35 Best Passover Recipes

During Passover, which lasts for either a week or eight days (it's complicated), there are a number of different dietary laws that must be followed (also complicated). First and foremost is that bread is verboten as it is made from fermented grain. Not just leavened bread, but pasta and most types of baked goods are also off the menu for the duration, as is oatmeal. In fact, five different grains in all are chametz (prohibited): barley, oats, rye, spelt, and wheat. Rice is iffy, as are beans, corn, lentils, peanuts, and any products made from these including rice flour, corn oil, and lentil pasta. These are known as kitniyot and may be eaten by Sephardic Jews as well as some Reform and Conservative ones, but most Orthodox Jews avoid them.

Needless to say, finding Passover-safe recipes can be a tricky proposition, although it's easier now that many supermarkets offer a variety of different Passover-kosher products. Not every recipe on this list will fit into everyone's dietary restrictions – we do have one bean recipe, while we've also included matzo ball soup despite the fact that water-soaked matzo meal is considered gebrochts and is thus also off the table for the ultra-orthodox. Other recipes listed here, such as the ones for apple kugel and latkes, will require some ingredient tweaks to make them work. Still, we've tried to offer a wide enough selection that you'll be sure to find some Pesach-proof provisions.

While there's no particular association between pancakes and Passover – it's not like a Shrove Tuesday kind of thing – pancakes are a recipe that's fairly simple to make kosher for Passover as long as you make them without flour. Instead, you'll be using matzo meal. Yes, this makes them gebrochts, so don't serve them to your ultra-orthodox uncle, but they'll make for a tasty breakfast for just about everyone else. You can serve them with syrup like any other pancakes, or you could also go for more of a latke-type effect with sour cream and/or applesauce.

Recipe: Passover Pancakes

It just wouldn't be a holiday seder without brisket. Brisket is to any and all Jewish holidays as turkey is to Thanksgiving – de rigeur, unless you're a vegan. There is, however, no obligation to cook the brisket in any particular way unless you're visiting relatives who are expecting Bubbe's recipe. If you want to switch things up a little bit (or Bubbe comes from Texas), you might like this smoked version. It may seem a bit weird cooking meat in a paper bag, but smoking is a low, indirect heat so the paper won't pose a fire hazard. What's more, it makes the meat comes out tender and juicy like you wouldn't believe!

Recipe: Classic Smoked Brisket

While Orthodox Ashkenazis may not be able to eat beans during Passover, we want to include some dishes from the Sephardic tradition as well, and despite the name, Boston baked beans are a dish with surprising Sephardic roots. It seems they may be derived from cholent, which is a bean stew that could have featured prominently at the most famous Pesach seder of all: The Last Sup. There's one ingredient in this recipe that you'll definitely need to omit, though, and that's the bacon since pork, of course, is a no-no at any time of year. Kosher turkey bacon, though, can make for a tasty and rabbinically-approved substitute.

Recipe: Slow Cooker Boston Baked Beans

The type of kugel most often associated with Passover is potato kugel as this dish contains no forbidden grains. This apple kugel, however, is a fruity version of noodle kugel, something that's generally not okay for Passover due to the fact that most noodles are made with wheat. You can, however, make this recipe Passover-safe by swapping out the regular egg noodles for ones certified as Passover Kosher. These may be made from potato and/or tapioca starch and can be on the sticky side as a result, but that shouldn't be a problem in this pudding.

Recipe: Easy Apple Kugel

While Jews aren't as obsessed with eggs for the spring holidays as their Christian counterparts, Passover often coincides with Easter, so there's always a chance that eggs may go on sale. Eggs are also pareve, which means you can serve them whether your Passover meal contains meat or dairy. This makes deviled eggs a great all-purpose appetizer, especially these guacamole-filled ones. They're extra Passover-friendly as they don't contain any dairy ingredients such as sour cream and also don't require mayonnaise (which may contain corn oil) as a binding agent.

Recipe: Guacamole Deviled Eggs

Lamb is another dish that features on many people's tables at Easter dinner, but it's not so well known as a Passover meal. While many Ashkenazi Jews avoid lamb entirely during this period because they see it as reminiscent of Biblical sacrifices, Sephardic Jews do have a tradition of eating lamb for the holiday. They do, however, have a prohibition against roasting the meat (the sacrifice thing again), but this leg of lamb is braised in a slow cooker instead.

Recipe: Tender Slow-Cooker Leg Of Lamb

Vegetables, herbs, and spices are all pareve, as are olive oil and honey. This simple honey-glazed carrot recipe, then, makes a suitable side dish for any type of Passover meal no matter what else is on the table. If you use extra-virgin olive oil to make it, this ingredient won't even need to be Passover-Kosher certified, although the honey itself should be Passover kosher in order to ensure that it's free from impurities.

Recipe: Honey Glazed Carrots

For most of the year, the humble macaroon may be dismissed as the less-glamorous cousin of the far trendier macaron. At Passover, however, macaroons have their big moment. They are as much a part of an Ashkenazi seder as brisket, and as they are made without dairy, they can even be served in the same meal as brisket without breaking the laws of kashrut. The lack of flour, too, makes these cookies pretty Passover-proof, plus the almond-slash-coconut flavor is quite delicious. Although this version includes a chocolate drizzle, you can feel free to skip it if you're a macaroon purist and/or you can't find kosher chocolate.

Recipe: Homemade Coconut Macaroons

Latkes are really more of a Hanukkah thing, although you can make them for Passover, too. There's one very important tweak you'll need to make to the recipe. Though, in order to render it Passover kosher, leave out the flour and use matzo meal instead. Matzo latkes fry up just as crispy as flour ones thanks to all the starch from the potatoes. They also taste just as good with a topping of sour cream and applesauce.

Recipe: Traditional Latkes

If you're keeping kosher, then you may eat quite a bit of fish as this type of meat is pareve (not shellfish, though, as seafood without scales or fins is not considered kosher at all).SSalmon in particular has long been a Jewish deli favorite, especially in the salt-brined form known as lox. While a bagel with lox is not something you can nosh on during Passover due to forbidden flour, there are numerous other ways to enjoy this fish. One of our favorites is this garlicky sheet pan salmon complete with roast vegetables. Just be sure to use Passover-kosher oil (or regular kosher EVOO), and you'll be all set for dinner.

Recipe: Sheet Pan Garlic Salmon

Although rice isn't one of the "big five" chametz grains (these being barley, oats, rye, spelt, and wheat), centuries-old Ashkenazi tradition often considers it to be forbidden grain No. 6. Cauliflower, on the other hand, poses no Passover problem at all. Okay, we admit that cauliflower rice doesn't taste exactly like the real deal, but when it's dressed up with cilantro and lime juice, as in this Chipotle copycat recipe, it can make for a pretty flavorful side.

Recipe: Chipotle Cauliflower Rice Copycat

While we're not entirely sure who invented the flourless cake, nor why (several origin stories speculate that it may have been a happy little accident), it certainly seems as if it were tailor-made for Passover. As long as you use soy-free, dairy-free chocolate - Passover kosher, for preference – this dessert will work for any Passover meal. If your meal is meat-based, top the cake with a sprinkling of powdered sugar and maybe some fresh berries. If you're dining on dairy or fish, though, feel free to blop on some whipped cream.

Recipe: Flourless Chocolate Cake Recipe

If you were to compile a list of Jewish food's greatest hits, it's a sure bet that chicken soup with matzo balls would be right up there at the top. While Jews who adhere to a very strict interpretation of Passover laws can't indulge at this time due to the fact that matzo meal used in dough is gebrochts, other, more liberal, families often consider the soup to be part of their Passover tradition.

Recipe: Comforting Matzo Ball Soup

Roast chicken is always a good choice for a meal served to a not-too-large gathering — say about four people, or six if the group includes kids. It's a simple dish, but one that can be dressed down or, as in this Ina Garten-inspired recipe, up to suit even the most festive of occasions. Garten's original version calls for butter, thus rendering the dish unkosher, but ours uses mayo instead. If you can't find Passover Kosher mayonnaise, you could always try making your own or else swap it out for olive oil, instead. 

Recipe: Ina Garten's Roast Chicken

As Passover is a springtime holiday, it may coincide with the time that asparagus starts appearing in the supermarket produce section. In such a case, why not take advantage of this seasonal bounty? The only thing you'll need for this basic recipe is the asparagus itself, plus some olive oil for cooking and a light sprinkling of salt. If you like, though, you can serve the asparagus with a squeeze of lemon juice, as well.

Recipe: Roasted Asparagus

While French meringue cookies may not be such a time-honored Passover tradition as coconut macaroons, they, too, are quite suitable for the holiday since they're made without flour. In fact, you'll only need two ingredients to make these cookies: nothing more than egg whites and sugar. The simpler the recipe, the easier it is to keep kosher, after all! As both eggs and sugar are pareve, these cookies can be eaten in combination with any other foods on your seder menu.

Recipe: French Meringue Cookies

If you'd like a healthy breakfast or a slightly sweet side dish to serve with a dairy or fish main course, then this creamy yogurt-based fresh fruit salad might be just the thing. If you've planned a fleishig meal, however, or are having turkey bacon for breakfast, then you can always omit the yogurt and make it a non-creamy fruit salad, instead, or else opt for yogurt made with almond or coconut milk. The coconut milk, in particular, would really complement the fresh pineapple, whereas almond milk would play nicely with the berries.

Recipe: Creamy Fruit Salad Recipe

While you may be familiar with short ribs from their use in bulgogi, the ribs in this recipe aren't barbecued but are instead braised in beef broth. Bone-in ribs are used here, although you could substitute boneless ones if that's what you have on hand. Once the ribs are cooked, the meat pretty much slides right off the bone anyway. For Passover, however, you'll need to avoid thickening the gravy with flour or even cornstarch. Instead, try using instant mashed potatoes, or even non-instant ones if you have any leftovers on hand.

Recipe: Short Ribs

Cabbage is a staple in Eastern European cooking and Eastern Europe is the ancestral homeland of many Ashkenazi Jews, so if you put the two things together, it doesn't take a Yiddishe kop to know that Bubbe's recipe book is probably packed with cabbage recipes. If you're winging it on your own this year, or perhaps you have no bubbe of your own but are instead entertaining Jewish friends during Passover, you'll be glad to know that the sauteed cabbage dish given here is cheap, healthy, and couldn't be much easier to make. What's more, as the cabbage is being sauteed in extra-virgin olive oil instead of butter, the ingredients are not only pareve but Passover-safe, as well.

Recipe: Sauteed Cabbage

Many types of cookies are off-limits for Passover due to the fact that flour tends to be one of the main ingredients. While macaroons, macarons, and meringues are an obvious exception due to the fact that they're egg-white based and flour-free, this recipe is for something a little different: Passover-proof pumpkin biscotti. They're made with a combination of coconut and almond flours, both of these non-chametz, and the other ingredients should be okay, too, as long as you're able to source Passover kosher vanilla extract and maple syrup. As these cookies are made with pumpkin instead of eggs, they're not only kosher but also vegan and gluten-free.

Recipe: Pumpkin Biscotti

What's a chaffle? If you've guessed that this is yet another portmanteau name for a food mashup along the lines of cronut or brookie, then – ding ding ding! You win (the satisfaction of knowing you were right). Extra points if you also guessed which two concepts are colliding here: cheese and waffles. While these waffles made from cheese, eggs, almond flour, and baking powder were no doubt designed to appeal to the low-carb crowd, they also work well for a Passover brunch (the latter word being yet another portmanteau).

Recipe: Classic Chaffles

If you're busy with Pesach preparations this year, one way to save yourself a little time is by turning to a classic "set and forget" recipe for dinner. Yes, you'll need a little prep time for this slow cooker pot roast, but you can sear the meat and peel and chop the vegetables in the morning. All you need to do after that is toss them in the slow cooker with wine, beef stock, canned tomatoes, and seasonings, then let your dinner cook itself for the rest of the day.

Recipe: Slow Cooker Pot Roast

Roast potatoes are a side that goes well with just about any main dish you care to put on the table. With thin-skinned potatoes such as Yukon golds, you won't even need to peel them, just chop them up and rub them with oil and spices before they go into the oven. As most brands of avocado oil are not Passover kosher, though, you may want to replace this ingredient with the far more kosher-friendly extra-virgin olive oil, instead.

Recipe: Roasted Potatoes

While chocolate chip cookies are a classic dessert, they're usually not Passover-appropriate due to being made with that most chametz of ingredients, wheat flour. In this recipe, however, the forbidden flour is replaced with one made from almonds. You'll still want to look for a Passover kosher brand to be on the safe side, but almond flour is (or should be) made from nothing more than ground nuts and there are no prohibitions against eating these. You can also find Passover kosher vanilla extract, chocolate chips, and baking soda, while butter and sugar generally present no problems. If you're concerned, though, you can look for (and find) the appropriate certification on these products, as well.

Recipe: Almond Flour Chocolate Chip Cookies

Since salmon is pareve, that means you're free to serve it topped with a compound butter. Here we're doubling – no, tripling – down on citrus flavors by mixing softened butter with three kinds of citrus zest: lemon, lime, and orange. If you prefer, though, you can just use one or two of these fruits. As long as you're going all-in on a dairy meal here, you can also add a side of buttery potatoes or perhaps some matzo meal latkes with sour cream, then bring on the ice cream for dessert!

Recipe: Slow-Baked Salmon And Citrus Butter

If you're unfamiliar with cooking artichokes, it might seem like a pretty daunting prospect, at first. How do you even begin to prepare such a complicated-looking vegetable? Quite easily, if you're using this recipe. While you do need to do a little trimming of the stems, tops, and pointy bits, after that you simply chop the chokes in half and cook them in the air fryer. They're seasoned with a simple mixture of olive oil and lemon juice, but if you're serving them alongside a meat-free meal, you can also dip each petal in melted butter before eating.

Recipe: Air-Fried Artichokes

Eton mess is named after the famous British "public" (meaning private) boys' school, but this dessert is hardly typical school cafeteria fare. Then again, you'd expect pretty good grub at an establishment charging over $60k per year, and this delicious dessert does not disappoint. It's not a mess at all, but rather a lovely (if somewhat unstructured) pile of meringue cookies, whipped cream, and strawberries. A few notes on the ingredients: you'll have to pass on the powdered sugar for Passover, but both the cream and berries can be sweetened with granulated sugar, instead. Also, if you're looking for a non-dairy dessert to serve after a meat entrée, you can replace the whipped cream with whipped coconut milk — the kind from a can, not a carton, as the latter isn't creamy enough to whip.

Recipe: Easy Eton Mess

While the keto diet has its drawbacks, one thing you can say about it is that it's certainly increased the number of flour-free recipes. Here this Margherita pizza is made both keto-friendly and Passover-proof by the use of both almond flour and mozzarella in the dough (yes, it does sound kind of like a chaffle). While the recipe does call for xanthan gum, this ingredient is kosher for Passover or can be with the proper certification. If this unfamiliar ingredient makes you nervous, though, you can always just leave it out.

Recipe: Keto Margherita Pizza

Ropa vieja may be a Cuban dish, but the recipe was likely brought to the island by Spanish Sephardic Jews. This slow-cooked stew was designed to be prepared in advance, making for a Sabbath meal that could be cooked the day before so as to circumvent the prohibition of working on this day of rest. While ropa vieja is primarily made from meat and vegetables, there's one ingredient in this recipe that may need to be swapped out. There's a possibility that the grain used to make distilled white vinegar may be chametz, but red wine vinegar makes for a flavorful and Passover-permissible substitute.

Recipe: Authentic Ropa Vieja

Brussels sprouts are the original Cinderella vegetable. Not too many years ago, they were hated by nearly everyone, but some foodie influencer waved a magic wand and now they're de rigueur for every hipster bistro menu. There's no need to pay big bucks for a Brussels sprouts appetizer, however, when they're quite easy to bake in your own oven. This recipe is a very simple one, but when making it for Pesach you should check that your cooking oil and maple syrup both have the appropriate Passover kosher certification.

Recipe: Roasted Brussels Sprouts

Italian ice is a frozen dessert that's so much easier to make than ice cream, plus it's also usually dairy-free so there are no worries about serving it after any kind of entrée. This simple lemon ice recipe, in fact, contains nothing more than lemon juice and zest plus sugar and water, none of which present any kosher and/or Passover concerns. Don't worry if you don't have any caster sugar on hand, though – this type of sugar is a pantry staple in the UK and is thus called for in many British recipes, but good old American granulated sugar will work just as well here. Caster sugar is just a little bit finer and will dissolve a tiny bit quicker, but if you really want to save a minute or so of cooking time, you can always grind your granulated sugar in the blender for a few seconds.

Recipe: Homemade Lemon Italian Ice

While corned beef and cabbage may be forever associated with St. Patrick's Day, this is pretty much a U.S.-only thing. Corned beef, after all, isn't Irish at all but is instead a Jewish deli staple that was adopted by Irish immigrants. As Passover may take place within a few weeks of the mid-March holiday that celebrates this meat, it deserves to be reclaimed as a Passover dish, as well. Just be sure to substitute Passover kosher mustard for the dijon, or else simply leave it out.

Recipe: Corned Beef And Cabbage

Most dumplings are off the menu for Passover, but not sweet dumpling squash. Squash, like most other vegetables, is perfectly safe to eat during this time, although with many recipes you'll run into trouble with all of the add-ons and extras. Here, though, we're keeping things simple with nothing but a drizzle of extra-virgin olive oil and a sprinkling of salt and pepper, so there shouldn't be anything to worry about.

Recipe: Baked Sweet Dumpling Squash

Simpler is better when it comes to Passover desserts, too, particularly if you want something that works with either a meat or dairy meal. This recipe only requires two ingredients to make: strawberries, which are pareve and Passover-safe, plus semi-sweet chocolate, which should be okay as long as it's made without soy. You can, of course, look for special Passover kosher chocolate if you have any concerns about its having come into contact with chametz.

Recipe: Easy Chocolate-Covered Strawberries

If you're looking for something a little bit different for your Pesach seder dinner, see if you can find some kosher duck legs. While duck confit sounds like a super-fancy dish, this recipe only contains five non-problematic ingredients in addition to the duck: salt, pepper, garlic, thyme, and olive oil. All you need do to make the confit is to simmer the ingredients in a slow cooker, then crisp the duck skin in the oven to finish things off nicely.

Recipe: Slow Cooker Duck Confit Recipe