32 Passover Recipes For A Sensational Seder Dinner

Pesach, or Passover, is one of the most important holidays in Judaism, where families and friends come together to remember the story of Moses leading the Hebrews from Egypt, as told in the book of Exodus.

Most religious holidays revolve around food, and Passover is no exception! The Seder Dinner is the most anticipated meal that takes place during Passover.

Traditional dishes that are served include beef brisket, matzah, and matzo ball soup, while for 8 days leavened bread, cereal, cookies and pasta is avoided. 

If you are hosting a Seder Dinner with family and friends you of course want to serve them delicious food. But what if you want to try something different for this year’s Seder Dinner? Well, that’s where we come in! 

Below you’ll find 32 recipes to serve for a sensational Seder Dinner, from traditional favorites, to new, exciting dishes!

1. Brisket

One of the most beloved dishes served during Passover, cooking brisket takes a while but it’s all worth it for that tasty, smoked flavor. 

You just need to trim the brisket, add some seasoning, and wrap it in butcher paper, before smoking it on the grill, leaving you with a brisket that is juicy, tender, and seasoned to perfection.

2. Matzo Ball Soup

Another favorite, this recipe is ideal for serving at Passover, Rosh Hashanah, or as a comforting meal on a rainy afternoon. It’s easy to make, and you can get some components prepped ahead of time if you’re busy.

3. Matzo Brei (Fried Matzah)

Put simply, Matzo Brei is essentially scrambled eggs with fried matzo to make it more delicious! But if scrambled eggs are not your thing, you can also make an omelet version of this recipe.

For extra deliciousness, add some cheese, grilled onions, smoked salmon, and your choice of herbs and spices.

4. Apple Matzo Kugel

This is sure to be a hit at your Seder Dinner! After all, who doesn’t love sweet, apple and cinnamon flavors? This matzo kugel also contains brown sugar, butter, dried apricots, orange juice and raisins. 

5. Pot Roast

We all love recipes that you can just plop in the slow cooker, allowing you to get on with other prep while your pot roast cooks to perfection. Plus, a pot roast is the ultimate comfort food! 

This recipe contains red potatoes, onions, and carrots. Plus, the Worcestershire sauce and red wine gives it a savory flavor that is totally unique and sure to please the whole family. 

6. Cauliflower Rice

Rice isn’t a leavened food, meaning traditional rice can’t be served at Seder Dinner. However, cauliflower rice isn’t prohibited.

Plus, cauliflower rice is healthier than traditional rice, not to mention lighter, meaning it’s perfect for those limiting their carbs or those with diabetes. 

7. Baked Salmon

This baked salmon recipe is not just an excellent main dish to serve at Seder Dinner but it’s also a delicious and healthy midweek meal too. 

It couldn’t be simpler to make either, just season with garlic, salt, pepper and Italian herb seasoning, and a spritz of lemon juice. Bake the salmon for 15 minutes and once done garnish with a lemon slice. 

8. Harvard Beets

Beets are pretty divisive – you either love them or you hate them! But you can bring beet skeptics around by cooking beets to perfection, and this recipe is a great place to start. 

This recipe calls for cider vinegar, cornstarch, salt, sugar, and of course beets. Plus, when the beets are done they look identical to sliced cranberry sauce, and go excellently with any meat dish.

9. Easy Coleslaw

Coleslaw is a simple dish that never fails to delight! But what makes this recipe even better is how you can prepare it in under 5 minutes.

You can also use store-bought coleslaw mix if you’re busy, you just need to make the dressing and mix it with the store-bought mix. Make sure you put it in the fridge a couple of hours before serving. 

10. Passover Popovers

Passover popovers are just not fun to say, but fun to eat too! They’re also delicious and simple to make. They’re moist, soft, with beautiful outer crusts that crumble perfectly.

You can make them resemble muffins or rolls – whatever takes your fancy!

11. Passover Rainbow Cookies

You may have done a double-take when you saw this addition. After all, aren’t you not allowed to eat cookies over Passover? However, these cookies are actually small, fluffy, moist cakes made with matzo meal.

They’ll go down a treat with the children at your Seder Dinner, thanks to their bright colors and delicious chocolate glaze!

12. Moist Passover Apple Cake

This moist Passover apple cake has a beautiful tart flavor due to the orange juice and – of course – Granny Smith apples. It has a delicious hint of cinnamon, and is of course moist and irresistibly sweet. Every bite will melt in your mouth. 

13. Chocolate Matzo Layer Cake

Matzo actually lends itself perfectly to layered, sweet desserts and this beautiful chocolate matzo layer cake is the perfect combination of ice-box cake and tiramisu.

While this is a sweet dessert, the matzo layers soaked in coffee prevent it from entering too-sweet territory. If all that wasn’t good enough, it’s also totally kosher!

14. Balsamic Roast Chicken

The mouth-watering aroma of this roast chicken will make your family think you’ve spent all day cooking! But this beautiful roast chicken flavored with balsamic vinegar, rosemary, and wine is deceptively easy to make. 

15. Gefilte Fish

Gefilte fish is a dish that originated in Central and Eastern Europe, made with a variety of boneless, ground fish. This recipe also includes carrots, dill, garlic, matzo meal, and onions.

You can serve Gefilte fish cold with a side of horseradish, and when served on a Passover Seder plate this is called ‘Maror.’

16. Passover Bagels

These Passover bagels are not just excellent rolls to be served as side dishes at Seder Dinner but if you have any leftovers, they’re great to be used in sandwiches.

17. Roasted Radishes

Who says radishes are just for salads? This springtime vegetable adds a pop of color to any Seder Dinner main dish!

18. Lemon Herb Quinoa

Quinoa has exploded in popularity over the years, and it’s easy to see why! This super grain is filled with vitamins and protein and makes an excellent side dish.

19. Mediterranean Rack Of Lamb

This elegant Mediterranean rack of lamb is really something special! Your Seder Dinner guests are sure to be impressed, especially when you tell them how simple it was to make. 

20. Garlic And Artichoke Roasted Potatoes

The artichokes not only elevate roasted potatoes and give them a gourmet edge, but when roasted in the oven with your main dish they get a deeper depth of flavor.

21. Double-Nut Stuffed Figs

If you have guests with specific dietary requirements, figuring out which dessert to serve can be difficult – that’s where this dessert comes in! These stuffed figs are healthy, sweet, and are sure to be a crowd favorite.

22. Roasted Carrots & Fennel

This fennel recipe is irresistible, fresh, and totally delicious. We recommend adding as many carrots as your pan can hold!

23. Tangy Lamb Tagine

Who doesn’t love lamb stew? But if you want to put a twist on the classic recipe, why not add some Moroccan spices? Not only is tagine an excellent way to cook lamb, it’s simple to make when you put it in the slow cooker.

We find that stew tastes even more delicious a couple of days later, when the flavors have well and truly soaked in.

24. Lemon Parsley Baked Cod

Here’s our top tip to avoid overcooking a great piece of fish: cook it high for a short amount of time. If you do this, the cod should stay soft and moist.

25. Lemon-Roasted Asparagus

It’s hard to go wrong with preparing and serving asparagus. It’s a perfect side dish to serve at springtime, and every bite bursts with flavor.

26. Seven-Hour Leg Of Lamb

This juicy lamb is served with bright green persillade bursting with garlic flavor, which complements the rich flavor of the lamb perfectly. We recommend serving with cheesy new potatoes and radish salad with a citrus hint.

If you have any leftover lamb you can use it in a meaty sandwich of bitter greens and a generous amount of mayonnaise.

27. Flourless Almond Cookies

This recipe is sure to be a staple dish that you’ll bring out for any occasion – not just Passover! They’re similar to French macarons minus the meringue. Plus, they’re a lot easier to make, and can be ready in under 30 minutes

28. Coconut-Chocolate Mousse

For this dessert recipe, choose a chocolate that has no more than 64% cacao. This ensures that the mousse will be as smooth as possible. For a totally non-dairy option, we recommend using a vegan chocolate although this may affect the flavor. 

29. Bitter Greens With Sweet Mustard Vinaigrette

If you’re not a fan of bitter vegetables, we think this is the recipe that will change your mind! The dressing is tart and sweet, thanks to the agave nectar, lemon juice, and walnut oil.

This helps to even out the bitterness of the frisée and radicchio in this perfect Passover side salad.

30. Vegetarian Chopped Liver

Chopped liver is traditionally made with creamy, umami chicken liver and is a staple dish of Ashkenazi Jewish cuisine. You can serve it with a crispy matzo sheet or with a piece of challah.

As much as we love chopped liver, vegetarian chopped liver may be our new favorite! 

This indulgent spread is made with creamy cashews rather than chicken liver, and includes boiled eggs, mushrooms, and browned onions.

31. Yuzu Kosho Deviled Eggs

Yuzo Kosho is a Japanese condiment which gives deviled eggs a citrusy and hot kick that makes for one invigorating Seder Dinner side dish. 

32. House Latkes With Horseradish

Although latkes are usually served with plain sour cream and applesauce, in this dish their flavor is elevated with a chive sour cream topping and spicy horseradish, giving it more depth of flavor.

Sometimes latkes can come out wilted or too greasy, but that shouldn’t be an issue with these latkes. They’re super crispy, as you need to wring out the liquid in the onions and potatoes twice, rather than just once.

Frequently Asked Questions

What Is A Seder Plate?

The Seder Plate is one of the main components of a Passover celebration, and has 5 or 6 ceremonial foods that symbolize different themes in the story of Passover.

Some households may have a single decorative Seder plate in the middle of the table alongside individual Seder plates for every place setting.

This comes in handy particularly for Seder Dinners with a lot of family and friends because everybody gets a Seder Plate item without the hassle of having to reach over the table and pass the plate around!

Let’s take a look at what’s on a Seder Plate. 

Beitzah: Beitzah is an egg that symbolizes the holiday offering that is traditionally brought into the Holy Temple before the holiday begins.

Many people choose a hard-boiled egg that you can serve during the dinner. The egg is believed to symbolize the cycle of life.

Charoset: This is a sweet mixture that symbolizes the brick and mortar that the Hebrews used for the structures they built for the pharaohs while they were enslaved in Egypt.

Charoset varies from country to country, but normally contains apples, cinnamon, nuts, and wine.

Karpas: This is a green vegetable that symbolizes rebirth and hope. Parsley is commonly used, but you can use another green vegetable if you wish. 

A custom associated with Karpas is to serve it with a small bowl of salt water.

It is customary during Seder Dinner to dip the Karpas into the bowl of water, and remember the sorrow experienced by the Hebrews while they were enslaved with Egypt, as the salt water represents tears. 

Maror: Maror are also known as bitter herbs, and symbolize the bitterness associated with slavery. Like Karpas, you can use a variety of vegetables for Maror, but most people use romaine lettuce, horseradish, or both.

During the Seder Dinner, you dip Maror in Charoset before eating Maror in between pieces of matzo. 

Zeroa: Zeroa is a shank bone that symbolizes the lambs that the Hebrews sacrificed in the Temple in Jerusalem. 

As well as these traditional dishes, some households also serve an orange on the Seder plate to represent equality among the sexes, or an olive, which is a universal symbol of peace.

What Are Some Other Seder Traditions?

Although the matzo and Seder plate are the two most famous Passover traditions, there are other components that make up a traditional Seder Dinner.

10 Plagues: One aspect of the Seder Dinner involves remembering the ten plagues that forced the Pharaoh to free the Hebrews from slavery.

There are a few ways you can remember the plagues, such as using decorations of locusts or frogs, or even playing games.

It’s also traditional to pour 10 drops of wine onto your plate or into the salt water as a representative of every plague.

Wine: Speaking of wine, Seder Dinners traditionally include drinking four cups of kosher wine, or grape juice. A cup of wine is also poured for the prophet Elijah, who visits every Jewish home during Passover.

Haggadah: The Haggadah is a Passover text that is read during Seder Diner. There are a few versions of it, and some families will make it unique to them. 

There are a lot of traditions associated with Seder Dinner, and these are just a few. Each family has their own traditions and customs. 

Final Thoughts

We hope that our 32 sensational recipes have inspired you this Passover! Any of them are sure to delight your friends and family at your Seder Dinner. Chag sameach! (Happy Holiday!)