Skinny Matzo Ball Soup
You don’t have to be Jewish to enjoy this delectable soup…Everybody loves it!!! I bet you never thought matzo ball soup could be made skinny! The soup itself is usually low in calories and fat but matzo balls are loaded with chicken fat and made with several eggs. Not my skinny ones! Here I’m using just 1 tablespoon of canola oil and 2 healthy Eggland’s Best eggs. These mini matzo balls are so light and fluffy and taste delicious. Each 1 cup serving has 127 calories and 4 grams of fat.
Helpful Tips About this Recipe
Makes 12 (1 cup) first course servings or 8 (1¾ cups serving) main course servings
Food Facts
Matzo balls are a traditional Jewish dumpling made from matzo meal. They’re particularly popular during Passover and served with chicken broth as matzo ball soup. The largest matzo ball prepared weighed 267 pounds. Setting the Guinness World Record, the ball was made from “1000 eggs, 80 pounds of margarine, 200 pounds of matzo meal and 20 pounds of chicken base!
Shopping Tips
I’ve tried most of the chicken broths available and my favorite is Swanson’s 33% less sodium chicken broth. It comes in a 10, 32, and 48 ounce container. If you are on a strict low-sodium diet, choose a chicken broth that has less sodium than this one. Passover approved noodles are available in most supermarkets during Passover. During the rest of the year or if you don’t celebrate Passover, use “no yolk” noodles, whole grain or whole wheat spaghetti. I’ve made this soup with all of these different noodles and they all work great for this soup.
Prep and Storage Tips
The reason I cook the noodles separately and add to the soup just before serving is to keep them from getting mushy. If you prep this soup in advance, add the noodles after the soup has cooled and store the soup in the refrigerator. This soup can be made a few days before serving. It also freezes great. Divide and freeze in pint or quart size containers.
WW Freestyle SmartPoints 2-Blue (for a 1 cup serving)
WW SmartPoints 3-Green (for a 1 cup serving)
WW POINTS PLUS 4 (for a 1 cup serving) WW Freestyle SmartPoints 3-Blue (for a 1¾ cup serving)
WW SmartPoints 5-Green (for a 1¾ cup serving)
WW POINTS PLUS 5 (for a 1¾ cup serving)
Food Facts
Matzo balls are a traditional Jewish dumpling made from matzo meal. They’re particularly popular during Passover and served with chicken broth as matzo ball soup. The largest matzo ball prepared weighed 267 pounds. Setting the Guinness World Record, the ball was made from “1000 eggs, 80 pounds of margarine, 200 pounds of matzo meal and 20 pounds of chicken base!
Shopping Tips
I’ve tried most of the chicken broths available and my favorite is Swanson’s 33% less sodium chicken broth. It comes in a 10, 32, and 48 ounce container. If you are on a strict low-sodium diet, choose a chicken broth that has less sodium than this one. Passover approved noodles are available in most supermarkets during Passover. During the rest of the year or if you don’t celebrate Passover, use “no yolk” noodles, whole grain or whole wheat spaghetti. I’ve made this soup with all of these different noodles and they all work great for this soup.
Prep and Storage Tips
The reason I cook the noodles separately and add to the soup just before serving is to keep them from getting mushy. If you prep this soup in advance, add the noodles after the soup has cooled and store the soup in the refrigerator. This soup can be made a few days before serving. It also freezes great. Divide and freeze in pint or quart size containers.
WW Freestyle SmartPoints 2-Blue (for a 1 cup serving)
WW SmartPoints 3-Green (for a 1 cup serving)
WW POINTS PLUS 4 (for a 1 cup serving) WW Freestyle SmartPoints 3-Blue (for a 1¾ cup serving)
WW SmartPoints 5-Green (for a 1¾ cup serving)
WW POINTS PLUS 5 (for a 1¾ cup serving)
| SKINNY FACTS: for 1 cup (includes 2 matzo balls and Passover approved noodles) 127 calories, 4g fat, 1g sat. fat, 43mg chol, 15g carbs, 12g protein, 1g fiber, 540mg sodium, 2g sugar SKINNY FACTS: for 1¾ cups (includes 3 matzo balls and Passover approved noodles) 190 calories, 4g fat, 1g sat. fat, 64mg chol, 22g carbs, 18g protein, 810mg sodium, 2g fiber, 3g sugar |
| FACTS: for Freestyle SmartPoints (1 cup) 60 calories, 0g sat. fat, g fat, 1g protein, 0g sugar FACTS: for Freestyle SmartPoints (1¾ cups) 91 calories, 0g sat. fat, 2g protein, 0g sugar |
Skinny Matzo Ball Soup
Ingredients
Ingredients for Matzo Balls:
- ¼ cup club soda
- 1 tablespoon canola oil
- 2 large eggs, I used Eggland’s Best eggs
- ⅔ cup matzo meal
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh dill
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- ¼ teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
Ingredients for Chicken Soup:
- 2 (32oz) containers Swanson’s reduced-sodium chicken broth, see shopping tips
- 1 (14 oz) can Swanson’s reduced-sodium chicken broth
- 12 ounces (¾ lb.) chicken breasts (boneless, skinless), cubed
- 1½ cups carrots, chopped
- 1½ cups celery, sliced
- 1 cup onions, chopped
- ½ teaspoon dried thyme
- Fresh ground pepper, to taste
- 3 ounces (1½ cups dry) Manischewitz Passover Gold egg noodles, “no yolk” egg noodles, whole grain or whole wheat spaghetti, see shopping tips
Instructions
- To prepare matzo balls: combine club soda, oil and eggs in a medium bowl, stirring well. Stir in matzo meal, dill, salt and ground pepper; chill 30 minutes. Shape dough into 24 (1-inch) balls.
- To make the soup: In a large pot, add all soup ingredients, except the noodles and matzo balls. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, carefully add chilled matzo balls, cover and simmer for 10 minutes. Remove the cover. Cook uncovered for 10 more minutes.
- While soup is cooking, cook the noodles in a separate pot according to package directions. Rinse in cold water and set aside, see prep tip.
- Add cook noodles to soup, just before serving. To serve, add 2 matzo balls for a first course serving and 3 matzo balls to each main course serving.
Nutrition
Serving: 1cupCalories: 127kcalCarbohydrates: 15gProtein: 12gFat: 4gSaturated Fat: 1gCholesterol: 43mgSodium: 540mgFiber: 1gSugar: 2gBlue Smart Points: 2Green Smart Points: 3Plus Points: 4
Tried this recipe?Let me know how it was!
Nancy,
Thank you so much for these healthy Hannakuh recipes. I can’t wait to make them for my family. Especially the matzo ball soup and the latkes. They look delicious!
Love it Susan.Thank you! The matzo ball soup is one of my very favorites.
Wishing you and your family a Happy, Healthy Hanukkah.
My very best,
Nancy
I AM THE OLD FASHION COOK, I ALWAYS MAKE MY BALLS 1/2 HOUR BEFORE I SERVE IT,I ALWAYS GRATE SOME GINGER IN THE SOUP..RECENTLY I HAVE BEEN FOLLOWING INA GARTEN MAKING HER MATZO BALLS AND SHAPING THEM WITH A ICE CREAM SCOOP WHICH IS THE BEST WAY, AND QUICKER TOO…THANKS..REGARDS QUERINO
Sounds great. Thanks for sharing your tips!
I have made matzo ball soup recipes in the past and they matzo balls (often) came out fluffy. These were very hard and dense like golf balls. I wonder if they were seriously under cooked. The chicken in the soup was also very hard. I did follow the recipe exactly as written.
I’m sorry you had problems with this recipe. Hmmm…I’m really not sure what happened. I’ve many it several times and didn’t have the same issues. Sorry I can’t be more helpful. My best wishes, Nancy