Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
Recipes

2nd Ave Deli Matzo Balls

Wish your matzo balls were as light and fluffy as those from New York’s venerable 2nd Avenue Deli? They can be, because the recipe is featured in — and we’ve got it right here.

Related

“Eating Delancy” and Enjoying Every Morsel
Classic chicken soup recipe

Makes 12 to 14

1 1/3 cup matzo meal
4 large eggs
1/3 cup schmaltz
1 tablespoon plus ¼ teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon baking powder ¼ teaspoon pepper

1) Fill a large, wide stockpot ¾ full of water, add 1 tablespoon of the salt and bring to a rapid boil.

2) While water is boiling, crack eggs int a large bowl and beat thoroughly. Beat in schmaltz, salt, pepper and baking powder. Slowly fold in matzo meal, mixing vigorously until completely blended.

3) Wet hands, and folding the misture in your palms, shape perfect balls about 1¼ inches in diameter (they will double in size when cooked). Gently place the matzo balls in the boiling water, and reduce heat to simmer. Cook for 25 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon and place 1 or 2 in each bowl of soup. Serve immediately.

From “Eating Delancey,” by Aaron Rezny and Jordan Schaps, photographs by Aaron Rezny, 2014 powerHouse Books.

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.

If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

With your support, we’ll be ready for whatever 2025 brings.

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.