Passover is the one evening a year Jews get to bust out the Haggadah and Seder-specific plates for a three-hour meal that traditionally requires all participants to drink four glasses of kosher wine. If you’re planning an animal-free feast, we’ve gathered enough vegan recipes below to equip you with an innovative and crave-worthy meal for every day of Passover. Chag Sameach!
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What foods are eaten during Passover?
The entire celebration of Passover is dedicated to remembering the story of Israelites escaping from enslavement in ancient Egypt. At that time, in order to flee quickly, they would not have been able to wait around for bread to rise. And this is one key reason why unleavened matzo bread is eaten during Passover.
Maror, bitter herbs (often horseradish), are eaten to symbolize the bitterness of slavery, while charoset, a sweet, fruit and nut mixture, symbolizes the building mortar used by the Israelites during their slavery in Egypt. Karpas, which is a vegetable dipped in salt water, symbolizes the tears shed during slavery, Zeroa, a roasted chicken or lamb bone, symbolizes the Paschal sacrifice, and Beitzah, an egg, symbolizes the festival sacrifice offered in the Temple in Jerusalem.
If you’re celebrating at home, making a vegan seder meal is surprisingly easy thanks to rabbi-approved swaps—roasted beets can be used in place of lamb shanks, and a small boiled potato or avocado is a convincing stand-in for a hard-boiled egg. But to really wow your omnivorous family, try your hand at making vegan kosher, leaven-free classics like matzo ball soup—or make lasagna out of matzo.
Is matzo vegan? Plus vegan matzo recipes for every day of Passover
Matzo is flat, crispy, unleavened bread, made of two very simple ingredients: flour and water. (Yeast is not included in the recipe, because this would make the bread rise.) This means that matzo is vegan by default. That said, there are variations of matzo, like egg matzo, which are not vegan, so make sure you read the label first before purchasing. (These variations aren’t served at Passover though, where you’ll find just the simple flour and water version.)
Around day five of Passover, the thought of eating another sheet of matzo can get a bit stale. It’s fine at first, but a little over halfway through the holiday and we’re in dire need of a matzo makeover. This is why, to shake things up a bit, we’ve compiled these creative and tasty vegan matzo recipes for you to try.
Note: a few of these recipes contain tofu or legumes, which are not considered kosher during Passover for Ashkenazi Jews. If you identify as such, opt for the Matzo Cake, Matzo Brittle, and Chocolate Brei.
1 Matzo Lasagna
Ms. Vegan
1 Matzo Lasagna
Lasagna can be so one-note. That’s not to say it isn’t one of the most soul-soothing meals on the planet, but it often lacks texture. Add a bit of crunch and bite variety by swapping in sheets of matzo for traditional noodles. You’ll keep kosher and discover that yes, lasagna as you knew it can get even better.
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SunnysideHanne
2 Vegan Matzo Brei
The restaurant trend to “put an egg on it” has been practiced in Jewish households for decades in the form of matzo brei. Veganize this Passover breakfast staple by subbing the egg for silken tofu. Customize by adding in your favorite veggies for additional flavor and texture. Finish the dish with a pinch—or a cascade—of nutritional yeast. (If you prefer to use vegan eggs over tofu, you can also try this matzo brei recipe by The Yummy Vegan which calls for Just Egg.)
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Annessia Maillet and Beth DeCarlo
3 Passover Matzo Pie
This crowd-pleasing pie delivers creamy, crunchy, silky, savory goodness all in one bite. Layers of matzo, potato, spinach, garlicky cauliflower, and cashew cream harmoniously combine into a main dish any ya-ya would be proud to serve.
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What Jew Wanna Eat
4 Dark Chocolate Coconut Banana Vegan Matzo Brei
If you can resist eating the entire batch in one sitting, we highly recommend you double the recipe and freeze some to eat after Passover. This chocolatey snack is addictive and so easy to throw together. There’s nothing like a pantry pull quick dessert when the chocolate craving calls!
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Rhea Parsons
5 Fried Matzo
Few can argue that most foods taste better fried, and matzo is no exception. This seasoned, battered, and pan-fried snack shouldn’t be limited to the Passover table; we believe it should be served at every county fair. We can see it now: Matzo Man, Purveyor of Fried Unleavened Bread!
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Abbey’s Kitchen
6 Matzo Brittle with Salted Caramel Coconut Sugar Toffee
Looking for a fool-proof way to make matzo more appetizing? Smother it with caramel and chocolate. This treat is crispy and sweet with just the right amount of salt thanks to the fleur de sel and a sprinkling of pistachios. The dried cranberries also introduce a chewy textural element that is often left out of many matzo brittles. We’re snacking on this crunchy delight all Passover long.
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Tori Avey
7Easy No-Bake Chocolate Matzo Cake
No bake and three ingredients—that’s the kind of dessert we’re after. Plus, it involves chocolate and wine, so you really can’t go wrong here. Soak the matzo in wine, layer the sheets with melted vegan chocolate, and let it sit in the fridge for as long as you can ward off temptation. Reward your patience with a thick slice of this matzo masterpiece.
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More vegan recipes perfect for Passover
For when you’ve gotten your fill of matzo, these vegan recipes are tasty and Passover-approved.
Follow Your Heart
8 Passover Lokshen Soup
Is there anything Follow Your Heart can’t do? We’ll try to come up with something while we savor their easy-to-make Lokshen Soup with VeganEgg Noodles.
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Vegannie
9 Vegan Potato Kugel
This healthier twist on the classic egg noodle dish is not only lighter fare, but also equally delicious. Spiralized potatoes take the place of the noodles in this recipe—centering vegetables as the foundation of this dish.
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All Recipes
10 Vegan Charoset
Sticky sweet dates and meaty walnuts rolled in coconut make up these gooey dessert rolls. Easy to assemble and impossible to stop eating, all of your guests will quickly fall in love with these simple desserts.
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Neesh Noosh
11Vegan Karpas Salad
Karpas is an easy Passover dish to make vegan, because it literally consists of vegetables. This recipe calls for a mix of celery, parsley, cilantro, and dill, which are tossed with chopped baby potatoes and seasoned with lemon, olive oil, and salt.
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Elana’s Pantry
12Maror Horseradish
If you want to make Maror with horseradish from scratch, it’s incredibly easy to pull together. All you need to do is pulse peeled and chopped horseradish root in a food processor with one tablespoon of apple cider vinegar. But warning: this mixture is incredibly bitter, so take care of your eyes when you’re lifting the lid.
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For more vegan Passover recipes, read:
Tanya Flink is a Digital Editor at VegNews as well as a writer and runner living in Orange County, CA.
