I love matzo ball soup. there is so much comfort to it. I must admit though to never have made it completely from scratch. Instead, I use the boxed mix and then spruce it up.

Last time instead of using the packaged mix to make the broth, I used bones from roasted turkey breast I had. I made the broth seasoned with onions, peppercorns and a bay leaf. I then made matzo balls from a mix. When it was time to add matzo balls to the boiling broth, I also added two carrots sliced into 1/8 inch. Once everything has been simmering (covered!) for fifteen minutes, I added a cup of defrosted peas. Five minutes later, lunch was done!

My matzo balls turn out the best when they are made with schmaltz

I'm making matzo ball soup tonight! I started the broth last night. mmmm, so good.
And the secret to good matzo balls? You'd have to ask nana.

my mom always claimed that skimming the fat off the top of the chicken broth (which is technically shmaltz, but not the rendered stuff that people usually mean when they say shmaltz) and putting it in the matzo ball batter was the big secret to matzo ball success.

a light touch is the key to a good matzo ball.

using the fat skimmed from the broth sounds like a great solution.

After all these years as a soup lover, a chef and a cookbook author, matzo ball soup is one thing I've never made. I've eaten a lot of it though since I live in a neighbourhood that has some terrific Jewish delis. Somehow, I just never thought about making it myself. Weird, huh?

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Oooh! Great post. Since I moved away from the fam in NY and now live in Chicago (with a hate-strike against The Bagel), I haven't had good matzo ball soup in ages. Looking forward to the answers here.

But what if you like them dense? I like my matza balls to give a bit of resistance when I try to cut them up with my spoon. No matter what I do, they always come out fluffy...

I use the Manischewitz mix to make the balls, but the secret is to use melted butter instead of the vegetable oil. It's not Kosher, but it's D-I-V-I-N-E. If you want to do the whole thing on the fly, use Imagine brand free-range chix broth (it's thicker than most store-bought broths). The butter leaches out into the broth so it becomes almost velvety. Drop in a bunch of chopped up carrots, celery and chicken breast chunks and you have a very quick and very, very, very good matzo ball soup. Plus this version is pretty low in fat and calories.

My family has always preferred a nice, firm matzo ball -- halfway between "fluffy" and "dense".

The keys to getting the right density are:
- Don't beat the eggs into the mix -- just stir them enough to mix thoroughly.
- For the "liquid" portion of the mix, use your soup broth -- but put a few ice cubes in it first, or else the hot broth will cook the eggs in the matzo mix before you have formed it into balls.
- After you have made the matzo ball mix, be sure to refrigerate it until it is thoroughly chilled. If you're making a big batch, put the mix into several small bowls in the refrigerator. If you don't chill the mix, the balls will come out fluffy, or fall apart.
- Wet your hands before you start rolling the matzo balls. Keep a bit of water running so you can re-wet your hands after every few balls. You want to roll the balls until their surface is smooth -- if the matzo balls are too lumpy, they will tend to become fluffier and softer. Each ball should be a bit bigger than a golf ball when you roll it.
- Leave room in the pot -- the balls expand as they cook. If you put too many matzo balls in one pot, you'll end up with misshapen balls!
- Most importantly -- if you're going to serve the soup to guests, make everything 1-2 days in advance! The matzo balls taste best after two days in the soup mixture, when they have had time to absorb the flavors of the soup.

We had it for dinner last night!!

My matzo ball soup has a fan club, so here goes:

The key to the broth are PARSNIPS. Without parsnips... well, it is just not as good. And absolutely NO celery -- it ruins the flavour.

Here is the recipe I use, but I dice the carrots because I keep them in the soup:

http://www.marthastewart.com/recipe/susans-chicken-soup?autonomy_kw=chicken%20soup&rsc=header_12

As for the matzo balls, I use the recipe on the box (Streitz), using seltzer, schmaltz if I have it and unsalted butter if I don't. I also add finely chopped parsley or chervil; heretical, I know).

Chilling is key, as is boiling them in a sufficiently large pot of water -- I use a huge stockpot.

Another key point as someone pointed out, is wetting your hands before you roll them: if you don't, they get all soggy and even break up. I use a measuring spoon (1TB) to shape them and make them uniform.

Mine turn out a happy medium: they don't fall apart in the soup, and are nicely firm.

Dupreeblue,

I understand your hate-strike against The Bagel.

Which is why you MUST take a jaunt out to the suburbs to go to Max and Benny's deli on Waukegan Road (not sure if it's in Deerfield or Northbrook, technically).

Best matzoh ball soup short of my Nana's. I also HIGHLY recommend their mishmosh or the tremendous chicken-in-a-pot.

Get there.

My favorite matzo ball recipe from my family (and there are several recipes coming from different branches of the tree) is made with real matzo, not matzo meal.
- Soak the matzo in water and then break it into small pieces in with your hands.
- Then add it to a mixture of chopped celery, onions, and parsley cooked in chicken fat.
- Let it cool in the fridge and then add the egg, salt and pepper. (Before we knew that raw egg could be bad for you, we would pause at this point in the recipe and have a little taste. It is really good, I swear!)
- Roll it into balls (small, not big balls - we don't do big balls in the south - no jokes please). To keep them together you have to roll them around a little in some matzo meal.
- Then, another important trick, you boil salt water and cook them separately from the broth. Don't ask me why, but the matzo balls always taste better that way. Then once your ready to eat you add them to the broth.

This technique is also really good when you want to have a stock of matzo balls in your freezer and don't want to freeze them in the soup. We keep ziplocs of them in our freezer and whenever we make soup, we simply add them in.

Another interesting thought - toddlers really love these. I guess its the salt and the fact that they're easy to chew. My daughter scarfs them down and asks for them all the time.

LauraJane, I will keep it in mind (and bookmark it!) for whenever I'm out that way. We're city dwellers without a car so it's not often. But thanks!

I second the parsnip comment. I don't know if it's a "secret" ingredient or not, but that's how my mom does it and that's how I do it!

I've been trying to make my own, and I think I'm getting there, but the best in NYC is at the Edison Hotel Cafe, in midtown. If I'm sick, it fixes me. I swear it's the dill, but it's better than my mom's.