Passover cooking always sits somewhere between tradition and reinvention. You come back to the same ingredients year after year, but the way you use them can evolve and that’s where things start to feel new again. This matzo lasagna is a modern take on a comforting classic, layered with a deeply flavorful meat and vegetable sauce, warm spices, and just enough heat. It’s familiar in the way it’s assembled, but unexpected in flavor, and the kind of dish that feels right at home on a holiday table while still bringing something a little different.
Passover Matzo Lasagna with Meat and Vegetables
This savory matzo lasagna is a comforting Passover twist on a classic, layered with a rich, slow-simmered meat and vegetable sauce. Ground beef is cooked with onions, celery, zucchini, bell pepper, and jalapeño, then gently simmered in tomato sauce with warm spices like cinnamon, cumin, and curry. Layered with matzo and baked until perfectly tender, it’s a hearty, deeply flavorful dish that feels both familiar and a little unexpected.
Equipment
- 5.5 quart dutch oven
- 9 x 13 casserole dish
Ingredients
- 4 tbsp olive oil divided
- 1 large onion finely diced
- 1½ lbs ground beef
- kosher salt
- fresh ground pepper
- 2 tsp ground cinnamon divided
- 2 tsp curry powder divided
- 1 tsp cumin divided
- 3 celery ribs thinly sliced
- 3 medium zucchini diced
- 1 large bell pepper diced
- 1-2 jalapeno peppers thinly sliced
- 2 tbsp tomato paste
- 1 15 oz can tomato sauce
- 6 matzo sheets
Instructions
- Heat 2 tbsp of olive oil in your dutch oven oven medium low heat. Add onions and cook, stirring occasionally until softened, about 10 minutes.
- Meanwhile season your meat. Take your ground beef and break it into small pieces on a plate. Season generously with salt, pepper, 1 tsp cinnamon, 1 tsp curry powder and ½ tsp cumin.
- Turn heat to medium-high, move onions to the side and add in 2 tbsp olive oil. Add in ground beef and sear in batches, about 3-4 minutes. Move to the side and add in more meat.
- Then add tomato paste, stir and let the color darken, about 3 minutes. Add in all the vegetables, a generous seasoning of salt, the additional cumin, curry and cinnamon and the tomato sauce. Bring to a boil, cover and cook for 30 minutes, stirring every ten minutes.
- Preheat oven to 350°. Assemble the lasagne. Add a scoop of the meat sauce to the bottom of the casserole dish and layer matzo on top. Snap the sheets so that they don't overlap.
- Layer with more meat sauce and repeat process with two more layers of meat and matzo. For the last layer, try to just add the tomato sauce without chunks of meat or veggies. Bake in the preheated oven for 30 minutes uncovered so that the matzo transforms into a texture resembling noodles.
- Remove from the oven and let sit 10 minutes before serving.
Notes
The meat sauce can be made ahead and stored in the fridge and then assembled before baking.