Making Weed-Infused Matzo Balls With Joan Nathan

Get the munchies and the solution in one bowl Image by iStock
Queen of Jewish cooking Joan Nathan likes to add fresh ginger and nutmeg to her matzo balls. The Forward 50-honoree also puts homemade chicken stock into the matzo ball mix to add flavor. She finishes by mixing in chopped up fresh dill, parsley and cilantro. Recently, she added one more thing:
Cannabis leaves.
In collaboration with Viceland, Nathan made matzo balls with schmaltz infused with hemp, containing no THC but 15% CBD. THC, or tetrahydrocannabinol, provides the delusional, doghnut-eating high, which can be a hazard around the Shabbos table. CBD, or cannabidiol, is considered non-psychoactive. It promotes feelings of calm, lifts mood, and may relieve pain.
And at the very least, you’ll be so full of matzo balls that you’ll feel like lying down.
Watching Joan Nathan and two Vice employees gleefully add hemp and cannabis leaves to matzo balls is as warming as a hot bowl of matzo ball soup on a cold winter day.
Enjoy here:
Looking for a more intense high? Jeff the 420 Chef’s recipe for THC-infused “potza-ball soup” is here to help.
Jenny Singer is a writer for the Forward. You can reach her at [email protected] or on Twitter @jeanvaljenny
The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.
Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.
This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism you rely on. Make a gift today!
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Most Popular
- 1
Opinion The dangerous Nazi legend behind Trump’s ruthless grab for power
- 2
Opinion I first met Netanyahu in 1988. Here’s how he became the most destructive leader in Israel’s history.
- 3
News Who is Alan Garber, the Jewish Harvard president who stood up to Trump over antisemitism?
- 4
Culture Did this Jewish literary titan have the right idea about Harry Potter and J.K. Rowling after all?
In Case You Missed It
-
Fast Forward On his first trip to Auschwitz, New Jersey governor urges vigilance against rising antisemitism
-
Fast Forward Survivors of the Holocaust and Oct. 7 embrace at Auschwitz, marking annual March of the Living
-
Fast Forward Could changes at the FDA call the kosher status of milk into question? Many are asking.
-
Fast Forward Long Island synagogue cancels Ben-Gvir talk amid wide tensions over whether to host him
-
Shop the Forward Store
100% of profits support our journalism
Republish This Story
Please read before republishing
We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines.
You must comply with the following:
- Credit the Forward
- Retain our pixel
- Preserve our canonical link in Google search
- Add a noindex tag in Google search
See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.
To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.