Passover Rolls

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These popover-style Passover rolls “pop up” in the oven to form impressively tall, crisp and golden rolls.

Basket of Passover rolls.

My grandmother prepared these popover-style Passover rolls every year during the week of Passover. Made with matzo meal, oil, and lots of eggs, they “pop up” in the oven to form impressively tall, golden rolls that are crisp and craggy on the surface and soft within. The rolls are made the old-fashioned way using a bowl and a wooden spoon. When my arm gets worn out mixing the thick dough, I remember how my grandmother would get about halfway through mixing and then shout out, “Hon!” for my papa to come and mix the rest.

Passover rolls are delicious warm out of the oven and smeared with soft butter. They can also be served with jam or cream cheese, or sliced in half and used as a sandwich bread. The rolls keep well for several days. For best results, reheat and crisp them up in a toaster oven or 350°F-oven for 6 to 8 minutes.

What You’ll Need To Make Passover Rolls

passover rolls ingredients

Step-by-Step Instructions

Combine the oil, water, salt and sugar in a medium pot and bring to a boil.
boiling water, oil, salt, and sugar

Reduce the heat to low and add the matzo meal.

adding the matzo meal

Stir with a wooden spoon until evenly combined. The mixture will be very thick.

matzo meal mixed with wet ingredients

Transfer the mixture to a large bowl and let cool, stirring occasionally, until warm to the touch, about 15 minutes.

passover roll mix in bowl

Add the beaten eggs, a little at a time, stirring well with a wooden spoon after each addition, until evenly combined.

Eggs in a bowl of dough.

This takes some elbow grease!

passover roll batter in bowl

Use a large ice cream scoop or two large spoons to drop the batter into peach-size mounds, spaced evenly apart, onto the prepared baking sheets (you should have 7 on each sheet). Don’t worry if they are irregular in shape.

passover rolls ready to bake

Cook the rolls for about 40 minutes, switching the pans from top to bottom and front to back midway through, until puffed, golden brown, and crisp on the surface.

baked passover rolls

As you can see below, the rolls will deflate a bit as they cool; that’s normal.

slightly deflated passover rolls

Serve the Passover rolls warm from the oven with butter.

Basket of Passover rolls.

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Passover Rolls

These popover-style Passover rolls “pop up” in the oven to form impressively tall, crisp and golden rolls.

Servings: 14 rolls
Prep Time: 20 Minutes
Cook Time: 40 Minutes
Total Time: 1 Hour

Ingredients

  • 1 cup vegetable oil
  • 2 cups water
  • 1¾ teaspoons salt
  • 1½ tablespoons sugar
  • 3 cups matzo meal
  • 8 large eggs, beaten

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 400°F and set two oven racks in the centermost positions, leaving at least 4 inches of space between them. Line two 13x18-inch baking sheets with parchment paper.
  2. Combine the oil, water, salt and sugar in a medium pot and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low and add the matzo meal; stir with a wooden spoon until evenly combined. The mixture will be very thick. Transfer the mixture to a large bowl and let cool, stirring occasionally, until warm to the touch, about 15 minutes.
  3. Add the beaten eggs, a little at a time, stirring well with a wooden spoon after each addition, until evenly combined. This takes some elbow grease. Use a large ice cream scoop or two large spoons to drop the batter into peach-size mounds, spaced evenly apart, onto the prepared baking sheets (you should have 7 on each sheet). Don't worry if they are irregular in shape. Cook for about 40 minutes, switching the pans from top to bottom and front to back midway through, until puffed, golden brown, and crisp on the surface. The rolls will deflate a bit as they cool; that's normal. Serve warm.
  4. Make-Ahead Instructions: The rolls are best served fresh on the day they are made, but leftovers can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days. Reheat and crisp the rolls in a 350°F-oven for 6 to 8 minutes for best results.

Nutrition Information

Powered by Edamam

  • Per serving (14 servings)
  • Serving size: 1 roll
  • Calories: 234
  • Fat: 19 g
  • Saturated fat: 2 g
  • Carbohydrates: 11 g
  • Sugar: 1 g
  • Fiber: 0 g
  • Protein: 5 g
  • Sodium: 213 mg
  • Cholesterol: 106 mg

This website is written and produced for informational purposes only. I am not a certified nutritionist and the nutritional data on this site has not been evaluated or approved by a nutritionist or the Food and Drug Administration. Nutritional information is offered as a courtesy and should not be construed as a guarantee. The data is calculated through an online nutritional calculator, Edamam.com. Although I do my best to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures should be considered estimates only. Varying factors such as product types or brands purchased, natural fluctuations in fresh produce, and the way ingredients are processed change the effective nutritional information in any given recipe. Furthermore, different online calculators provide different results depending on their own nutrition fact sources and algorithms. To obtain the most accurate nutritional information in a given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe, using your preferred nutrition calculator.

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Comments

  • Absolutely the best Passover Buns. So easy.

    • — Celia Sig on April 8, 2023
    • Reply
  • I have been making this recipe for as long as I can remember…and that’s a very long time. I am serving them with tuna and chicken salad tonight, so for a change, I added fried onions. Delish!

    • — Edythe Schneider on April 7, 2023
    • Reply
  • I’m commenting on this recipe because it’s the closest thing to the popover recipe in your cookbook, which I own, and just tried. I have more or less loved all your recipes I’ve tried, but this one totally failed. Unlike your website, the cookbook doesn’t have all the extra instructions—what kind of milk to use, should it be used warm or cold, room temp eggs or refrigerated? I followed the instructions that were in the cookbook and the popovers turned out like very deflated muffins. They didn’t rise at all. I preheated the pan, didn’t open the oven…Help?

    • — Alison on March 25, 2023
    • Reply
    • Hi Alison, So sorry you had trouble with the popovers in the cookbook! I’m happy to help troubleshoot if you want to email me at jennifer@onceuponachef.com.

      • — Jenn on March 30, 2023
      • Reply
  • Can shredded cheese be added ?

    • Sure — sounds yummy!

  • This is a terrific recipe. I cheated and used a stand mixer to incorporate the eggs into the matzo meal mix. They did not shrink at all when they cooled. A big improvement on the recipe I had been using
    Brenda at slocooking

  • These came out great! I added some everything seasoning on top of some and also some course kosher salt on a few too. These are definitely a good alternative to have during Passover. Another great recipe Jenn!

  • I made them! They are delicious! Thank you!

  • I’ve tried many recipes over the years, these are THE BEST!.
    They’re light and fluffy, just delicious!

  • How can I make the rolls less stodgy?

    • Hi Tessa, Can you clarify what you mean by less stodgy? Thanks!

  • Can you finely grind Matzo crackers to make the Matzo meal? Not Jewish but we love the crackers and don’t really want to buy the meal! Thanks.

    • Hi Barbara, that would be fine but you’re going to need a lot of crackers to equal 3 cups of matzo meal. You’ll be using most of the box of matzo meal so if you want to save the trouble of crumbling all those crackers, I’d buy a box of meal. If not, the crackers should be fine. Hope that helps and that you enjoy!

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