Passover 2023: Recipes & Menus for a Wonderful Seder

Here's how to make the best part of the Seder plate.

This cookie is pretty much the epitome of what a Dorie Greenspan cookie is: steeped in expert technique, enhanced with a bit of French baking wisdom, and full of all the whimsy and wonder baking can offer. Because at first this may seem like a pretty old-school coconut macaroon, with the eggs, coconut, and sugar, but the technique makes them unique. The dough for these cookies takes a turn on the stove for a stunning result: Cookies that have a tender, chewy core and crackling, crispy crust.

If you celebrate Passover, you probably know what matzo fatigue feels like. The first few days are fresh and exciting — perhaps you’re snacking on it straight from the box. Maybe you’re slathering it with peanut butter and jam or topping it with cream cheese and lox, but soon even this gets boring. So where to go next? Next is granola. This matzo granola is so good, you may just find yourself stocking up on boxes of matzo to make it all year long.

Passover starts today, and with it comes matzo ball soup. But this isn’t any ol’ matzo ball soup — this one is completely gluten-free, thanks to chickpea flour. Yes, chickpea flour! This protein-packed flour, made from ground chickpeas, is a great gluten-free stand-in for the traditional matzo meal. Simply mix the flour with baking powder, salt, pepper, olive oil, and eggs and let the “batter” hang out in the fridge for three hours.

Everyone should know a flourless chocolate cake by heart. Let us explain why this is the one for you.

Matzo brei defines the homeyness of Passover.

One of the foods I most long for from my childhood bopping around Jewish delicatessens in New York and Los Angeles is the humble bowl of matzo ball soup: a mountain of tender dumplings surrounded by rich stock and not much else. As a child I would nibble each tender spoonful, carefully whittling down my knaidel (as “matzo ball” is called in Yiddish). I felt comforted and loved, not from my grandmother’s kitchen, but by those fascinating, mostly ancient servers who dished it up.

French macarons may be all the rage, but don’t dismiss the humble macaroon, which is derived from marzipan — a smooth paste of blanched almonds and sugar that, when mixed with egg white and baked, turns into chewy little gems. And macaroons are a heck of a lot easier to make than a DIY Ladurée project. It wasn’t always so simple. My aunt Hanna once told me a story about the massapan that her mother, my Iraqi grandmother, use to make.

Tonight is the first night of Passover – do you know what you’ll be eating for breakfast this coming week? This matzo brei sandwich filled with eggs, kale, and ricotta will see you through the week. You might not even miss the bagels. Have you ever made matzo brei, or Boomwelloh? This recipe is simple – it includes your matzo, eggs, water, and a little salt and pepper.

Have you heard about the latest Ben & Jerry’s ice cream craze? They created a special Passover charoset ice cream, and it has us all pining to try this newest flavor. The catch is that it’s only sold in Israel! Apparently people have been even calling the Vermont factory, trying to get their hands on a rare, exclusive-to-Israel pint. This was obviously an opportunity. With the Atlantic lying between us, I decided to take on the challenge and make my own recipe.

Around the World in 30 Soups: This month we’re collaborating with chefs, cookbook authors, and our own Kitchn crew to share a globetrotting adventure in soups from countries and cuisines around the world. Today’s stop: Israel. Yes, matzo technically rose out of Egypt (playful pun intended) when the Jews had to flee last-minute and their bread didn’t have time to rise.

Side dishes often get short shrift at big meals like Passover — a mere afterthought to the glorious lamb, brisket, or other centerpiece dish on your table. Not this year! Here are 10 fabulous (and kosher!) side dishes that will complement any Passover table, from a simple arugula salad to roasted sweet potato rounds topped with bright green pesto. These sides might just steal the show.

Matzoh brei is just the comforting, homey dish you want to eat the morning after your Passover Seder. My grandmother would never have added pecans, bananas and maple syrup (she was more of a salt and pepper gal), but I believe she would have surprised herself, raised an eyebrow, and enjoyed this delightful variation. A few months ago, I caught up with a blogger who spoke to me of her grandmother’s matzoh brei, and ever since then, I’ve been hooked.

When it comes to Passover, too many of us focus on the restrictions, what we can’t eat, the ingredients we can’t use, and all of the stress that comes along with it. Passover cooking does not need to translate to panic cooking! Over the years, with lots of trial and error, I have finally mastered what it takes to put together the perfect Passover meal.

I am always looking for a show-stopping dessert that will wow my company, and this recipe does just that. A sheet of silky chocolate bark — sprinkled with crushed bright green pistachios, light pink rose petals, and neutral walnuts — broken by hand or with a wooden mallet. It is beautiful, delicious, and fun to eat. And believe it or not, it’s also really easy to make!

Every time I serve this dish, my guests ask: “What is this?” The softness of the butternut squash and sweet potatoes is contrasted with the sharpness of the ginger, and the combination is truly magical. I like to make it in the morning, and keep it in the oven all day long. Your house will smell so good that you’ll want to make it over again and again. This recipe makes a lot of food, which is great!

Here's everything you need for your Passover Seder, from the brisket to the matzo ball soup to the very best flourless chocolate cake.

Once you get the hang of the pavlova technique, making them is really a joy. This dessert is like a work of art, and has all the essentials I think a dessert should have. The glossy meringue shell is crisp and rich, the cream topping is soft and delectable, and the exotic fruit adds the perfect dose of color and flavor. Use your favorite combination of fruit — I have made some suggestions in the recipe below.

Yes, I grew up eating kohlrabi, also known as a German turnip. It tastes like a mild version of broccoli and has the texture of an apple. I suppose it was part of my childhood diet because it is available year-round — at the grocery store, even. While my mother prepared it simply — sliced and drizzled with lemon juice — I prefer a slightly more interesting take, paired with cabbage and tossed in a delicious sweet-tart dressing.

This recipe calls for frenched lamb chops, which are chops with the meat cut away from the end of the rib so part of the bone is exposed. Frenching the chop makes it cleaner, and let’s call it fancier — almost like a lamb lollipop, if you will! Your butcher can do this with the quick swipe of a knife; asking him or her to do this makes fast work of this simple-to-prepare dish. Croute simply means “crust” in French. Fancy.

Asparagus and radishes are like the Christmas elves of spring: appearing out of nowhere in festive green and scarlet, letting us know that something very good is on the way. But I don’t find them together in the same dish as often as I would like. They belong together: the mellow sweetness of fresh asparagus tastes so good with the fresh sharpness of radishes. This quick, easy side dish tosses them together with a handful of mint.

Since going gluten-free one of the foods I have missed most has been matzo brei. Although I’m not Jewish, this fry-up of matzo and eggs is actually a beloved family dish and one of my favorite comfort foods. So you can imagine how happy I was to find gluten-free matzo this week! If you aren’t familiar with matzo brei, it’s a classic Jewish dish made from broken matzo softened in water or milk, mixed with eggs, and fried in butter, oil, or schmaltz.

Do you observe the holiday of Passover? Close your eyes and picture yourself a week from now. You’re staring down yet another box of matzo, wondering how you’ll make it through the next few days. Chances are you’ve eaten your fair share of the salt-free, woefully bland flat bread in various sandwich iterations, and you don’t think you can down another bite of the stuff. Don’t despair — these ideas will help you get your matzo mojo back and power through!

Passover is almost here — do you know what you’re cooking yet? Most likely, you’ve got the main building blocks set: classics like matzo ball soup, gefilte fish, brisket and roasted chicken. But when it comes to sides, there’s lots of room to mix and match with seasonal vegetables and Passover-friendly starches like potatoes and quinoa. Here are ten delicious, vibrant side dishes to adorn your Passover table.

To mark the beginning of Passover, we gather for a ritual feast and read the lengthy Hagaddah: the narrative of the Jews exodus from ancient Egypt. With our community of family and friends, we retell the story of the Israelites’ liberation. We recite segments, make blessings, sample from the Seder plate, gulp endless glasses of wine, and cheerfully sing along.

While Passover gives us a reason to make this candy-like dessert, really there’s no need to wait. Matzo (or matzoh or matzah), the Jewish unleavened cracker-like bread, is the perfect crunchy, flaky base for a thin coating of buttery caramel and melted chocolate, along with whatever toppings your heart desires. Crispy, flaky matzo covered with brown sugar caramel and bittersweet chocolate — this stuff is so addictive you won’t want to wait for Passover.

Behold, a bright and sunny main dish that’s perfect for any spring celebration! These tender and flavorful meatballs, napped in a tangy, lemony sauce, are not only delicious, they’re appropriate for a Passover Seder, Easter dinner, or even just tonight’s main course. While Hanukkah and Thanksgiving only coincide once in a blue moon, Passover and Easter often overlap on the spring calendar.

As long as you have some shredded coconut in your pantry and a few eggs in your fridge, a batch of sweet macaroons can be yours in less than half an hour.

In my quest for the perfect Passover cocktail to share with you for today’s 10-Minute Happy Hour, my first instinct was to phone a friend. Since she converted to Judaism as an adult, I thought she would forgive my ignorance and be able to give me the inside scoop on what a kosher cocktail might look like. Her hard and fast answer was, “We don’t really drink cocktails. We just drink wine and champagne.”  Hmmm, I thought, that’s a start.

These days it happens more often than not: you find yourself hosting a dinner party where at least one guest has a dietary restriction. I’ve gotten used to this. I once fed a group of ten actors for a week: one vegan, two vegetarians, one allergic to nuts, one lactose intolerant and one with a wheat allergy, so I know I can usually roll with pretty much any cooking challenge.

The Hadassah Everyday CookbookThis is a big, beautiful book that is also down-to-earth, and completely accessible. It’s full of recipes that are all kosher. In fact, each recipe has a D, M, or P symbol (for dairy, meat, and pareve) beside it so you can see at a glance its kosher status.The book showcases simple, unfussy, delicious kosher cooking. There are chapters for every meal and course, from Breakfasts and Breads to Mains, Sweets, and Anytime Snacks. Leah has it covered.

Passover is coming up (it begins next Monday at sundown) and so we have been looking for good Passover recipes to share this week. Most Passover tables are completely free of grains and bread, of course, but those of you who miss your carbs over this holiday week might be surprised and pleased to hear that quinoa is actually kosher for Passover.

Quick: close your eyes, and picture your favorite Jewish foods. What do you see? Brisket, latkes, matzoh ball soup, kugel… What, no cakes or tarts? No scones, pies, or brownies? But take heart. Paula Shoyer, a lawyer-turned-pastry chef trained in Europe, recently came out with a new cookbook, The Kosher Baker (Brandeis University Press, 2010), just in time for Rosh Hashanah.

Do you have any lamb left over from Easter dinner? Did you roast a big leg and now have a lot of delicious tender meat sitting in the fridge? Well, we have just the recipe for the leftovers.This recipe has so many good things about it. It includes a recipe for that delicious tangy yogurt sauce that accompanies many Greek and Mediterranean meat dishes, and it also makes good use of leftover meat.

It’s Easter egg time at our house. Last year we brought you the story of Huevos Haminados, a Passover tradition of dying eggs with onion skins. This year, I decided to try it with both yellow and red onions, on white and brown eggs. The result was a gentle palate of reds and browns.My favorites were the chocolaty brown eggs that came from dying brown eggs with red skins.This is a great, natural way to make subtly beautiful Easter (or Passover) eggs.

Most commercially-made matzo is about as tasty as the cardboard box it comes in. We imagine that making it ourselves has to be an improvement and we’re curious to give it a try. Has anyone made homemade matzo before?The downside to making matzo at home is that it’s difficult to keep it kosher. Jewish law gives us only 18 minutes from the time the flour is first mixed with water to get the breads cooked.

Are you making lamb for Easter or Passover? This traditional meat is very easy to prepare; its rich taste and tender texture almost always come through. It’s certainly easier than the Thanksgiving turkey! We also love how lamb is so right for the spring herbs popping up, and this recipe showcases those fresh herbs and garlic.The thing we like best, though, about this recipe is that it lends itself well to leftovers.

We might lose our foodie card for telling you this, but we don’t really like beets very much. There’s something about their earthy flavor that’s a bit off-putting.BUT, we love borscht. That earthiness is perfect when combined with dill and vinegar in a sweet & sour soup. And you can fine-tune the amounts of ingredients until it’s as beet-y or non-beet-y as you wanna be.

These might look like Easter eggs, but actually they’re a traditional treat for Passover. We asked NYC caterer and culinary consultant Sierra Spingarn to share the family recipe for Huevos Haminados.Since observant Jews refrain from doing work on the Sabbath, they employ techniques for slow-cooked foods that can be started Friday afternoon, and still be hot on their table. This year, as Passover begins on Saturday night, these techniques will come in especially handy.

We’ve been searching for recipes that feel light and springlike without relying on out of season vegetables. This vegetarian soup seemed easy and simple; the perfect first course for a spring supper.The recipe from Epicurious combines onion, garlic, a potato, spinach and broth- simple and straightforward enough. But where it gets interesting is the addition of fresh mint and cilantro, and the drizzle of a homemade paprika oil on top.

Hungry and thumbing through the Passover catering catalog from Eli Zabar’s that dropped out of my newspaper recently, I came across this gorgeous photo of their Mile High Lemon Meringue Cake and had an emergency drooling situation on my hands. Normally, I’m not a big meringue person, but this cake is so beautifully executed, it’s hard to recall those early childhood memories of meringue that didn’t do me right. And this is no pie, folks, this is a flourless cake.