Chicken 'Matzo' Ball Soup
The healthified classic — light matzo balls of ground chicken (no matzo meal), poached in a collagen-rich, from-scratch chicken bone broth with ginger, turmeric, watercress, and turnip greens. The broth makes 3½ quarts and freezes beautifully.
Why it works
Joints & skin
Collagen from a real chicken bone broth (feet and wings are the secret) supports joints and skin.
chicken bone brothMinerals for bone
Watercress and turnip greens add calcium, minerals, and fiber.
watercress · turnip greensEasy on digestion
Ginger, turmeric, and a brothy bowl make it gentle and comforting to digest.
ginger · turmeric01 Chicken bone broth (makes 3½ qt)
Chicken bone broth (makes 3½ qt)
- 2 lbchicken feet + wingscollagen for a silky, gelled broth
- 2 / 4 / 4onion / carrots / celery, + ½ head garlic + ½ bunch flat-leaf parsley
- 1lemon, halved
- to tastesalt + a few black peppercorns
- Pressure-cook the feet, wings, vegetables, lemon, salt, and peppercorns with 8 cups water — do this twice, 8 cups each time; strain.
- Reduce the strained stock by ¼ in a stockpot, then stir in ¼ cup apple cider vinegar.
- Refrigerate overnight and skim off the fat. (Shortcut: 2 cups store-bought low-sodium chicken stock.)
02 Ground-chicken 'matzo' balls
Ground-chicken 'matzo' balls
- 1 lbground chickenstands in for matzo meal
- gratedturmeric + ginger
- to tastescallion (thinly sliced) + cilantro (chopped)
- ½ tspbaking sodakeeps the balls light
- Mix the ground chicken with the turmeric, ginger, scallion, cilantro, and baking soda; shape into small balls.
- Bring the broth to a boil and poach the balls for 20 minutes.
03 Greens & noodles
Greens & noodles
- 3 cupswatercress + turnip greensminerals + fiber
- optionalmung bean vermicelli noodles
- Add the turnip greens (and vermicelli, if using) to the broth to wilt.
- Stir in the watercress at the very end; serve.
Make it work harder (optional)
Stir a spoon of white miso into your bowl, or add kimchi or a spoon of yogurt, for gut-friendly probiotics.
What's in it & what it does
Chicken bone broth
Feet and wings give the collagen and silky, lip-coating body — joints and skin support in every spoonful; make a big batch and freeze.
Ground-chicken matzo balls
Light dumplings of ground chicken, turmeric, ginger, and cilantro — no matzo meal.
Watercress & turnip greens
Calcium, minerals, and fiber to round out the bowl.
Ginger & turmeric
Warming, anti-inflammatory, and easy on digestion.