Tova's Shabbos Kitchen Make-ahead Shabbos and Yom Tov cooking

Make-Ahead Matzo Balls: How to Freeze Them and Reheat Them in Soup

Pareve · · By Tova's Shabbos Kitchen · Jump to recipe

Fluffy pareve matzo balls you can cook weeks ahead. How to freeze them cooked or raw, and how to reheat them straight from frozen in Shabbos or Yom Tov soup.

Matzo balls are a Friday-night favorite and a Yom Tov must, and they are one of the best things to keep in your freezer. They take 15 minutes of hands-on work and freeze perfectly once cooked. With a bag in the freezer, Friday soup is just soup plus a handful of frozen matzo balls.

Light or dense? It comes down to three things

  • Seltzer. The bubbles help them puff. Plain water works, but they will be a little denser.
  • Gentle hands. Roll them lightly. A tightly packed ball cooks into a hard one.
  • A covered pot and patience. Keep the lid on and give them the full 35 to 40 minutes. Undercooked matzo balls have a hard, darker center.

Why cook them in water, not soup?

Matzo balls drink up whatever they cook in. Cooking them in salted water keeps your soup clear and keeps the matzo balls pareve, which matters if you want to serve them at a pareve meal or freeze some for later. You can still warm them in chicken soup before serving.

The freezer method

  1. Cook and drain the matzo balls.
  2. Cool them on a parchment-lined sheet pan, spaced apart.
  3. Freeze the pan until the balls are firm, about 2 hours.
  4. Move them to a labeled freezer bag. They won’t stick together.
  5. To serve, drop them frozen into simmering soup for 15 to 20 minutes.

Shabbos and Yom Tov planning

A batch of soup and a bag of matzo balls are the backbone of our Yom Tov freezer meals plan, which also has a freezer chicken soup recipe. For a regular Friday, they slot right into the make-ahead Shabbat dinner menu. And in 2026, when Chanukah starts on a Friday night, they are part of the Shabbos Chanukah menu too.

Recipe card · Pareve

Make-Ahead Fluffy Matzo Balls

Light, fluffy matzo balls made with matzo meal, eggs, oil, and seltzer, cooked in salted water so they stay pareve, then frozen and reheated in soup.

Prep
15 min
Cook
40 min
Total
1 hr 25 min
Yield
About 16 matzo balls
Kashrus
Pareve

Ingredients

  • 4 large eggs
  • 1/4 cup vegetable oil
  • 1/4 cup seltzer or club soda
  • 1 tsp kosher salt, plus 1 Tbsp for the cooking water
  • 1/4 tsp black pepper
  • 1 cup matzo meal
  • 2 Tbsp chopped fresh dill or parsley (optional)

Instructions

  1. Mix: Whisk the eggs, oil, seltzer, salt, and pepper in a bowl. Stir in the matzo meal and herbs until evenly moist. The mixture will look loose.
  2. Chill: Cover and refrigerate at least 30 minutes, up to overnight. The matzo meal soaks up the liquid and the mixture firms up enough to shape.
  3. Boil the water: Bring a large, wide pot of water to a boil with 1 Tbsp salt. Use the biggest pot you have, because matzo balls about double in size.
  4. Shape: With wet hands, roll the mixture into balls about 1 inch across, handling them gently. Packing them tight makes them dense.
  5. Cook: Drop the balls into the boiling water, lower to a steady simmer, cover, and cook 35 to 40 minutes without lifting the lid for the first 25. They are done when they are puffed and the same pale color all the way through when one is cut open.
  6. Drain: Lift them out with a slotted spoon. Serve in hot soup, or cool them for the freezer.

Make-ahead and storage

  • Refrigerator: store cooked matzo balls in a covered container, or in the soup, up to 3 days.
  • Freezer (cooked, best): cool, freeze in a single layer on a parchment-lined tray until firm, about 2 hours, then bag. Keeps up to 3 months.
  • Reheat from frozen: drop frozen matzo balls straight into simmering soup, cover, and heat 15 to 20 minutes until hot in the center. Or thaw overnight in the fridge and heat in soup for 10 minutes.
  • In the soup: you can freeze matzo balls in the soup, but they keep absorbing broth and get softer. Freezing them separately gives the best texture.

Notes

  • Cooked in salted water, these are pareve. Cooking or storing them in chicken soup makes them meat, so keep a batch separate if you need pareve matzo balls.
  • For Pesach, use matzo meal certified kosher for Passover and follow your family's customs about gebrochts.

Questions people ask

Can you freeze matzo balls?

Yes. Cook them, cool them, freeze them on a tray, then bag them. They keep up to 3 months and go straight from the freezer into simmering soup.

Do you freeze matzo balls cooked or uncooked?

Cooked is more reliable. Raw matzo balls can be frozen and boiled from frozen (add about 10 minutes), but they are more likely to crack or cook unevenly. Cooked ones reheat evenly every time.

Can you freeze chicken soup with matzo balls in it?

You can, but the matzo balls soak up broth and soften. For the best texture, freeze the soup and the matzo balls in separate containers and combine them when you reheat.

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Make-Ahead Matzo Balls: Freeze Now, Reheat in Soup

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