The $4 Boxed Mix My Grandma Serves Every Holiday (Everyone Thinks Its Homemade)

Making matzo ball soup from scratch is a process. First, you have to make the chicken broth, which means buying and then cooking a whole chicken, before you pick the meat off the bones, then simmer those bones with aromatics for at least two, but up to 24, hours. Unless I’ve made the broth ahead of time, it’s simply not practical to make a batch when I’m not already cooking several other recipes for Hanukkah.

Then there are the matzo balls. Theoretically, the recipe is straightforward enough: Combine matzo meal (aka ground-up matzo crackers), with egg, oil, or chicken schmaltz, and seasoning in a large bowl. Let the mixture rest in the fridge, scoop, and boil. Still, every time I’ve made matzo balls from scratch, something has gone awry. They’ve turned out dense and heavy, not light and fluffy like Grandma’s. Little did I know that my grandma’s famous matzo balls came from a boxed mix.

For 20 years I thought my grandma made hers from scratch … until last December, when I saw her pull a box of Manischewitz mix out of the pantry. For generations, myself, my mom, and yes, my grandma, have relied on this boxed soup mix, a pantry staple in many Jewish homes across the country.

Manischewitz has been a household name since the 19th century when, shortly after the company’s founding by Rabbi Dov Behr Manischewitz, it became the world’s largest matzo producer. In fact, Manischewitz was the first company to produce square matzo, the variety most commonly sold today. Over the last century, Manischewitz has expanded to offer a whole roster of kosher products, including Tam Tams (crackers made with excess matzo dough), matzo meal, and the matzo ball and soup mix.

The recently rebranded Manischewitz kit comes with a sleeve of matzo ball mix and a small, but mighty soup seasoning packet. The soup couldn’t be easier to make: Simply sprinkle the packet of seasoning in a pot of water, then bring to a boil. It provides an excellent base for customization; I like to add chopped carrots and celery to augment the broth, but the soup is merely a vehicle for the true holiday star: the matzo balls.

They’re mercifully easy to make. The matzo ball mix comes pre-seasoned, so all you need to add is egg and oil. The box clearly spells out quantities and instructions, leaving little room for error. Plus, the boxed-mix matzo balls are remarkably light and fluffy. In fact, some of the internet’s most popular matzo ball recipes have been reverse-engineered against the Manischewitz mix, with recipe developers attempting to re-create their cloudlike texture. 

The secret is in the ingredient list: The Manischewitz boxed-mix matzo balls gain their levity and bounce from sodium bicarbonate and monocalcium phosphate, the active ingredients in baking powder. The final product is consistently great and “bubby-approved” — it says so right on the box.

The soup seasoning packet creates a nice base of flavor for the soup, but I like to add a spoonful of chicken bouillon for even more concentrated chicken flavor. I also add a splash of soy sauce to achieve a deeper caramel color. Taste as you go and be mindful of salt levels as you tinker with the flavor to achieve your ideal balance. Add pulled rotisserie chicken, diced carrot and celery, and a few sprigs of parsley and/or dill — your soup will look as good as homemade.

To make the matzo balls, the box instructs to mix the dry ingredient packet with eggs and vegetable oil. It might not look like much, but have faith: Just 1 tablespoon of the matzo ball mix will double in size once boiled, yielding perfectly plump matzo balls. The dry matzo ball mix already includes some seasoning, but if I want to dress it up, add fresh chopped dill. For extra richness, you can also substitute the vegetable oil called for on the box with flavor-charged chicken schmaltz.

You can buy a box of matzo ball mix only, but I’m partial to the two-for-one soup and matzo ball combo. Pack any leftover soup in a quart container, and your soup will look like it came straight from the local Jewish deli.

Buy: Manischewitz Boxed Matzo Ball Soup, $3.49 for 4.5 ounces at Instacart

What’s your family’s favorite secret holiday shortcut? Tell us about it in the comments below.