Recipe Roundup

10 Amazing Matzo Ball Soup Recipes

Whether you prefer sinkers or floaters, a simple broth or a loaded chicken soup, these traditional Jewish dumplings can be made in so many different, delicious ways.

By Joe Sevier

April 5, 2019

A bowl of matzo ball soup on a marble countertop.

Photo by Elizabeth Coetzee, Food Styling by Erika Joyce
1/10
Matzo Ball Soup
These rich and tender matzo balls are cooked in homemade chicken stock that’s perfumed with parsnips, turnips, dill, and star anise.
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Photo by Chelsea Kyle, Prop and Food Styling by Ali Nardi
2/10
Matzo Ball Soup
There's an entire chicken in this soup, and then some. You'll pull out the breast early on and use the white meat to garnish the finished bowls, but everything else stays and simmers for hours, enriching the stock with concentrated flavor and lip-smacking body.
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Photo by Chelsea Kyle, Prop Styling by Alex Brannian, Food Styling by Anna Hampton
3/10
Matzo Ball Soup with Cardamom, Turmeric, and Lime
With an onion-garlic purée and Persian spices mixed right into the matzo ball batter, this aromatic soup is a surprising—and delicious—alternative for your Passover table.
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Photo by Chelsea Kyle, prop styling by Brian Heiser, food styling by Rhoda Boone
4/10
Green Chicken Soup With Dill Matzo Balls
In addition to the usual players (carrots, onions, celery), this loaded take on traditional matzo ball soup also features fennel and kale for a hearty, healthful bowl.
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Photo by Chelsea Kyle, Food Styling by Anna Stockwell
5/10
Turkey Matzo Ball Soup
I‘ve substituted sage here for the more commonly-used dill, to keep the soup’s flavor more in line with Thanksgiving. If it’s post-holiday time and you have leftover turkey meat, feel free to add it to the soup in hunks, about 5 to 10 minutes before serving, to warm it through without overcooking it. You can use neutral oil in place of the chicken fat, or even melted butter, if you don’t keep a kosher kitchen and/or want to make your ancestors turn over in their graves.
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Photo by Sara Remington
6/10
Gondi (Persian "Matzo Balls" With Chickpeas and Chicken)
This gluten-free version of "matzo ball soup" is actually a traditional Persian version, wherein the dumplings are made with chickpea flour instead of matzo meal.
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Linda Pugliese, food styling by Anna Hampton
7/10
Stuffed Matzo Ball Soup With Chicken and Apples
Nigella seeds add a distinctive onion-y bite to these matzo balls. If you can't find them, subsitute black sesame seeds, which will add different, but still tasty, flavor and the same visual appeal.
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Patricia Heal
8/10
Leek and Ginger Matzo Balls in Lemongrass Consommé
Make the broth at least a day ahead of time. After being chilled, it'll develop a solid layer of fat across its surface that can be scraped off and used to make the matzo balls.
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Chris Gentile
9/10
Spring Chicken Soup with Matzo Balls
Ginger adds a touch of zingy heat to the broth in this soup. The herb-loaded matzo balls here fall smack in the middle of the feather-light vs. total-sinker spectrum.
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Lara Ferroni
10/10
Chicken Soup with Asparagus and Shiitakes, Served with Roasted Fennel Matzo Balls
As a testament to early spring, these roasted fennel–studded matzo balls are floating in a broth laced with asparagus tips and shiitake mushrooms.
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Following stints at StarChefs and Saveur, Joe joined Epicurious in 2016 where he’s written about how to make the very best biscuits, the singularity of third-culture cooking, and the ultimate cream cheese frosting. Currently, he works across both BA and Epi as the senior SEO editor for cooking stories, which ... Read More

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