Classic Matzo Brei Recipe (2024)

My mother dunked the matzo right into the egg (scrambled with a touch of milk for moisture) until it softened. The result was a much tastier matzo brei. Years later, when I tasted the matzo brei softened in water, it lacked flavor.

I have a large collection of Jewish cookbooks. None of them call for frying the matzah and making scrambled eggs mixed in.The idea is to treat it like French toast and let the egg soak into the matzah. Season before mixing everything.

I'm surprised that nobody has mentioned the addition (along with sauteed onions) of some shreds of lox. Lox, eggs, onions and matzo: What could be bad?

My mother made the greatest matzo brei. Her secret that made hers the best was that she soaked the matzo in milk first. I miss it and her

This is a bad recipe. If you rinse the matzoh - spelled "matzoh" NYT - in water, you get with soggy matzoh. Yuck. Instead: Use 1 large egg to every 1 and 1/2 sheets of store-bought matzoh. (2 eggs, 3 sheets, etc.) Scramble the egg(s) with an equal amount of milk. Add salt and pepper to taste. (Or some honey, cinnamon, etc.) Crack up the matzoh into bite-sized pieces over the bowl. Heat butter and pour the entire mixture on. Cook until it reaches the "doneness" you like.

I generally love Melissa's recipes. But this is not the way Jewish people prepare matzo brei. After soaking the matzo in water you let is soak in the scrambled egg, and the ratio is 1 egg per 2 slices of matzo or 2-3 eggs per 4 pieces .

My mother always dipped the matzo right into the egg mixture and let it sit for a while until the matzo absorbed the egg flavor and softened a bit. The result was a soft and crunchy matzo brei. The first time I tasted a matzo brei recipe that required wetting the matzo with water first, it tasted bland to me.

Lots of onions, fried very dark, are essential, for me.

My mom always softened matzo with water, crumbled it into beaten eggs, then into a fry pan bubbling with a generous amount of melted butter. Sugar on top to serve. Years later, a friend shared her family's take on brei that I've used since: after you incorporate softened broken up matzo into eggs, add a half sheet of dry broken up matzoh for crunch, then fry. Adds a satisfying crunch. Brei bliss.

I'm 1/2 Italian + 1/2 Jewish so I make a Matzo Brei Frittata. I soak matzo in hot water or chicken broth), add loads of caramelized onions & garlic, cook on one side, flip onto the other side + voila. You can make individual ones in an 8 inch skillet or a larger one in a 10 inch skillet. A great side dish to serve with brisket, chicken etc., & always a breakfast/brunch treat. Some sour cream on the side is nice & when I'm channeling my Italian grandmother, ricotta! YUM!

I'm smiling as I read your notes, each offering your own variation and all conveying such feeling. We wet the matzah then add to well seasoned scrambled eggs. Let it sit in fridge for a bit, allowing the wet matzah to soak up seasoned egg. Fry it up in butter (we used to use shmalz) and s&p. When done, add more s&p and enjoy! Happy Pesach to all!

The absolute best matzo brie similar to french toast. Whisk egg and milk together ( I add a little salt). Break up matzo into small pieces and marinate overnight.
Fry up in some olive oil- make it crunchy or soft. It's absolutely delicious and nothing compares to it!
I actually make a ton and keep it in the fridge for a few days.
From my childhood I remember it being called something like- siga frish de matzo- but I'm sure I've mutilated the German.

There are twelve-million ways to make matzo brei. Over the years I've tried about seven-hundred-thousand of them. I've pretty much settled in on the technique described by Ms. Clark in her recipe. A small variation is that I soak the crumbled matzo in (salted) water until quite soft and then I drain it and SQUEEZE as much water out of the matzo as possible. Then cook some onion, brown the matzo, add whatever you want (Lox, sugar, bananas, etc.), add the eggs and cook and eat. Yummmm...

Added sautéed onions, mushrooms, and sage cooked in butter, then served with a pinch of blue cheese and lox. Really good!

Use 3 eggs instead of 4.

This isn't matzah brei, this is some travesty of a matzah scramble. Scramble eggs in a bowl, soak the matzah for a couple minutes in a separate bowl of water, squeeze out the excess water, then mix into egg mixture. Fry on the stove in butter until each side is brown. Never do you run water over matzah, /fry/ said unsoggy matzah, then add eggs to a hot pan unmixed with matzah. The egg is a binder, not the star of the show. I feel bad for anyone that tries this recipe.

This makes a good matzo brei. It's a different procedure that gets you to the same place. The trick is to know how wet the matzos should be before they are cooked. So I placed the matzo in a colander and put the colander under cold water for about 2 minutes. It had softened but not mushed at all. I was able to crack the matzo into small pieces, which I then fried until almost dried. Then I added the eggs and quickly scrambled them. Served with plenty of black pepper, chives, and sugar.

exactly how my mother and grandmothers made it! i hadn't made it in years so this was a nice reminder. thank you. delicious!

Made this tonight by soaking the dry matzo in the egg and milk mixture until softened. Added some caramelized onions. Scrambled in butter with salt and pepper. Garnished with chives. Delicious.

ClarkBar's recipe seems reasonably authentic to me, it produces brown-buttery pancakes that can be eaten with sour cream and lox or with honey and/or jam. If you add some shredded gruyere cheese to the mix, you get a definitely savory version, and if you add a mix of gruyere and kosher salami you get an amazing omelet-style all-in-one breakfast (not for the orthodox).

I didn’t know what matzoh brei was until reading this recipe, and I gather from the comments that there are questions about its authenticity. But reading the comments gave me so many great ideas on how to make a delicious Passover breakfast. This recipe was a good starting point. Now, there’s a world of possibilities.

This is how I was taught and have always done (savory), but tend to use oil rather than butter and break the pieces up, before soaking

Here’s our family tradition— Wet the matzoh for a second or two and break into four pieces. Beat some eggs, grate in onion, add a little matzo meal for body, and some salt. Heat oil in a pan, spread one side of the matzo with egg mixture, and put that side down into hot oil over medium heat. While that’s browning, spread some egg mixture on the side facing up and flip over when the underside is browned. The edges crisp, the center stays soft. Play with the proportions to your liking!

In my Jewish family (from various parts of Eastern Europe), a friendly argument raged for decades over whether or not to wet the Matzohs before making Matzoh Brei. Within the "wet" faction, there was also disagreement over whether the Matzohs should be thoroughly soaked and then squeezed out, or run quickly under running water so that they remained crisp inside. Maybe there's not just one authentic way to be Jewish, or to make Matzoh Brei? It's been a long diaspora!

I soak in hot water, drain, mix with beaten eggs, salt & pepper. Then fry in lots of melted butter. I like it sweet and savory so once cooked, I sprinkle with sugar and have applesauce and sour cream on the side.

I use salt and pepper wven though I always eat it with sugar or jam.

The way I was taught: use regular matzoh, not egg matzo. Break into pieces, place in colander and wet with water. Let is stand until soft, then mix with beaten eggs and salt. Then melt some butter in a large frying pan and add matzoh but don't mix it like scrambled eggs. It should be like a giant thick pancake. When golden on one side, flip over. Serve wedges like a pie with sour cream and sugar. Warning: Don't go swimming immediately after eating or you will sink like a stone.

Be careful, you want to soften the matzos not turn to mush, I squeze out the excess water and add the well beanten eggs, two not four, touch of salt, white pepper and cinnamon, fry till brown, flip over, I sprinkle with sugar a few seconds under the broiler .. a smear of orange marmalade ....

It is interesting reading all the comments about what everyone considers matzo brei. My family made matzo brei as if it was a frittata that took a plate to flip it over. We called the looser version simply matzo and eggs. The matzo brei was a weekend brunch event while matzo and eggs were something that you could whip up any day of the week.