Dinner / Soup
Chicken Soup with Matzoh Balls
Diet Style
Tools You'll Need
- Measuring cups
- Measuring spoons
- Electric mixer or whisk
- 2 large mixing bowls
- 2 large stock pots
- Baking sheet
- Slotted spoon
- 6–8 quart stock pot or Dutch oven
- Cutting board
- Chef’s knife
- Fine mesh strainer
- Vegetable peeler (optional)
Ingredients
- 3 eggs, separated (for matzoh balls)
- ½ cup matzoh meal (for matzoh balls)
- 2 tablespoons fresh dill, chopped (for matzoh balls)
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground pepper (for matzoh balls)
- 3 tablespoons + 1 teaspoon Kosher salt, separated (for matzoh balls)
- 1 - 4 lb whole chicken or bone in, skin on parts including legs, thighs, breasts (for soup)
- 1 handful fresh dill, leaves and stems (for soup)
- 1 handful fresh parsley, leaves and stems (for soup)
- 6 cloves garlic, peeled (for soup)
- 2 bay leaves (for soup)
- 2 tablespoons Kosher salt (for soup)
- 2 tablespoons black peppercorns (for soup)
- 3 carrots, peeled and roughly chopped (for soup)
- 2 stalks celery, roughly chopped (for soup)
- 2 large onions, skin on and cut in quarters (for soup)
Directions
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Prepare soup
Place all ingredients into a 6–8 quart stock pot or Dutch oven, and water in the pot. Add just enough to cover the ingredients.
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Bring soup to a boil
Place the pot on your stovetop over high heat and bring to a boil. Using a slotted spoon, skim off any fat or impurities that rise to the top.
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Simmer soup for a few hours
Once the soup has come to a boil, reduce heat to a slow simmer and cook uncovered for 3-4 hours. Occasionally, skim off any excess fat or impurities that rise to the top.
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Start on matzoh balls by beating eggs
Using an electric mixer or whisk, beat egg whites to stiff peaks in one mixing bowl.
In a separate mixing bowl, whisk yolks until they're well beaten. -
Add seasoning to egg yolks
Add in dill, pepper, and 1 teaspoon salt and whisk to combine and set aside.
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Add matzoh meal to egg whites
Using a rubber spatula, gently fold a third of the matzoh meal into egg whites at a time until the matzoh meal is fully combined.
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Pour yolk mixture into meal mixture
Pour egg and dill mixture into the meal mixture and stire until it starts to pull away from the sides of the bowl. If it’s too loose, add more matzoh meal 1 tablespoon at a time.
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Chill mixture
Place in refrigerator and chill for at least 35 minutes or up to 2 hours to help the matzoh meal hydrate. This will make it easier to form the matzoh balls.
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Form matzoh balls
Dampened your hands with warm water and use a teaspoon to scoop out the mixture. Roll mixture into balls about 1¼ – 1½ inches in diameter. You should get 10–12 matzoh balls.
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Transfer matzoh balls to a baking sheet or plate
Transfer to a small rimmed baking sheet or large plate.
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Bring water to a boil
Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Once it's boiling, add the remaining 3 tablespoons of salt.
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Place matzoh balls in water
Carefully lower matzo balls into boiling water with a slotted spoon, adjusting heat as needed to bring to a low simmer.
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Cook matzoh balls
Cover pot and simmer over low heat (making sure water isn’t boiling too rapidly) until balls have puffed up and are light in color. Don’t remove them sooner than this, as they will be dense in the middle if undercooked.
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Add to soup when ready
After cooking matzoh balls for about 20–30 minutes, turn off heat and let balls sit in the cooking liquid until they're ready to be added to the soup.
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Strain soup
After 3-4 hours, use strain liquid into another pot. Take out chicken, remove meat from the bone, and remove the skin. Chop or shred it, then add back to the stock you strained into the other pot.
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Serve and enjoy
Serve hot in a bowl along with matzoh balls and some chopped dill and parsley for garnish.