnamese variations, fancy fried matzo balls, a turkey-flavored version, and even one finished with edible flowers. Some are kosher for Passover, while others are variations meant for experimenting outside this holiday.

At the end of the post, I’m sharing my tips and secrets for making great matzo balls every time, whether you’re trying one of my recipes or your own family favorite.

Matzo ball soup has become a familiar part of many Seder tables, even though it’s not required or mentioned in the Haggadah. For Ashkenazi Jews, it grew out of a simple idea: take matzo, the Passover staple, and turn it into something warm, tender, and satisfying. Dumplings made from matzo meal simmer in savory chicken broth, creating a dish that has become beloved over generations.

And beyond tradition, matzo ball soup is simply delicious. The broth is rich and flavorful, and the dumplings are light yet satisfying, soaking up every drop of goodness. Whether airy or a bit denser, it’s a dish that everyone enjoys as part of the Seder experience—while the story of Passover remains at the heart of the table. ❤️

Matzo Ball Recipes

Matzo Ball Soup for Passover

Traditional Matzoh Balls

I make my standard matzo balls with extra virgin olive oil (not bland vegetable oil), and add fresh, finely chopped parsley and dill.

Manischewitz matzo ball mix is Kosher for Passover and my choice for the best tasting. It contains matzo meal, salt, monocalcium phosphate, baking soda, onion, black pepper, garlic, and celery seed. (Monocalcium phosphate is a leavening agent and food additive typically used in baked goods. It is a fast-acting acid that reacts with baking soda to produce carbon dioxide, which helps baked goods rise and become light and fluffy).

Beef Soup with Brisket, Horseradish Matzo Balls

Beef Soup with (Leftover) Brisket
Horseradish and Chive Matzoh Balls

Unlike the light Seder Dinner of Chicken Soup with Matzoh Balls, this hearty beef soup for the end of Passover is the main course. It uses up many ingredients from the prior week.

Fresh chunky carrots, parsnips, celery, and leeks are simmered in beef broth. Leftover brisket is cut into bite-sized cubes and re-heated in the savory soup. And here, the matzoh balls are flavored with zippy horseradish and chives to complement the beef.

Matzo Ball Soup, Vietnamese Flavors

Vietnamese Flavors of Ginger, Cinnamon, Lemongrass, and Star Anise

This year the inspiration comes from Pho Ga, that fragrant herby Vietnamese Chicken Noodle Soup. Here, matzoh balls are subtly spiced with cinnamon, cloves, and ginger and stand in for the rice noodles. The chicken broth is flavored with blackened onion and ginger, lemongrass, and star anise where the smoky-salty-sweet-umami layers are simply intoxicating.

Calabrian Chili Matzo Balls

Chicken Noodle Soup
With Calabrian Chili Matzoh Balls

This time, I added Calabrian chili to the mix to make fabulously flavorful and somewhat spicy matzoh balls with a distinct Italian flair.

Trader Joe’s Italian Bomba Hot Pepper Sauce is made with Calabrian chili peppers sourced from a trusted pepper cultivator in Calabria, Italy (the “toe” of Italy’s “boot”). Their Italian Bomba Hot Sauce is a tribute to a centuries-old culinary tradition.

Turkey Soup with Poultry-Seasoned Matzo Balls

Turkey Soup with Poultry-Seasoned Matzo Balls
Egg Noodles, Peas, Carrots, Shredded Turkey

A blend of thyme, sage, black pepper, marjoram, rosemary and nutmeg – this traditional Thanksgiving seasoning adds a unique savory flavor to my Hanukkah matzoh balls.

When Hanukkah falls right after Thanksgiving on the calendar, a special opportunity arises. Here, we are merging the best flavors and recipes of both holidays…With this seasoning, the matzoh balls have a taste reminiscent of turkey!

Mexican Matzo Ball Soup

Cilantro Matzo Balls with Toasted Coriander and Cumin
Chicken Soup with Avocado, Jalapeño, Lime, Onion, Cilantro

The holiest of Jewish holidays, Yom Kippur ends at sunset tonight. This evening we break the fast with something simultaneously traditional and nontraditional: matzo ball soup with an unexpected twist!

Mexican flavors including cilantro, coriander, and cumin bring a bright zippy freshness to our beloved soup. No soup could be better than Nana’s, but this (covid) year things are mighty different, so why not the soup? 5781, the year we served our matzo ball soup with avocado, jalapeño, and lime. And we served it again in 5786.

My Beautiful Matzo Ball Soup

With Herbs and Edible Flowers

Since 2007, I have shared many a matzoh ball here on Taste With The Eyes. But this year, because winter had been especially rainy, cold, and snowy from LA, to Las Vegas, to Chicago…I am giving an extra nod to rebirth and springtime by adding more green herbs and pretty edible flowers to the soup.

Everyone had the same reaction to this bowl of soup. “That’s beautiful!” they said, so here I present the 2019 version called My Beautiful Matzoh Ball Soup.

Fried Matzo Balls

Fancy Style
Caviar, Sour Cream, Hard-Cooked Egg Yolk, Chives

If you’re making lots of matzo balls for Passover, roll a few more and…OMG fry some! You and your family will be delirious with these morsels of deliciousness. It’s worth the extra effort and second step to fry them to get a golden crispy crust and then adorn with some fancy toppings.

The crust is made from potato flakes and the caviar is certified kosher (from fish with fins and scales, not sturgeon) so these fried matzo balls are suitable for Passover.

Saffron Matzo Balls

Chicken Soup with Exotic Saffron Matzoh Balls

I’m preparing Chicken Soup in memory of my Nana and in celebration of the Jewish New Year. And of course, my chicken soup for the High Holy Days will include matzoh balls. These saffron matzoh balls are richly-colored and exotic-tasting.

The bright metallic flavor of saffron conjures up memories of foods from far away places. Their striking golden hue brings an element of surprise and beauty to the holiday table. The heady spice derived from the dried stigmas of a crocus, evokes interest and is powerfully irresistible.

Matzo Ball Secrets

How to Make the Fluffiest, Most Delicious Matzoh Balls

These tips aren’t complicated, but they come from experience, trial, and a lot of taste-testing. Whether you stick with a classic version or experiment with one of the twists from this collection, applying these techniques will help you make matzo balls that everyone at the table will enjoy—and maybe even remember for years to come.

Notes

Click on the underlined title above each image for full stories and recipes.

Not all matzo ball recipes in this collection are kosher for Passover.

Happy Passover! 🍷🍷🍷🍷