MATZOH BALL SOUP

my version with leeks, swiss chard and dill

Passover is coming up in a few weeks and I figured there would be no better time to share my recipe for matzoh ball soup. It veers slightly from the classic but in my humble opinion is better than any other version I’ve had. It’s filled with leeks, swiss chard, chicken, and LOTS of dill. The dill tricks your brain into thinking it’s a traditional matzoh ball soup, but then there’s all the greens and yeah, it’s just really good.

There are a lot of parts to this recipe, so let’s get straight to it!

Photos by Ben Turner, whose work you can find here.

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MY MATZOH BALL SOUP WITH SWISS CHARD AND DILL - serves 6-8 people

Click here for a printable PDF of the recipe without photos

THE BROTH - makes about 3 quarts

I think the key to really good chicken broth is using whole chickens. I cook the chicken until it’s just about to fall off the bone, then pick the meat for the soup and toss the bones back in the pot so they can give the broth everything they’ve got. I prefer to make broth in my instant pot, which produces the best results in almost no time, but I’m not going to tell you to buy an instant pot because a pot simmering on the stove works too. I like to add a little bouillon powder to bump up the classic chicken soup flavor. My family uses Osem Consomme, but I’m also a fan of Knorr Chicken Bouillon Cubes, Better Than Bouillon, or Spike Seasoning.

• One 3.5-4lb chicken 

• 2 tablespoons of your bouillon of choice (Osem, Knorr, Better Than Bouillon, or Spike Seasoning)

• 1 tablespoon onion powder

• 1 tablespoon salt

• 1 onion, halved and peeled

• 2-3 carrots

• 2 celery stalks

• 1 tablespoon whole peppercorns

• 1 bay leaf

• A few parsley stems 

• Water - If using an instant pot use 3 quarts, if cooking on stove top use 4 quarts because you will lose much more liquid to evaporation.

• Some people say you should add a splash of vinegar to help extract the nutrients from the bones. Is this true? I don’t ever do it. What do you think? I’d love to hear what you think!

First, in a 6-8qt instant pot or stock pot, add your whole chicken (making sure the giblets are reserved for another use), bouillon of choice, onion powder, salt, onion, carrots, celery, peppercorns, bay leaves, parsley stems, and water. For the instant pot, set to high pressure and cook for 12 minutes. If cooking on the stove, bring to a boil, then lower to barely a simmer, with the lid on. Skim as needed. There’s usually no need to skim if using an instant pot, but you will see some scum come to the surface if cooking on the stove. Once simmering, cook chicken for about an hour to an hour and a half, or until the thigh is about to pop out of the socket when you pull on it.

When the chicken is cooked, using tongs, carefully drain the chicken and set it aside on a plate to cool for about 15-20 minutes, or just until it’s cool enough to pick the meat without burning yourself. Pick the meat, shredding into bite sized pieces as you go, and then put all the bones, cartilage and skin back into the pot. Set the instant pot for an hour and a half, or if cooking on the stove, cook at a low simmer, covered, for about another 3-4 hours.

Drain through a fine meshed sieve and voila! You have made a delicious and concentrated chicken broth.

Broth can be made 2-3 days ahead and refrigerated, or 1-2 months ahead and frozen.

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THE MATZOH BALLS - serves 6-8 people

I’ve eaten a lot of matzoh balls in my life - giant, almost too light soggy ones from delis, golf ball sized denser ones at my grandmother’s house in Montreal (which I am very partial to) and everything in between. I am definitely more in the camp of smaller and denser, but to appeal to the masses I started adding a bit of baking powder to mine to poof them up a bit and I’m really happy with them. This recipe can be doubled or tripled easily.

• 4 eggs 

• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder

• 6 grams (1.5 teaspoon) kosher salt

• ½ teaspoon onion powder 

• 58 grams (¼ cup) seltzer, broth, or water (do you think seltzer makes a difference? I don’t!)¹

• 3 tablespoons chopped parsley

• 3 tablespoons chopped dill 

• 50 grams (3 tablespoons + 2 teaspoons) melted and cooled duck fat, schmaltz, or neutral oil like canola, grapeseed or sunflower seed oil

• 140g (1 cup) matzoh meal  

In a medium-large bowl beat eggs. Add baking powder, salt, onion powder, seltzer/broth/water, chopped parsley and dill. Stir well. Drizzle in melted and cooled fat or oil. Stir in matzoh meal. Cover with a plate, or plastic wrap if you must! Refrigerate at least 45 minutes, or overnight.

Bring a large 8 qt pot of water to a vigorous boil. While you wait for your pot to boil you can start scooping and shaping your balls. I love an ice cream scoop for this, but if you don’t have that you can just use a spoon. You can decide what size you’d like your matzoh balls to be, just make sure they are all relatively the same size so they cook at the same rate. This recipe could make 8 large matzoh balls, or 15-20 smaller ones. Chef’s choice! Keep in mind that bigger balls will take longer to cook!

To shape your matzoh balls, very lightly wet your hand and roll between cupped hands, being sure not to over-compress the mixture, which can lead to denser balls.

Once the pot of water is boiling, add a few tablespoons of salt to the water and gently drop in your matzoh balls. If you’ve doubled or tripled the recipe you may want to cook the balls in a couple of pots. Keep in mind that they will at least double in size once cooked, and you don’t want to over-crowd the pot.

Once they’re all in, cover the pot with a lid and set a timer for 20 minutes if your balls are on the smaller side, or 30 minutes if larger. Now check if your matzoh balls are cooked - I just pull one out and cut it right in half. If it’s underdone there will be a lighter outer ring, and you’ll see a darker, denser center. If under-cooked, cook for another 5-15 minutes depending on how raw they still are. A matzoh ball can be over-cooked, but there’s a decent amount of room for error so don’t worry too much.

A little undercooked:

Perfectly cooked:

Once the matzoh balls are cooked through, delicately remove them with a slotted spoon or spider strainer to a rimmed plate. Don’t pour them into a colander - these balls are tender and could break apart if you do this!

Matzoh balls can be made 2-3 days ahead and refrigerated.

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THE SOUP - serves 6-8 people

Now that you have the broth and matzoh balls made you can finish up the soup in a few simple steps.

• 2 tablespoons duck fat, schmaltz, or neutral oil

• 1 medium leek, halved, washed and chopped

• 1-2 stalks of green garlic,* halved, washed and chopped *if in season! otherwise I don’t usually add any garlic to this soup

• 2 bunches white swiss chard (I prefer not to use rainbow chard as it will turn the soup PINK!)

• 1 big bunch of dill (or 2 smaller bunches), finely chopped

• The picked meat from the chicken which made the broth

• Salt + pepper to taste

• 1 batch chicken broth 

• Cooked matzoh balls 

In a 5-6 qt stock pot add your fat, chopped leek and green garlic if using and sauté over medium-low heat until tender, about 5 minutes. Turn heat down, or put the lid on to create some steam if starting to brown.

In the meantime, prep your swiss chard. The stems are perfectly delicious, but I like to chop them separately from the leaves. To remove the stem, run a knife along either side of the stem to remove it. Trim off any browned or bruised bits. Make a pile of the leaves and a pile of the stems. Slice stems into 1/4 inch pieces. Rough chop greens into 1 inch pieces.

When leeks are tender add the chopped chard and stems, half of the dill, the picked meat from the chicken and the 3 quarts of chicken broth. Turn heat to medium-high and bring to a gentle simmer. Cook for about 10-15 minutes, or until the greens and stems are tender. Now taste your soup - Does it need salt? I like a lot of pepper in my matzoh ball soup, so add in a few grinds. Taste and adjust until it’s perfectly seasoned. Now add in the second half of the dill. This way you get the deep cooked herbal flavor of the dill from the first addition, and then bright freshness of the second.

Place a matzoh ball or two in each bowl and ladle over the soup. ENJOY!

A note on storage - I prefer to store leftover soup separately from the matzoh balls because they will continue to absorb liquid and can become over-soaked and soggy.

A note on leftovers - my favorite thing in the world is a cold matzoh ball. Try it!!!!

1. I really can’t bring myself to believe that seltzer will contribute to any lightness since the batter has to rest for at least 45 minutes in the fridge and the bubbles are in all likelihood all gone by then! Do you disagree? You can sue me and then you can also leave a comment telling me why. I want to know what you think!