Chicken Soup with Matzo Balls
A golden broth simmered from a whole chicken with carrots, celery, dill and an unpeeled onion, with light schmaltz-and-seltzer matzo balls poached in salted water, then finished in the broth with carrot, parsnip, shredded chicken and fresh dill.
Chicken soup is older than any recipe for it. Wikipedia points out that people were boiling food before chickens were domesticated, so chickens were "likely" boiled into soup from the start, and that the modern American chicken soup, with its root vegetables, was a staple across Northern Europe that immigrants brought to the United States. The Jewish version carries the most famous reputation. Joe Schwarcz of McGill University's Office for Science and Society writes that a Chinese document from the second century BC already called chicken soup a medicine, and that the 12th-century physician Maimonides said chicken broth "rectified corrupted humors"; his own headline calls the "Jewish penicillin" label "more whimsy than fact".
The matzo balls came later. Wikipedia says their exact origin is unknown, that German, Austrian and Alsatian Jews were the first to make them, that the Yiddish name is knaidel (plural kneydlekh), tied to the German Knödel, and that an early matzah ball soup recipe, made with beef stock, appears in The Jewish Manual, published in London in 1846. This version is Lan Lam's from Cook's Illustrated: a concentrated broth from a cut-up chicken, and matzo balls lightened with schmaltz, seltzer and a little baking powder.
🕯️ The original
A golden broth simmered from a whole chicken with carrots, celery, dill and an unpeeled onion, with light schmaltz-and-seltzer matzo balls poached in salted water, then finished in the broth with carrot, parsnip, shredded chicken and fresh dill.
🇺🇸 The American version
American chicken noodle soup keeps the golden broth, carrots and celery, swaps the matzo balls for wide egg noodles, and became a supermarket staple in a can. See the Classic American Chicken Noodle Soup recipe.
Why it works the kitchen science
A tight pot, two speeds
The parts are packed into a small amount of water so the broth comes out concentrated, while the breasts leave early and the wings, back and legs keep giving gelatin and flavor for another hour.
Poach first, finish in broth
Cooking the matzo balls in salted water keeps the broth clear, and the last 20 to 30 minutes in barely simmering broth seasons them without letting them soak up so much liquid they turn dense.
Step by step
- Step 1
Cut the backbone out of the chicken with kitchen shears, split the breast, and separate the leg quarters and wings. Put all the parts, backbone, neck and giblets in a Dutch oven with the 9 cups water, onion, carrots, celery and 2 tsp salt. Bring to a boil over high heat, lower to a gentle simmer and skim off the scum. Cook until the breasts read 165°F, 15 to 20 minutes, and move them to a plate.
- Step 2
Add the dill sprigs, peppercorns and cloves, cover and keep at a gentle simmer 1 hour. Move the leg quarters to the plate and discard the wings, backbone, neck and giblets. Strain the broth through a fine-mesh strainer (you want about 8 cups; add water if short) and clean the pot.
- Step 3
While the broth simmers, make the matzo balls: whisk the eggs and schmaltz, stir in the seltzer, then the matzo meal, 1/2 tsp salt and the baking powder. Cover and refrigerate until very firm, about 45 minutes.
- Step 4
Shred 2 cups of chicken from the breasts and legs, discarding skin and bones. With wet hands, roll the chilled mixture into 14 smooth balls (a heaping tablespoon each) and set them on a lightly greased plate.
- Step 5
Bring the 2 quarts water and 1/2 tsp salt to a simmer in a large saucepan, turn the heat to low, add the matzo balls, cover and cook 15 minutes.
- Step 6
Meanwhile, bring the broth, carrot, parsnip and celery to a simmer in the clean Dutch oven over high heat, then lower the heat so the broth stays at a very gentle simmer, 175 to 190°F.
- Step 7
Move the matzo balls into the broth with a slotted spoon, cover and cook until tender all the way through, 20 to 30 minutes for floaters (about 45 minutes if they sink). Add the shredded chicken and cook 3 to 5 minutes, until the soup reads 165°F. Season with salt and pepper and serve with the chopped dill.
Chicken Soup with Matzo Balls
Serves 6 · about 8 cups broth and 14 matzo balls · 3 hr 15 min total
Broth
- 1 whole chicken (4 lb), neck and giblets kept, liver discarded
- 1 small onion, unpeeled, trimmed and halved
- 3 carrots, coarsely chopped
- 1 celery rib, coarsely chopped
- 2 tsp table salt
- 9 cups water
- 4 sprigs fresh dill
- 1/2 tsp black peppercorns
- 2 whole cloves
Matzo balls
- 3 large eggs
- 3 tbsp schmaltz (rendered chicken fat)
- 1/2 cup seltzer
- 1 cup (4 oz) matzo meal
- 1/2 tsp table salt
- 1/2 tsp baking powder (optional, for lighter balls)
- 2 quarts water plus 1/2 tsp salt, for cooking
Soup
- 1/2 cup chopped carrot
- 1/2 cup chopped parsnip
- 1/2 cup chopped celery
- 2 cups shredded chicken (from the broth)
- 2 tbsp chopped fresh dill
- Salt and pepper
Method
- Cut the backbone out of the chicken with kitchen shears, split the breast, and separate the leg quarters and wings. Put all the parts, backbone, neck and giblets in a Dutch oven with the 9 cups water, onion, carrots, celery and 2 tsp salt. Bring to a boil over high heat, lower to a gentle simmer and skim off the scum. Cook until the breasts read 165°F, 15 to 20 minutes, and move them to a plate.
- Add the dill sprigs, peppercorns and cloves, cover and keep at a gentle simmer 1 hour. Move the leg quarters to the plate and discard the wings, backbone, neck and giblets. Strain the broth through a fine-mesh strainer (you want about 8 cups; add water if short) and clean the pot.
- While the broth simmers, make the matzo balls: whisk the eggs and schmaltz, stir in the seltzer, then the matzo meal, 1/2 tsp salt and the baking powder. Cover and refrigerate until very firm, about 45 minutes.
- Shred 2 cups of chicken from the breasts and legs, discarding skin and bones. With wet hands, roll the chilled mixture into 14 smooth balls (a heaping tablespoon each) and set them on a lightly greased plate.
- Bring the 2 quarts water and 1/2 tsp salt to a simmer in a large saucepan, turn the heat to low, add the matzo balls, cover and cook 15 minutes.
- Meanwhile, bring the broth, carrot, parsnip and celery to a simmer in the clean Dutch oven over high heat, then lower the heat so the broth stays at a very gentle simmer, 175 to 190°F.
- Move the matzo balls into the broth with a slotted spoon, cover and cook until tender all the way through, 20 to 30 minutes for floaters (about 45 minutes if they sink). Add the shredded chicken and cook 3 to 5 minutes, until the soup reads 165°F. Season with salt and pepper and serve with the chopped dill.
Adapted from Lan Lam, "Matzo Ball Soup", America's Test Kitchen (Cook's Illustrated, March/April 2023; published January 18, 2023), serves 6. We follow it as written: a 4-lb chicken cut into parts with its backbone, neck and giblets in 9 cups water with onion, carrots, celery and salt; breasts out after 15 to 20 minutes; dill, peppercorns and cloves for 1 more hour; about 8 cups strained broth; matzo balls of 3 eggs, 3 tbsp schmaltz, 1/2 cup seltzer, 1 cup matzo meal and optional baking powder, chilled about 45 minutes, rolled into 14 balls and cooked covered 15 minutes in salted water, then 20 to 30 minutes in broth kept at 175 to 190°F. We make the optional carrot, parsnip, celery and 2 cups of shredded chicken part of the recipe, and take the breasts to 165°F (ATK gives 160 to 165°F). Background on how matzo meal brands absorb water is from America's Test Kitchen's earlier "Chicken Soup with Matzo Balls" (June 24, 2009). America's Test Kitchen. Ingredient list follows the source; the method is in our own words.
Tips
- Matzo meal brands absorb liquid differently; America's Test Kitchen's older recipe cuts the water by a tablespoon for Streit's, so if the mix looks loose after chilling, add a spoon of matzo meal.
- Lan Lam's broth keeps 3 days refrigerated or 3 months frozen; the shredded chicken keeps 3 days. Freeze the broth in shallow containers.
- Save the rest of the chicken for chicken salad or the 30-Minute Rotisserie Chicken Noodle Soup in place of the store-bought bird.
- Take the matzo balls out of any leftover soup and store them separately so they don't swell.
The rules people argue about
What the sources agree on, what they don't, and what is just a good story.
- Matzo balls should float. Disputed: Wikipedia says matzo balls can be light or dense and that some float and some sink; ATK's older recipe gives less water for chewier, denser balls on purpose.
- Schmaltz is the only right fat. Disputed: Wikipedia says schmaltz gives a distinctive flavor but many modern cooks prefer vegetable oil or margarine; ATK's 2009 testers found chicken fat tasted better than oil. Butter is out with chicken soup under kashrut (Wikipedia).
- Chicken soup cures a cold. Disputed: a 2000 University of Nebraska Medical Center lab study found soup components slowed neutrophil movement in purified cells, which Wikipedia says "could hypothetically" ease symptoms; Wikipedia also cites a 2007 New York Times review that found none of the research conclusive, and McGill's Joe Schwarcz calls the "Jewish penicillin" label more whimsy than fact.
- German Jews invented matzo balls. Disputed: Wikipedia says German, Austrian and Alsatian Jews were the first to prepare them but that their exact origins are unknown.
- Matzo balls are Passover food. Documented in part: Wikipedia calls them a Passover staple, but those who keep the gebrochts custom do not eat them during Passover.
Every other chicken soup
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Chicken breasts poached in stock, rice or orzo cooked in the same pot, and five eggs tempered with hot broth until the soup turns silky and pale gold, then sharpened with lemon juice to taste and finished with the chicken and fresh dill.
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Two Cornish hens stuffed with soaked short-grain rice, fresh ginseng, a jujube and eight garlic cloves each, simmered whole for over an hour until the rice is soft and the broth milky, served one hen per bowl with green onion, black pepper, kimchi and two dipping sauces.
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Aguadito de Pollo (Peruvian Cilantro Chicken and Rice Soup)
Browned bone-in chicken thighs and drumsticks simmered with onion, red bell pepper, cumin and rice in broth blended with cilantro, serrano and garlic, then brightened with a second fresh cilantro puree, sweet corn and lots of lime.
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30-Minute Rotisserie Chicken Noodle Soup
Onion, celery, carrots and thyme browned in butter, simmered in store-bought broth, then egg noodles cooked right in the pot, with the shredded meat of a supermarket rotisserie chicken and frozen peas stirred in at the end, in 30 minutes.
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Inspired by, not official: celery, shredded carrot, onion and garlic softened in butter, thickened with flour and chicken broth, then store-bought potato gnocchi, cooked chicken, baby spinach, heavy cream and thyme, in one pot in 40 minutes.
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