Can matzo ball soup be considered a meal? Well, it depends on the size of the ball.

In 2024 don't be shy about sending your bowl of soup back if it's not hot enough (or for any other reason).

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Jan 02, 2024

Every year means another debate about whether a bowl of soup constitutes a meal. Sure, we can argue the type of soup: bean, lentil, vegetable, egg drop, or other variables like: thickness, crackers, and bread. But since life is about bickering over things that can never be fully settled, we decided it makes the most sense to focus on the one type of soup that all of our readers regularly eat.

Seinfeld' Ponders One of Life's Eternal Questions: Is Soup a Meal? — Soup is (maybe) a meal!

Since there are so many different ways to prepare matzo ball soup (carrots, chicken scraps, onions, celery and other crap), it makes the most sense to evaluate based on the one thing that all servings of matzo ball soup must have in common: the ball itself. We went to the deli to evaluate. Here are the facts:

Matzo Ball Soup Report

The key performance indicator is cost per pound of ball. Some soups might offer a little more broth or a few more noodles (don’t be fooled), but clearly these are second fiddle to the ball.

Katz’s and Liebman’s dominate the division at a rate of $25 per pound of ball. At Katz’s, a bowl of matzo ball soup is nothing but ball. Liebman’s soup features a small amount of chicken, while also being the cheapest (only $8.45 for the bowl). Katz’s ball value is impressive, but it looks a little stark without accement.

Pastrami Queen offers a meager 4 oz ball at an $11 price point, the lowest value option ($43 per pound of ball). Pastrami Queen soup is a well-rounded bowl, but our OJM Value Experts can’t look past the extremely poor ball value.

At 2nd Ave Deli the broth is poured into the soup at the table. Perhaps they think they can justify the $12.95 price tag ($34 per pound of ball) by showing you the extra labor? Spectacle doesn’t always equal value. Don’t be fooled.

The ball to broth ratio is a very personal matter, similar to marinara sauce on pasta or olive oil on salad. Personally, we appreciate somewhere in the 60% range, which makes Liebman’s our preferred soup partner.

Below is further evidence: