30 Passover Recipes to Put on Your Seder Table This Year
Mark your calendar: March 27 marks the start of Passover, and whether you’ve hosted for years or are totally new to the Jewish holiday (which commemorates the Israelites’ liberation from slavery), we’re here to help you plan out your menu. While observers traditionally avoided all leavened breads during the eight days of Passover, as well as rice, beans, corn and lentils, due to a 13th-century prohibition, nowadays, many families permit these to be eaten, but still steer clear of leavened bread and food made with wheat flour, like bread, pasta, cereal and cookies. With that in mind, we’ve rounded up Passover recipes that feature some of the symbolic foods on the Seder plate and popular dishes to serve, like brisket, matzo ball soup and flourless cake.
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1. Matzo Ball Soup with Chicken Meatballs and Homemade Broth
You’ll never look at the store-bought kind the same way again.
2. Jewish Holiday Brisket
Unlike Southern brisket, which is typically slow cooked over indirect heat, Jewish brisket is similar to pot roast. It braises in a savory mix of broth, crushed tomatoes and red wine.
3. Flourless Chocolate Cake
Avoiding leavened bread unfortunately means baked goods made with wheat flour are off the table. Luckily, this beauty is both downright decadent and gluten-free.
4. Charoset
This sweet salad—made with nuts, apples, cinnamon and wine—is one of the six traditional foods that appear on the Seder plate.
5. Braised Beef Short Ribs in Red Wine Sauce
Making them yourself > paying a pretty penny have them catered.
6. Frisée, Radicchio and Escarole Salad with Citrus Dressing
Helloooo, bitter greens. If your family keeps kosher and is serving meat, skip the feta cheese.
7. 5-Ingredient Dark Chocolate Macaroons
No flour here. It’s no wonder these low-ingredient coconut treats have become so common for Passover dessert.
8. Lemon and Herb Roast Chicken
Forget the fancy spice rubs. All it takes is butter, lemon and fresh herbs.
9. Matzo Brei
Passover lasts eight days, meaning you’ll have plenty of chances to turn leftover matzo into a 10-minute egg scramble.
10. Slow-Cooked Lamb Shanks in Red Wine Sauce
The bone is part of the ritual Seder plate because it symbolizes the lamb sacrifice the ancient Hebrews made while fleeing Egypt.
11. Roasted Beets
Vegetarians who don’t eat lamb often swap lamb shank for roasted beets at the Seder, after a biblical commentator suggested it centuries ago.
12. Cauliflower, Pomegranate and Apple Salad
It’s dairy-free, grain-free and complete with nutty tahini-honey dressing.
13. One-Pan Roasted Chicken with Carrots
Seven ingredients + 30 minutes + one baking sheet = the easiest holiday main you’ll ever make.
14. Mayo-Free Deviled Eggs
Much like in Easter canon, the egg in the Seder represents renewal and spring. Play up its significance by serving these dairy-free deviled eggs made with a secret ingredient: hummus.
15. Whole Roasted Carrots
Not a fan of tzimmes, aka the Ashkenazi stew made with carrots and dried fruit? We have a savory alternative. Reserve the carrot greens to use as the bitter herb at the Seder.
16. Chocolate-Covered Caramel Matzo
Matzo? Boring? Check your sources. This version is enrobed in toffee-like caramel and chocolate, then sprinkled with flaky salt and peanuts.
17. Israeli Salad
Get your hands on some Roma tomatoes and cucumbers—your pantry will take care of the rest.
18. French Onion Brisket
This modern recipe calls for braising the meat in caramelized onions and sherry instead of traditional tomatoes.
19. Braised Lamb Shanks with Vegetables
Might we suggest serving them over cauliflower rice if you’re strictly adhering to the no-grains rule?
20. Simple Borscht
Mix things up this year by serving beets in *liquid* form. This soup only takes 40 minutes from start to finish if you have a pressure cooker.
21. Simple Skillet Green Beans
We have it on good authority that you have nearly every single ingredient in your kitchen right now.
22. Sheet Pan Honey Horseradish Chicken and Asparagus
As an homage to the grated horseradish often used in the Seder, make this 35-minute dish starring creamy horseradish sauce.
23. Bitter Leaf and Orange Salad with Orange Poppyseed Dressing
It would pair beautifully with a hearty beef or lamb entrée.
24. Spiced Lamb Meatball and Escarole Soup
Lamb and a bitter herb in one bowl? Kudos. What’s even better is that it’ll only take you 45 minutes to whip up.
25. Almond Flour Cake with Lemon
Gluten-free? Check. Dairy-free? Check. Effortlessly beautiful? Most definitely.
26. Avocado Deviled Eggs
Sorry, mayonnaise. Mustard has it covered with a little help from pickle juice.
27. Chicken Marbella
Don’t knock the combo of prunes and capers ’til you try it—they make an epic sweet-and-sour pairing.
28. Roasted Sweet Potatoes
Psst: Sweet potatoes make a great substitute for carrots in tzimmes.
29. Radicchio Salad with Endives, Orange and Walnuts
All it takes is whisking up a quick maple-citrus dressing and tossing all the veggies in it.
30. Chocolate-Covered Caramelized Matzo S’mores
Too cold for a bonfire? Roast your marshmallows indoors on the stove instead.
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