Oma's Fabulous Matzo Ball Soup

I love matzo ball soup!...but while the balls float, they don't seem to expand. Instead of turning out large and fluffy, they're smaller with tough insides. Any advice?

This recipe was fantastic! This was my first time making matzo ball soup, and it turned out perfectly. I used the lightly salted matzo and added a little extra butter. Note that this recipe makes about 30 or so matzo balls. I froze about half of the matzo balls, then defrosted and added to some broth for a quick soup on another day.

You have to have some big honkin pots sitting around to do this recipe justice, but it's worth it - a great outcome to be sure. Considerations: I used olive oil instead of butter, 5 finely processed matzo instead of purchased matzo meal, and my boxes were larger 16 oz boxes, so I used 20 matzo out of 28 available in 2 boxes. I would add a third large can of chicken broth because as it was, my matzo balls only had room to pile up. I would also try using a scoop with a release, like an 1/4 or 1/2 cup ice cream scoop. I boiled them for a half hour and they were perfect. All hail Oma.

I rated this 5 stars because this is THE BEST Matzo Ball soup I have ever had!!! I made my own chicken broth (used only chicken necks, celery, carrots, onion and water) on Saturday, strained the broth, refridgerated it for 2 days so it could mellow out, and then followed the recipe for the matzo balls. They are awesome! I used the Manishevitz Egg and Onion Matzo crackers. Maybe that was the clincher. Im feeling like im catching a cold today, so this was the perfect dinner to have. Plus I have leftovers for a couple lunches! My 3 kids and husband also really liked it. THANKS OMA!!

In my heart, chicken soup will always be the perfect comfort food because my "Oma" made the best, except she used noodles. As an adult, I'm totally addicted to matzo ball soup and now my kids are too. This is a fantastic soup. If you've never tried making matzo balls, give this a shot; you'll probably never want to put just plain egg noodles in your soup again. Thanks!

I separated the yolks from the whites. I whipped the whites until stiff and after mixing the ingredients I folded in the whites. All of the Matzo Balls floated to the top!! Great recipe!!

I used one onion, green onion, garlic, and parsley to roll into this mixture. In general matzo ball soup is bland, but this really kicked up the flavor.

Very good. Makes lots of balls. I froze more than half of them. I thought I had my mixture wrong, because the balls did not float right away. Give them a few minutes, they floated for me.

You can make these kosher by using shmaltz (rendered chicken fat) instead of butter I like slightly dense but flavorful matzah balls and I thought these were phenomenal. TIP-FORMING: keep your hands oiled when rolling the balls, it keeps the dough from sticking and helps them shape well TIP-SEASON TO TASTE: before adding the eggs, mix salt into the matzah, and then TASTE it. keep adding salt if it's bland. Then, add more than you think you need and then add the eggs. Remember that the egg yolks will really cut down the flavor though so just make sure you add enough salt. Then and only then will they taste their best.

My 1st attempt at this type of soup and was pleased with the results. Tastes as good as the local deli's soup. Thanks for sharing.

This recipe should have gotten a complete 5. Kosher or not. My wife and I made this together for the first time and it was terrific. The Matzo balls she has always had were much more plain. We felt that the were tasty and terrific. We froze the extra balls as a previous reviewer suggested and look forward to making this recipe again! Great for colds too!

I make this with vegetable broth... this is amazing.. The key to light matzo balls is the pre boil them in salted water covered tightly with a lid for 20 mins.. Then add them to the soup to serve.

Loved the soup and it turned out pretty good for a first time. The only thing is that I added about 2 extra eggs because I did not realize the matzo balls were supposed to sink to the bottom when dropped onto the boiling water and float up after a few minutes. I think that explanation should be added for those that have never made this. Other than this I also added onion & garlic powder to my broth and some garlic powder to the balls themselves for extra taste. It was yummy.

I made this for my jewish boyfriend when he was sick, as he has said that Matzo Ball Soup will always cure what ails him (maybe he just meant his mutha's). The soup was delicious, but didn't quite look "matzo-y", and the balls turned out a bit uneven looking, chunky almost. I think it has to do with the instructions to "break matzo into small pieces", which I took to mean about the size of rolled oats, but in actuality to get a smooth, uniform ball, needs to be about the consistency of coarse sand. This recipe avoids usual pitfalls of dense and/or heavy balls, but all in all wasn't perfect. The boyfriend said "I mean, everyone who has a matzo ball soup recipe they love kind of expects the same kind of matzo ball every time. These are fine, and maybe they're somebody's matzo ball". I guess they're a gentle gentile girlfriend brand matzo. I think I'll fry them for breakfast tomorrow. In bacon grease?

I'm sorry to say that this was a LOT of work for an "eh" result. This was my first time making matzo balls although I've grown up eating the soup. I guess my idea of a matzo ball is a more compact, more together, ball. I'm assuming these are quite authentic, considering I used two(!)packages of matzo to make them, but I prefer the more harder/compact ball myself. I saw a recipe for matzo balls on the matzo meal container and thought, "oh, THIS is how I should have made them." My "test" ball fell apart in the water so I added more matzo meal and tried again. The next ball was better and so I added the balls to the soup. BIG MISTAKE! Some still fell apart and the soup was a chunky, cloudy mess. I agree with the previous reviewer who said the balls should be cooked in salted water FIRST and then added to the broth. Be warned that this makes MASSIVE AMOUNTS of balls.... I had between 40-50 balls. TOO MANY! Try cooking 50 balls in 96 oz of soup. If you're making this for a family of, oh, I don't know, 6 or under, definitely halve the recipe!I froze 2 dozen of them. I was literally in the kitchen for 3 hours making this recipe.30 minute prep time? You GOTTA be kidding. I wonder if more direction in the recipe would have helped. What kind of matzo..flavored? How fine should I have made the matzo pieces? Maybe my pieces were too big hence the chunky balls? We'll never know!

I've been using this site for a few years now, and this recipe prodded me to actually register as a member so i could write a review. Don't let the troublesome comments deter you from trying this! Not only did the recipe work out just great, i had a fabulous time making it... could just be the mood I'm in, on the verge of becoming an empty-nester, and struggling with irrelevance... but I'm home alone with a new Adele c.d., and determined to continue being fabulous, even when there is no one here to notice. And I've had FUN! The only reason I didn't grant 5 stars is because I can't quite settle for can'd broth and I didn't plan far enough ahead for it. I have no chicken, and my bra is off so going to the store waits until tomorrow. The matzo balls are lightly cooked and refrigerated until then. for this I know tomorrow is going to be a great day! Thanks for sharing!

My Mom just came home from the hospital and was craving matzo ball soup. I had never made it before or tried it before so I decided to try this recipe. What a hassle! This recipe take so much time and dirties so many different pots that I would not make it again. I added a ton of salt and used salted crackers but it still was very bland and doughy. I tried to cook the matzo crackers until they were dry like the recipe said but after 2 hours of cooking them, they were still slightly moist. I gave up and went with them anyway. The onions were overkill and I like onions. The recipe did not specify what size onion, so I used 1 small and 1 medium onion - still too much! I think they would be better if they were sauted before being added to the crackers. They remained raw and crunchy which was not very good combined with the mushy dough. Oh! And the mess this creates in a kitchen! The first large skillet I used was not big enough and every time I tried to 'flip' the crackers to dry them out, some would flop out onto the stove and floor. I don't know how I could have gotten the crackers 'dry'. I poured them into a collander and pressed them to remove as much water as I could from them. Maybe drying them in the oven would have been better... Anyway - this is my first bad review but I was very disappointed with the mess and the results. Sorry Oma.

This was our first time making matzo ball soup, and it was outstanding. We crushed the crackers in a plastic bag with a rolling pin until they were about the size of rolled oats. We added water and squeezed it out through cheesecloth to get the crackers drier. When stirring "until dry," I think the author means a dry dough, not actually bone dry, which might explain the non-success of a previous poster. We used dried parsley rather than fresh, which was fine. We also added thinly sliced carrots. The raw onions cook up just fine in the balls in about 30 minutes - they get translucent and tasty, so definitely put the full amount in. Wonderful and economical recipe! We'll be adding it to the regular soup rotation.

WOW! 1/2 recipe was more than enough. Used food processor to finely mince onions. Also to thinly slice carrots and celery that I added. So delicious!!

All the family loved it! It does make a HUGE batch (40-50 golf/ping-pong ball sized, which blow up about another inch. since we had it as a side dish, we only ate 3 each, leaving a ton for the refrigerator. I would cut it a lot next time.) however, they were tasty, simple enough (i blended onions, parsley and eggs together in the vitamix blender) also ground my own matzo meal the same way. My only question was how long to wait for them to rise. They don't rise immediately, but should rise within about 2 minutes.

I'm giving this recipe a 3 based on instructions alone, but a 5 based on flavor. Averages to a 4. If I had taken the time to read everyone's input prior to making, I could have avoided some of the same issues other have already encountered. First of all, one 10 oz box of matzo crackers is plenty for 96 ounces of stock. Other additions, just divide in half (eggs, parsley, etc). As written, one onion is PLENTY and the balls have a very intense, concentrated onion flavor. May be too much for some. If so, reduce the amount of onion and chop into finer pieces. I will pulverize the crackers in my food processor next time. My balls, while very, very tasty, were also very, very ugly. I'm used to the traditional appearance, and I did not come close in my first attempt. I also added an entire bag of peeled, organic carrots. Cut into rondelles. And about 1/2 bag of celery cut into 1/4 X 1/4 inch pieces. LOVED the veggies with the balls. Next time I will add less onion to the balls, cut the remaining onion into chunks to add to the broth. Also, if you can, homemade broth is the bomb. I think homemade broth would make this recipe extraordinary. With some minor changes, this recipe will definitely remain in my standard repertoire.

I made a "poor student" version of this recipe using whole wheat crackers and tofu dogs. -_- But! I followed the directions for how to make the matzo balls and it worked wonderfully. I'm going to save up for some imported matzo and definitely use this recipe again.

sounds like a good recipe, however you should not be using butter in a chicken stock recipe.

Tried matzo ball soup at a restaurant years ago, but it certainly wasn't as good as this recipe! This is the ultimate curing soup that I make for myself or my boyfriend when we are sick, and it always leaves us feeling better the next day. In addition, I usually add some chicken pieces - I make the broth myself-, as well as some shredded root vegetables like carrot and potato, I do assume celery would be good too. However, this is a total keeper.

As much as I love soup . This is worth every effort . You wont forget this one .

I made this while camping over Passover. Good recipe!

I absolutely LOVE this recipe!!! I do add a little more veggies, but tastes wonderful especially with "Everything" matzos... lots of flavor!!!

This was good, but we ended up with enough matzo ball mix to make matzo balls for 5 pots of soup! I threw most of it away.

Quite simply, these matzo balls are just like the title - Fabulous. I've always made them from a mix, but thought I'd try from scratch. Wow, what a difference. Just had these for the first time for Rosh Hashanah and all I can say is they were delicious and easy to make. I'll never go back to the mix again.

This was a great addition to our Passover meal, everyone enjoyed.

This recipe worked the first time through without any additions,changes or alterations. Perfect dinner for a cold rainy night.

I haven't made this yet, but a owner of a deli who had great light matzo balls said the trick is to use seltzer instead of water to soak the meal in. I don't know if it true as I have not made them yet.

This recipe is not kosher, therefore not authentic matzoball soup! The writer should have made note to make the recipe kosher either substitute oil or margarine for the butter, or simply use vegetable stock in lieu of chicken broth.

I have used a few different Matzo Ball soup recipes and this is by far the quickest, easiest and morst flavorful!

This recipe was great. I made it for our passover dinner this year and everyone loved them. Many of whom had never even had Matzo ball soup before. Even the kids were asking for seconds. Thank-you for a great recipe.

This is a good recipe, but I like to add a few more things to my Matzo Ball Soup. I add chopped carrots and celery, as well as a package of egg noodles. It just gives it more substance.

Best matzoh ball soup I have ever had! (I have been eating this "homemade" [made with matzoh meal] my entire life). I loved that real matzoh was used for the batter rather than skipping the steps and using prepared matzoh meal; these matzoh balls have a much richer flavor and subtle, yet interesting texture than those made entirely with the prepared meal. To keep kosher - use shmaltz (chicken skin renderings) and vegetable based oil of choice instead of butter. Do not continuously add more matzoh meal if the batter does not stick together;instead, make sure to alternately add meal and eggs until the batter is a soft, doughy texture, similar to meatballs. Add a few carrots, celery, and onions chopped in inch-long pieces and fry them with canola oil and parsley and dump them into same soup base. Use this same pan to fry the rehydrated matzoh in to use the most of this freshly flavored oil left in the pan. Also, make sure to flour your hand continuously while forming the matzoh balls to avoid having the batter stuck to your hands; this will enable you to form the balls in your hands through rolling rather than relying on the stickiness of the matzoh meal and eggs alone. Happy cooking! :)

This was very good. I give it a 4 1/2 stars. My mother loved it and I liked it a lot but ive had better Matzo Ball Soup. It is also very messy to make and I dont know if its worth the mess. In all, we all enjoyed it and I'm glad I tried it (having never made matzo ball before). I will probably make this again, but it will only be a once a year thing because of the mess.

I'm a gentile but I grew up with mostly Jewish friends and love Matzoh Ball Soup. This recipe is great but I easily overcame it's alleged shortcomings by buying a Matzoh Ball mix and jazzing it up as the recipe indicates and as others have improvised. Save yourselves the angst and watch the dumplings float and rise and be what you remembered. I also added celery, carrots, onions and garlic to the broth as suggested. Heaven.Four stars only because making the balls from scratch is unnecessary.

This was delicious! I've never made Matzo ball soup before, but I think the use of the crackers is different and tasty. I would suggest adding additional seasonings to the mixture (minced garlic/garlic powder) also perhaps more parsley. But other than that a great recipe! My mom already asked me to print it for her :)

Better than any Matzo Ball Soup I have had!

First time ever making matzo ball soup and let me tell you...not only was it fantastic but it was easy too! Made it for Passover and it was a hit! The matzo ball recipe makes a lot! I froze the extra in rolled balls.

Great taste, fast and very easy. My matzo balls didn't come out finely textured like the picture though, should I have mashed the crackers more? All in all I would use this as my go to.

The proportions of this recipe are ridiculous unless you're hosting the most epic Seder ever! I adjusted this recipe for 5 and still halved the amount of matzoh and margarine. Otherwise, it's a good recipe, but I made these changes: 1) after soaking and draining the matzoh I used a potato masher to get it to a finer texture, and I continued to mash with a spoon while I cooked the mixture to dryness 2) I used cilantro instead of parsley 3) I sauteed the onions in margarine before adding them to the matzoh mixture 4)I used Manischewitz "Everything" matzoh, it made for a more savory maztzoh ball, but it is not Passover kosher. 5) wash and dry your hands after rolling every few balls otherwise the egg will stay on your hands and make it hard to roll, or make the balls look sloppy. 6) Just sprinkle the matzoh meal until it reaches the right consistency. I think depending on the size of eggs, you need very little meal, if any. I'm not Jewish myself, but I made this for my Jewish boyfriend, and he was very happy with it!

Only Ok, based on flavour. I had a hard time getting the wet matzo dry and a lot of the balls fell apart in the water. (Also, I covered my hands in olive oil to help roll the balls.) Overall, I would definitly try these to break away from the boxed version, but I am personally sticking to the cylinder container of matzo meal.

Love it! Thanks! Anna Reyes, Riverside, California

I just don't get all the five star reviews!! I did not like this recipe at all! I've made my fair share of matzo balls but decided to try somethiong different. I followed the recipe to a t. The only thing I changed was another reviewer's suggestion to use a potato masher. Glad I didn't make the entire amount!!! I'll stick with my tried & true recipe from now on.

my son was studying jewish culture and to help I made matzoh ball soup and kugel. We invited some family over to enjoy this feast and a feast it was! This was a delicious hit with everyone and we WILL be making it again

Smaltz is what you want to use instead of butter. Trust me this jewish girl has been eating Matzo Ball Soup since around age 3 and making your own stock will give you the absolute best soup; also my mom always used dill in her stock in case the recipe you use doesn't include it. Its worth the wait to make from scratch I have fond memories around Hanukkah of my mom cooking from morning until night. Other than those few suggestions this seems like a great very straightforward recipe.

Omg!!!! Do listen to the reviews very helpful my first time making it. Very easy not that messy..Don't use all the 5z of meal I used less crackers same amount of eggs and about two tablespoon less of meal if it is to wet just add a little more..And do cook for 30min 4 1/2 stars

This recipe was not to my liking. Two 10 ounce packs of matzohs? Out of your mind, unless you are cooking for 20. I was corralled into helping a Jewish gal I know cook for Passover. She had printed out this recipe, and that was all I had. It was the most boringly bland mix I have ever tasted, probably because the "add to taste" instructions.

I made this for folks that are vegetarian so I made with vegetable bouillon instead of chicken. I also reduced the amount of butter by half and substituted two tbs of EVO. Then I added just a drizzle of white truffle oil and two tbs of Mrs. Dash to the broth. My family loved it and the matzo balls were just hard enough to suit their tastes. I prefer light fluffy matzo balls but they over ruled me in this instance.

This is a great recipe and may not be rabbinically kosher, but is Biblically kosher. Great soup for Passover. :)

This soup is delicious, the matzo balls are light and fluffy. Excellent recipe Oma!

Before venturing into this recipe, this goy boy made sure he read all the reviews to enhance and support anything missing from the recipe - so thanks for all the FAB feedback. This was my first time making this soup after years of enjoying it at Canter's Deli in Hollywood. Since I live alone, I cut the recipe in half (at the advice of other reviewers) and ended up with about 22 matzo balls. It came out perfect! LOVED IT! Here is what I suggest .. when you are crumbling your matzos into small pieces, small pieces does not literally mean "pieces" per se - get them as crumb-like as you can so that when they are absorbed by the water your mix becomes like a paste! Think paste! When you are done drying and browning the "paste" and begin adding your other ingredients, the end result should almost be like chop meat if you are making meatballs. Being a good Italian boy, this is what it reminded me of ... I knew what to add to make they balls round, and solid - wet your hands, use some water, add the extra egg if necessary. My matzos rose to the top of my boiling water in 1-2 minutes. Thank you Oma, whoever you are! This is one happy gentile :) As we say in Italian, CIAO e buon appetito!!

Lovely. Make sure you make your own chicken broth from scratch, or buy the absolutely best quality prepared stock you can find, or it won't be worth the effort to make these. My Jewish sister in law was suitably impressed, though I did warn her they were not kosher.

Wonderful recipe! From one Oma to another, thank you for sharing the recipe. Best Matzo balls I have ever tasted.

Thanks May and Oma. Dad gave me a box of Matzo crackers a few weeks ago. Then, I caught the flu last week and didn't want to eat anything; i.e.: other than matzo ball soup. This was delicious. The quantity is very had to work with. I used my biggest Italian American feast bowls and pot for mixing the matzo. I'll make a half batch next time. Otherewise, I live in the Southwest desert and the mix soothed my dry hands better than any hand cream.

excellent flavor, thanks for this great recipe! texture was a little bit dense, maybe i didn't let them cook long enough? i'll experiment next time, giving them another 5-10 minutes cooking.

Terrible....This was my first attempt at making this soup so I followed the recipe exactly - I should have studied other recipes before going with this one in the first place....The matzo balls weighed a ton and tasted disgusting.....It took me all day to prep and I ended up throwing the whole mess into the garbage.....

This was my first time making Matzo Ball Soup and I'm happy with how it turned out. I read most of the reviews and took some advice. I added a little more salt to the water to cook the matzo balls, I cooked some chopped carrots, celery and a bit of onion in the chicken broth to add flavor, and I only used about 3/4 of an onion for the balls since 2 onions seemed way overkill. Don't forget to oil your hands when you are forming the balls. I found that I needed more broth, between it cooking off, and the matzo balls soaking it up. This recipe will feed an army, though. I made probably 50 balls. It's a little messy, and I was worried about it coming together, but it turned out really great. Please note...it took a lot longer than the 55 minutes listed in the recipe, more like 2 hours since it seemed to take so long for the matzo to seem "dry". I gave up after a while because I didn't have the time but it all worked out and was very tasty.

Very Good! I always loved Matzo Ball Soup, but never made my own. I followed this recipe pretty much to the T, just with minor adjustments based on other reviews and my own tastes. Instead of soaking the matzo in water I used half water half chicken stock and just enough to moisten, so no need to drain. I added extra salt to the mix and 1 onion which I minced and then sautéed in the butter before adding the matzo. I suggest after you make your tester ball, taste it then you can add more seasoning if you want. I made it hearty by adding some Rotisserie chicken, carrots and celery to the stock and seasoned the stock with parsley, onion powder, salt and pepper to taste.

I subbed vegetable oil for the butter and fork whipped the eggs before adding. Delicious! I will be making again and again.

I used thyme instead of parsley this year. It has a nice flavour. My daughter loves it.

Waaaaay too much onion, and if you follow the directions, they come out uncooked. I would use maybe a quarter of one onion instead of two while onions. Plus, the broth is thin and boring. Otherwise, it seems fine.

I haven't made it yet. I'm looking for a similar recipe to my Oma's Ball Soup; we're not Jewish, but German & her soup was the best. as people back then didn't write down their recipes, I have to rely on the internet to find similar recipes. Thank you so much for sharing yours!