Everything that ails you can be cured with this classic Jewish chicken soup. It’s fantastic when you have the flu and fantastic on days two and three. My great-grandmother, who needed to make the matzoh balls as substantial as possible to feed a hungry family, passed down this recipe to me. To reduce the workload, reduce the matzoh meal by 1/2 cup.
| Prep Time: | 30 mins |
| Cook Time: | 4 hrs |
| Total Time: | 4 hrs 30 mins |
| Servings: | 8 |
Ingredients
- 1 whole chicken
- 2 quarts cold water, or as needed
- 8 carrots, peeled and sliced
- 2 stalks celery, chopped
- 1 parsnip, chopped
- 1 medium yellow onion, chopped
- 1 bunch fresh dill weed, chopped
- salt and pepper to taste
- 3 cloves garlic, crushed
- 2 ½ cups matzo meal
- 6 eggs
- 6 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 2 teaspoons salt
Instructions
- Place chicken, breast-side down, into a large pot; fill with enough cold water to reach about 3 inches from top of the pot. Add carrots, celery, parsnip, onion, dill, salt, and pepper. Bring to a simmer over medium heat, and cook, partially covered for 2 hours. Do not let the soup boil. Skim any fat from the top of the soup. Add garlic, partially cover, and simmer for another 2 hours.
- Mix matzo meal, eggs, oil, 2 teaspoons salt, and 1/4 cup of broth from the soup together in a medium bowl. Refrigerate until set, about 20 minutes.
- Bring a separate pot of water to a rolling boil. Roll matzo mixture into about 16 balls. Wet your hands to keep the dough from sticking to them. Drop matzoh balls into boiling water, cover, and cook for about 35 minutes.
- Meanwhile, remove chicken from soup; remove the bones and skin and cut or shred into pieces. Strain broth, reserving vegetables. Return broth to the pot; add chicken and vegetables (or reserve for another use). Remove matzo balls from boiling water using a slotted spoon; add to soup.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 525 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 40 g |
| Cholesterol | 212 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 3 g |
| Protein | 32 g |
| Saturated Fat | 6 g |
| Sodium | 721 mg |
| Sugars | 3 g |
| Fat | 27 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
Recipe ingredients are standard. however, I bring the chicken with water to a boil BEFORE I add the vegetables so I can skim the foam and fat from the water more easily. Then I add the rest of the ingredients.
I’ve always simmered the chicken and removed the scum before adding the vegetables. The time I did it your way the soup wasn’t as clear. Hmmm.
Really the recipe deserves five stars but I don’t understand why they tell you to strain out all those yummy vegetables (Even though all the pictures of this recipe show it with the vegetables in the bowl). We just leave everything in. And it is amazing. The matzo balls came out two dense for us, so I just use the recipe on the matzo container (the third time I made this) and they came out better.
came out fantastic. used 2 cups of matzoh instead of 2.5. liked them heavy like that.
I prepared this recipe tonight. I was confused on when to add the salt and pepper and I thought I should of added it in the beginning or when adding the garlic. I added extra garlic (5 cloves) instead. It tasted wonderful but I think would of had a more flavorful had I seasoned it earlier. The flavor was good (next time I will season in the beginning), the Matzo balls were very pleasantly easy to make and had wonderful flavor. This was my first time making or eating the soup. Than you for sharing this wonderful recipe. I did forget to garnish the soup with more fresh dill. Very healthy soup. Husband loved it and that’s what counts too.
Great soup recipe! Easy to make. Leftovers are great too!
Great Chicken Souprecipe. I did not have parsnip, so I used a smally celery root, instead. It may have tasted a little salty, to some, even though I added less than a teasponn of pink Himalaya salt. But great. And the kneidlach were very good, too. Instead of “vegetable oil,” as called for, I used organic, extra virgin olive oil, from this season’s batch. Calling them “sinkers,” is an understatement. But they were very good and very filling. Thanks!
I love this soup and make it once a month since I found it here. I’m not Jewish and wish I could make it as good as my childhood best friends g-ma use to make it. My kids love it w a little bit of dill pickle on top. Thanks for sharing
I’ve made two slow cooker batches this week — one for my house and one for my daughter’s because her family is fighting a bad flu and maybe pneumonia. Never leave out the garlic & parsnips. I add sliced shiitake mushrooms — not traditional but definitely healthful. I like to add fresh lemon juice to individual servings. I don’t make the matzohs but do add rice, wild rice or interesting gluten free noodles.
Wow! Great depth of flavor! Modified the recipe a bit. Purchased a roasted chicken and used chicken broth instead of water since I wasn’t cooking the chicken. Cooked the veggies for about an hour and 15 minutes. Added the chicken ast the 45 minute mark. Also added noodles to the soup. Excellent recipe. Thank you
My family enjoyed this chicken soup. I added back fresh onions, celery and carrots and added back the shredded chicken.
I made this delicious soup and my whole family enjoyed it including my picky eater 12yr old loved child didn’t make a fuss about dinner. This soup deserves a 20+ rating
Love this soup – It is easier than the soup I have always made and it tastes amazing. I ended up using a pre-mixed box of matzo balls; as the store didn’t have matzoh meal to follow the recipe. Wish I had the matzoh meal now. My family loved the soup and I had a lot left over to freeze for another time. This is now my go-to recipe!
This is a variation of the soup that I grew up with and it was tasty. We are of eastern European decent (I’m first generation American) and want to comment about some of the criticism, especially regarding dill. In my opinion, it’s the dill that makes this Jewish Chicken Soup. However, different regions make it different ways and to be a snob about what should or shouldn’t be included is just plain wrong. In Europe, especially during war time, people would put whatever they had into the soup so that they could stretch it out for several days. Root vegetables were cheap and plentiful so parsnips, carrots, parsley root, potatoes, and anything else that could be cooked and eaten would find it’s way into the soup. So, to all of you soup “purists”, have fun with it and understand that you are lucky to have the chicken!
My boyfriend and I made this on the first night of hanukkah and we used a rotisserie chicken in the soup which cut down both the prep and cook time
This is the matzah ball soup recipe that tastes most like the one I grew up with. If you’re looking for dense “sinker” style matzah balls, this is the recipe for you. The flavor is really good and rich, though I use all chicken legs, rather than a whole chicken, which I feel gives a better result. Also, I think 4 hours is a decent minimum, but I usually do 6 hours. In a pinch, you get away with 2 hours by dropping in a bouillon cube or two at the end.
followed the direction it came out great.
Great recipe. I added egg noodles. If I had more time, I would have let the broth set overnight to skim off the fat, but it came out good….. bit hit.
Easy peasy chicken soup! Love the flavour… couldn’t find Matzo in store .. ended up buying Knödel (Dumplings) instead .. skipped Parsnip …added more garlic … still tasted wonderful 🙂
Good cooking method and natural ingredients. Flavorful chicken soup, the way it should be. I’m in love with parsnips, they add great flavor!
Doubled the veggies in the soup, used Rotisserie chicken for ease and flavor. Took off all the meat and then cooked the carcass and bones in the soup for 2 hours. Strained that out and added in the shredded chicken. Matza balls were a little dense/dry maybe would add more liquid when making them. Very tasty soup , will make again especially with a cold.