Shakshuka (Middle Eastern Poached or Baked Eggs)

Name: Shakshuka (Middle Eastern Poached or Baked Eggs)
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 30 min
Yield: 2 - 3 people
Ingredients: 2 tbsp olive oil; 1 small red onion; 1 garlic clove; 1 small red capsicum (bell pepper); 1 tomato; 400 g / 14 oz can crushed tomatoes; 1 tbsp tomato paste; 1/2 cup / 125 ml chicken or vegetable broth (or water); 1 tsp EACH paprika and cumin; 1/4 tsp EACH black pepper and cayenne pepper; 1/2 tsp salt; 4 eggs eggs (up to 6 eggs ok); 2 tbsp fresh parsley or coriander / cilantro; Pita or crusty bread, to serve

User Reviews

5.0

135 reviews

Excellent

Prep Time
10 mins
Cook Time
10 mins
Total Time
30 mins
Servings
2 - 3 people
Calories
354 kcal
Course
Breakfast
Cuisine
Middle Eastern, Israeli, North African

Shakshuka (Middle Eastern Poached or Baked Eggs)

Kai Walton

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Recipe video above. I call this the best baked eggs in the world, but they can also just be poached on the stove! With Middle Eastern and North African roots, the tomato sauce is lightly spiced and used as the bed to cook the eggs. PS Crusty bread is a must. PPS Recipe lends itself to great variations - see recipe notes.

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Ingredients

Servings

2 tbsp olive oil
1 small red onion , peeled, halved and sliced
1 garlic clove , minced
1 small red capsicum (bell pepper) , halved lengthways and sliced into 0.5cm/1/4” strips
1 tomato , diced
400 g / 14 oz can crushed tomatoes
1 tbsp tomato paste
1/2 cup / 125 ml chicken or vegetable broth (or water)
1 tsp EACH paprika and cumin
1/4 tsp EACH black pepper and cayenne pepper (or other hot spice, adjust to taste)
1/2 tsp salt
4 eggs eggs (up to 6 eggs ok)
2 tbsp fresh parsley or coriander / cilantro , roughly chopped
Pita or crusty bread, to serve

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Instructions

Preheat oven to 180C/350F (if intending to bake them).
Heat oil in a medium size cast iron skillet over medium high heat. Add garlic and onion, cook for 2 minutes until onion is translucent.
Add capsicum, cook for 1 minute. Add diced tomato, cook for 2 minutes until broken down and it becomes a bit pasty (see video).
Add canned tomatoes, tomato paste, broth, paprika, cumin, salt and pepper. Mix to combine well.
Lower stove to medium low and simmer for 5 minutes until just thickened enough to make indentations (don't want dry sludge, needs to still be saucy).
Make indentations in the mixture and carefully crack the eggs in. Leave to cook for 1 minute until edges of whites are set (Note 1).
Transfer to oven and bake for 7 to 12 minutes until whites are just set but yolks are still runny (or to your taste). OR cover with lid and steam on stove for 3 minutes (runny yolks), or just simmer them without a lid.
Remove from oven/stove and serve immediately, scattered with the coriander or parsley. Serve with crusty bread, or pita bread.

Notes

Baking eggs perfectly so you get runny yolks but the whites are just set rather than jelly-like (ie still a teeny bit raw) is actually a bit of an art. My way of getting around this is to leave the eggs to cook in the mixture for 1 minute before transferring to the oven. This gives the whites a bit of a head start without affecting the yolks.
Variations - this recipe lends itself to a great many variations. Try substituting the capsicum with other vegetables such as zucchini (courgettes), eggplants (aubergines), or even carrots or fennel. For a baked beans-ish spin (that's breakfast baked beans, as Aussies and Poms know them, not American baked beans), try adding white beans. Try adding olives, or other antipasto-ey things (artichokes, sun dried tomatoes). For a Mexican spin, use corn and black beans!
This recipe as written makes 2 very generous servings (2 eggs per person) (this is what the nutrition reflects). But there's enough sauce here for 3 servings if you can squeeze 6 eggs in. I opted to just use 4 here so you can actually see the sauce in the photos and video.
Original recipe published in May 2014, officially one of the very first recipes I ever shared. So it's 4 years overdue for new photos and a video! Recipe slightly tidied up but is fundamentally the same.