If you’re a busy, Jewish vegan, these recipes are exactly what you need for Passover. Simple, healthy, and delicious. That’s all we really need, right?
Oh, and to keep kosher.
During Passover, the regular kosher guidelines apply, plus a few additional restrictions… and we’ll get to those in a minute.
But first, here’s the basic kosher checklist of foods to avoid:
- Pork
- Shellfish
- Lobster
- Shrimp
- Crab
- Rabbit
- Seafood without fins or scales
- Plus, you can’t eat your meat with dairy
Now, as we discuss Passover food restrictions we need to keep in mind that there are two major Jewish groups- Ashkenazi and Sephardi. Both groups prohibit the Chametz during passover, which includes:
- Spelt
- Wheat
- Rye
- Oats
- Barley
Here’s the catch– these grains are only prohibited if they’re mixed with a leavening agent (like yeast or baking soda), or if they’ve been in contact with water/moisture for more than 18 minutes.
This is where matzo comes into play. Matzo is an unleavened bread that’s made carefully in sync with kosher guidelines and is a staple for Passover. It comes in Matzo (which is like huge crackers), matzo meal, and matzo cake meal.
This post is dedicated entirely to matzo with 4 delicious recipes. Enjoy! (Even if you’re not Jewish.)
First up…
Vegan Spinach and Mushroom Matzo Scramble
Cooking Tools:
- Nonstick Skillet
- Mixing Bowl
- Spoon
- Kitchen Knife
- Cutting Board
- Blender
- Measuring Cups
Vegan Spinach and Mushroom Matzo Scramble
Ingredients
- 5 boards matzo
- filtered water for soaking
- 6 button mushrooms, sliced
- 1-2 tbsp frying oil of choice or vegan butter
- 1 large scallion, thinly sliced
- 2 large handfuls fresh baby spinach
- 4 oz. Kite Hill ricotta alternative
- 1/4 cup vegan milk alternative
- salt, pepper, and garlic to taste
- Field greens and Primal Kitchen Honey Mustard Dressing to serve
Instructions
- Break the Matzo into approximately 1-inch chunks and place them into a large bowl.
- Slice the mushrooms and scallion.
- Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add mushrooms, scallion, and spinach and stir to coat.
- As the veggies are sauteing, cover the matzo with warm water to soak (approximately 5 minutes).
- Stir veggies occasionally while they sauté.
- Place the Kite Hill ricotta, vegan milk, salt, pepper, and garlic powder (a hefty pinch of each) into your blender and blend until smooth.
- Drain the water off the matzo. It should be nice and soft.
- Mix the ricotta sauce into the matzo.
- Add the matzo mixture into the veggies in the pan and give a good stir to mix.
- Cook until the bottom of mixture is crisp and golden, about two minutes.
- Flip and cook another two minutes until the other side is crisp. (Alternatively, you can stir while cooking, like scrambled eggs.)
- Plate the matzo scramble with a handful of field greens drizzled with honey mustard dressing.
Sweet Banana Matzo-Cakes
Cooking Tools:
- Nonstick Skillet
- Mixing Bowl
- Spoon
- Kitchen Knife
- Cutting Board
- Blender
- Measuring Cups
- Measuring Spoons
- Spatula
Sweet Banana Matzo-Cakes
Ingredients
- 5 boards matzo
- 2 ripe bananas
- 1/4 cup vegan milk of choice
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon (or to taste)
- dash of salt
- 1-2 tbsp coconut oil (for frying)
- For serving, fresh blueberries, pure maple syrup.
Instructions
- Break the matzo into one-inch chunks and place in a large bowl. Cover with warm filtered water and let sit while you make the banana mixture. About five minutes.
- Peel the two bananas and place into the blender with vegan milk, vanilla, salt, and cinnamon. Puree until smooth.
- Drain the water from the matzo and mix the banana cream into the matzo until a nice batter forms.
- Heat about one teaspoon of coconut oil in a large skillet over medium heat, and smear with a spatula to coat.
- Drop rounded spoonfuls (about 3” across) onto the pan, at least one inch apart. Cook until brown and crisp on the bottom. About one - two minutes.
- Flip and cook until the other side is brown and crisp. About one - two minutes. Remove to a plate.
- Continue steps 5 and 6, adding more oil to the pan if needed, until all of the batter is used.
- Stack as many cakes as you desire onto a serving plate and garnish with fresh berries and pure maple syrup.
Avacado Matzo
Cooking Tools:
- Kitchen Knife
- Cutting Board
- Butter Knife
Avocado Matzo
Ingredients
- 1/2 board of matzo, broken in two
- 1 tsp vegan cream cheese (or regular for non-vegan)
- 1 whole ripe avocado
- Sprinkle of Trader Joe’s “Everything But the Bagel Seasoning”
Instructions
- Spread vegan cream cheese evenly on the two pieces of matzo.
- Slice the avocado by running a large kitchen knife around the pit and twisting the two halves apart. Peel off the skin, remove the pit, and slice the avocado thinly lengthwise.
- Spread one sliced avocado half on each piece of matzo.
- Sprinkle with Everything Seasoning. Enjoy!
Tips
If you are gluten-free AND vegan (the GF matzo, sadly, isn’t vegan), try making this with Quinoa Crispbread. In this one we skipped the cream cheese and it was just as tasty!
Figs and Cream Matzo
Cooking Tools:
- Butter Knife
Figs and Cream Matzo
Ingredients
- 1/2 board matzo
- 2 tsp vegan cream cheese (or regular for non-vegan)
- 2 tsp fig jam
Instructions
- Break the matzo in half.
- Spread half of the cream cheese evenly on each half of matzo.
- Top the cream cheese with half of the fig jam on each piece. Enjoy!
If you want to make these recipes gluten free, you can try Gluten Free Matzo. But please keep in mind that this option is not vegan, as the gluten free matzo contains egg.
If you have some amazing matzo recipes of your own, please share them with us in the comments below. And when you try these ones out, let us know how you like them! We love hearing from you. Happy Passover!
These recipes were prepared by the dynamic duo of Melinda Bryce and Deborah Cymerint.