Low FODMAP Passover Recipes & Tips

Passover (Pesach) is a time of celebration for the Jewish community – and much of the commemoration revolves around food. This eight day, early spring holiday celebrates the deliverance of the Jewish people from slavery in Egypt.

The Passover seder begins the holiday, occurring after sundown at the beginning of the holiday and involves gathering family and close friends, readings, wine, stories, food and often singing. It is such a popular holiday that even fairly non-observant Jewish people will celebrate, so we thought it would be helpful to have low FODMAP passover recipes & tips to create the best seder possible.

Typical Seder Foods

The typical seder foods and drink include wine, vegetables dipped in salt water, matzah, bitter herbs such as horseradish and charoset (a mixture of nuts, apples and/or pears and wine). These are part of the formal Passover ritual that may or may not be part of your seder.

There is an avoidance of leavened bread signifying the fact that the Jewish people left Egypt in haste and did not have time for their breads to rise, hence the inclusion of matzah, a flat, unleavened “bread” (which is more like a cracker, texture-wise).

Many less observant families simply gather and have a celebratory dinner, often making the same recipes again and again that have been handed down from previous generations.

How to Throw a Low FODMAP Seder

So, how do you throw a Low FODMAP seder? If you or a family member is following the Low FODMAP diet this is probably a question that has been swirling about in your mind.

Here’s the good news. There are plenty of Low FODMAP passover recipes that work with the Low FODMAP diet!

Let’s Talk Matzah!

We are not rabbis here. For a fuller explanation as to why gluten-free matzah are, or are not, considered proper, read this article from Chabad.org.

For those of you who are willing to have a gluten free, Low FODMAP passover matzah on your seder table, we have found a few brands that fit the bill – with a caveat. They will often have some statement on the label such as “not a replacement for seder matzah” (see above linked article). But all we can suggest is that you look for ingredient lists that are free of any high FODMAP ingredients and hope that you have your rabbi’s blessing. A decent Low FODMAP label might list tapioca starch, water, potato starch, eggs, dehydrated potatoes, oil, sugar and salt. This is a matzah that we would try while on a Low FODMAP diet.

Other Low FODMAP Seder Foods & Recommended Low FODMAP Passover Recipes

• Wine is Low FODMAP, if kept to 2/3 cup (150 ml) amounts.

• Horseradish was recently given the Green Light by Monash University, just in time for this holiday! Stick with 2 tablespoon (42 g) tablespoons per serving.

• The vegetables dipped in water during a seder ritual are often lettuce, parsley or celery. Guess which we will suggest? Pass on the celery. You can have a small amount of celery on the low FODMAP diet, but we are being extra cautious about FODMAP stacking during this meal and you will be safer with the lettuce or parsley. Some Ashkenazi Jews use potato to dip, which would be Low FODMAP, as well.

• The charoset is a problem. We don’t want to suggest that you eat apples or pears or the honey that is often included in recipes without a caveat, while the nuts and wine in moderation, along with spices, wouldn’t be an issue. Here’s what we suggest. Go ahead and make your favorite recipe and just tell the FODMAPer to either steer clear or, if they know their limits, have a very tiny bite. Another alternative is to find a charoset that was specifically designed with FODMAPs in mind.

• As for other foods, main dishes with lamb or brisket, roast chicken or turkey, prepared with Low FODMAP ingredients, of course, work beautifully. A traditional gefilte fish recipe, using either leek greens or scallion greens standing in for the onion, and gluten-free Low FODMAP matzah meal would work well. Similarly, matzah ball soup could be made with the matzah you have sourced out. You could even use our chicken base to help with that one! Flourless desserts, such as our Flourless Chocolate Cake, will please the crowd. And it is naturally gluten-free, so any GF followers can have their cake and eat it too!

We want to wish all of our Jewish friends a healthy and happy Passover holiday!