Easy Shakshuka Recipe

⏱ Prep:5 min 🔥Cook: 25 min 👤 Serves:4 🌶 Heat:Medium

Shakshuka recipe is the one dish I make when I want something that feels like real cooking but takes thirty minutes and uses things already in the pantry. Eggs poached directly in a spiced tomato and pepper sauce, cumin, paprika, harissa, a handful of fresh herbs at the end, brought to the table in the same pan it cooked in, eaten with bread torn straight into the sauce. It is breakfast, lunch and dinner simultaneously and it belongs on your regular rotation immediately.

Gather these first

For the sauce

• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 large onion, finely diced
• 1 red bell pepper, finely diced
• 1 green bell pepper, finely diced
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon sweet paprika
• ½ teaspoon smoked paprika, adds the depth that regular paprika alone cannot
• 1 tablespoon harissa paste, adjust to your heat preference. Start with 1 teaspoon if you are sensitive to heat. Harissa is available at Whole Foods, Middle Eastern grocery stores and Amazon.
• 1 can (28 oz / 800g) whole peeled tomatoes, crushed by hand directly into the pan. Whole peeled tomatoes have better flavor than pre-crushed.
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon sugar, balances the tomato acidity

For the eggs

• 6 large eggs, the fresher the better. Fresh eggs hold their shape in the sauce rather than spreading.

To finish

• ¼ cup (15g) fresh flat-leaf parsley, roughly chopped
• ¼ cup (15g) fresh cilantro, roughly chopped, optional but traditional in North African versions
• 2 oz (60g) feta cheese, crumbled, optional. The Israeli version almost always includes it. It adds a salty, creamy counterpoint to the acidic sauce.
• Extra olive oil for drizzling
• Crusty bread or warm pita for serving, non-negotiable

How to make Shakshuka

1. Heat the olive oil in a large, wide skillet or cast iron pan over medium heat. Add the diced onion and both bell peppers. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 8–10 minutes until completely soft and the onion is translucent and just beginning to turn golden at the edges.Do not rush this. Soft, sweet peppers and onions are the base of everything. Crunchy vegetables in the final sauce means this step was cut short.
2. Add the minced garlic, cumin, sweet paprika, smoked paprika and harissa. Stir and cook 1–2 minutes until the spices are fragrant and coating everything in the pan. The pan will smell extraordinary at this point.
3. Add the canned whole tomatoes. Crush each one between your fingers as it goes in, this gives you control over the texture, some pieces larger, some broken down, producing a sauce with body rather than a uniform purée. Add salt and sugar. Stir well.
4. Simmer the sauce uncovered over medium heat for 10–12 minutes, stirring occasionally, until it has thickened noticeably and the oil is beginning to separate slightly at the edges. Taste and adjust, more harissa for heat, more salt, a squeeze of lemon if it needs brightness.The sauce must be thick enough to cradle the eggs without them sinking. If it still looks loose after 12 minutes, give it another 3–4 minutes. Thin sauce produces watery, spread-out eggs.
5. Use the back of a spoon to create 6 small wells in the sauce, evenly spaced. Crack one egg into each well carefully, yolk intact. Season each egg with a small pinch of salt and black pepper.
6. Cover the pan with a lid and cook over low-medium heat for 5–8 minutes. Check at 5 minutes, the whites should be set and opaque, the yolks still visibly runny when you tilt the pan slightly. This is the correct doneness. Cook 1–2 minutes more only if you prefer a firmer yolk.The eggs continue cooking in the residual heat of the sauce after you remove the lid. Pull them off the heat 30 seconds before they look done.
7. Remove from heat. Scatter the chopped parsley, cilantro and crumbled feta over the top. Drizzle with olive oil. Bring the entire pan to the table and serve immediately, directly from the skillet, with bread alongside for scooping.

What I learned making this

The egg timing is the only thing that takes practice and the only thing that matters once the sauce is right. Everyone wants runny yolks, which means pulling the pan off the heat earlier than feels right. At 5 minutes the whites look almost done but not quite set at the very top. That is exactly when you take the lid off. The residual heat finishes the whites in the 30 seconds it takes to scatter the herbs. Wait until the whites look completely set under the lid and the yolks will be chalky by the time the pan reaches the table. Five minutes. Lid off. Herbs on. Table. That sequence, in that order, every time.

If something goes wrong

Claire’s note: The two things that go wrong with shakshuka are overcooked eggs and watery sauce, and both have the same fix. If the sauce is thin: simmer longer before adding the eggs, uncovered, until a spoon dragged through it leaves a trail that holds for 2 seconds. If the eggs overcook: you went 2 minutes too long. Next time check at 4 minutes and trust that the residual heat does the rest. If the sauce is too spicy: a spoonful of plain yogurt stirred through at the end brings everything back into balance and adds a creamy richness that works beautifully with the tomato.

Shakshuka is the entry point into the wider world of North African and Middle Eastern egg dishes, and once you have the base sauce right, everything else follows naturally. The same spiced tomato base with merguez sausage added before the eggs is the Tunisian version. A spoonful of labneh on top and a drizzle of za’atar oil takes it into full Lebanese territory. Both are in the Middle Eastern recipes collection alongside the Lebanese mezze spread and the muhammara dip that belongs on the same table.

Add shakshuka to your weekly meal planner as a Sunday breakfast, it feeds four people from one pan in thirty minutes and leaves almost nothing to wash up.

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Shakshuka Recipe: Eggs Poached in Spiced Tomato Sauce

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• Author: Claire Bennett
• Total Time: 30 minutes
• Yield: 4 1x

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Description

This shakshuka recipe is the one pan breakfast that will change your mornings forever. Eggs poached in a rich smoky spiced tomato and pepper sauce with cumin, paprika and harissa, brought straight to the table and eaten with torn bread. Thirty minutes, one pan, no compromise. North Africa’s greatest contribution to your weekday breakfast table.

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Ingredients

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For the sauce:

• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 large onion, finely diced
• 1 red bell pepper, finely diced
• 1 green bell pepper, finely diced
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon sweet paprika
• ½ teaspoon smoked paprika
• 1 tablespoon harissa paste, start with 1 teaspoon if sensitive to heat
• 1 can (28 oz) whole peeled tomatoes, crushed by hand
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon sugar

For the eggs:

• 6 large eggs

To finish:

• ¼ cup fresh flat-leaf parsley, roughly chopped
• ¼ cup fresh cilantro, roughly chopped, optional
• 2 oz feta cheese, crumbled, optional
• Extra olive oil for drizzling
• Crusty bread or warm pita for serving

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Instructions

• Heat the olive oil in a large wide skillet over medium heat. Add the diced onion and both bell peppers. Cook 8–10 minutes until completely soft and translucent.
• Add the garlic, cumin, sweet paprika, smoked paprika and harissa. Stir and cook 1–2 minutes until fragrant.
• Add the canned whole tomatoes, crushing each by hand as it goes in. Add salt and sugar. Stir well.
• Simmer the sauce uncovered over medium heat for 10–12 minutes until thickened. Taste and adjust seasoning.
• Use the back of a spoon to create 6 small wells in the sauce. Crack one egg into each well. Season each egg with a pinch of salt and black pepper.
• Cover with a lid and cook over low-medium heat for 5–8 minutes until the whites are set and the yolks are still runny. Remove from heat 30 seconds before they look completely done, the residual heat finishes them.
• Scatter parsley, cilantro and crumbled feta over the top. Drizzle with olive oil. Serve immediately from the pan with bread alongside.

Notes

The sauce can be made up to 3 days ahead and refrigerated. Reheat until bubbling before adding the eggs fresh. The flavor deepens significantly overnight.

For the oven method: bake at 375°F (190°C) for 10–12 minutes after adding the eggs. Check at 8 minutes.

• Prep Time: 5 minutes
• Cook Time: 25 minutes
• Category: Breakfast / Brunch
• Cuisine: North African, Middle Eastern

Nutrition

• Calories: 245 kcal
• Sugar: 7g
• Sodium: 612mg
• Fat: 17g
• Saturated Fat: 4g
• Carbohydrates: 13g
• Fiber: 3g
• Protein: 13g