This gluten-free Matzo Ball Soup recipe is a healthy twist on a classic Passover recipe. My secret to making this dish gluten-free is to use almond flour in place of matzo meal. Yes, it’s true, I’ve created a Paleo Matzo Ball Soup!
Growing up, I loved chicken soup with matzo balls, and I still do. When I am getting over a cold, this soup dish is the first thing I make. We like to say that chicken soup is Jewish penicillin! And these gluten-free matzo balls only make it better. Be sure to use my chicken bone broth recipe in this soup, so that it is extra healthy and unbelievably delicious!
Traditionally, we serve this Paleo Matzo Ball Soup at Passover. Pesach is one of my favorite holidays. I adore holidays that involve a change of seasons and Passover, occurring each year in March or April (depending on the full moon), ushers in spring. Did you know that all of my recipes are kosher for Passover because they use almond flour?! That’s right I don’t have any gluten or chametz in the 800 recipes on this entire website! And all of my cookbooks are kosher for Pesach too!
Matzo Ball Soup
Ingredients
- 4 large eggs
- 2 teaspoons celtic sea salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
- 2 cups blanched almond flour (not almond meal), sifted
- 6 cups Chicken Stock or Kettle & Fire Bone Broth
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, beat eggs, (1 teaspoon) salt and pepper for 2 minutes
- Stir in the almond flour
- Refrigerate the mixture 2-4 hours
- Remove from refrigerator
- Heat a large pot of water (with 1 teaspoon salt) and bring to a boil
- Roll the batter into 1-inch balls then drop into the pot of boiling water
- Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 20 minutes
- Heat 6 cups chicken stock in a separate pot
- When the matzo balls are finished, remove from simmering water with a slotted spoon and add to chicken stock
- Ladle stock, plus 2-3 matzo balls into individual bowls and serve
Equipment
Like most other families who grew up celebrating this holiday, we had matzoh ball soup every year. My grandmother made this soup. My mother made this soup. And now I have made this soup! My children will be at least the fourth generation of my family to partake in matzo balls! But they will have gluten-free matzo balls!
I made a test batch today for my family to sample and was given the thumbs up. I will be serving this soup and other gluten-free Jewish food at our Passover seder.
These gluten free matzo balls are non-gebruchts, pareve and kosher for Passover. If you love these matzoh balls as much as we do, be sure to take a look at my healthy Paleo Passover menu! Here are some of my other classic Paleo Passover recipes:
Rachel says
Has anyone tried making these with seltzer water? That’s what we’ve done in the past with wheat-based matzo balls.
Kim says
Thank you so much! Words cannot express my gratitude for your delicious, simple, HEALTHY recipes!!! Your tips have saved me. I am so tired of GF processed ‘food’. I, too, am finding my Paleo roots and appreciate your recipes. Anxiously awaiting your GF matzah-as the store bought is so pricey!!
Chag Pesach Sameach!
Kim Halpern:-)
Jessica foley. says
I am psyched for this! I am gluten free and used to love matzah ball soup but it’s not worth the stomach pain! Can’t wait to try this !!!!!
susan says
I am going to try this with the almond flour. I made some the other day with a little amaranth flour – were okay…not great! thanks for today’s post, love it!
deborah says
Do you have any substitution for the eggs? I have a friend who needs to do gf and egg free. Would love suggestions.
Halley says
I am vegan, but even if I weren’t, am allergic to eggs!
Have been craving matzo ball soup for the last few weeks, I assume since it’s beginning to feel like autumn!
I’m going to try this recipe with ground flax seed instead of egg. (1 tblspn ground flax seed + 3 tblspn warm water for each egg. You let it sit until it congeals a couple minutes and then mix it into the batter like normal)
And I will see how that goes. Gonna make a veggie broth for my matzo balls etc.
Rochelle Eissenstat says
I loved the “matzo” balls or kneidlach. For a variation, I made chicken kneidlach. I added a half cup of finely ground chicken breast to the mixture and 1 extra egg white, added 1/2 teaspoon dried dill weed, 1/2 teaspoon dried chives, a dash of white pepper, and pinch of ground ginger to your Master recipe. Simmer the balls in H2O in a covered pot until tender – minimum 1/2 hour. Drain and add to the soup or refrigerate or freeze until needed.
Our family chicken soup recipe, passed down from my great grandmother from a shtetl in Poland, included a lot of “soup greens” besides the usual carrots, celery, parsnip, onion, garlic. We always included generous bunch of carrot tops, in addition to the usual handfuls of flat leaf parsley, and dill and celery leaves. In the summer, my mom would also pluck marigold blossoms and add those petals to the soup.
I also add a bay leaf and a piece of ginger root. Lately, I have also been adding a small segment of turmeric root which gives a yellower color to the broth and its own subtle addition of flavor, besides being very healthy.
Perhaps adding more stuff to your chicken soup such as the above will make it less bland.
Liz says
This is my first of many years to come of being GF. I was thrilled with the recipe, especially since I have always been in charge of making the matza ball soup. However, I seem to be unable to follow recipes, so I made changes. I also, always cook my matza balls in the broth and I usually add broth to the balls before cooking them. Since this is a new flour for me, I tried to be careful. I had purchased the Bob’s Red Mills brand, but I added about a teaspoon of honey to the dough. They turned out pretty good for my first round. Next year, I will experiment some more. Thanks for getting me started.
Liz says
Also, I rinsed my hands after making each matza ball, which made it much easier to work with the dough.
Sam says
Thanks for this recipe! I made it for passover and it was so nice to feel like I was eating such comfort food. Next time I will add some shmaltz and cook again in chicken broth, not water. We added coconut flour crepes cut up into noodles and it was all wonderful!
Laura says
Elana – Follow up on my comment that the matzoh balls were tasteless!
Tonight, I added 1 T olive oil, and cooked it in chicken/veggie broth – delicious!! All who tried them liked them!
Happy Pesach!
Laura
Laura says
Elana,
Finally had a chance to make these, and though they did not fall apart, we found them to be pretty tasteless. Perhaps cooking them in broth next time, and maybe adding a bit of oil would help?
elana says
Laura,
I love to eat Matzoh Ball Soup after I’ve been sick; it’s the first thing I turn to, probably because it’s so bland. My mother’s matzoh ball soup was bland, my Bubby’s matzoh ball soup was bland, and now I find out that mine is bland –well, at least I’m in good company :-)
If you decide to flavor up the Matzoh Ball Soup, please come back and let us know what you do.
Thanks for your feedback, I appreciate it :-)
Elana