The first time I had matzo ball soup was at my friend Ben’s apartment in LA circa 2011. Ben was beside himself, upset that his matzo balls weren’t fluffy & that his broth wasn’t flavorful enough. He advised me for help, but all I could really do was tell him how to make his broth tastier (hint: salt). He ladled some soup in a bowl for me to try, repeatedly saying, “imagine these matzo balls are light & fluffy, not dense & hard like these. I messed up, so, I’m sorry I’m ruining your first matzo ball experience.” Since I never had it until that first slurp, I politely asked for seconds because I thought it was like chicken noodle soup, but with balls of matzo meal. I didn’t know what it should’ve tasted like, but I thoroughly enjoyed Ben’s failed matzo ball soup.
Moving forward a few years later when I started dating Josh, we made the soup together for the first time & our matzo balls turned out perfectly. To be fair, we “cheated” by using Streit’s Matzo Ball mix so it was guaranteed to come out fluffy every time. Ben, a former pro matzo ball maker, was still struggling to make a batch of good matzo balls that weren’t hard as rocks. I tried to figure out the science behind it & even adventured to make the balls from scratch. I had a few moments of failure, but finally, last year, I–the Vietnamese girl who only had it for the first time 3 years prior–produced a recipe to make the perfect fluffy, yet dense matzo ball soup. My recipe is so good that the balls don’t obliterate into mush when they hit the nearly boiling water. These babies will stay together & they’ll be fluffy, just like your Jewish grandmother made them. I shared my recipe with Ben before publishing it here, to which he’s confirmed success. Furthermore, I’ve made this recipe 3 times with 100% success & the Jewish boyfriend approves.
Vegetarian Matzo Ball Soup
Make sure you check out my Matzo Ball Soup recipe to get your hands on a soup that is ten folds better than your typical chicken noodle soup. It’s the perfect soup for autumn, winter, colds, comfort, &/or trying to make your Jewish significant other fall in love with you. It truly is, my go-to soup whenever I feel my immune system weakening & it’s easily one of my top 3 favorite non-Asian soups.
Yaaass, Soup
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Josh Gellers
I can confirm that this recipe is amazing. Also, for those who are wondering, dill was a hallmark of my grandmother’s approach to making mouth-watering matzoh ball soup. I’m sure if there is wi-fi in heaven she’s reading this right now and smiling down upon us all, pleased that her elder grandson is able to enjoy grandma’s culinary legacy in her absence.
Drea
I’ve only had matzo balls once, but actually really liked it. I’m not sure how I’d fare with vegetarian anything, but I’m game to try anything at least once. I’ll have to give this a shot and see how it goes!
Also it’s kind of amazing when technical ‘failed’ recipes taste good to a first-time eater, because we have nothing to base it again, and from then on we’re like ‘this isn’t right’ even when it is because we like the (slightly) messed up version!
Meaghan
I’ve never had matzo balls before, so I’m bookmarking the recipe! I’m gonna try it on one of my days off work. 🙂
Rich
Just did an amazing chicken and dumplings. I am sure the dumplings recipe would make for a great fluffy matzo like substitution….ps love the Caribbean Le Creuset?
Tiff
Rich!! I didn’t know you would actually leave me comments. 🙂 I don’t think I’ve ever had chicken & dumplings before, but I’ve always wanted to try it! You’ll have to make some & share.
P.S. love the Caribbean Le Creuset. It is everything & now that I’ve become a stork, big momma Caribbean has 4 children. Can’t wait to use them in a new recipe for the blog. Thank you!!!