Instant Pot Matzo Ball Soup

These large, fluffy vegetarian matzo balls are 
made in an Instant Pot Electric Pressure Cooker.

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With Passover approaching, here's an easy way to make matzo ball soup in your Instant Pot. One of the secrets of making great matzo balls is to never uncover the pot while they are cooking. Well, there's no chance of that happening while they are locked in a pressure cooker! 

For this recipe, I'm using Manischewitz Matzo Meal, not a matzo ball mix.

Matzo Ball Soup
Vegetarian
[makes 8 matzo balls/4 servings]

Requirements
Instant Pot Electric Pressure Cooker

Ingredients
For the Matzo Balls
1/2 cup Manischewitz Matzo Meal
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
2 teaspoons dried parsley
2 eggs from happy chickens
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons water
For the Soup
8 cups water
2 stalks celery, small diced or thinly sliced
1 cup small diced onion
2 carrots, sliced
1/4 cabbage, cored and thinly sliced
1 Rapunzel vegetarian boullion cube
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
Salt to taste

Directions
Make the matzo balls. In a small bowl, mix the matzo meal, baking powder, salt, garlic powder, pepper, and dried parsley. Set aside.

In a medium bowl, slightly beat the eggs and then mix in the olive oil and matzo meal mixture and then two tablespoons of water. Blend until the mixture is uniform. Cover and place in the refrigerator until the mixture firms up, about 20 to 30 minutes.  

In the meantime, add the soup ingredients to your instant pot. Using the “Sauté” button, bring the broth to a brisk boil. Stir well.

Soup ingredients

Remove the matzo ball mixture from the refrigerator. With moistened hands, form the mixture into 8 (1-inch) matzo balls. Turn the Instant Pot off (it will continue to boil), and drop the matzo balls into the pot. Do not stir.

Immediately secure the lid, making sure the top vent is closed. Press the “Manual” button and set for 15 minutes at high pressure. When done, quickly release the pressure and remove the lid carefully with the steam venting towards the back.

I was surprised to see how big these turned out!

Serve immediately.

Nutrition
Per serving (2 matzo balls plus soup):  185 calories, 10 g total fat, 2 g saturated fat, 71 mg omega-3 and 973 mg omega-6 fatty acids*, 140 mg cholesterol, 5 g protein, 20 g carbohydrates, 2 g dietary fiber, and 721 mg salt (not counting salt to taste.)

* Fatty acids do not include contribution from the matzo meal since that information is not listed by the manufacturer. To increase the beneficial omega-3 content, use omega-3 eggs.

Matzo Ball Soup With Veggies And Shiitake Mushrooms Vegan And Vegetarian Options

Vegan or vegetarian matzo ball soup for Passover.
Less than 200 calories per serving!

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This Italian Girl LOVES Matzo Ball Soup
For some reason Jews and Italians seem to live in the same neighborhoods in Brooklyn. At least that was the case in Borough Park and Ocean Parkway, two of the neighborhoods I lived in as a child. I was introduced to matzo balls at an early age and have always loved them. I usually don't think about them until Passover comes around and the shelves in the local supermarkets are stocked with matzo meal which immediately triggers a pavlovian response. 

This was the case this week when I bought a big container of matzo meal. I wanted to create a vegan matzo ball for those of you who avoid all animal products. For my readers who enjoy eggs (so many of you raise happy and well cared for chickens), I'll also include a recipe that uses real eggs instead of flax eggs.

Nutritionally, the vegan matzo balls have slightly fewer calories, zero cholesterol, 16 times the omega-3 fatty acid, and more the fiber. The vegetarian matzo balls have more protein. With either one, a serving of soup with 3 matzo balls has less than 200 calories.

    *                        *                         *

Matzo Ball Soup with Veggies and Shiitake Mushrooms
Vegan or Vegetarian Options
[makes 6 servings]
Requires a 5-quart Dutch oven or large soup pot with cover

For the soup
8 cups veggie broth*
2 stalks of celery, thinly sliced
1 cup chopped onion
6 shiitake mushrooms, stems removed, thinly sliced
1 small turnip, peeled and diced
2 carrots, peeled and thinly sliced
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme (or 1 teaspoon fresh)
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt, or to taste
* Instead of veggie broth, you can use 8 cups of water and 1 whole Rapunzel Vegan Bouillon Cube with Herbs.

For the vegan matzo balls
3 tablespoons ground golden flax seeds
1 cup plus 1 tablespoon water (divided)
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 cup matzo meal (do NOT use matzo meal mix)
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
2 teaspoons dried parsley flakes

For vegetarian matzo balls
3 fresh eggs from happy chickens
1/2 cup water
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 cup matzo meal (do NOT use matzo meal mix)
1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
2 teaspoons dried parsley flakes

To make the soup, fill a 5-quart Dutch oven or large soup pot with all of the soup ingredients. Set aside.

Soup ingredients

To make the vegan matzo balls, make flax eggs in a medium bowl by mixing the ground flax seeds with 1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon of room temperature water. Beat until gooey, about a minute.

Flax egg

After the "eggs" are nice and gooey, stir in 1/2 cup of water and olive oil. 

(If you are making the vegetarian matzo balls, you would use 3 fresh eggs instead of making the flax eggs. First beat the eggs, then add 1/2 cup of water and olive oil.)

Add the matzo meal, baking powder, salt, black pepper, garlic powder, and dried parsley.

(If you are making the vegetarian matzo balls, notice that the amount of baking powder is reduced from 1 1/2 teaspoons to 1/2 teaspoon.)

Mix until completely combined and let rest for 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, bring the soup and veggies to a boil.

Let rest for 10 minutes while soup is coming to a boil.

Divide the matzo mixture into 18 pieces and roll them into small matzo balls. If they get sticky and hard to handle, wet your hands. 

Drop the matzo balls into the boiling soup. Lower to a simmer, cover, and cook for 30 minutes. Do not stir or disturb during the soup during this time, other than occasionally peeking in.

Serve while hot and enjoy!

Per serving of soup with 3 vegan matzo balls: 171 calories, 7 g total fat, 1 g saturated fat, 0 mg cholesterol, 840 mg omega-3 and 694 mg omega-6 fatty acids, 4 g protein, 26 g carbohydrates, 4 g dietary fiber, and 782 mg sodium*.

Per serving of soup (using a bouillon cube) with 3 vegetarian matzo balls: 184 calories, 8 g total fat, 2 g saturated fat, 93 mg cholesterol, 58 mg omega-3 and 739 mg omega-6 fatty acids, 6 g protein, 25 g carbohydrates, 3 g dietary fiber, and 732 mg sodium*.

* Using a Rapunzel bouillon cube instead of low-sodium veggie broth.

Per serving of vegan matzo balls (3 balls): 133 calories, 6 g total fat, 1 g saturated fat, 0 mg cholesterol, 833 mg omega-3 and 648 mg omega-6 fatty acids, 3 g protein, 17.5 g carbohydrates, 2 g dietary fiber, and 218 mg sodium. 

Per serving of vegetarian matzo balls (3 balls): 146 calories, 7 g total fat, 1 g saturated fat, 93 mg cholesterol, 51 mg omega-3 and 694 mg omega-6 fatty acids, 5 g protein, 16.5 g carbohydrates, 1 g dietary fiber, and 168 mg sodium.