Matzo Meal Pancakes - Perfect for Passover and Year-round!

by Beth Lee · Published: Mar 14, 2019 · Modified: Apr 18, 2025

Matzo meal pancakes are perfect for Passover or any time of the year. Also known as a bubula (bubaleh), this recipe honors my grandma Annie, or my bubbe, and shares the special story of this family legacy recipe!

Matzo meal pancake on a white plate with fruit compote on top and tea on the side.

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Why you'll love this family recipe!
Ingredients and substitutions
Let's make a matzo meal pancake step-by-step
Beth's expert tips and recipe FAQs
Bubbe's bubula stories - optional but fun!
More Passover recipes on OMG! Yummy
Matzo Meal Pancake (bubaleh)
Hi! I'm Beth

What is a matzo meal pancake? It's a matzo meal and egg based pancake usually eaten on Passover. My bubula version looks more like a puffy Dutch apple pancake that you bake in the oven. But it's cooked stove top and is ready to eat in minutes. Some people refer to these pancakes as chremslach - an Eastern European word that refers to matzo meal pancakes, sometimes potato pancakes and on occasion cheese pancakes like the ones my dad used to make for me! If you skip whipping the whites, these matzo meal pancakes will look more like a traditional pancake in form.

Why you'll love this family recipe!

"Bubula" or "bubaleh" is also a Yiddish word that is a term of endearment. Imagine my grandma with her thick glasses, denture-filled smile, and short, stubby hands making this for you in her tiny Brooklyn apartment. When it's ready, she'd call you to the kitchen table by saying with a Polish Yiddish accent “come here, bubula, eat (ess) your bubula while it's hot.”
This version of a matzo meal pancake is almost like a quick souffle because of the way you separate the eggs and whip the whites. Change up your egg game and give this a try! Easy to make and fun to eat!
The toppings can change it up - my mom and grandma always used cinnamon sugar. I like fruit compote as you can see in the pictures. My cousin likes a little kosher sweet wine on it. You can have it your way!

Ingredients and substitutions

Ingredient shot for matzo meal pancake showing separated eggs in two bowls on a red napkin with an old fashioned whisk.

Eggs: I designed this recipe for a single serving with 2 eggs. Separating them and whipping the whites gives this bubula or matzo meal pancake it's distinctive fluffy texture.
Seltzer: Carbonated water was my grandma's trick for helping her matzo balls and this pancake stay light and fluffy. Obviously the whipped egg whites do the lion's share of the work here but I just can't make this recipe without bubbly water because that's what bubbe would do!
Matzo meal: Matzo meal is a derivative of matzo. When you coarsely crumble the matzo, it becomes matzo farfel. When it's more finely ground but still with texture, it becomes matzo meal. Finely ground -- it becomes matzo cake meal, like a substitute for flour. (for more info on matzo, check out my All About Matzo page) For this recipe, I use matzo meal. On Passover, be sure it is marked Kosher for Passover on the can.

Let's make a matzo meal pancake step-by-step

(Printable recipe card is at the end of the post with ingredients, measurements and step-by-step instructions. This section includes more and larger pictures and high level explanations of the process.)

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Process collage showing the steps for making a bubula or matzo meal pancake from separating the eggs to cooking in a frying pan.

Separate the eggs into two bowls – one big enough to whip the egg whites, the other big enough to hold all the ingredients.
Add the matzo meal, seltzer, and salt to the egg yolks and mix well.
Whip the egg whites to stiff peaks and then fold them gently into the egg yolk mixture.
Pour into a medium-sized frying pan greased with oil or butter. (my mom always used oil) Fry on one side and gently turn over to brown on other side. My mom says it’s ready when you stick a fork in and it doesn’t fall apart. (my mom is in her 90's so pay attention to her wise tips!)

Serve with toppings of your choice. In this picture we ate it with my simple but delicious fruit compote and a cup of tea!

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Top down view of the matzo meal pancake on a white plate with fruit compote on top and a cup of tea on the side.

Beth's expert tips and recipe FAQs

I always top my bubaleh with cinnamon sugar. Some people like powdered sugar. My son liked syrup. Some prefer yogurt, sour cream, or whipped cream and berries. And my friend Laura from the blog Family Spice (who took the stunning photos for this post) discovered that my fruit compote is the perfect topping for her. And if you are Jewish (or just adventuresome), you might even try a bit of Manischewitz wine – yup – that’s how my cousin Alan used to eat it.
Butter or oil will work for the frying pan - my mom always used a little oil.
The whipped egg whites are doing the lion's share of the work to make this matzo meal pancake fluffy. So if you don't have fizzy water, do not despair! Might even be good to sub in some orange juice or apple juice instead! (Haven't tried it but I would!)

Can I make a matzo meal pancake ahead of time and reheat it?

I don't recommend doing this. I find a bubaleh to be best fresh out of the frying pan!

What if I don't have any seltzer?

I love making this recipe just like my grandma did but truly the whipped egg whites are doing most of the work of making this pancake puffy. So just add some water or maybe even some orange juice or apple juice instead.

What else can I use the matzo meal for after Passover is over?

Think of matzo meal like bread crumbs and use them anywhere you might use bread crumbs - like coating chicken or fish, for example.

Jump to Recipe

Bubbe's bubula stories - optional but fun!

Beth's family's matzo meal pancake stories:

--- from my cousin after reading the original blog post in 2011

“I wanted to thank you for making available Grandma's pancake recipe. I have looked for that recipe in every Jewish cookbook around and never found it--of course I never thought to do the obvious---ask the family. My wife made the pancakes tonight and they were great---topped with sugar, or a little Manischewitz Concord Grape wine, as we did in our house in Brooklyn.

Of course, the greater significance beyond the tastiness of the pancakes were their emotional and nostalgic value. For the duration of the meal tonight, I was 10 years old again and back at Avenue N with my mommy and Grandma in the kitchen. It was a truly wonderful and sentimental moment for me.

Thank you for giving me the venue to return, at least in my mind's eye, to those wonderful years in a world that now seems all too distant.”

--- from my mom when I first wrote this blog post in 2011

When I first wrote this post, I emailed my mom, who has turned out a few good bubulas over the years, to help with the recipe. And she actually emailed me back a rough write-up. Here are her directions verbatim from the email:

“I used to make one with two eggs separated. Beat the egg whites to stiff peak and then gently add the yellow of eggs together with some matzoh meal. Just enough to give it some body and add some seltzer water to help it rise. Mix very gently and pour into frying pan. I always used oil instead of butter. Fry on one side and gently turn over to brown on other side. Should come out so that when you put in fork it doesn’t fall apart. Put sugar on top {sprinkle as you like} and enjoy with coffee, wine or any way you wish.”

I think my mom missed her calling as a recipe writer. But please don't miss your chance to experience this simple treasure of a family recipe.

More Passover recipes on OMG! Yummy

You might also also enjoy my recipe for cheese latkes made with matzo meal!

For ease of browsing, find all my Passover recipes in one place.

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P.S. If you try this recipe, please leave a star rating and/or a review in the comment section below. I so appreciate your feedback! AND find more inspiration on Pinterest, Facebook or Instagram. Signup for my email list, too!

Matzo meal pancake with fruit compote on top on a red linen.

Matzo Meal Pancake (bubaleh)

Beth Lee

4.43 from 35 votes

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 5

Cook Time 5

Total Time 10

Course Breakfast

Cuisine Jewish Holiday Cooking

Servings serving

Calories 204 kcal

Ingredients

2 eggs separated
2 tablespoons matzo meal
1 tablespoon seltzer water
pinch of salt
canola oil
sugar
cinnamon

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Instructions

Separate 2 eggs. Put the whites in a medium bowl, big enough for whipping them. Place the yellows in a similar size bowl.
To the yolks, add 2 tablespoons of matzo meal, one tablespoon of sparkling water (seltzer), and a pinch of salt. Combine, using a small whisk or fork.
Whip the egg whites to stiff peaks and then fold the egg whites into the yellow mixture.
Heat a small skillet on medium to medium-high. Once heated, add one tablespoon of oil, then add the matzo meal mixture.
Cook until you see it sizzle around the edges and firm up. Then, depending on your skill in the kitchen, you can either flip the pancake like a pro or grab a spatula to turn it over. (Dormant chef flipped, I used a spatula) It should be nicely browned.
It only needs to cook briefly on the flip side to brown and finish firming up the interior.
Flip the bubula onto a plate, sprinkle with granulated sugar and cinnamon of a topping of your choice!

Notes

I always top my bubaleh with cinnamon sugar. Some people like powdered sugar. My son liked syrup. Some prefer yogurt, sour cream, or whipped cream and berries. And my friend Laura from the blog Family Spice (who took the stunning photos for this post) discovered that my fruit compote is the perfect topping for her. And if you are Jewish (or just adventuresome), you might even try a bit of Manischewitz wine – yup – that’s how my cousin Alan used to eat it.

Butter or oil will work for the frying pan - my mom always used a little oil.

The whipped egg whites are doing the lion's share of the work to make this matzo meal pancake fluffy. So if you don't have fizzy water, do not despair! Might even be good to sub in some orange juice or apple juice instead! (Haven't tried it but I would!)

Nutrition

Calories: 204kcalCarbohydrates: 17gProtein: 13gFat: 8gSaturated Fat: 2gCholesterol: 327mgSodium: 128mgPotassium: 121mgVitamin A: 475IUCalcium: 49mgIron: 2.2mg

Keyword matzo meal, matzo meal pancakes, Passover

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Hi! I'm Beth

Cookbook author, cooking teacher, preserved lemon lover. My family is a mix of Jewish, Hawaiian and Korean heritage. My virtual multicultural kitchen is always open.

About Beth