28 Passover Recipes To Make For Your Seder (2024)

FAQs

What is the typical Passover Seder menu? ›

The actual Seder meal is also quite variable. Traditions among Ashkenazi Jews generally include gefilte fish (poached fish dumplings), matzo ball soup, brisket or roast chicken, potato kugel (somewhat like a casserole) and tzimmes, a stew of carrots and prunes, sometimes including potatoes or sweet potatoes.

Traditional dishes include kugel (a casserole recipe made with potatoes), tzimmes (a roasted vegetable dish made with dried fruits), and Passover desserts like macaroons (a coconut cookie made without any flour).

According to the Torah, we are supposed to eat matzo and abstain from eating wheat, barley, rye, spelt, and oats for the eight days of Passover. The category of foods called kitniyot (corn, rice, and beans) have also been off limits for many Ashkenazi families.

People usually dress up a little for the seder, but it's best to ask your host ahead of time, as seder attire can run the gamut from jeans and T-shirts to suit-and-tie. You'll probably eat a lot, however, so don't wear anything with a tight-fitting waist!

Flowers are not part of the religious ceremonies that surround Passover, but they remind us of spring, and bring joy to participants. Therefore, they are appropriate hostess gifts to grace the Passover Seder Table.

During Passover, Jews are forbidden to eat leavened foods, and instead eat matzo, an unleavened flatbread similar to the unleavened bread eaten during the flight from Egypt.

Leavening is out. To make the unleavened bread taste better, it can be covered in chocolate or made into matzoh balls. Oats are widely considered chametz and are therefore forbidden during Passover. To Jews who eat kitniyot, legumes are considered kosher for Passover.

Yes, every vegetable is kosher for Passover. EVERY VEGETABLE is kosher for Passover. All FRUITS are kosher for Passover. The only 'food' that is NOT kosher for Passover are specific GRAINS and some grain products, UNLESS properly prepared and monitored and certified as kosher for Passover.

There are at least five foods that go on the seder plate: shank bone (zeroa), egg (beitzah), bitter herbs (maror), vegetable (karpas) and a sweet paste called haroset. Many seder plates also have room for a sixth, hazeret (another form of the bitter herbs).

Which means the seder can range from under 30 minutes (followed by a leisurely meal) to literally all night long. Traditionally, the seder has two parts: readings and rituals for before the meal is served, and readings and songs that follow the meal.

Why is matzah eaten instead of regular bread during Passover time? ›

Their very brief window of departure meant there was no time to properly bake bread, which needs hours to rise, so the Israelites could only bring an unleavened version with them. As all Jewish people must annually remember the Exodus as if they had personally been there, eating matzo helps fulfill this commandment.