# Making Matzo Ball Soup for the 1st time
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/making-matzo-ball-soup-for-the-1st-time/536368
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [April 16, 2010, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/making-matzo-ball-soup-for-the-1st-time/536368 "2010-04-16T17:15:47Z")
**Posts on this page:** 8
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@davey77](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davey77)
#### Post date: [April 16, 2010, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/making-matzo-ball-soup-for-the-1st-time/536368/1 "2010-04-16T17:15:47Z")
Full disclosure here. I’m a Hillbilly boy who loves him some Kosher eats. I found a box of Manischewiz Matzo Ball Soup mix on sale after Passover. I am actually Lutheran, so I could use some advice.
Wanted to ask the Dope if there’s anything I need to know beyond following the package directions. Any techniques, flavors, seasonings, additions, etc.?
And how do I eat the Matzo balls? Cut them with a spoon? Or pop them in whole?
Will have no trouble with the latkes. We eat those all the time. Utterly delicious with a side of applesauce.
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### Author:  [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)
#### Post date: [April 16, 2010, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/making-matzo-ball-soup-for-the-1st-time/536368/2 "2010-04-16T17:29:32Z")
Manichewitz matzo ball soup mix can be made into a soup all by itself, but without other stuff, it’s pretty boring. I like to add potatoes, carrots, and celery, but go crazy. Add whatever you like.
It’s very salty, so make sure you taste it before adding extra salt.
Most people make matzo balls that are too big to eat whole, so you need to cut them with a spoon, but there’s no particular need to do that. You could make little bite-sized matzo balls if you want.
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### Author:  [@GrandWino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrandWino)
#### Post date: [April 16, 2010, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/making-matzo-ball-soup-for-the-1st-time/536368/3 "2010-04-16T20:44:31Z")
Best tip I can give is to be sure to chill the matza mix real well before forming the balls and cooking them. Helps them from getting dense and sinking. They should float up when they’re done cooking.
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### Author:  [@Drain\_Bead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drain_Bead)
#### Post date: [April 16, 2010, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/making-matzo-ball-soup-for-the-1st-time/536368/4 "2010-04-16T23:01:23Z")
To get large matzo balls that are fluffy all the way through, pierce them with a small skewer (I used one that came with an old George Foreman grill) all the way through.
Eat them with a spoon–I like to carve them into spoon-sized pieces before I start eating the soup, so I have a bite with every bite of broth.
If you want REALLY good soup, get the Matzo meal and make the recipe on the side of that box, rather than using a mix. You’ll need your own broth, but that’s not hard to make either.
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### Author:  [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)
#### Post date: [April 16, 2010, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/making-matzo-ball-soup-for-the-1st-time/536368/5 "2010-04-16T23:07:59Z")
Don’t make the matzo balls to dense, they aren’t good that way.
My sister makes the matzo balls in the soup mix that comes in the package and then transfers them to a homemade chicken soup broth…yummy.
Reminds me that I have a box in the pantry that I’ll have to break out.
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### Author:  [@Jinx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jinx)
#### Post date: [April 17, 2010, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/making-matzo-ball-soup-for-the-1st-time/536368/6 "2010-04-17T00:51:07Z")
> [@HelloNinja](#):
>
> Best tip I can give is to be sure to chill the matza mix real well before forming the balls and cooking them. Helps them from getting dense and sinking. They should float up when they’re done cooking.
Yeah, but don’t sweat it. It is not the end of the world if they sink. Don’t feel defeated, and esp. do not throw it all out! Naturally, there will be a trial and error period, so most of all…don’t give up!
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### Author:  [@Hello\_Again](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hello_Again)
#### Post date: [April 17, 2010, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/making-matzo-ball-soup-for-the-1st-time/536368/7 "2010-04-17T00:59:18Z")
Don’t handle them too much if you want them to be light. Just gently put them together without rolling the whole mass in your hands over and over to make them perfectly round. I also agree with **HelloNinja** that the mix should rest in the fridge before cooking.
Some people use seltzer/club soda instead of water/chicken broth to as the liquid in the mix. They says it fluffs them up, but I have my doubts that it makes any difference.
When you take your first bite, ceremoniously declare them to be “light like feather!” or “heavy like stone!” as the case may be. Or maybe that’s just in my family. 🙂
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### Author:  [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)
#### Post date: [April 17, 2010, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/making-matzo-ball-soup-for-the-1st-time/536368/8 "2010-04-17T01:07:39Z")
Funny, I never had Matzo Ball soup before and just this week I was holding a box of the mix, with the soup packet in it, I guess, in my hand at the grocery store. For some reason I set it down and forgot to put it in the cart. Well, I’m going back for it now!