28 Passover Recipes To Make For Your Seder (2024)

FAQs

What should I prepare for Passover Seder? ›

Some families follow the karpas ritual by serving a variety of vegetables and dips as a first course. Artichokes and other vegetables, hard-boiled eggs, and boiled potatoes may be introduced at this point in the seder. This is the bitter herb eaten before the meal to remind us of the Israelites' suffering as slaves.

The food served at a Seder dinner follows special dietary restrictions specific to Passover. Even if you aren't Jewish, the rules still apply, so don't bring anything that isn't kosher (yes, that means ditching the dinner rolls for an evening). If you plan to present your host with a gift, play it safe with flowers.

During Passover, Ashkenazi Jews traditionally stay away from not only leavened foods like bread, namely barley, oats, rye, spelt, and wheat, but also legumes, rice, seeds, and corn. The ban has been in place since the 13th century, but it's always been controversial.

People usually dress up a little for the seder, but it's best to ask your host ahead of time, as seder attire can run the gamut from jeans and T-shirts to suit-and-tie. You'll probably eat a lot, however, so don't wear anything with a tight-fitting waist!

Sautéed Asparagus

A simple spring side dish is just what you need to make your Passover meal complete. If you're serving meat, just be sure to leave off the parmesan cheese.

Jews generally observe one or two seders: in Israel, one seder is observed on the first night of Passover; traditional Diaspora communities (to the general exception of Reform and Reconstructionist Jews) also hold a seder on the second night.

"For some families, it's 20 minutes, for some it's an hour and a half," she says. "You can stick to the Haggadah [book that contains the service], but there are great ways to enhance the story and add meaning, and that makes it longer." Rudin explains that "the theme of the service is to ask questions.

This is the seder plate, and each food is symbolic for an aspect of Passover: A roasted shank bone represents the Pescah sacrifice, an egg represents spring and the circle of life, bitter herbs represent the bitterness of slavery, haroset (an applesauce-like mixture with wine, nuts, apples, etc.) represents the mortar ...

Why is an orange on a seder plate? ›

The next year, Heschel put an orange on her seder plate and shared that she chose the orange “because it suggests the fruitfulness for all Jews when lesbians and gay men are contributing and active members of Jewish life.” The seeds of the orange, like other items on the seder plate, symbolize rebirth and renewal.

But there were also changes and additions, like a watermelon on the Seder plate to represent the flag of Palestine. There were repeated references to the suffering of the Palestinian people and the need to ensure their liberation.

In Israel, Passover is the seven-day holiday of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, with the first and last days celebrated as legal holidays and as holy days involving holiday meals, special prayer services, and abstention from work; the intervening days are known as Chol HaMoed ("Weekdays [of] the Festival").