Egg-free, no-hametz vegan matzo balls are surprisingly easy to make. The secret is to bake rather than cook them, ensuring that they don’t fall apart. The result: a vegan matzo balls recipe that’s simple to prepare, with really good results! Perfect for our Vegan Matzo Ball Soup.
Wake Up and Eat tested four vegan matzo ball recipes and declared our recipe the winner!
Ashkenazi Jews don’t use tofu during the Passover week! Quite a few vegan matzo balls recipes on the web use tofu as a base. But for many Ashkenazis, even nonreligious ones, tofu isn’t allowable as a Passover food.
Beans and bean products (and tofu, of course, is derived from soybeans) aren’t consumed during Passover week, because they’re hametz and kitniyot. Sephardic traditions don’t forbid beans and many grains, on the other hand.
Make vegan matzo balls ahead or when you need them
You can make these ahead of time; otherwise, you can start making the soup while they’re in the oven — head on over to the recipe for Vegan Matzo Ball Soup.
A Gluten-Free option: There’s even a GF option in the recipe, though made that way, there’s nothing “matzo” about them. They’re still really good!
Make these with quinoa or quinoa flakes
A few people have asked me whether these can be made with regular quinoa rather than quinoa flakes. For the GF version, it would be hard to make these without that product, but I realized that it’s not as easy to get hold of, especially at the last minute.
The straight-up grain quinoa is naturally an allowable food for Passover according to the rabbinical authorities! So you will find that new variation in the recipe, though I still believe it’s better overall with quinoa flakes.
Two brands of quinoa flakes (one is Kosher for Passover): The popular brand Ancient Harvest ®, is Kosher rather than Kosher for Passover; Pereg ® has a Kosher for Passover variety of quinoa flakes. If your local natural foods market doesn’t carry them, look for them online. Make sure to plan ahead!
The Passover Seder Plate for Vegans & Vegetarians
Not Bubbe’s fluffy matzo balls, but still so good
Vegan matzo ball recipes on the web have evolved since my initial research, thanks to the explosion of food blogs run by curious and determined vegan cooks. Some use potato starch (fine for Passover), which seems like a good solution and one I’d like to experiment with.
But for now, I’m sticking with my quinoa-based matzo balls. And since I’m already being non-traditional, they’re baked rather than cooked — I’m still nervous about the falling apart factor. And truly, they’re so easy to make.
I’ll admit that these aren’t like your Bubbe’s big, fluffy matzo balls. But neither are they cannonballs. They’re easy to make and quite tasty, adding a huge comfort factor to any kind of broth-y soup. Photos of Matzo Ball Soup: Susan Voisin, FatFreeVegan.com.
Festive Vegan Passover Recipes
Vegan Matzo Balls
This recipe for vegan matzo balls uses quinoa flakes or quinoa as a binding ingredient and they're baked rather than cooked. There's even a gluten-free option!
Ingredients
- 1 cup quinoa flakes + 2 cups boiling water (or 2 cups overcooked quinoa + 1/2 cup water)
- 1 cup matzo meal (or see gluten-free variation in Notes)
- 1/4 cup neutral vegetable oil (such as safflower)
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- A few grindings of black pepper
- Pinch each: onion powder (or flakes) and garlic powder
Instructions
- For the quinoa flakes option: In a large mixing bowl, cover the quinoa flakes with the boiling water. Let stand for 2 or 3 minutes. For the quinoa option: Combine 2 cups overcooked quinoa (about 1/2 cup raw grain cooked with 2 cups water until absorbed) with 1/2 cup water in a food processor and process until it looks like a kind of mushy slurry. Transfer to a large mixing bowl.
- Stir in the matzo meal along with the remaining ingredients, and mix with the soaked quinoa flakes or blended quinoa until well combined. Cover the bowl and refrigerate for at least 15 minutes.
- Just before baking, preheat the oven to 275º F.
- Roll the mixture into approximately 1-inch balls; don’t pack them too firmly. Arrange on a parchment-lined baking sheet.
- Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, carefully turning the matzo balls after 10 minutes, until nice and firm to the touch; it's fine for them to get a little golden, but don’t let them brown. Remove from the oven and transfer to a covered container to keep warm until needed for the soup
Tip: If making ahead of time, let the matzo balls cool completely, then cover until needed. Warm them briefly in a medium oven and distribute them among the soup bowls, allowing 3 or 4 matzo balls per serving in the recipe for Vegan Matzo Ball Soup.
Notes
To make these matzo balls gluten-free, substitute 1 1/4 cups quinoa flakes for the matzo meal. Don’t add them to the original quantity of quinoa flakes; this is a separate measure to use dry. A bit more is needed than the quantity of matzo meal for the purpose, as the quinoa flakes are less dense.
Make extra! These go very quickly and everyone usually wants more, so if you’re increasing the amount of soup to accommodate a larger crowd, or serving more than 8 people, you would do well to double this recipe.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
8Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 202Total Fat: 8gSaturated Fat: 1gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 7gCholesterol: 0mgSodium: 70mgCarbohydrates: 29gFiber: 2gSugar: 0gProtein: 4g
Nutrition data is always an estimate depending on program used to calculate and exact products used.
See our selection of Jewish vegan recipes
and vegan Rosh Hashanah recipes
Dale Wasser
Can these be frozen ?
Nava Atlas
Dale, I’m pretty sure I’ve frozen these, and as I recall, they do freeze well.
Eva Dunn
Can you substitute ground oats for quinoa flakes?
Nava Atlas
Eva, that should work well. As you likely know, oats are considered chametz, one of the non-allowable foods during Passover week, but if you don’t adhere strictly to these rules, that’s entirely up to you!
Melissa Cabrera
Can I replace quinoa flakes with regular quinoa?
Nava Atlas
Melissa, this is a really good question and you’re not the first to ask. Cook quinoa is easier to obtain (especially now), cheaper, and naturally Kosher for Passover. I’m thinking that 2 cups of overcooked quinoa might do the trick but I’d like to test it out first. Let me try this tonight and if it works, I’ll amend the recipe!
Nava Atlas
Melissa, it worked! See the amended recipe.
Randi
I made these in the past and they were delicious. But I thought I boiled them. Were these always baked?
Nava Atlas
Hi Randi — mine have always been baked! They would fall apart if they were boiled, so it must have been someone else’s recipe. Have a good holiday!
Randi
Thanks for answering so quickly. I have used many of your recipes and have one of your cookbooks. I really thought I used this one. I think I will try it.
lisa dawn angerame
i love this recipe and have been making it for almost 10 years! i add dried parsley and dried chives to the mix. and i make them with my 3 tablespoon ice cream scooper because i like big matzo balls!
Nava Atlas
Thanks for your comment, Lisa! I love your tweaks. Wow, I didn’t realize you can make them this big — I would have thought they’d fall apart. I hope you’ve had a nice holiday, despite the circumstances.
Kristen
I’m allergic to quinoa. Can another grain be used?
Nava Atlas
Hi Kristen — that’s a rare allergy to quinoa! The reason quinoa is used is that it’s approved for Passover. Most other grains are considered Kitnyot for the holiday, at least in the Ashkenazic tradition. I haven’t tried this with any other grain, and the quinoa flakes are what holds these together, too. Sorry I can’t be more helpful on that.
TofuForBrains
Hi, Nava! Our family also seems to have a quinoa intolerance. I was wondering if potato flakes could work. Also, it’s not currently correct to say that Ashkenazi Jews don’t have kitniyot–the Conservative and Reform movements have both approved it, since it’s minhag and not law. Our family’s minhag has happily included tofu, peas, peanut butter, and other kitniyot for as long as I can remember. I grew up eating PB&J on matzo for breakfast! Thank you for this, and for all your great recipes.
Nava Atlas
Hello! I haven’t tried this with potato flakes yet, but enough people have asked about an alternative to quinoa flakes that I want to test it out. I’m going to see if I can get Kosher for Passover potato flakes (or potato starch) and test drive it, not later than tomorrow (Sunday, 4/2/2023). Stand by!
FELICE GORDIS
I made these with regular quinoa as I had that in the house. They were really good, and the texture held up well in soup. I added freshly ground nutmeg, which I use in ordinary matzoh balls as I like these taste this spice imparts. I definitely will make these for Passover for my vegan family members and guests. Thank you for developing tis recipe. I hope the freezing works.
Nava Atlas
Thank you, Felice! I’m always a little nervous about freezing these, but if for any reason they fall apart, use them in something (to add heft to a casserole, perhaps) and make a fresh batch — you see how easy it is! And happy holiday in advance …
Yale
Nava,
If I used 2 TBL spoons of vegetable bullion instead of the 1/4 cup of oil, would the recipe still work?
Or would the matza balls be not light or dense?
Yale
Nava Atlas
Hi Yale, I’d worry that they’d be too dry. Not having tried this, I wouldn’t be able to guarantee results! But if you want to try this, I’d say 1/4 cup of broth or bouillon (not too salty hopefully) and cross your fingers!
Randi
I have two questions. What is considered overcooked quinoa? Can I use regular quinoa instead of the flakes for the matza meal substitute also?
Nava Atlas
Hi Randi — overcooked quinoa is a bit mushy rather than dry and fluffy like it usually is; so you’d use a little extra water and continue to cook until it kind of sticks together. As for your second question, this definitely needs something dry to add to the moist ingredients, so either matzo meal or quinoa flakes would be the best options.
Randi
Thanks for your quick reply. I will definitely give these a try.
RL
I made these with black salt to capture the memories of egg-based matzo balls and they were really good!
Nava Atlas
What a brilliant idea! Why didn’t I think of that. Thanks so much for this tip, I may just add it to the recipe!
Anonymous
The recipe says to bake at 2750F. I assume you mean 275? Thanks!
Nava Atlas
Yes, that’s 275 degrees F. I’m afraid the degree symbol in the web font this site uses looks like a zero; I should get that fixed!
Willy Jay
I saw Gluten Free Matzoh Ball Mix in stores. Ingedients are slightly different than regular matzoh Meal… do you think that would work for this recipe?
Nava Atlas
Willy, having never tried it, I can’t say, but it’s worth a one-time try if it allows you to have matzo balls … one caveat is that mixes are often very salty, so if you see high sodium content in the ingredients, eliminated any other salt in the recipe. That said, you’ll still need the “glue” to hold these together, and for you, that would be quinoa flakes. And if you already have and are using them, you may as well try the GF variation given here. Either way, I hope you’ll come back and report your results!
Willy Jay
Thank you for answering. Yes, I’m planning on the quinoa flakes and I’m okay doing it the GF way you state in the recipe but I’d feel better if these matzoh balls actually had some semblance of matzoh in them. Im going to take the gamble and when I try them, I’ll let you know the outcome. Thanks again.