Published March 1, 2024.This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure policy.
This delicious Matzo Ball Soup Recipe of fluffy matzo balls in a homemade chicken soup with vegetables and fresh herbs is amazing. Once you try my version for this classic soup, you will be hooked.
Not much out there that makes me happier than a delicious warm pot of soup. It’s one of my favorite things to make and eat. If you love it as much as I do, then try myLentil SouporAvgolemono.
Matzo Ball Soup
Matzo ball soup is a soup consisting of dumplings made from matzo meal, eggs, and chicken fat, that are then cooked and served in chicken soup. It stems all the way back to the 19th century, where Jewish people would make matzo balls from leftover crumbs of Matzo bread.Originally matzo balls were called Knoedela, and later, in the US, they were known as Matzo balls.
Matzo goes back to the Jewish holiday, Passover.The bread is unleavened, and it represented the bread the Jewish people while fleeing from Egypt.The Passover meal is known as a Seder and still to this day has a great tradition of eating it.The story of Passover can be found in the book of Exodus in the bible.
Ingredients and Substitutions
- Chicken – I used boneless skinless chicken breasts in this matzo ball soup recipe. However, you can also use boneless skinless thighs or drums.
- Fat – I used olive oil to sear the chicken breasts. You can also a neutral flavored oil like avocado oil, clarified butter, or ghee. In addition, I used schmaltz for the matzo balls. Butter is a good substitute for it.
- Stock – You will need to use chicken stock for this recipe. You could also use vegetable stock or water.
- Carrots – I used carrots for the soup portion of this recipe.
- Celery – Some celery was added to the soup for flavor.
- Herbs – I finished the soup with minced fresh dill. In addition, I add minced fresh parsley to the matzo balls.
- Onion – Use red, white, yellow, or sweet onion for the matzo balls. You’ll also use some whole garlic cloves. In addition, I garnish the soup with optional sliced green onions.
- Baking Powder – This is used to help make the matzo balls light and fluffy.
- Eggs – Any large chilled or room-temperature eggs will work.
- Matzo – You can purchase a matzo meal, or you can process matzo crackers until they are coarse ground.
How to Make Matzo Ball Soup
- Season chicken breasts on both sides with salt and pepper.
- Brown the chicken breasts in olive oil over medium-high heat in a large soup pot, 6 qt size.
- Next, add chicken stock, place a lid on the pot, and cover medium heat for 1 hour or until chicken easily shreds apart with 2 forks.
- After the chicken is shredded, add the small diced carrots and celery.
- While the soup is cooking, combine the matzo meal with finely minced yellow onions, garlic, eggs, baking powder, sea salt, pepper, and of course, melted schmaltz until combined.
- Let it rest in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.
- Form ping pong balls of the matzo batter until used and place them on a sheet tray lined with parchment paper.I’ve found the matzo ball dough to be sticky, so if you wet your hands a bit before you roll the balls with your hands, it shouldn’t stick to your fingers too much.
- Add as many matzo balls to the pot as possible without overcrowding it and cook for 15-20 minutes, moving and flipping the balls every 3-4 minutes until cooked through and firm.
- Serve a few matzo balls into a soup bowl and pour a few ladles of chicken stock, chicken, carrots, and celery over top, and garnish with fresh dill and sliced green onions.
Make-Ahead and Storage
Make-Ahead: You can make this soup up to 2 days ahead of time. Keep the balls separate from the broth.
How to Reheat: To reheat it, simply add your desired portion to a small saucepot and heat over low heat until hot.Add your desired portion to a microwave-safe bowl and heat until hot.
How to Store: This soup recipe will hold well in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. It will also freeze well covered for up to 3 months. Thaw it in the refrigerator for 1 day before reheating and serving.
CHEF NOTES + TIPS
- Chicken fat is better known as schmaltz. This can be difficult to find, but believe it or not, a lot of grocery stores do carry it, and it’s located in the frozen food section.
- Substitute the fresh dill for dry dill.
- If the matzo balls become sticky while making them, dip your hands in water before rolling.
- Matzo meal is unleavened bread consisting of flour, water, and sometimes eggs baked until crisp.The flours can be wheat, barley, Spelt, rye, or oat. It’s more or less a cracker that is then ground up into small mustard seed-size pieces.
- If you watch the video, yes, I realize I am bad at pronouncing this.
- This is sometimes known as Jewish penicillin.
More Soup Recipes
- Chicken and Dumpling Soup
- French Onion Soup
- Minestrone
- Fish Chowder
- Broccoli Cheddar Soup
Video
Save
Matzo Ball Soup Recipe
5 from 12 votes
This delicious Matzo Ball Soup Recipe of fluffy matzo balls in a homemade chicken soup with vegetables and fresh herbs is amazing.
Servings: 8
Prep Time: 30 minutes minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour hour 30 minutes minutes
Resting Time: 30 minutes minutes
Ingredients
For the Soup:
- 2 boneless skinless chicken breasts
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 92 ounces chicken stock
- 3 peeled and small diced carrots
- 3 small diced ribs of celery
- ¼ cup chopped fresh dill
- ¼ cup sliced green onions, optional
- coarse salt and fresh cracked pepper to taste
For the Matzo Balls:
- ½ peeled and finely minced yellow onion
- 3 finely minced cloves of garlic
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 8 large eggs
- 4 tablespoons melted schmaltz
- 2 cups matzo meal
- 1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh parsley
- coarse salt and fresh cracked pepper to taste
Instructions
For the Chicken Soup: Season the chicken breasts on both sides with salt and pepper.
Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil on medium-high heat in a large 6 to 8-quart pot. Once it begins to smoke lightly, add in the chicken breasts and then turn the heat down to medium. Cook for 5 to 7 minutes per side or until browned and cooked throughout.
Add the chicken stock, cover with a lid, and cook over medium heat for 1 hour or until the chicken easily shreds apart.
Remove the chicken, and using two forks, pull the chicken apart until it's shredded.
Add the carrots, celery, shredded chicken, salt, and pepper to the pot of stock and let it simmer over low heat for 15 to 20 minutes or until the vegetables are tender. Keep warm.
For the Matzo Balls: In a large bowl, combine all of the ingredients using your hands or a spoon until they are well mixed together and set in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour.
Remove the matzo ball mixture, roll it into small golf ball-sized balls, and place them on a sheet tray lined with parchment paper.
Place a few matzo balls at a time into the soup and cook over low heat for 15 to 20 minutes or until they are cooked and firm. Move the balls around and flip them over every 3-4 minutes.
Place the cooked matzo balls in a soup bowl along with the chicken broth, shredded chicken, and vegetables and garnish with chopped dill and sliced green onions.
Notes
Make-Ahead: You can make this soup up to 2 days ahead. Keep the balls separate from the broth.
How to Reheat: To reheat it, simply add your desired portion to a small saucepot and heat over low heat until hot. Add your desired portion to a microwave-safe bowl and heat until hot.
How to Store: This soup recipe will hold well in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. It will also freeze well covered for up to 3 months. Thaw it in the refrigerator for 1 day before reheating and serving.
Chicken fat is better known as schmaltz. This can be difficult to find, but believe it or not, a lot of grocery stores do carry it, and it’s located in the frozen food section.
Substitute the fresh dill for dry dill.
If the matzo balls become sticky while making them, dip your hands in water before rolling.
Matzo meal is unleavened bread consisting of flour, water, and sometimes eggs baked until crisp. The flours can be wheat, barley, Spelt, rye, or oat. It’s more or less a cracker that is then ground up into small mustard seed-size pieces.
If you watch the video, yes, I realize I am bad at pronouncing this.
This is sometimes known as Jewish penicillin.
Nutrition
Calories: 456kcalCarbohydrates: 45gProtein: 24gFat: 19gSaturated Fat: 5gCholesterol: 198mgSodium: 582mgPotassium: 755mgFiber: 2gSugar: 7gVitamin A: 4271IUVitamin C: 6mgCalcium: 100mgIron: 3mg
Course: Main, Soup
Cuisine: israeli, jewish
Author: Chef Billy Parisi
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28 comments
- Jennifer
Made this recipe last Sunday and it was WONDERFUL! Even the people in the house who don’t care for chicken, loved this soup! I tweaked it ever so slightly by adding sliced onion to the soup itself as well as finely processed onion to the matzo balls. Also, the chicken fat was almost impossible for me to find in Orlando Florida so I had to order it online and it was pricey at $22, but one jar is enough to make this soup at least 8+ times. Can’t wait to make again! Tempted to make a pot just to freeze for when someone gets sick. This has been my feel-better soup for almost a decade but I always had to buy it at a local deli, not anymore!
- Reply
love it!
- Reply
- Donna A Pollock
Hey Chef, I have never before today ever had this soup. WOW, what a delicious great tasting soup. I did it just like you said with the exception of dill I do’t care of the taste of dill. This was amazing. I must have had another idea in my head about this soup, but not anymore. I could eat this everyday. I love sopu in the winter and could eat it everyday. Thank you Chef Billy for all of the tips on making your food taste great, and for this lovely soup recipe.
- Reply
thanks for giving it a shot!!
- Reply
- Michele Brown
I made the matzoh balls. Delish. Finally had fluffy matzoh balls.
- Reply
yum!
- Reply
- Lea M
Michigan has so many great cooks everywhere. I have never tasted such an excellent matzo ball soup. This will be my go to from now on. Excellent flavor!! Thank You Chef!!
- Reply
- Mary Junker
Could you use duck fat instead of schmaltz?
- Reply
- Susan
Just like the way my mom made it. Thank you
- Reply
My pleasure
- Reply
- Laura Massy
Delicious recipe and easy to follow. Highly recommend!!! One of my favorites.
- Reply
Thank you.
- Reply
- Dixie Drouant-Holliday
Hi Chef Billy, I made your matzo ball soup it was fabulous !❤ Thank you so much. Love all your video recipes..can’t wait to make another.
- Reply
- Anna
Just made it and it is sooooo delicious! Thank you!
- Reply
- Sharon Mathews
Looking forward to trying this. I have to ask about your Dutch oven, it’s my favorite color blue. TIA!
- Reply
it is a le creuset!
- Reply
- Denise
Chef Billy do you ever use a pressure cooker to save time when making soup?
I sometimes cook carrots for two minutes in my PC to save time.- Reply
I do not actually, not a huge fan of pressure cookers.
- Reply
- Yvonne
Thank you chef, I have noticed your chickens are so white. How do
you clean yours because as a child I remember my mom shopping
at a chicken market and the chickens were fantastic, now they are
so yellow when we purchase them and are never as white as yours.
Can you tell us what you do?
I am enjoying each and every video.- Reply
Could be a different bread of chicken. Red Riders are really yellow but so good.
- Reply
- Stephen
Awesome going to try this
- Reply
- Valerie
I used to be close friends with a coworker who made matzo ball soup, this reminds me of her. We used to love to enjoy a bowl at lunchtime, talking over the “sinkers”.
- Reply
- Trang
I love matzo ball soup. It always seemed daunting to make myself though. But I love how you broke down the recipe in easy steps and it makes it so simple to make!
- Reply
- Toni
It was a huge hit at my house!! Perfect for weeknights!
- Reply
- Sara
Matzo Ball soup is my favorite comfort food. I’ve never tried it myself but this recipe makes it so easy. I can’t wait to try – thanks for the step by step!
- Reply
- Dixie Drouant-Holliday
Sarah if you make Chef Billy’s recipe you will never ever want another soup. It was delicious!
- Reply
- Rachael Yerkes
This soup is a dream! So good!
- Reply
