What Is Matzo meal and How Can I Use It?

Matzo meal is easier to cook with than it looks. Here's how to choose, use, and store it, what to substitute, and 58 recipes to get you started.

Key Points

Matzo meal is ground matzo, a toasted, gluten-poor crumb that defines Passover cooking.
Regular grind binds and coats; the finer cake meal is milled for sponge cakes.
The classic use is matzo balls; chill the batter so it firms before simmering.
It drinks liquid and keeps absorbing, so add gradually or the batter turns brick-dense.
Dried breadcrumbs are the closest one-for-one swap for binding and coating jobs.

What is matzo meal?

Matzo meal is matzo crackers ground down to a flour, and it is the workhorse of Passover cooking. Because the flat, unleavened matzo is already baked, the meal carries a toasted, faintly nutty taste that plain flour does not have.

It comes in two grinds. Regular matzo meal is sandy, a bit like fine cornmeal, and it is the one that binds and coats. The finer grind, sold as cake meal, is milled almost to a powder for sponge cakes and tortes.

During Passover it stands in for wheat flour entirely, since regular flour is off the table for the eight days. The rest of the year it is simply a sturdy crumb for binding and frying. For the wider flour family, see the flour hub.

Cooking With Matzo Meal

Its most famous job is matzo balls, the dumplings that float in chicken soup. The meal is bound with eggs and fat, loosened with a little liquid, then chilled so it hydrates before it is rolled and simmered. Skip the rest and the balls turn dense.

As a binder it works like breadcrumbs. It earns its keep in Potato Pancakes, where it soaks up moisture and keeps the cakes from falling apart in the pan, and it holds together latkes, fritters, and meatballs just as well.

It also makes a good coating for pan-fried fish and cutlets, giving a crisp, golden crust. The Sephardic Pescado Con Agristada breads fish with it this way.

Pairing and Common Mistakes

Matzo meal pairs naturally with eggs, schmaltz or oil, onion, dill, and parsley, the backbone of a Passover kitchen. Its toasty flavor also suits sweet bakes, standing in for flour in fruit crumbles and tortes.

The most common mistake is treating it like flour and dumping in too much. It absorbs liquid greedily and keeps absorbing as it sits, so a batter that looks right immediately can stiffen into a brick once it rests.

Add it gradually and judge the texture only after the mixture has stood a few minutes. For matzo balls, chilling the batter is not optional, since warm batter will not firm up enough to hold its shape in the simmering pot.

Substitutes

Plain dried breadcrumbs are the closest everyday swap for binding and coating, roughly one for one, though they lack the toasted matzo flavor. Panko works too but stays crunchier.

For the fine grind, pulse regular matzo meal in a food processor to approximate cake meal. Going the other way, do not lean on matzo meal where a recipe needs real flour structure. Since the matzo is already baked, the meal will not develop gluten or rise like fresh dough.

Buying and Storage

Matzo meal sits next to the matzo and other Passover goods, stocked heavily in spring before the holiday. Reach for the regular grind for binding and frying; cake meal is shelved alongside it.

You can also make your own by grinding plain matzo until sandy.

Store it like any flour in an airtight container in a cool, dry cupboard, where it keeps for several months. The toasted grain holds up well, but a stale or musty smell means it is time to toss it.

Nutrition

Nutrition Facts

Serving Size 1 matzo (28g)

Amount per Serving

Calories 110Calories from Fat 3

% Daily Value *

Total Fat 0.4g 1%

Saturated Fat 0.1g 0%

Trans Fat ~

Cholesterol 0mg 0%

Sodium 0mg 0%

Total Carbohydrate 23.4g 8%

Dietary Fiber 1g 3%

Sugars 0.1

Protein 2.8g

Vitamin A 0% Vitamin C 0%

Calcium 0% • Iron 5%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your caloric needs.

recipeland.com/nutrition

Quick facts

Where to find matzo meal: Matzo meal is usually found in the baking supplies section or aisle of the grocery store or supermarket.

Food group: Matzo meal is a member of the Baked Products US Department of Agriculture nutritional food group.

In Chinese: 马佐餐
British (UK) term: Matzo meal
en français: farine de pain azyme
en español: harina de matzá

How much does matzo meal weigh?

Amount	Weight
1 matzo	28 grams
½ ounce	14 grams

Baked Products

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Recipes using matzo meal

There are 58 recipes that contain this ingredient.

More matzo meal recipes

List of all ingredients

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