My mom has always taught me (among other things) that there is nothing a steaming bowl of chicken soup can’t fix, and I happen to wholeheartedly agree.
Lately my commute in the elevator at work has involved shielding myself from coughs and sneezes, sniffles seem to be more prevalent than ever, and this freezing rainy weather is not doing us any favors. It’s officially cold season people, and we need to arm ourselves!
The perfect weapon? This insanely good chicken soup recipe that takes a nod from my Jewish grandmother, who adds a plump matzo ball in with hers.
Fresh with dill, hearty with big chunks of chicken, and full of good-for-you veg, this soup is part of your aresenal against any sickness that could come your way. And guess what? It couldn’t be easier!
My secret weapon in this soup is a rotisserie chicken that you can pick up from nearly any grocery store. They’re always juicy, full of flavor, and make the soup so quick to whip up.
Take your chicken and shred it into bite sized pieces. You should throw away the bones and the skin, but any liquid that’s in the bottom of the container it came in should be saved to add to the stock. 
Next up I made the matzo balls. This may sound like a sin, but I used the matzo mix from a box, and it was absolutely delicious. I promise my Jewish grandma, Mennie, approves!
So, make the matzo balls according to the directions. The mix will probably call for them to set for 20 or so minutes, so while they do go on and chop your veg.
Dice up a couple yellow onions, chop up some celery, tear the fronds off dill, and chop some carrots.
To a giant pot add some olive oil, and saute the onions, carrots, and celery over medium high heat.
While they saute, pop those matzo balls into some boiling water, cover, and let them simmer for 30 mins.
When your veg are nice and caramelized like so, but still have a little bite to them, add in the shredded chicken.
The key to great soup is in the broth. Once the chicken is in, pour in 8 cups of broth. I used the broth granules becuase I am way too busy (ok, lazy) to make my own stock, but I nearly doubled the amount the package called for since I wanted it to have a very strong flavor.
I also used a little broth to rinse out the chicken container, to get all of those great flavors in the stock.
Last part? Take your matzo balls out of the boiling water, add your dill to the pot, and ladle yourself a huge bowl! Fireplace optional, but definitely encouraged!
Take that cold season!
Matzo Ball Soup (makes about 6 huge bowls)
- 1 box matzo ball mix, plus whatever ingredients the box calls for (mine needed 2 T veg oil and 2 eggs)
- Mine also had two packages in the box, I only used one of them and it made 10 balls
- 2 yellow onions, diced
- 5 stalks celery, diced
- 5 large carrots, chopped
- 1 t red pepper flakes (optional if you like spicy)
- 2 T olive oil
- 1 rotisserie chicken
- 8 cups chicken broth (I used the granules that you add hot water to)
- Fresh dill
- Make the matzo balls according to the directions on the package.
- Pull the meat from the chicken into bite sized pieces.
- In a large pot over medium high heat, saute onions, carrots, and celery in the olive oil. Add red pepper flakes.
- Once veg are caramelized, mine took about 10 minutes, add chicken and stock.
- Simmer for a few minutes, add fresh dill, and ladle soup into a bowl. Add a few matzo balls and enjoy!
Can’t wait to try this! Why wouldn’t you boil the matzo balls in the broth though?
Hi Scott! Good question. When you make the matzo balls and boil them, the water becomes very murky looking with a little foam on top. Probably wouldn’t look so good in the final product. However, love the idea of the matzo balls picking up flavor from the soup! Please update us if you try it that way!