There are a lot of reasons to make shakshuka, an Israeli Tunisian dish of eggs poached in a spicy tomato sauce: It sounds like the name of a comic book hero. Or some kind of fierce, long-forgotten martial art. Or perhaps something that said comic book hero would yell as they practiced this elaborate martial art, mid-leap with their fist in the air.
Or you could make it because when I talked about making eggs in tomato sauce a while back a large handful of comments were along the lines of “oh, this sounds like shakshuka” and “I think you would love shakshuka” and “you really should make shakshuka” and you may have shrugged and forgotten about it until you finally had it at a café one day and whoa it turns out you really would like shakshuka!
Or you could make it because that café had the audacity to close for Passover last week, right when you had the fiercest shakshuka craving yet. I mean, couldn’t they just not serve it with pitas? Must I eventually be forced to make everything myself? Can’t I just have one thing that I let other people make perfectly for me, every time? No, I could not. Not if I wanted to eat what I really wanted to eat.
Thus, I suggest you make it because it turns out that it tastes really, really good from your own kitchen. Fantastically good. And not only is it easy to make, it’s budget-friendly, waistline-friendly and no-time-to-cook friendly. It could be a weekend brunch or a weekday dinner or lunch or a “I can’t believe we are being assaulted with a snowstorm in April!” consolation prize. It could be part of an Middle Eastern dinner party, replete with homemade salad, pitas and hummus or it could be a “my favorite takeout joint had the nerve to close for a holiday!” pity party. But I’ll warn you: me and my little buddy walked by the café today and breathed a sigh of relief that it had reopened so I could be freed from making my own lunch once again. And then I remembered how good the homemade shakshuka had been. And I kept on walking, kicking myself for always going and creating more work for myself. I never learn.
Two years ago: Fork-Crushed Purple Potatoes
Three years ago: Potato Rosemary Bread
Shakshuka [Eggs Poached in Spicy Tomato Sauce]
Adapted from Saveur
Serves 4 to 6
1/4 cup olive oil
5 Anaheim chiles or 3 jalapeños, stemmed, seeded, and finely chopped (I was nervous and only used 2 Anaheims; I would go for 3 or 4 next time for a more moderate but still gentle kick)
1 small yellow onion, chopped
5 cloves garlic, crushed then sliced
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 tablespoon paprika
1 28-ounce can whole peeled tomatoes, undrained
Kosher salt, to taste
6 eggs
1/2 cup feta cheese, crumbled
1 tablespoon chopped flat-leaf parsley
Warm pitas, for serving
Heat oil in a 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat. Add chiles and onions and cook, stirring occasionally, until soft and golden brown, about 6 minutes. Add garlic, cumin, and paprika, and cook, stirring frequently, until garlic is soft, about 2 more minutes.
Put tomatoes and their liquid into a medium bowl and crush with your hands. Add crushed tomatoes and their liquid to skillet along with 1/2 cup water, reduce heat to medium, and simmer, stirring occasionally, until thickened slightly, about 15 minutes. Season sauce with salt.
Crack eggs over sauce so that eggs are evenly distributed across sauce’s surface. Cover skillet and cook until yolks are just set, about 5 minutes. Using a spoon, baste the whites of the eggs with tomato mixture, being careful not to disturb the yolk. Sprinkle shakshuka with feta and parsley and serve with pitas, for dipping.
I’ve never had anything like this before, but I can’t wait to try it.
Jacob looks like he’s really excited for Hummus!
Anything waistline-friendly is good with me, but anything tasty AND waistline-friendly is so much better.
I’m the first one to comment! Goal complete!
I love your blog, my roomate and I first started to get to know each other over taking turns cooking your recipies!
What would you suggest as a side dish for this?
Wow! I could attack that pot with a loaf of crunchy french bread. It looks amazing! (and you can’t beat San Marzanos)
I love eggs and tomatoes. Sounds simple and delish.
Oh my gosh. That sounds SO DELICIOUS. I need to get back to my Israeli roots!
Sounds delicious! Question: How would you serve this? Individual dipping bowls and a plateful of pita bread? Family style?
I lived in Egypt for 4 years and shakshuka was served with pita- everything is! We always had some very soft, light flavoured cheeses on the side and tahine sauce. Definitely family style!
I used to make a hot Italian version of this dish called Eggs in Purgatory. Beautiful photoessay!
This looks fantastic. I am usually nervous about putting eggs in places they’ve never been before in my kitchen, but with the feta, the parsley, and the glowing recommendation, I’m game. Perhaps for tomorrow’s lunch, since I have each and every ingredient.
Congratulations on Saveur. It is well deserved!
isn’t it funny how many countries have very similar dishes? In Mexico you can find this as “Rabo de mestiza” (translated to english it would mean something very weird, trust me you don’t want to know), the only slight difference is that Poblano peppers are used instead of Anaheim or Jalapeños, and no paprika.
I prsonally never liked it ( im not a huge egg fan) but everyone else in my family loves it!
My kosher Israeli friend made this once for lunch (minus the feta). It was my most favorite thing ever! I’m so excited to try my own hand at it! She used some exotic spice with no label. Curious…
This sounds marvelous, and definitely worthy of a batch of homemade pita! I find it hard to resist anything with egg and tomato.
P.S. Your pictures of Jacob are killing me. Cutest. Baby. Ever.
Funny, I didn’t even know you were in NY, but as soon as I hear shakshuka I think of the Hummus Place – best I’ve ever had (better than 2 different places in Israel). But feta? You need the halumi! They regularly have it at Whole Foods…
Jon — I know! I love the haloumi they put on it. And I can find it, but I know it’s not the easiest for most people to so when I saw this recipe that suggested feta (which was a delicious, and more melty contrast) I ran with it.
You had me at feta. Adding the ingredients to my grocery list!!
So glad to see this featured here! It’s been one of my favorites since we moved to Israel a couple years ago and it’s my turn-to comfort food during pregnancy. I’ve been kicking myself for never learning to make it at home – now happily totting up how many shekels this post is going to save me. ;)
Congrats on Saveur – most deserved!
Oh my wordy.
I’ve never had anything like this, but I know I would LOVE it.
and I love LOVE spicy!
Ummm…shakshuka was one of my favorite dishes when my husband and I were in Israel last year! I couldn’t get enough of it! And now I get to have it again! Whoo hoo!
Very interesting descriptions. You have a great way with words. Keep blogging. I’ll have to try this Shakshuka now.
Oh this looks really great. I love brunch meals. I might add this to my repertoire.
Mmmm. I make this once a week for dinner, for all of the wonderful reasons that you listed. Capers are also a nice addition. I serve gluten free with brown rice tortillas. Yummm!
Nothing little about this site, lady. You’re a huge inspiration every day. Kudos on the awards, and thanks for the beautiful food.
Congrats on your award, you deserve it! every dish i’ve made from your post has been delicious, honestly.
How interesting! I really want to try that!
This sounds like the original idea behind my favorite brunch selection at Casimir on the corner of Ave B and 7th Street – it’s called Tunisian Eggs on their brunch menu and since their chefs have changed over the years it’s always a little different, but I picture the ingredients hanging on the wall in the kitchen – sometimes it’s served in a lovely ceramic dish that’s hot to the touch, sometimes it seems microwaved, but I always love the combination of spicy tomato sauce, eggs, cheese and capers. With a bloody mary, life is good. Thanks for this recipe to try it at home!
Shashuka is one of our regular’s, but in Israel we actually don’t eat it with pita/ You need a nice sauce-absorbing bread, so we go for the basic white bread or challa. Also. if you control the heat, the kids love it too
I had this in a bakery/restaurant here in LA with a friend a few months ago and told myself I’d look up a recipe when I got home and then forgot all about it, including its name. So glad you posted this today. Delicious!
This looks fantastic. Bookmarking now.
I love Shakshuka! The dish is actually Libyan, though.. Jewish Libyans brought the dish over to Israel.
This dish is LIBYAN. Get your facts straight please.
That’s kind of a rude comment! Delivery is key
Holy S**t this looks so good! Will be making it tomorrow, thanks for another great recipe.
There is an actual Arabic action hero called Sasuki, so very close. Can’t wait to try this!!
Oops! Shakshuka is Libyan, my friend. I believe, as some have posted before me, that the Jewish Libyans brought the dish with them to Israel.
Looks great :).
However, although there are naturally dozens of ways to make Shakshuka (and I live in Israel), usually we also use green bell peppers for this recipe, and no cheese. The feta cheese is used in another version, in which usually no tomatoes are used, but rather spinach leaves.
Anyway, like I said – looking good :)
Ah yes! that is good stuff…
I never knew the name though.
Since I’ve got a bunch of eggs to use, this sound like breakfast!
Thanks
Oh, and by the way, there’s almost no such thing as original “Israeli” cuisine. Most of the cuisine is just an adaptation from eastern europe or north africa, which came with the Jews who arrived to Israel after WW2. In this case, that version of Shakshuka is indeed from North Africa (Morocco, Lybia, Tunisia, Algir – I think it was popular in all of them), while the feta/spinach version I was talking about earlier, comes from Turkey and Bulgaria.
Just wondering– isn’t a shakshuka originally a Libyan dish? I have no doubt that it might have been adopted by them, but I thought it was interesting that it’s primarily know as Israeli, even though it’s inherently Libyan.
@Sagi – thanks for clearing that up! Didn’t see your comment til I posted mine, sorry!
Congratulations on the awards, they are very well deserved. I just finished reading David Lebovitz’s new book from cover to cover, a feat I have never before accomplished with a cookbook. I noticed that you were mentioned in the acknowledgements and it made me smile.
Huevos Rancheros has always been one of my go-to brunch picks so I can’t wait to try the Israeli version of tomato and eggs. This looks great. Congratulations on the award – I love your blog and cook from it a lot, in fact I just polished off a peanut butter brownie, just one of your recipes that is a regular in my rotation.
Oh my gosh! I am so happy to find this recipe! I have vivid memories of landing in Tel Aviv after a 12 hour flight from JFK (after flying from the West Coast) and being dragged, half asleep, to this little hole in the wall restaurant. The cook spoke no English, and I no Hebrew, so he invited us back to the kitchen to point to what we wanted to eat. I chose the shakshuka. It was amazing.
As far as I’m concerned, it originated right here because that photo stopped me in my tracks. Wow. No offense to the other Shakshukas. Can’t wait to make this:)
I make an Italian sausage stew, and sometimes we put it in baking dishes and bake the stew with eggs in it.. this reminds of me that. Looks really, really good.
Is it a federal crime in America to make minor mistakes or do people just have NO idea how to correct people politely?
I tried a similar recipe last week from the march issue of “body +soul” for tomato soup with poached eggs. It was a very simple and yummy soup, served with garlic toasts. I am looking forward to trying this spicier, saucier version of poached eggs plus tomatoes.
try it with fresh challa, that really makes a difference.
also – on the go, try it in a pita.
@Zoa — My Italian grandmother and great-grandmother also made Eggs In Purgatory. What a great childhood memory!
Yes! I come from an Italian background too. In our family it was called Eggs Pizzaiola. This was a meatless Friday dinner.
This looks fabulous…was actually wanting a recipe…will definitely opt for the Jalepenos (maybe even throw in a 4th or 5th…)
it looks delicious and I`ll try this for sure! thanks!
Don’t agree that Israeli shakshuka uses green bell peppers. Smitten Kitchen has the ingredient list exactly right, other than the feta cheese, which is definitely an original. Some people would even quibble that the onions don’t belong.
Interestingly, food (and people) from Libya are referred to in Israel as “Tripolitanian”, not Libyan. Could be that the Jews from Libya preferred to relate to an elite cultural and colonial identity rather than a Muslim/nationalist one. Similar to Alexandrian Greeks and Jews.
Looks delicious!! Though I live in Israel I hardly ever make shakshuka…
But now I know what to do with all the gorgeous red and green bell peppers I couldn’t help buying :). SAGI is right: we don’t use feta in this dish here but the bell peppers definitely belong in there.
Thanks for all the great recipes!
Great recipe, but one simple correction: It’s definitely not Israeli, it’s an Egyptian dish. Anyway, it’s really tasty and nice..
This is also a classic North African dish. Most Middle Eastern cuisine was fine-tuned and perfected in Ottoman sultans’ kitchens before taking on local colour in the Levant, North Africa and elsewhere.
Looks great! Another bookmark item.
Okay, I think you’ve figured out a nice little scheme here. You hide photos of Jacob so I HAVE to click through to see the entire recipe, I find said photo of Jacob and get my cuteness dosage for the day, and then you entice me with a gorgeous photo spread and words like “onion,” “garlic,” “cumin,” and “feta” peppered throughout, and I can’t help but make a midnight run to the nearby Safeway to buy the missing ingredients.
Yep. A big, delicious scheme with my local supermarket. :)
Looks soo good!
Addendum – Tripolitania was the name of one of the Italian colonies which make up modern day Libya, the other being Cyrenaica. Most of Libya’s Jews lived in Tripoli, and as of 1941, 25% of the city was Jewish. Most of Libya’s Jews left at or near the time that Libya became independant in 1949, which would explain why they refer to themselves as Tripolitanian and not Libyan.
And shakshuka DOESN’T include bell peppers!
Oh my god, that looks so delicious! :)
My 11 year old daughter’s favorite food is shakshuka – since we live in Israel, I guess that’s appropriate. Since she’s also good in the kitchen, I think I’ll have HER make this for dinner one night – thanks!
I expected a to see a completely different dish when I saw the name “shakshuka”, for us,in Turkey, shaksuka is aubergines, green peppers and potatoes deep fried and mixed with a tomato sauce very similar to above. A perfect meze you should also try ! I think the only common thing is the tomato sauce, perhaps sauce is really what shakshuka is. What you cooked above perfectly is called “menemen” here, mostly a breakfast dish.
Anyway as usual the recipe looks perfect ! Congratulations for the Saveur awards !
I’ve come across this same difference! I’m used to the poached egg in tomato soup-y dish that I’ve seen in recipe books. But my Turkish friends have made me “menemen”, which is incredibly similar, and shakshuka which is both amazing and an entirely different beast than this type of shakshuka – small, perfectly cubed vegetables, fried crisp and brown, with a bit of tomato sauce. It’s so interesting to see how these dishes evolve.
Turkish shakshuka is heavenly.
I made something similar a while back, the one you posted previously. I had it for breakfast and loved it. Will try this one too – thanks!
I just made your eggs in tomato sauce for the first time last week! We recently moved to Holland and I’m thinking up all kinds of excuses to use the beautiful golden-yolked eggs that seem to be the standard here. You’ve just given two chili-addicts another egg excuse. (Given that I added a heap of hot red pepper flakes to your original recipe, I’m thinking this firey one is right up our alley.) Dank je wel.
In my house we eat it friday morning with a fresh Hallah and its even better then pita!
It is wonderful how such a simple dish can be so very fulfilling!
Not to mention tasty and healthy!!
Just made this (well sort of, I halved some bits, and not others) – but it is tasty. And I don’t really like tomato based sauces. Or eggs. But this is nicely spicy, lots of textures and nice burst of saltyness and eggy bits that don’t really taste like eggs
All the clamor about who really gets to claim shakshuka and what constitutes an “authentic” shakshuka recipe made me do some quick and superficial digging. I found this story, and it made me smile: http://www.jewishfederations.org/page.aspx?id=70870
If you don’t have time or desire to copy and paste the link, a good summation of its Israeli-ness is in this quote: “Listening to the heated debate, I began to ponder whether shakshuka may be an extended metaphor for Israeli society. Like the men in the tent, shakshuka, too, had multiple origins, immigrated from different countries and cultures and was infused with foreign influences. Like the men in the tent, shakshuka has transcended its origins and transformed into a bona fide Israeli.”
looks great. I’m always looking for interesting veggie dishes and this looks like a winner. Can’t wait to try it
shakshuka, chakchouka, chatchouka, shaksuka, Arab, Jew, Ottoman, Maghrebin, Berber.
As with hummus and falalfel, we’d do very well to look towards a future that allows us all our rightful place at the dinner table, sharing a laugh. Mostly at ourselves would be good.
I live in Turkey where we also have a similar dish – called menemen. But the eggs are usually stirred into it in the last few minutes, rather than poached. Just tried your version and it’s great too. I agree, good crusty bread is key for soaking up the juices. We don’t usually use cheese but I’ll have to try some white cheese with it.
I don’t really care where this recipe comes from, it looks great and I want to eat it right now!
@Sasa – Hehe, very good, I completely agree! Btw, I had a look at you blog, the apple mousse sounds fab, will give it a go this weekend!
@Tamsin, thanks, hope it goes well! I’m all for a bit of debate but there’s no need to be rude…
Shakshuka eggs are hugely popular in Don Dhet island in the 1000 Islands area of Laos bizarrely – the story is that they only cooked very Laotian style dishes (read: fish head soup) and homesick Israelis taught them how to make these eggs and they’ve been on the menus ever since!
Sweet, Sweet, Sweet Jacob!
This looks delicious. It’s always at times like these, when I see awesome egg recipes on this site, that I get sad because I don’t like eggs. The smell and the texture, I just can’t take them. And making an egg dish without eggs is um. Challenging, I’m sure. I guess the photos will have to suffice.
OMG, that brought back so many memories. My grandmother used to make it all the time (we’re Egyptian living in Cairo) but I her version was without cheese. I don’t think I’ve had it since she died. Will definitely make it soon.
this looks amazing. going to send it to my daughter in law in texas. this is also a perfect passover dish, without the pita.
I love runny eggs. I love tomato sauce. Give me some good crusty bread and I am so down with this!
OK – first time ‘commenter’ but by no means the first recipe i’ve read and attempted – i’ve been on a “lets lose massive amounts of weight” path and this recipe is perfect – meets all the requirements of my eating plan AND i eat LOADS of eggs – after a year – “boiled” “dry fried” & “scrambled” are more than a little tedious – with tummy grumbling away I read this recipe,then headed for the kitchen. had to use chili flakes instead of jalepenos, and no cumin – but boy oh boy – this was GREAT! perfectly balanced for my meal plan and a fabulously tasty treat … THANKS !!
Never had this, but it sounds pretty delicious!
One problem I’ve always had with shakshuka is that when you cook the eggs on top of the sauce the heating is uneven and the yolks overcook before the whites have set. One possibility is to make a well in the sauce, so the egg has direct contact withthe skillet, or to fry or poach the eggs separately and then add them.
Question: H E L P
My grandson is making this for his history class… Just completed dish & headed to bed… How do we reheat?? Need to bring in tomorrow morning… Hopefull we get reply…
Sorry I didn’t get back to this sooner — tricky to reheat without hard-cooking eggs. You might scoop them out, heat the sauce until simmering and drop them back in. This way they’ll get warm from the heat in the sauce around them but shouldn’t re-cook while it heats.
Beans….chuck some beans in!
@MarkC , make sure that your sauce is not too dry and try putting a lid on the pan for a minute or so after you add the eggs (you can tell that this is probably what was done by the cook in the picture, given the faint white cast to the yolks). Remember that the eggs will continue to cook, even as you serve, so maybe err on the runny side.
This version would make my Muslim Tunisian friends smile in recognition, since they reckon one of the basic difference between their food and that of Jewish Tunisians lay in the amount of garlic used and five cloves suggests that there may be some truth to this. Also, for them, a ‘chatchouka’ can be used to describe something that’s a crazy mess, so I don’t think anyone needs to feel too precious about their own take on it.
Had this for the first time in Israel a few years ago. I really enjoyed it and decided to try the eggs in tomato sauce recipe that you posted… also very good. Excited to try this!
I’m glad to finally see a recipe for shakshuka! I too first tried it at The Hummus Place and fell in love, but then had no way to recreate it. I made up my own recipe, which turned out pretty darn similar to the real deal, but not quite. Now I’ll have to try this recipe!
I had eggs in tomato sauce for dinner last night but this recipe and flavor profile look amazing!
I keep seeing eggs on top of everything (and things that make no sense to me), but this one is worth a try! I love the tomato and the feta together with the seasonings. This will be our next lazy weekend brunch dish!
Shakshuka is a staple in our house, at least once a week I will make it for breakfast. I also mix it up sometimes and make a “green shakshuka” using spinach rather than tomato as a base.
Thanks for the recipe. I love shakshuka and eat it all the time when I am in Israel. Haven’t found anyplace in Philadelphia that makes it, though, so I guess I’ll have to make it myself! Jennifer (comment number 12) said her friend used some unlabeled spice. It was most likely zatar (probably spelled wrong). If you can’t find it at a market or spice store near you, it can be ordered online at Penzeys.
What a strange and interesting name for a dish. Never heard it before. Looks good though.
Magda
Sounds just like a dish I make called Eggs in Purgatory. Yum!
Wow that looks amazing. I’ve seen it twice over the past week so I think that’s a sign…
Wow! looks delicious! we make a similar dish in Spain called ‘eggs in the oven’. usually you add some kind of sausage, the tomato sauce, onion and then the egg on top and bake it in the oven in a clay dish… your dish brought back memories from childhood! :)
I’ve been going crazy over all things egg lately, baking them, soft boiling them, dipping them in soy sauce, and now you tease me with this. Once I figure out how to poach an egg, this makes my list.
I too made the Saveur recipe for this! It is delightful, isn’t it?
You mentioned shakshuka in passing a while back, and I’ve been hoping you’d write a post on it. Something this delicious needs to be shared with the world!
I use a recipe from the Boston Globe, and I love making it because it uses ingredients I always have on hand. But I’m eager to try your version; I’ve never seen it with feta before.
drooling, and I already had breakfast. tomorrow is another day :) am loving getting your recipes delivered to me! one request to improve your amazing blog: would you consider putting the option of printing the recipe with photo on the print page? I frequently print out an extra copy for a friend with similar food loves, and I’d love to have a photo on it for her, and to remind me when I’m leafing through recipes.
…but they call a similar Mexican dish migas or chilaquiles, only with tortillas… Yes, yes, there are similar dishes all around the world, because eggs adapt to just about anything and tomatoes are awesome. Point is, there’s no need to be nasty and “correct” Deb; she’s incredibly knowledgeable, but not even Deb has the pedrigree on every single dish out there.
There is room at the table for all of our recipe variants and for all of us. All of us must eat, so let us sit down at the table with gratefulness and joy. Shakshuka looks delicious, Deb – my sweetheart and I will surely add this to our rotation soon. Thanks.
Israeli? Really? I grew up on this dish in Egypt… I thought it was a North African dish. I guess all dishes in the Middle East have now become officially “Israeli”. Regardless, absolutely delicious!
“All dishes in the Middle East have now officially become ‘Israeli'” — I hardly think that was suggested!
I am surprised to wake up this morning and find that there is so much debate (and so much argument) over the origins of this dish. Variants of this dish exist all over the world. I called this version Israeli because a) the name is Israeli, b) the place that inspired me to make my own version is Israeli and c) the original recipe I used is Israeli. Thus, this version of the dish, for all intents and purposes, is Israeli. As for the Israeli version, its clearest origins are Lbyian. But I enjoy (and am hungry thinking about) all of the other international versions people have described.
One disadvantage of having automatically-approved comments is that unpleasantness that I’d otherwise weed out (comments clearly to incite argument, not to enrich a conversation) go right through even when I’m away from the computer. An advantage, however, is that you don’t need me around to have lively conversation! And so it goes…
Mark — Where do you see bell peppers?
Thank you for these words, Deb. The emphasis on this blog is, and should be the sharing of recipes. This particular recipe shows how one great idea was probably conceived by many fine cooks around one area of the world and then shared with others. It has now come to cooks in th U.S. who will use the ingredients both available and popular in our communities to make variations on this delicious dish. That’s not appropriation, it’s sharing.
Hmmm…interesting! Looks very, very good. I’ve never heard of this dish, but I dig all of the ingredients.
I just had this dish in Israel 2 wks ago … it’s delicious
I’ve done the Italian version from the Sopranos cookbook (don’t judge! there are some good recipes in there!) but this looks delicious too, can’t wait to try it.
Great post and awesome photos!! :D
I keep seeing shaksuka all over the web and I’d never heard of it until this year. I can’t wait to try it!
Wow, I’ve cracked an egg into my favorite tomato sauce before, but this spices things up. But Deb, still not sure why you keep using those particular tomatoes. Recently, at least in NYC, there has been a big shipment of real D.O.P. San Marzano’s (La Valle in the green can) that are so superior to anything else I’ve used. Slightly pricey, but the real thing!
Thanks for this latest recipe from the best cooking blog out there.
Stuart — I use those tomatoes because I a) like the flavor and b) they come out of the can absolutely flawless, stunning. Unbroken.
Not sure this is what you want to hear about your blog, but I finally had to let you know that I click over here every time you post, even when I have zero interest in whatever recipe you’re writing about (like this one – not a fan of spicy or tomato), just to see Jacob. So, uh, I guess that means keep posting him? He’s simply scrumptious (which I say despite being completely biased in favor of my own scrumptious 8-month-olds).
I’m very conflicted because I hate tomatoes and their sauce derivatives, but this looks really good! On a grammar note: “you may of shrugged” should really say may have. :)
Allison — Thanks, fixed.
Omg! I looooove to break an egg in my tomato pasta sauce, so I’m really gonna make this soon!
I love shakshuka! I made a tunisian version a few months back and was totally blown away by how easy and yummy it is! espeically good with a big loaf of freshly made bread!!
Deb, hope you have an awesome day! Thanks for all you do!
Eggs in Pergatory were in a recent Bon Ap, were very similar, and were gone as soon as they came out of the oven! Yum.
That looks amazing, I guess I’ve got our weekend breakfast covered.
It looks realy good but not easy to do this :/ but I try it! Thanks!
Wow, that looks great. I’ve never heard of it, but it sounds like it would be right up my alley.
Try this topped with za’atar, too. Delicious. There was a recipe for it in the NY Times a few years ago and we’ve been making it ever since.
WOW, I’ve never heard of this before. It looks scrumptious.
okay, this convinces me. I’m either making this tonight, or making my bi-weekly sojourn to Hummus Place….
I just made Shakshuka ( my version) yesterday for a light dinner.We do love it in our family.
Wow…I’ve never heard of this dish. The eggs ans spiciness make it something I would probably like.
I’ve made one of the other variants of this dish, and ran out of san marzanos last night (when I used them for a huge messa minestrone). I loved the version I made, but I am always needing to re-search for where I saw the recipe. Your version looks more like my cup of tea and absolves me of looking for it over and over again! Thank you!
Your recipes are always fascinating, even when they are not something I would ordinarily try. This one is particularly interesting, both in its own concept and in the discussion. I have made many of your recipes and they are, so far, universally successful! For those who, like me, have an aversion to getting stuff all over our hands (and under long fingernails, in themselves a food safety issue), I suggest breaking the tomatoes with a potato masher. It works fast and doesn’t splatter.
My grandmother Maria used to make eggs like this when I was a little girl. We are 100% Italian. They were called “Eggs in Purgatory.” Very similar to this dish you call Shakshuka. I don’t think she used green bell pepper. Very similar though. I can still smell the tomatoes cooking……..yummy. I would definitely try this one. Love your website!!!
I love the variety of ethnic foods that you find to try and then offer them to us for our eating experience. I learn much from the information that your readership contributes, too, even when the discussion gets heated! I think we can all relate a recipe that is familiar that is a variation on the named dishes found throughout the world. Ingredients vary depending on what’s plentiful or in season, so a name may be the given based on the origin of the adaptation. It’s okay! Adaptation is what we all do to suit our circumstances and wonderful things come from it!
So funny…”must I be forced to make my own food again”?
That’s the kind of thing I often think.
I tore out this recipe from a magazine a few weeks ago. Glad to hear it’s as good as it sounds.
looks yum. question? Anyone have any suggestions on wine/drinks to pair with middle-eastern/israeli food? want to make a little dinner per your suggestion and was wondering what might be a good drink to pair.
thanks as always Deb!
That looks great! I think I would eat anything if it had an egg on it. Salads, soups, you name it. I have an egg-problem. Especially soft poached eggs.
Thanks!
Bless You!
Aww! I love that you took a picture of Jacob just staring in AWE at the restaurant. It’s adorable.
Markef at comment 68 and Susan at comment 123, you both nailed it! And thanks to Deb for the recipe and “stirring the pot!”
Pride in ownership and cultural identity are so important, but only when our migratory paths cross and merge, do we finally have the ability to see what we share in common. Let that be a beacon for a better future-for all of humanity.
This looks so appetizing. Eggs, tomato, feta. Yum. I think I will make this w/o the chillies for my little one. Perhaps some small kid size ones.
ok…this looks and sounds great! do you think that increasing the quantity of eggs without increasing the quantity of sauce might be a problem? i have two teenaged sons and so 6 eggs between 4 people is just not going to do it for them…i was thinking i might need to put in 8.
nancy — No. The original recipe used the same amount of sauce for 8 eggs. The shakshuka we like is a little saucier, so I dialed the eggs back.
Leigh — Use either. I used Hungarian, not smoked.
I love shakshuka… I get it at the B-Cup cafe on 13th and B… i used to live on St Mark’s though and LOVED the hummus place… of course now that I’m a little further north I won’t have as many opportunities to spot you and your handsome buddy
I plan on making and reviewing this dish later (looks FAB!), but…:
KRIS: my bf works in the wine business and he said a few things. First, avoid red wines with a lot of tannins or that are high alcohol. If you must go with a red wine, try a chilled Lambrusco (there are two types, both sparkling – rose and a red – both are DELISH…the rose might be awesome). He says you might be able to get away with a Pinot Noir as well, but a rose/white sounds better to me. For a fun rose, he recommended the South of France (he said try Tavel or D’Anjou), and for a white, try a Riesling Kabinett (pref. from Mosel Valley in Germany), an Arneis (from Italy), or Gruner Veltliner (from Austria). You could also try a low-alcohol sweet wine – Moscato d’Asti.
I don’t know as much about wine as he does, but I’ve had all of the above and love each one.
Sounds like a fun dinner!
My heart leaps with joy!
Why not offer the real israeli ingredients of using fresh tomatoes, usually the ones that got mushy and need to either be thrown out or turned into Shakshukah night!!!
Dennie
Nes Ziona, Israel
I am new to your website and have fallen in love. Thank you for inspiring me in the kitchen again. I can’t wait to make this tonight, it looks so amazing.
Sounds awesome, and like a brunch thing I used to get at my favorite Greek cafe in Boston. Question: Regular paprika or smoked?
I started buying this same brand of tomatoes and fell in love! So this year I will be attempting to grow my own San Marzano tomatoes with the hopes that I may be able to can a few!
thanks deb. I was wondering what i should have for dinner. What unique way to go budget and meatless. I’m afraid to use my fancy can of san marzanos- but if you think this is worth it, i’ll give it a try.
Jeni — No reason to use your fanciest tomatoes. Well, I mean, I like good tomatoes in a dish where they are the main event, but no reason to go over-budget for what should be a simple, affordable meal.
By some strange cosmic coincidence I have ALL of the ingredients for this in the fridge! Thanks for doing my meal-planning for me, Deb.
OK, I’m sold! I’m making this for dinner tonight…sounds great!
I just did a little happy dance – I have a big can of those tomatoes in my pantry and a dozen local pastured eggs in the fridge. I know what we’re having for breakfast tomorrow! And that picture of Jacob is verging on illegal levels of cuteness. He has the best expressions – he looks like such a sweet baby.
Oh, I so want to try this but I’m having visions of ruining it all at the last minute because I can’t poach an egg, let alone do it IN a yummy looking tomato sauce.
Please someone reassure me that it’s easier than it sounds/looks or maybe give me some helpful tips? Thanks!
Do I have to make up a new name for every recipe in which I change an ingredient? Does it really matter what a recipe is called or where it “officially” comes from? (or do I have to say “the area from which it comes?) (no, wait, fromwhereforth it originated -dang, this recipe thing is confusing!). I guess, just to be safe, when I make this I’ll call it Yummy Saucy Eggs. (kind of like when I make quiche. I tell my kids it’s Cheesy Egg Pie, so they’ll eat it!) :o)
Just joined your site a few days ago, found your earlier recipe and came home to cook it for dinner. It was fab, but this one looks even better! Thanks for sharing!
It is always great to find a new fix for quick lunch or dinner, and waist friendly too!
@Paula D – Lafayette Hill : Funnily enough even tough I am Italian, I never heard of ‘egg in purgatory’! You never stop learning, do you? And I think that for filology’s sake it is nice and sometimes surprising to know the origin of a dish, and it is certainly interesting to know it comes from Lybia, but still, I don’t think it changes much in practice: a dish belongs to whoever cooks it or eats it. For example I’m ready to even admit that nowadays pizza is as much American as it is Italian. They exist as two separate entities, and we have to admit it.
i love love love shakshuka. out here in la la land the go-to place for it is the hummus bar! they are kosher, so no cheese in it – so tell me how you do the haloumi. i LOVE haloumi – but how do you integrate into this dish? sounds amazing. may be dinner tonight with some challah. thanks!
dana — They are Kosher but they are not a meat restaurant. They will put haloumi on if you ask and it is wonderful. However, it is mostly cubed within the stew, less broiled.
heather — It is literally no effort. This isn’t like trying to keep and egg together in simmering water. You plop it in and the thick sauce does 99% of the work. It’s a messy dish, no perfectly wrapped poached eggs needed.
Robyn — It’s called the Hummus Place. (I link to it above.) There are a couple locations … their hummus is beyond. Light, creamy and heavy on the nuttiness.
Re, Eggs in Purgatory — You all probably know by now my attraction to any dish with an awesome name. (See: above.) Thus, obviously I have to try this next.
An overdue thank you — To reader Rebecca who had sent me this recipe with her approval in January. I’d gave me just the nudge I needed!
Deb, I’ll have you know that because of you I have broken my New Year’s resolution: I have a big stack of recipes I’ve printed from the internet that I haven’t gotten around to trying yet.This past December I decided I couldn’t print anymore until I had gotten through at least half of that stack. I was doing fine…until I found your blog a few days ago. Now the stack is growing again. I have to get cooking!
Love the pictures of Jacob! I just love cute little dimpled baby hands =)
sorry, my typing is already off for the weekend.. I meant
‘even though’ and ‘philology’.
This looks amazingly yummy. I am excited about making it.
I was going to post to say this is a Tunisian dish! But someone already did.
I’ve seen something similar called “Eggs in Hell” in Readymade magazine from “How to Cook (Eat?) a Wolf” which was apparently an amazing cookbook.
Deb,
Here is a south Indian variation for you-add coconut milk and leave out the feta/parsley.Very yummy!
Binsy
hi deb!
i’m the new yorker who saw you and the fam that day but didn’t say hello! i’ve since moved to the east village and would love to know the name of your local restaurant you mentioned for this dish. perhaps i’ll see you around again and say hello this time! i also still want to buy your pomegranate photo! thanks for the great recipe!
Great Dish, beautiful photos.
I just want to clarify the origin of this dish, the Walima Challenge for March was representing the Tunisian Cuisine and Shakshouka was our savoury dish …..
This dish, with many variations, is a popular breakfast in North Africa, especially in Algeria and Tunisia. Jewish Immigrants from the Maghreb Al Arabi have made this a popular breakfast dish in Israel.
How have I never heard of this?? I love poached eggs over anything, esp saucy tomato broth. Thanks for the recipe!
must be that there are lots of versions of poached eggs in tomato sauce! i made a similar dish a while back and it was italian and oh so tasty. i’m sure the chilis and feta add yet another dimension to this recipe though and will definitely try it out sometime!
Fell in love when I saw the pics on your Flickr, so excited to make it now! It’s like my perfect meal, red sauce and eggs. Now if only there were a way to add in the mountain of spring CSA produce about to start choking my fridge…
This is one of those recipes that’s not very exciting sounding and absolutely killer. I had this at a friend’s bridal shower that I was co-hosting. The woman in charge of the main dish told me about this and I thought, “meh…” and then was bowled over when I tasted it.
I’ve been meaning to make it since and keep forgetting…thanks for the recipe!
I’ve only had shakshuka with scrambled eggs, and i’ve never made it myself…sadly, I don’t live near any real live israeli restaurants…I might just have to try this…
Congratulations on winning the well-deserved awards! You are one of my favorite places to visit on the interwebz. This looks scrumptious.
First of all, Congratulations on the Saveur Food Blog award! You certainly have earned it!
When I opened the page today, I saw the title and thought: “Shakshuka? What’s tha…..Ohhhhhhh. I want that!!”
I may make it tonight, it looks fabulous.
I have been guiltily dipping into your beautiful website for some months now, making many of your recipes, turning my friends on to it, raving about the writing, photos, your son, etc., etc. I feel like an NPR listener who doesn’t pay! Congratulations on your well-deserved award from Saveur — you definitely deserve it. I would’ve voted if I had known about it. The Shakshuka looks fabulous and it will be the center of my next brunch or light dinner. Love it! Thanks, & keep ‘um coming…
A similar recipe for Shakshuka was posted at Sunday Suppers with a few variations that included the use of harissa which I love (and may simplify the recipe a little).
Just made this for dinner it was great and so quick and tasty! I used 3 jalapenos- maybe a bit much but still good,
I’m just curious if you’ve been to Twelve Chairs? I believe that is the name. My best friend lives in Manhattan and loves this dish from that place. Made me think of her.
I’m excited to try this at home myself.
Ooooooh man that hit the spot :D
http://y3m.net/gal/v/food/shakshuka/
Awww…he’s so cute, and I can’t even squeeze him tight! Oh, man. I need to visit New York, or something. Also, your stroller is off-the-hizzy awesome-tastic; duel facing? Man… :)
Oh my, this sounds delicious. I’ve never tried Shakshuka before, but the combination of ingredients, flavors and textures sounds really good! I may have to add this one to my growing collection of Mediterranean recipes.
Love, love, love. Will be making this tonight. I’m already thinking of all the variations….peas & curry, coconut milk, lentils, capers, spinach, carrots & celery….yum!
Thanks also for speaking up about that “debate.” Unfortunately, some people just cannot stand to NOT be rude to others. :)
This is exactly like a dish we make in Albania! Another version of it uses spinach instead of the tomatoes, delicious all the same!
This is too freaky! Google gave me your “huevos rancheros” recipe this morning, but it was just an egg friend on top of a tortilla (still delicious, but not the kick I was looking for). This recipe is MUCH more huevos rancheros worthy!!
yum. comments from someone who lives in Israel (where this dish is very popular):
– first of all – the world is divided into two groups – those who like their shakshuka with whole eggs (as above) and those who like them scrambled into the sauce. try it both ways.
– also, most shakshukas that I’ve met/cooked use a lot of onions – for this amount I would use 3-4 large onions, peeled and cubed.
– for cook-ahead fans: this is a great dish to cook ahead. make the sauce and refrigerate or freeze for future use, adding the eggs when you reheat.
– and it’s really really good piled into a good crusty bread.
I think I will be making this for breakfast tomorrow morning when I inevitably wake up with a hangover. I’ll have to go get some of my favorite (and horrible for you) deep fried pita chips to go with it.
This may be popular in Israel but it is NOT an Israeli dish.
It is an Arab dish along with Hummus, falafel, shawirma, etc. Israel was created in 1947 and Arabs were eating these foods a long time before that.
Lately, I was thinking to make some dish similar to this. But didn’t know that it is called Skakushka. I was thinking to make it in individual ramekins for a tapas party and serve it with a slice of garlic bread.
Having recently discovered your recipe for eggs in tomatoes I’m really pleased to discover a new twist on it. It’s so simple that I’ve been tempted to cook it every breakfast, dinner and lunch every day, so thank you for sharing this. Can’t wait to serve it up for Sunday brunch.
Man, when I saw the title I wasn’t that interested in the dish, but then I saw the photo of the finished product and totally wanted to eat some. Thanks for the beautiful post.
Just wanted to let everyone know that I recently tried both the tomato sauce (could it be any easier?) and the NY deli rye. OMG, I can actually cook something, my family eats it, and says “Where’d you get this”? Thank you Deb for making me a better women!
I’ve been wanting to make this for a long time. You’ve inspired me. It will happen within a week!
I’m an israeli and I have some remarks :
1) You eat it with a plain bread or Halla bread but definitely not with Pita bread.
2)The classic version is without the feta cheese.
3) It’s a whole meal, there is no need for a side dish. You just take a really large portion.
Oh my, those expressions – does Jacob know how many people he doesn’t know are smiling because of him?
This looks so good! I’ll have to try it. Btw, I gave you a blog award on my blog.
great idea to make shakshuka! i love it at miriam in park slope, where it’s on the brunch menu (along with mediterranean crispy dough, which is amazing, and if you learned how to make it i’d be in your debt).
I make a similar version but I adapted it from Dr. Shakshouka’s recipe. I put in red peppers and leave out the cheese and chilies since Im not really a fan of kick. A lot of sephardi grandmothers will leave the sauce simmering for hours before making the dish! It is as easy or hard as you want to make it. When I am in a real rush I fry up some red pepper, onions, fresh tomatos and garlic and dump in a jar of prepared tomato sauce. I served it with toasted french stick type bread to dip in the sauce. It’s low fat, filling and delicious!
this looks so delicious– i am going to have to give it a try. i LOVE that there are eggs in there. i looked up photos of other shakshukas on google image, and you definitely did the egg thing perfectly.
Ooohhh this looks like a nice eyeopener! Yum. I love your site and your son is SUCH a doll! Thanks for all the great recipes. I still make your blueberry boy bait :)
Cheers!
Deb
Looks amazing! I’m always needing new vegetarian dinner ideas. Can’t wait to try this!
deb, there was a recipe for eggs in purgatory in march’s bon appetite. hoping to try it soon. but, i think i will give this a go first. you can really never have enough eggs in tomato sauce dishes. as always, thank you.
This looks awesome! Thanks for sharing.
This looks awesome. I can’t wait to make it this weekend. I think I am going to make mine without the yolks.
I’m usually a bit afraid of egg dishes–they’re so fragile, and I’m a bit of a klutz–but I jumped at this recipe as soon as I saw it. We LOVE LOVE LOVE it! Thanks for the double-barrel shot of spice and simplicity.
Funny you decided to post this now, did you know that Israel’s independence day is around the corner? (this year it falls on April 20th)
We make our shakshuka a little different, we use a lot of red and green bell peppers (and some hot ones) and a lot of onions and just enough tomatoes to make it saucy, I like to char the peppers first in the cast iron skillet, it makes them sweet, smoky and delicious!
i used to work in borough park and the dairy restaurant across the street would often have this as their lunch selection. i would always get it if they had it. i’d forgotten all about it! i’ll have to try this.
Wow. Looks like this has been a very heated debat. (Why?) It’s just shakshuka! And, Deb, I think your combination is perfect, I can’t wait to try it. My mom will have to check it out too, she loves a good shakshuka. Thanks! Rachel
I’ve had the Tunisian version of this, that uses harissa and spicy lamb sausage. It’s rockin’. (My next door neighbor is Tunisian.)
This looks fantastic, and I love anything with soft, warm egg yolks, and I LOVE the name of this dish!
Congrats on the award – your photography is always stunning.
I am from Morocco and familiar with this dish. Your recipe looks mouth-watering!
man, this dish looks fantastic!
I made this tonight, and it is fantastic! I went a little spicier, with a full 5 anaheims, as you suggested, and I’m glad I did. I dig spicy, and it had just the right amount of slow, creeping heat. Not ‘hot’ by any stretch, but…yum.
Also, I had been looking for this recipe (or one like it) for months after seeing it on Bourdain or another of the Travel Channel shows, and was just thinking about it the other day, wishing I could ID it. And here it is! Thanks, Deb! :)
Ooh. Shakshuka. (Actually, my recipe I ripped out of an old Sunset spells it shaksouka.) Like it! And it’s so easy. Here are my notes after making it when we in the middle of a contractor cleanup from a house flood:
“This dish was comprised of canned tomatoes, some spices, and two eggs. It took five minutes to prep and cooked in twenty in one pan on the stove.
The oven was not required, nor multiple pots, nor multiple drawers, etc. I did have to use my mortar and pestle, which I rinsed in the sink”.
I want to say mine only called for dried chili powders and coriander along with the cumin and paprika. Fortunately I had some leftover chopped onion from the day before.
I had mine with toasted bread; it was great. In future I would probably throw some spinach on the side, so long as we had no contractors around.
Hi there. Sorry to ask what is probably a very stupid question, but what do you mean by ‘ baste the whites of the eggs with tomato mixture’? As far as I know, basting is simply a word for cooking something in either it’s own juices, or some other juice, correct? If that is right, well… aren’t the egg whites already IN the tomato sauce? Two lines before we are told to break the eggs into the sauce…
Apologies again for being potentially very stupid, but I’m not a very experienced cook! Looking forward very much to taking a crack at this though – a friend of mine has been trying your recipes and literally raving about them.
Steven — No such thing as stupid questions! You’re spooning the sauce gently over the egg whites, helping bury the eggs only very slightly in the sauce so they cook more evenly (and not just underneath).
Ohmygoodness, these were SO good!!!
This popped up on my blog reader just as I was putting together my shopping list for this week and it sounded so good.. I couldn’t wait to get home and start cooking it for a quick dinner. I had to buy some ground cumin, it’s not something I’ve ever cooked with before so thank you for adding another spice to my repertoire!
I’d encourage everyone who’s thinking this sounds like a pretty tasty recipe to give it a go – it’s definitely going to be on high rotation in my kitchen!
So easy and so yummy! I halved the recipe and had it for dinner tonight and am looking forward to trying it already again – perhaps for a lazy Sunday breakfast in the morning! :)
Yummmm!
Made this last night with well cooked eggs – the sacrifices of pregnancy – and it was wonderful! Can’t wait to eat the last couple eggs for lunch. What a great, simple, recipe. Thanks, Deb!
Just made this this morning and it was fantastic. Halved the recipe (there’s only two of us) but made it with 4 eggs. Could’ve even gone with 5 because I love eggs so much, though the sauce-to-egg ratio worked well.
Thanks for the scrumptious weeknight meal idea!!! On the menu for this week- can’t wait.
I didn’t plan on making this last night, but ended up with a hungry friend who is vegetarian and one thing lead to another. It was absolutely delicious! I wasn’t quite sure what you meant by basting the eggs, but found the answer in the comment section. And scooped into a whole wheat pita… well, I just ate breakfast and still, I’m salivating at the thought of last night’s dinner. Thanks!
I can’t tell you how much I’m loving your blog. At least once a week you serve up something I’ve never heard of but that miraculously combines flavors I already love and relative simplicity and good left-over potential (which is key, as I usually only cook for myself).
Thanks!
Deb, looks fantastic as always. The other weekend, had a dish with an interesting take on this at a franco-mexican restaurant in spanish harlem: poached eggs in a tomatillo broth with cactus leaf. it was pretty fantastic. i’ll have to try this recipe out for a sunday brunch sometime.
I am Armenian from Iran and my family makes a version of this with fresh tomatoes and hot peppers as well. I haven’t had it in years, though we have been making “Eggs in Purgatory” that we learned from a Mario Batali cooking show and that many have noted above as being very similar.
For those who insist that this is an Arab not an Israeli dish or whatever, please stop it. Those of us who are interested in studying and eating different kinds of food know that we can find versions of many dishes scattered throughout regions. Why wouldn’t the Israelis have a version of this dish? Rather than fighting over the origins of a dish, why not just share our experiences of different versions of it and stop with the blatant prejudicial remarks?
Perfect, Audrey.
I lived in Israel for 5 years and never heard of this dish till now! That being said, I made this for dinner last night for my boyfriend and I. It was wonderful! Next time I visit Israel I’m definitely going to try it at a cafe. Thanks for another great recipe.
This is also a Palestinian dish.
Mmm, I love shakshuka. Sadly I always have to make my own. No place in sight around here that makes it.
I never cooked it in a pot though – always in a skillet – but somehow it seems like a better idea.
“Mark, where do you see bell peppers?”
Not in your recipe, but some of your posters, who happen to be Israeli, claim that the dish takes bell peppers, which I, living in Israel for the last fifteen years, dispute. However, I agree that it’s silly to argue over these things, and my comments were offered only as a matter of cultural interest. By the way (and not to be argumentative) I doubt that shakshuka is an “Israeli” word. It isn’t Hebrew, but Arabic, and although I am no expert, it sounds like a strange kind of Arabic – like maybe Berber or something. I’ll have to ask an Arabic-speaking friend. If I find the derivation of the word, I will post it.
I can also understand why people from Arabic countries would feel miffed that people describe their dishes as Israeli. As someone else remarked, dishes like hummus and shakshuka existed long before Israel was created. I think the only authentic Israeli food might be Israeli couscous (or “ptittim” – a kind of pasta, and not to be confused with North African couscous.)
could you use pickled jalapenos instead of fresh one?
This looks awesome.
oh yeah, we dug it, too. made it for the first time over Christmas, and it shocked me and delighted me in equal measure (so good! so easy! soooo gooood!!)
Looks delicious and like something my brother would enjoy!
Sima’s comment is weird. There’s lots of shakshuka here in Israel! Never mind, I like your version! Thumbs up.x
Made this for supper last night and it was fantastic and quick. Just what I needed thank you for the recipe.
I was having a bummer day yesterday so my best friend whipped this up for me after we drooled over the post all day. She added ground lamb to the tomato stuff and it was amazing in every way. I’m looking forward to trying this with some veggie friends too!
So in comment No. 2, someone mentions Jacob. Where is he…going after hummus? I even played that stupid mascara-serum commercial thinking it was a video. Jacob? Please?
Jean — I usually make people find it, but nobody should have to watch a mascara commercial. ;) “My little buddy” is a link, in the last paragraph.
YES. This looks very much like MFK Fisher’s Eggs in Hell from How to Cook a Wolf… I tried that a few months ago and it was wonderful, but the spicier version looks even more intriguing! Congratulations on the photography honors! You sure earned it.
Robin – Cafe Ole in Old City makes this most days, although I’ve never tried it. Now I am craving their iced chai.
Deb – This might be a silly question and does not pertain to the recipe at all (although it looks delish), but I’m about 7 months pregnant and am curious as to what would be your top 5 baby items?!
Yum – can’t wait to try this. They used to serve something similar at the boarding school where I worked in Germany (I can’t remember what they were called in German, but I’m pretty sure there was a connection with hell or the devil, so I guess I was eating Eggs in Purgatory). It was my favourite dish on the rotating menu – it was served on a Friday once a month, always accompanied by nutmeg-y mashed potatoes. Perfect comfort food.
Score! I made eggs with tomato on toast a few weeks ago, and my friend that came over to try it and said that she loved the Israeli version of the dish, which I’d never heard of! I’m assuming that this is it! Slightly different since the Italian version suggests that you mix the egg whites in with the tomato sauce so the egg yolks just sit on the sauce, but I imagine it tastes very similar. I’m gonna try this tonight! Looks amazing!
http://www.acozykitchen.com/eggs-with-tomato-on-toast/#more-2539
OK…so that sounds really good….but other comments….love the green baby blanket. Did you knit that???
I’ve just discovered your blog today and I’ve got to say that this dish sounds DELICIOUS. I poked around, and every recipe thus far is pure gold! I can’t wait to start trying out these tasty looking things!
Your baby boy is ADORABLE! What fun he must be :)
I made this dish about 2 hours after you posted the recipe. It smelled wonderful and was warm and surprisingly filling. I used 3 jalapeños and although I’m not big on spice, I will toss at least 2 more in next time!
As for all of these comments about the origins of the recipe– no dish is exclusively from or BY one culture. Cross pollination happens and cultures, traditions, food, art, it all is influenced by time and place. When you listen to Spanish flamenco music, how can you say you don’t hear the Arab influences? When you listen to Hawaiian ukulele music, you’re actually listening to an instrument native to Portugal, but the Hawaiians incorporated it into a music that’s their own. That’s like saying Jazz is 100% American music. It’s a musical BYPRODUCT of African slave songs, blues, and American instrumentation.
So to the people barking “It’s from LIBYA!” at this poor woman, chill out.
I’m not a bit commenter, but this recipe made my day. I spent four and a half months living in Tel Aviv last year and fell in love with Shakshuka. I’ve tried it once since I got home, but it was not a great recipe. I can’t wait to try this one. I really enjoy your site. Thanks for keeping it up!
Okay, this is a new one for me. However, when you say poached eggs in anything, I’m sold. This sounds very intriguing and I’m excited to try it.
We just had a Spanish dish that was a bit similar-chorizo and eggs baked in a spicy red sauce. But this looks even better, especially with the feta cheese. Yum!
Being an incurable nerd, I had to get to the bottom of the origins of shakshuka, and the final word seems to be that there is no definitive answer. As the following article explains, the debate about where shakshouka comes from, and what the true ingredients are, rages on:
http://www.thejc.com/lifestyle/food/20762/shakshuka-israel%E2%80%99s-hottest-breakfast-dish
Claudia Roden, the foremost expert in Sephardic Jewish cooking, claims that while many versions of shakshuka exist throughout the Muslim world, the version posted on Smitten Kitchen was indeed developed in Israel.
Finally, there is a Hebrew word – leshakshek- which means to scramble or mix-up, however, it is also entirely likely that this word comes from Arabic, so the mystery remains unsolved.
I think the version of shakshuka that you shared seems very interesting and looks quite tasty. Im actually familar with the dish, however, its the egyptian version, which isnt quite as spicey and includes scallions and cut up tomatoes and peppers along with chopped onions.. the eggs are then scrambled into the mix after the other ingredients have had sometime to sweat on the stove.. interesting to see how recipes can be so similar but still quite different from region to region…
ugh, what are you doing to me?! do you see what time it is?! (o.k. you don’t… but it’s 3:27 in the morning).
this looks absolutely fabulous. and I’m not much of an egg or tomato sauce person, but I just had to wipe my mouth when I saw this picture.
& if anyone messes with you, your blog i.e. spelling, history stuff…, I’m in brooklyn, so just let a sistah know!
=0)
This looks so appetizing. What a great idea for a vegetarian dish.
Indeed something that I never heard, nor seen before. Congrats on the wins. Well-deserved.
i’m familiar with eggs in purgatory, so was very interested in trying this. we made it last night, a few notes:
1. it was way too liquidy. i let it cook longer than the 15 minutes and it was still very wet. this was ok while the eggs were cooking, but once i tried taking them out, the liquid to chunky sauce ratio was off. i poured off the extra liquid and next time will not add the extra 1/2 cup water. it could be the type of tomatoes i used had more liquid – we have limited choices in my part of canada.
2. it was not spicy. i used 3 jalapenos, seeded and stemed. they added great flavour, but it was very mild. next time i’ll put in a few of the seeds to give it some kick.
Great looking recipe – will definitely try it this week. I think this dish would also go really nicely with Turkish bread and merguez sausages, which are slightly spicy lamb sausages. Yum!
Sounds delicious!! Have to try this
This looks delicious. My sister is in Israel now. I think I will make this part of her welcome home meal. Thank you for all your delicious recipes and photographs.
I really liked the tomato sauce, and would probably make it again for some pasta. It was yummy. I had to substitute for the peppers, so I used a few small thai peppers and a sprinkle of dried pepper. It was great scooped on some toasted sourdough bread.
I didn’t care for the eggs, which is a main component of the dish, and I didn’t like the feta. I had set the feta aside so the family could put on as much or little as they liked. My first helping was with egg and feta, the second was the sauce scooped up with toast:) Did I mention I really liked the sauce:)
Congrats on your award, totally deserved. I love your site and get so much inspiration from it.
This looks wonderful, though I imagine not great for leftovers…. your recipes are always amazing and tasty! Thank you!
When I’ve looked at recipes for shakshuka in the past, they often recommend that you roast the peppers first—I usually pierce them w/ a fork and hold it over the open stove flame. Is this necessary or does the saute do the trick?
Shakshuka is absolutely spectacular. Nothing like freshly made eggs with tomatoes and peppers. It goes great with a fresh loaf of bread, some tachine, hummus, and Israeli (Middle Eastern) salad! I love having this for breakfast, lunch, or dinner!
This is one of my very favorite brunch dishes! With some warm toasted pita… my mouth is watering! I actually usually add a bit of diced eggplant to the tomato sauce as well, which gives the sauce itself a heartier texture that I like. I may have to make this for dinner tomorrow. Yum!
This sounded interesting so I made it today with a few adjustments. I don’t really like peppers and so I never buy them. I used a can of rotel instead lol. Even with overcooking the eggs a bit this was very tasty. Jacob is adorable and he’s getting so big!
So good! So happy that I tried it tonight!
I LOVED this dish – I made it this morning and it tasted amazing…and it looked just like the photo (well, home cooked stuff never looks like the best blog/magazine picture, so I am thrilled to have produced a picturesque dish…) It was fantastic, even better when it cooled down a bit and was less of a hazard (I am nursing a burn on the roof of my mouth, but it was all worth it!) , and it will be coming back for our Sunday breakfasts a lot. Thank YOU! I read regularly but never post.
FANTASTIC! This was amazing. I have made many things from this site (but never posted before), and you never fail! Your website is totally inspiring and I get so excited for new posts. Thanks for all the hard work.
My eating partner doesn’t have much experience with the dish – he only knows that the version at Sofra in Cambridge, MA is SUPER tasty! I don’t eat eggs but I concur – it looked mighty good.
I make something similar to this, but I also add red capsicum (pepper on your side of the world) and chorizo. Yum!
i made this with butter beans minus the eggs
My Husband and I made this for lunch on Sat and it was delicious!! We used 2 green chillies and found that was perfect but I wouldnt mind using 1 or 2 more! We absolutely LOVE your website and use it all the time – one of our favourite recipes is the Blueberry Pancakes which I make all the time!! :)
Green chilli’s in this sound like a good idea, it would be good to try it out with a range of chilli’s too like scotch bonnet too. Might try it with Duck eggs for that extra rich flavour
If you use halloumi instead, do you just crumble it over the top like the feta, or do you have to heat it / grill it in any way? Love halloumi but usually add it to roasted veg, so haven’t had it raw! Thanks. This looks yummy.
I’ve never had anything like this before, but I can’t wait to try it..umh ..yummy!
I can confirm that Ana Sortun’s version at Sofra in Cambridge, MA is DELICIOUS!
Thanks so much for your website- my favorite “food porn” site for sure. I made this recipe last night and added shrimp and scallops at the end, as well as the eggs. It was really nice, with a complexity in the sauce that belies the ingredients. I also made the peanut butter cookie recipe on Friday, so delicious as well. Keep up the good work, you are inspiring!
Deb – did you mean until the whites are just set? I think you want the yolks runny, no?
Rikki — Yes. Whites set, yolks runny. If you take them out when the whites are just set (can’t stand clear whites personally, shudder) the yolks should still be loose. If you let the whites cook past the “just set” point, the yolks may not be.
This looks delicious, as a lover of Shakshuka I can’t wait to try. But just a note, I believe the dish is originally Egyptian.
Yum! I’ve made something similar and put the tomato sauce and eggs in individual ramekins. It’s so fun to serve to guests that way! Will be trying your version for sure. (And where oh where did you buy that fab stroller? Jacob is as cute as ever!) <3
First of all, let me say, I love your blog. So many delicious recipes! I made Shakshuka for my family this weekend and it was an EXTREME hit. I admit that when I first described the dish to them, they were quite skeptical, but it turned out beautiful!
Keep the good times rolling!
Deb, I just must confess; I totally went against the spirit of this dish — on the kosher side and on the vegetarian side — by adding a large handful of cubed ham right from the beginning.
Forgive me mother for I have sinned. I have deliciously deliciously sinned.
I am enjoying the commentary to this post almost as much as the post itself. Since I was born in Tripoli, Libya, I may have to give this dish a try. Even if it is from… Israel? Turkey? Egypt? ;)
I don’t understand why people think Israel is trying to “steal” food from its neighbors.
Who cares where hummus came from or who invented shakshuka or how should the small-cubed-veg-salad called – Arab,Israeli,Lebanese…(there was a similar discussion in tha post of yours). just make it, eat it, and that’s it.
In Israel, where I live, the classic way to eat shakshuka is with fresh challa (like Maayan said earlier, in a pita is only ‘to go’), there’s no cheese in it but sometimes there are ‘mergez’ spicy hot dogs in it…
I am eating this right now. I added some frozen peas at the end (gasp!) for green and it’s wonderful, wonderful, wonderful.
I never thought that the combination of eggs and tomatoes would be so delicious, but I really cannot get enough of this dish! Not only did I make it once and eat all the leftovers, i promptly made it again tonight since the leftovers were gone. Although my Israeli friend tells me that the feta is not authentic, I really like the way it combines with the flavors of the dish. I also have been eating this with a healthy dollop of Mediterranean yogurt. Thank you for such a wonderful recipe! I will definitely try this with various veggie combinations in the future!
I’m making this tonight — it looks absolutely delicious. I don’t have any anaheim chiles on hand, so I’m using poblanos, since they’re a common substitute for anaheims. Fingers crossed…
I made this for my two boys. We all loved it! I did less spice, added celery and served with sauteed kale with lemon and challah rolls. We added goat cheese, well two of us. Definately will be making again …. easy and flavorful.
Just a quick note to say congrats on the blog awards, as well as a GIGANTIC thank you for giving us wonderful, easy and interesting recipes with hilarious commentary and gorgeous photos for free. FOR. FREE. That’s right complainers! Not to mention your constant updates in comments and helpful tips.
Love the blog, love the gorgeous photies of Jacob (who, by the way, is growing into a little man – he looks so big in his stroller, eeeeek!) You are a star, lady…
I love Shakshouka! I’m from Egypt and I grew up eating it a lot, though our version is made with ground beef and a lot of fresh tomatoes, and of course eggs! Shakshouka is very popular in Egypt, sometimes it is eaten for breakfast if you have a big crowd.
Regarding the comments about country of origin for this dish, it seems to me that many of the “it’s Libyan” people were probably pointing this out as a matter of cultural interest, not criticism. Mark clarified that he was, and I think we should give others the benefit of the doubt (it’s difficult, afterall, to infer tone from a written comment). I love SK — the recipes, photography and writing are all amazing– but I’ve often thought, reading the comments, that some people are overly sensitive and defensive about anything that might possibly be construed as criticism of Deb. (An just to be perfectly clear, this is not criticism of Deb!). So, I guess what I’m saying is, maybe it’s the “stop criticizing Deb” folks who need to chill a little.
Just had this for dinner – fantastic! My husband was a little bit apprehensive but we both loved it. The perfect thing to warm us up on a chilly, not quite spring day in Alaska. It is supposed to snow 1-4 inches tonight – ick!
So so good. Just wish I had worn rubber gloves while cutting the jalapenos. My fingers are still burning two hours later. But totally worth it!
Made this for me and my girlfriend tonight. Used four Anaheims, but I could have used a jalapeno too. And I substituted cilantro for parsley. Loved it, although I cooked the yolks to solid, girlfriend doesn’t like runny yolks. Thanks for another great recipe.
You inspired me to make this for my dinner 2 nights running – and I enjoyed it equally both nights! I added some chard to the tomatoes and used chilli flakes instead of the chillis – but delicious never-the-less. Thanks!
How inconsiderate of them! Okay I can’t keep up the pretense, because if they’d been open I wouldn’t have had the pleasure to get my (grubby little) paws on this recipe.
PS: Jacob is just adorable – can’t believe he’s so big already!
I made this last night, using poblanos instead of anaheims, since that’s what I had on hand. I also had smoked paprika on hand rather than regular. Hubby and I quite liked the dish, but I think next time I’d add another poblano (or a jalapeno) to spice things up, and I’d use regular paprika, since I thought the smokiness was a bit overwhelming.
A very simple dish — fast, healthy and tasty. What more could you want?
This looks amazing! Eggs are so cheap and versatile! What kind of stroller is the little guy rocking? I have an 8 month old and we are in need of something slick and functional :)
Hey Deb,
I’m a silent reader – I think it’s the first time I’m commenting here. This post really made me smile. As a Tel Avivian male bachleor (Meaning, one stovetop and a kitchenette the size of a restroom), Shakshuka was always the easiest, cheapest way out of hunger, and as you said – It’s very good on the waistline.
The number of versions for this is endless. I’d contribute my 2 cents by suggesting to add a slice or two of pickled lemons (I use the ones my grandfather makes, and they’re REALLY STRONG, maybe store bought lemons would need a slice or more extra) – I add them at the end of the frying process.
this is a turkish food and its name is saksuka.
First of all, let me just say that I absolutely LOVE your blog. I am an avid food blog enthusiast, and I have to say yours takes the cake as my favorite of them all. Every recipe I have tried (of which there have been many) has been absolutely delicious. Thank-you!
Secondly, this particular recipe is AMAZING. I made it last night, and I’m making it again tonight so my boyfriend can try it. The flavors are perfect and I found myself savoring every bite. This is definitely a new favorite of mine!
This was my first Smitten Kitchen recipe and I was NOT disappointed! I’ve been following the blog for years.
This was the first time I drove to the store, bought the ingredients, went home and started chopping peppers. I’ve never had eggs poached in tomatoes and loved every bite. I used 5 anaheim chilis and had some nice heat, not too much. I loved the salty feta contrasting with the heat of the sauce and richness of the eggs, it made we wonder if I would like it with goat’s cheese and maybe some olives. Perfect with hummus and pita. I can’t wait to try this with lemon as suggested by Or.
Fyi, my husband got home late last night and I didn’t share the Shakshuka with him… it’s so good, I was hoarding it for lunch this week! Thank you for your beautiful blog.
Made it this morning New Zealand time and nearly swooned with delight…thank you so much it was perfect. I had invited some friends for breakfast and they thought it was the best way in the world of enjoying eggs. xxoo
This sounds really good! If you’re using anaheim chiles you should try roasting them — it makes them so much better! You can roast them in the oven like you would a red bell pepper, and skin and seed them the same way. It really brings out the flavor and intensifies the spice a little. As a homesick New Mexican stuck in Texas, I make something with green chiles at least once a week.
I made this tonight and it was delicious. I used significantly less oil than the recipe called for and didn’t miss it at all.
Thanks for posting this. Please bring more egg recipes – my chickens are laying like mad!
This was awesome!! I only used two jalepenos because I’ve been overspicing everything recently. And I only used four eggs because we like lots of sauce. I loved it and so did my husband. I’ve been plotting all morning about who else I could make this for. Thanks!
Amazing! I’ve been drooling over this dish for a few days. Finally had a chance to make it. Only change was using 2.5 serranos instead of the jalapenos or anaheim chillis as that was all I had on hand. Either that or habaneros but decided against those!
Lovely lovely dish. My only concern was with serving it up – trying not to disturb the beautiful eggs was trickier than I thought! But….thanks for posting!
this recipe looks fantastic — delicious, easy and light :) i love Shakshuka, and have had many varieties of it (spinach, bell peppers, even one with chickpeas…yum) but this is very close to the “original” i’ve had (whatever that means! so many middle eastern and mediterranean dishes are very similar — i actually used to eat something very similar to Shakshuka in Italy– what makes modern Israeli cooking so interesting is that it’s quite a melting pot) and the feta sounds absolutely delicious. as always, thanks for the inspiration! i’ll be making this for breakfast soon!!
i made this last nite and it was incredible. i used only 3 of the anaheims, but could have definitely used more, and drizzled some lemon juice on top. my israeli friend said he grew up with this dish, but said it was absolutely fabulous on top of his mom’s malawach. i’d love to see if you have a tried and true recipe for this fried bread, deb!
Loved this recipe! It’s easy enough for a weeknight and makes for terrific leftovers — I have been eating it all week! I’ll second the suggestion that a healthy drizzle of lemon juice (about half of a nice juicy lemon) is needed here — it really brightens the sauce and balances out the spices. Cheers!
This looks amazing! My only problem is that I’m only cooking for myself. Is this good as leftovers, or should I try to cut back the recipe?
Hi Brit — I’d scale it back, because the eggs reheated will definitely be hard-cooked. You could, however, make the whole amount of sauce and only cook eggs in it a couple at a time.
I made this today for lunch with a new friend and loved it. So easy and delicious.
Just made a scaled down and adapted version for one, with chilli powder instead of the real thing (for shame) and some chopped spring onion on top instead of parsley. YUM.
I’m making this right now and it smells amazing. Thanks so much for the beautiful recipes.
OMG AM-AZ-ING
Brit, if you don’t mind the yolks being hard-cooked this actually reheats surprisingly well! Or if you accidentally hard-cook the eggs the first time around, as I often do because my whites just won’t set up, then it will be delicious cold or at room temperature the next day. It’s one of those dishes where the flavors meld together in beautiful ways the longer it sits.
SO delicious! Just made it. Cooked the eggs a little more because I was nervous, but was okay with hard-cooked yolks. Also only made four because it turned out more of my eggs were cracked then I realized. LOVED the egg/sauce ratio, so for me, I’ll probably stick to it.
Thanks so much for a great recipe!
Oh, two more things. One, I didn’t use feta (I can’t do feta with eggs, I got sick off a Greek omelet once), and I added sumac, because I’m always looking for ways to use it after buying it for your Israeli salad. So delicious!
Wow, this was amazing! Way better than I expected. I’ve never poached eggs before, but they came out perfect. I was doubtful that there was enough sauce for all those eggs, but the ratio ended up being spot on. Thanks for the great recipe. I will make this again.
Soooooo good! Made it for dinner last night and my husband was sceptical but wound up loving it. Served it with homemade whole wheat pita bread. I made it with 4 eggs for just the 2 of us and then reheated the small amount of sauce that was leftover in a frying pan today for my lunch and cooked 2 more eggs in it. Mmmmmm. I think this could be a new staple for meatless dinners!
I saw this recipe and called my sister, whose husband is from Italy, if she ever heard of it. She said that her mother in law used to make this many many years ago. Apparently there’s an Italian equivalent! Looks delish!
To die for. We made this for our family of eight. Rave reviews all around. We WILL be making this again. And again. And again.
We doubled the recipe for our crew, and half our tomatoes were of the “hot” variety — the can with the added peppers. So hot tomoatos + hot anaheims… Well let’s just say it had some serious zing.
Yum. Yum. Double-yum.
Love Shakshuka and love your recipe!
If I don’t have Fetta cheese, or if I’m on a health fit, I use Thina (Tahini), which adds a lovely nutty flavour.
I love this blog and the pictures. Thanks for the food inspirations! I have had a dish that was similar to this when I was a kid. Our neighbor (from India) made it and it was delicious.
I just got done making this for lunch. It was delicious and was really that something different I was looking to make. I defiantly will be making this again!
How might I scale this down for 1 or 2 servings?
I just made this, and scaled it down. I halved the tomato sauce ingredients and used a smaller skillet. We love eggs, so I used 4, and the whole thing worked out great. I don’t love pitas, so we had it with naan and it was very tasty. Thanks!
I’m with Elizabeth, who made it tonight, just like I did. To.Die.For. Just like that incredibly cute baby of yours. My meat and potatoes husband loved it too, which was shocking, but considering he likes all of the components (spicy, tomato sauce, poached eggs, feta), I figured I would give it a shot with him and see where it got me. Well, it got me a new dish for my repertoire, and I can’t thank you enough for that. One last thing, I did take the advice of an earlier post and just added the tomatoes and juice directly to my pot, then mashed them with my potato masher. That worked really well, and one less dish to wash…always a bonus! Thanks, Deb!!
This would be even better with Arabic Rice and Arab chicken and potatoes.
Thanks for introducing me to this dish. Made it for dinner tonight and got rave reviews from all of us. I will definitely be making it again!
Made this for dinner tonight and it was oh so DELICIOUS! I will definetly be making this again. Thanks Deb!
Hi Deb, I love your blog and my sister and I both make things from it regularly. I made this dish the other night and loved it. It will probably enter into my regular rotation. Thanks for providing a spot on the interweb where I can find great recipes and beautiful photos.
Hey, love the blog. Just adding some food history comments – shakshuka is a north african dish, taken back to Israel by morrocan and algerian jews when they moved over to Israel. We still make it plenty in Algeria and Morocca- if you look at Algerian cookbooks in particular you’ll see eggs used in the same way, although interestingly this is often as a sort of decoration?!
Thanks for an amazing blog. I come here weekly to plan meals, and usually end up borrowing 1-2 recipes. First time chimer, tho. Just made this for late lunch/early dinner. So easy, and sooooo good. Had to let you know. Thanks again.
Regarding the poached eggs in tomato sauce recipe, I make one called “Eggs in Hell” but it’s the same concept. This one is just a bit more spicy.
Made this for dinner tonight for the first time and it was fabulous! Thanks so much!
Found this yesterday stumbling around, tried it this morning on my teenage daughters. It passed the finicky test with flying colors! Its was great! I never can leave well enough alone though so I was thinking on adding about a quarter pound of Andouille sausage next time.
My first Shakshuka was ordered in Hummus, a tiny Manhattan restaurant that resembled a kitchen filled with friendly second cousins. Not wanting to be seen as the Idaho tourist that I was, I pointed to an onomatopetic entree and said with conviction to my young waiter, “Ill have the Shakshuka tonight.” Like all your commentators I became smitten and have made it a kitchen staple, though mine’s never as good as that first Shakshuka in Hummus. I have been told there is controversy about whether to use garlic or onion. I am happy you don’t make me choose. I like your idea of crushing the tomatoes. The Feta sounds so tangy, and looks so beautiful in its nest of red-orange tomato sauce with flecks of forest green verdure.
My boyfriend made this week and it was oh so good. So cheap and simple, but super tasty, great for a mid-week meal. Thanks Deb!
Looks ridiculously good. I somehow happen to have a few extra jalapeños around :) Can’t wait to give this a try tonight!
I LOVE chakchouka! It’s also a tunisian dish, I used to make it all the time in Tunisia. Thanks for reminding me! Off to the kitchen I go :)
I love this very much and while I don’t have a rotation of what i make weekly, this is certainly the start of one!
as for the origins- a friend of mine was quick to say that this is Sephardic- which means Jews of either Spanish, Moroccan or other such places that are not Eastern Europe descent. I asked another friend who is Iranian about this dish and this sounded very familiar to her as well. I think this meal is something that all middle eastern cultures share…a tomato based sauce with eggs.
Whatever and wherever, it’s pretty darn good.
i pureed the leftover sauce and am using it for enchiladas!
Ok – I can’t eat raw egg yolks for health reasons.. will this taste as good with them hard?
Nicole– you probably meant for Deb to answer you, but as someone who ended up cooking the eggs fully, I can say it was still delicious!
Chelsea, Nicole — I concur. 90% our ordered-in shakshuka arrives, the eggs have gotten hard-cooked in the hot sauce and we haven’t minded one bit.
So apparently not all little hot peppers are the same. I saw cute little Jamaican hot peppers in the store and figured they’d be ok to sub in. Boy was I wrong… Those things are indeed spicy! My hubby looked them up and said they are 500 times hotter than jalapenos. Too bad he didn’t tell me this beforehand! Of course it didn’t help any that I used 5 of them!!! Anyway, we ate our spicy shakshuka with heaps of plain Balkan yogurt and it was actually quite good. Nevertheless, I think next time ill try to pay attention to the details! :)
I made this last week and it was wonderful. My girlfriend who claimed she wasn’t hungry originally said she didn’t want any, so I halved the recipe. By the time it was done she was like “well… yeah, actually, is there enough for me?” And, even halved, it was perfect for two. She keeps telling people about it and calling it “shakshuki or something” hehe. I only used 1.5 jalapenos for the half recipe and I wish I’d used like 3, it was pretty mild. Totally making this again.
As someone not inclined to come out with an untarnished dish the first time around (usually a classy combination of char and tears), I was STUNNED at how beautifully this dish came out on my first time around, and how good it tasted. Beautiful, beautiful directions.
Tried it, loved it!
My partner and I just made this for dinner and it was DELICIOUS! I can’t recommend it enough. Next time, I’m going to swap out some of the Anaheims for jalapenos… love that extra kick. Thanks for the recipe!
This was so great. I made it tonight but instead of feta I dolloped about 1/2 cup of drained ricotta right after adding the eggs to the sauce. Thank you for sharing!
My darling husband (who has only very recently taken up cooking, due to our current situation of myself being a first year med student) made this for me and my favorite study partner last night. Since we are currently on the food borne illness section of microbiology, he cooked the yolks completely. We scooped it all up with naan, and it was absolutely fabulous. I’m already plotting when we will make it again. The only hiccup was when my husband, who follows recipes oh-so literally, tried crushing the tomatoes by picking them up and squeezing them in his hands. He ended up with a shirt (and kitchen) covered with tomato spray.
I made it last night and it was delicious, though it had very little heat. Did I cook the jalapenos too long? Next time, should I add more jalapenos, add them later in the process, or maybe add heat another way (eg, cayenne powder)?
Andy — I find that jalapenos vary wildly in heat. Sometimes I’ll get absurdly hot ones, other times I’ll get ones that taste like bell peppers. Next time, it might be helpful to buy a couple more than you need just in case. You can nip off the end so you can taste them and see how hot they are before cooking with them, then adjust the amount you use accordingly.
Question: how do you transfer it to a bowl after making it? Is this possible without breaking the eggs?
Christian — We served it right from the pot. But I don’t see why you couldn’t remove the eggs with a slotted spoon to a plate then pour the sauce into a serving bowl, slipping the eggs in after it.
I made this the other night and ate leftovers for lunch today; I certainly understand having a craving for it now. So so good! I didn’t have enough peppers, but certainly wanted the kick, so I added a good squirt of Vietnamese Sriracha hot sauce. It was really yummy:)
I made this last night and my boyfriend and I both loved it. I used 3 jalapenos and it was very spicy (this from someone who is a huge fan of spice). Ad you mentioned Deb, all jalapenos are not created equal so I guess I got some hot ones. I served the eggs and sauce in a bowl, then I put the bowl on a plate with the warm pita. It was not only a delicious dish but a very pretty one. Thanks Deb!
Feeling way late to the party, but just wanted to say that I made this last night for dinner – ohmyfreakinggawd, it was good! we used 2 very long jalapenos and it was just on the edge of being close to too hot. I was worried about the Tbsp of paprika, but the smokiness really balanced out the acidity of the tomatoes – GORGEOUS recipe, Deb – thanks!! (and his Royal Cuteness is getting so BIG! and is getting handsomer every day!)
Oh Deb, this is soooooooo nice! My 5-month-old and I are home sick today, it’s raining, but the Tylenol’s kicking in, the shakshuka’s simmering on the stove and things are looking up. Truth: I didn’t have any peppers, so I used a can of tomatoes with green chillies that I thought I’d never find a use for…that makes mine an an intercontinental melange, but hot diggigy…so good.
I just finished making/eating this for lunch and it was great. Just like you, I only used 4 anaheim peppers. I think next time I will up it to 5 annaheims and maybe add part of a jalapeno? I would like a little more spice, but it was still awesome this time. Also, I think I will add a bit more flavor with a touch more onion (I used a half of a large onion, but will use a whole large onion next time). Also, I only used egg white, as I have high cholesterol. Delish!
Thanks for posting this! I am always looking for creative dishes to serve my middle-eastern in-laws. I will surprise them with it next time they are in Chicago for a visit.
FABULOUS ABSOLUTELY FABULOUS!
I tried it with an assortment of different chiles and jalapenos. My boyfriend and I had leftovers for lunch the next day – just as good! Thank you so much.
Coming from a Middle Eastern background (albeit a few generations back) I grew up eating this, however my mom always called it eggs and tomatoes and topped the eggs right at the end with a simple slice of munster cheese. This version looks fabulous though and I absolutely cannot WAIT to try it. Keep up the good work!
I’ve read the blog, I’ve looked at all the pictures; I’ve never felt as hungry in my life! :)
The comments are as much fun as the recipes. Great recipe.
I tried it (twice), and loved it (twice). Thanks (twice!)!
I’m about to make this for the third time since Deb posted it. Super delicious!
I’ve made this 4 times already! Delicious and surprisingly good with a little cinnamon added into the tomato sauce.
This is unreal – I simply cannot say enough good things about it! We added crumbled sage sausage from our farm share (perhaps a sacrilege??) and used peppercorn goat cheese– delish! I served with homemade bread and your Paul Wolfert hummus- and WAS KILLER! Had to hide the one serving of leftovers for myself as the kids were poking around for more after dinner…let them eat ice cream!
This post made me think of this feature on changes in Israeli food culture http://www.forward.com/articles/127405/ with stunning photos at the bottom.
Also – Nicole – I always try to order my shakshuka with the eggs well done – I hate runny egg yolk. Even with the eggs cooked a bit more, it tastes delicious to me. And for those based in NY – the Hummus Place has a fantastic weekend brunch menu where the shakshuka is served on top of open toasted pita that absorbs all the flavors of the sauce and is just…yum.
Ohhhhh MAN. Big, BIG hit here. We used one fat jalapeno and two slim serranos, Pecorino, some small, local eggs, and small slices of Companion Bakery bread, and boy, it was delicious. Two very enthusiastic thumbs up to a dish that’s permanently added to our repertoire.
made this last night – KILLER!!! we dipped some crusty french bread instead of the pita. delish!
To Robin, post 87: There are various Tunisian cafes in Philadelphia that have traditional Tunisian food including shakshouka.
I just made it as a side dish with roast veal. With hot home-made pitas, it was delicious!
I made this tonight. SOOO good! It was a bit too hot for me and my dh. I used 2 jalepenos and 1 anaheim.
A friend of mine just forwarded this recipe to me. I am SO glad she found it! I live in Philadelphia and had Shakshuka for the first time at a little restaurant here called Kanella. Robin (post 87) and Sarah (post 362) you should both check it out. I’m so excited to know I can recreate this at home!
I made this last night. No jalepenos handy, so I used sweet peppers and red pepper flakes. Super fantastic – my kids liked it too. I felt like a dinner hero. I think I could eat this daily with a great deal of satisfaction.
I made this for the first time a couple of weeks ago… and I’ve now made it three more times since. We’re officially hooked. Thanks for my new staple food!
Made this tonight and it was fabulous!!
If you make this again try using 2/3 the paprika and add 3/4 tbsp mitmita.
I halved the recipe, generally rounding up if things were uneven. It still turned out beautifully. Turns out there ARE 14.5 oz cans of whole tomatoes. Also, I accidentally used crumbled goat cheese instead of feta. Still delicious.
This is an amazing recipe. We had a girls night and a friend had found this blog and made this recipe. I have not found such a tasty veggie meals in years. As I am cutting out all processed foods out of my diet and living a healthier life I will still always be a foodie and after making this I found myself craving a really healthy meal. I cannot say enough how easy this was to make by following the pictures and instructions on smitten kitchen and further more have now made it myself and even my picky family members have loved this as well-I used the jalapeno option as I cook with these often and can alter the spice depending on who I am cooking for.
So I am a native Israeli, and when I came across your recipe just the picture took me right back to when I used to live there. Tonight I made this dish for my husband and myself. He had never had it. The consensus – he said he didn’t want the meal to end and I was brought right back to my mother’s kitchen as a little girl in Israel. Thank you! This recipe is a keeper for sure, as is your blog!
We made this on a camping trip last weekend and it was so delicious, I’ve been thinking about it ever since. Can’t wait to make it again! Thanks for sharing!
I LOVE the Italian version of this dish, Uova in Purgatorio! So yummy. Not sure how I feel about the bell peppers. If you get a chance I highly recommend this version:
http://www.thekitchn.com/thekitchn/quick-weeknight-meals-2009/pauls-uova-in-purgatorio-quick-weeknight-meals-recipe-contest-2009-096258
We make it probably once a week, it’s our go-to delicious but super-easy meal!
just made this and boy, i think i over loaded on the peppers. great dish
Yum!!!! I made this last wknd for our Sabbath lunch after church. Had a group of friends over and whipped it up in no time! Everyone loved it! I let the eggs cook about 5-7mins longer than your recommendation which was perfect for my friends who do not like runny eggs. I must say that I have never used so much paprika in one dish, ever! I panicked briefly, thinking I had interchanged the cumin and paprika measurements. All was fine as I checked and rechecked your recipe. We served this over cous cous with a side of asparagus and naan. WONDERFUL!!!!
I overcooked the eggs and, like you, was a little too shy with the peppers, but I still loved this dish! The sauce is so rich, yet simple. I can’t wait to perfect the cooking time– I can see this being a regular in the weekly rotation, for breakfast or dinner. Thanks!
Deb – made this the other night and it was phenomenal! Such a nice way to spice up a weeknight meal regimen. You always inspire me so much – I’ve made several things of yours already and I literally want to make EVERYTHING you post!
http://www.20somethingcupcakes.com/2010/05/shakshuka/
Hope I did you some justice :) Your food is always perfection – and my goal is to inspire other women my age to cook and try new things. Thanks for being so wonderful! xxSAS
I’m trying to figure out how I could veganize this recipe. Do you think, instead of eggs, this could hold up to a tofu? I want to make this and eat the eggs, but in a separate dish, make a version for my vegan sweetie
Yummy! I made it last weekend, it was great thanks! I found a lonely scallion in the fridge and chopped it fine, together with the parsley…delicious! It gave it something extra, not that it needed it, but we all loved it.
Fantastic recipe! I fixed it this week and blogged about it.
http://quidquidquidquid.blogspot.com/2010/05/res-coctae-or-things-cooked.html
I just made this tonight, and it was delicious. You know how wonderful it is to make EXACTLY what you’re craving? Tonight it was this. I took a cue from my own local hummus/shakshuka place and threw in some baby spinach to wilt in the stew before I cracked the eggs, and it was a good decision, and I recommend it if you’re looking for a variation.
just made this for a weekend breakfast. i liked it better than my bf…the eggs were “just cooked” and that turned him off a bit. Next time I will make the base and cook the eggs separately so that everyone is happy. Thanks Deb!
Thanks very much
this is a great dish for dinner and I often make it for my family
and by the way its an Arabic Dish (Middle East)
^^
Phenomenal. Used red pepper flakes since I didn’t have any peppers on hand, and it was delish. Will make it again for sure…maybe tomorrow!
I made this dish tonight with my kids. It was a hit for the whole family. My kids helped and loved crushing the tomatoes by hand.
Made this with my hubbie to celebrate our one week anniversary! It was hit, and the recipe is a keeper. He said it was better than what he ate in Israel years ago..
Thanks!
Made this last night with the smashed chickpea salad. I used 3 jalapenos but will use just 1 next time. Still very enjoyable!
This recipe is really delicious, savory and easy to make! I make it at least once a week now :)
making this for the 3rd time tonight – my husband and I love it!! beautiful, simple, so good make you wanna eat it all at once..
I just made this for my mom for her birthday and served it over rice! Absolutely amazing. :)
yum! just made this tonight and it is amazing! i served it over brown rice and with a pita. this dish is a total hit and so easy! thank you!!
So wonderful! I just made this this evening and it turned out wonderful! My first time poaching eggs was a success!
awesome.ps:you can use someked paprika.
Any excuse I can get to drink wine while eating eggs is fine with me! I always keep some poblano chillis in adobo in my freezer, and holy Moses this ended in a magnificent intercontinental mashup! You had me at cumin and smoked paprika by the way! Thank you for these lovelies!!
I truly, truly love this recipe. Thanks, its a new favourite!
i’m loving the comments section on smitten kitchen! i can read and read and read before i make a dish and get everyone’s advice! i’m trying to do my part and chime in when i’ve made some of the recipes on this, my favorite cooking blog.
i used a large can of chopped tomatoes that i had on hand. kept everything else the same. worked out famously and so delicious. since my husband and i are on a tight budget i imagine this will go into our regular rotation for dinner.
also, since there are only two of us, we felt that two eggs plus the sauce and bread would be enough for a light dinner so i poached up four eggs in the sauce. i saved the extra sauce and poached two eggs up in it the next morning for breakfast. i loved it so much for breakfast that next time i may just make the sauce some evening and store it in the refrigerator for a few days, taking out the needed sauce for breakfast…
finally… it is intriguing to me how heated the debate has become about where this dish is from. i posted a link to this post from my facebook page and someone posted “this is an egyptian dish.” my husband is from colombia and there are similar “this is ours” claims over several colombian dishes… guess it’s a good thing that everyone wants to claim it!
I made this dish for my family (of four hungry children, and one dubious husband) tonight and expected a lackluster response. what came out of my pan did not look nearly as delicious as your photographs, but I was pleasantly surprised. It had just the right flavor, the perfect contrast and even my sometimes picky southern eaters ate it right up. I’m going to have to double the recipe next time, and there will be a next time soon!
This was amazing! I knew my husband would love this. His Mom was here for lunch and they both devoured the dish! It was delicious, hearty and really satisfying. We ate it with garlic naan and hummus as an appetizer.
I just tried this recipe tonight, and it was totally lovely. Thank you!
I’ve been staring at this recipe for months, and now that my mother is on vacation and I am left to fend for myself, I figured this dish seemed easy enough to whip up dinner in a short time frame… along with the fact that I miraculously had all the ingredients. I just took my first bite 5 minutes ago, and I must say that I am in LOVE! I cannot wait to come back from work tomorrow to mow down the rest of the 5 helpings. Thank you for a new favorite recipe :)
Yum!! Had this in Israel but this was my first time trying to cook it, Came out delish and I can’t wait to make it again!
I’ve been looking at this recipe for a long time. Just made it for dinner with fresh tomatoes from the garden. My first shakshuka experience. Will not be my last. Out of this world.
I absolutely love shakshuka – my neighborhood cafe serves it and it’s to die for. I sometimes ask for sausage added – pretty dang delicious. Thanks for the recipe – I am on a save money recipe kick and this one is perfect! Love your blog!
Just made this for din! I don’t like feta and didn’t have any parsely, so I used parmesan and garlic chives instead…I also cut the recipe in half and it seemed fine. SO YUMMY (especially with naan!!).
I was at a loss as to what to make for dinner last night so gave the Smitten “quick” category a view at 4:45. I had everything I needed — almost. Instead of fresh Anaheims I used a don’t-even-need-to-run-to-Trader-Joe’s can of roasted green chilies. Instead of water I used chicken stock/white wine. This was delicious and couldn’t have been easier! I served it with pita AND tortillas (and a sliced avocado, because in California they’re super-cheap and really delicious now). This is a perfect I Don’t Wanna Cook Tonight dinner that got rave reviews from husband and kidlet. It’d be great with Spanish chorizo, ground lamb, whatever, but I served black beans on the side. See? It went from Libyan/Israeli, etc. to Cuban in a flash! Thanks, Deb!
I am already a fan of your earlier eggs in sauce recipe and have pulled it out a few times for my weekly “girlfest” as it’s a delicious and an inexpensive way to feed a crowd. While pulling it up to make again tonight (as I have a vegetarian joining us), I followed the link to this version and have the feta, etc already on hand – guess I know what I’m making this round! I also have eggplant caponata in the fridge and can’t wait to set it all out with crusty bread – yum! Not sure if that is a “proper” side dish, but should be tasty nonetheless. Thanks for the delicious recipes!
This was FANTASTIC. Served it with your israeli salad, hummus and pita. What an amazing recipe! Thank-you!
Yuuum! I have been making this a lot since first reading the recipe here back in April. I used spring onions this morning as had no yellow ones and it was delicious as always. I usually use way more parsley, around half a cup, and stir it through at the end. Added chilli oil today to bump up the spice. It’s become my go-to brunch dish, people request it all the time.
I loved your poached eggs in tomato sauce, but I guess I have a sensitive tongue because I found this too spicy! I used 1 tsp Aleppo chili flakes instead of the chili peppers, but I think I will tame the paprika a bit more when I make this again. Just thought I’d guess a head’s up to others who shy from spice and disregard the spicy in the recipe title. :)
yummmmm. just made this for dinner. delish.
AMAZING was the word my boyfriend used. I made this for dinner last night after he mentioned to me he had something called “shoshaka” while on a weekend trip that sounded a lot like this recipe. After eating it, he even proclaimed that this is all he wants for his birthday dinner and it’s even better than the original he had! Thanks, Deb!
I was just shown your blog today by a friend….I have been looking for a recipe for this dish for the past 9 years since I discovered it in a little cafe in Jerusalem. I never knew the name, and all of my attempts have failed. You made my day! Thanks :-)
I think this is actually a Tunisian dish? My Husband’s mother has made Shakshouka for me many a time! Simply delicious.
Incredible. We used 2 habaneros with seeds, and it turned out nicely spicy! Great recipe!
The five of us are completely, happily full. Used four Anaheims, which left the dish mild enough four the eight year old. I also used toasted pita, but can imagine that a nice chunk of challah might be a better choice. Thank you for another trip to deliciousness!
i am so excited to try this tonight! Happy 3rd night of Hannukkah!
You’re all wrong; this is in fact an American dish called “Poached eggs in tomato, onion, and eggplant sauce”
Wherever it’s from, it’s wonderful. The best lunch I’ve had in a long time. Thanks so much for your research, testing, and sharing!
I’ve had this bookmarked since April and only just now made it. Insanely delicious, and it halved well.
My son made this for the family for lunch today…looked exactly like the photo and tasted amazing!!
Thank you so much, Deb. I love this recipe. I keep thinking of excuses to make it. However, despite the ongoing debate about yes or no on bell peppers, I changed the chiles to green bell pepper (because I needed to use it up) and added only a tiny bit of cayenne pepper (powdered) to spice it up, because my little brother refuses to eat spicy food. So I was wondering, how much do the chiles contribute to the flavour? Am I missing something by not using chiles? I am also terrified of chopping up chiles because last time my friend did it, her hands burned for a couple of days. Obviously, the solution is to wear gloves. However, something about them still scares me.
My family is quickly (ha, nothing is quick once I start writing it) jumping in to insist that I tell you JUST how much everyone here loves you and your recipes (And your baby. Also, my dad points out Alex who is always helping behind the scenes.) You have gotten my 11-year old brother, who is vegetarian and pickier than… I don’t even have a comparison… to try so many new foods. We also all love Jacob. He really is alarmingly cute. Well, not alarmingly. Perhaps wonderfully. Or amazingly. Or… etc.
As always, thanks for all the fab recipes, and send Jacob lots of love. He is getting cuter every day, which I didn’t know was possible until now.
I’m Israeli myself and this recipe is delicious, I’m glad I found it! I add green onions to it as well, which I think is yummy :) But anyhoo, just wanted to thank you for posting this.
There is no problem trying other cultures dishes and cocking it, but the problem is when you claim its your food, and taking advantage of other people’s lack of knowledge. At least when you do that try to be smart and make up a new name for it lol. Dont take it so personal I am just stating some facts.
this look like what my aunt dell used to call “sichel”.. don’t know where she got that name or even it “sichel” is a real recipe..but we loved it as kids!!
sometimes she would gently scramble the eggs (probably because an occasional yolk would break!)
I know this is an old post, but I have to tell you that we LOVE this recipe so much. We make it about once a week, honestly. It’s the favorite dish in our house now for about 5 months running.
Also, the food recipes are only half the reason I visit your blog. I also come to find links to more pictures of your BEAUTIFUL baby. Oh my heavens. I want one.
Just made this for lunch as I’d remembered seeing it here months ago and we had a half finished jar of TJ’s tomato sauce languishing in the fridge. Thus, I supplemented with some fresh chopped tomato and I also added a generous spoonful or two of homemade harissa since we only had 2 jalapenos. WOW! This is awesome. It is now officially in our regular circulation of recipes.
Also, like others mentioning similar dishes in other cultures, I had something similar while living with a family in Morocco. I think she also sprinkled some cilantro on top, used grated fresh tomatoes, and added in some vinegar or lemon juice for tart.
Thanks so much for this! I just made it for lunch today and I will definitely be making it again! It was a huge hit with my husband and I loved how quick and simple it was.
I traveled to Israel recently. Shaksuka is great, fast and easy. This is a dish where it’s easy to just raid the pantry, crushed tomato, garlic powder, chili powder, crushed red pepper, cumin, salt/pepper, and eggs. It was great. Here’s mine: http://blog.samfeller.com/2011/02/shaksuka.html
1. I only found your site yesterday and I’m already in love
2. this looks amazing and I’m absolutely in love with cheese, BUT, I’m not a fan at all of feta, is there a different cheese you would recommend or is there a reason you chose feta over other cheeses? Thanks
Thanks for this recipe. I just tried it this morning, cutting ingredients pretty much in half, lots of onions, proportionately, and fresh jalapeno peppers. It was delicious, even though I had no feta and used Monterey Jack.
I also added bacon, wrenching the dish away from all the posters from the Middle East and North Africa, and dropping it somewhere close to Midwestern America.
The dish complete with bacon was very good — what a lovely and adaptable breakfast/brunch recipe.
I don’t think it matters where this dish originated, who appropriated it, or what we call it. It’s just delicious and graces my table (and by table I mean it’s eaten straight from the pot while standing in the kitchen) at least weekly. Thank you, Deb!
Delicious! I made it tonight and everyone adored it!
I have wanted to make this ever since I first saw this post go up, and last night it FINALLY happened. So. Good. My girlfriend and I are already talking about making it again tonight.
Just made this for brunch with my mum, it was absolutely fantastic, and so easy to make! I served it with wholemeal rye biscuits, which worked really well with the sauce. I also scattered basil rather than parsley on top, as that’s what I had to hand. Thanks for yet another great recipe!
I grew up in Israel and ate shakshuka many times as a kid. I recently started making it again and we love it as a quick dinner. I made it for brunch today, introducing some friends to this wonderful dish. Everyone loved it and I like this way better than my old shakshuka recipe. The jalapenos give it such a good kick of spice. One thing though – why use whole tomatoes if you’re just going to break them up? Wouldn’t it be easier to just buy diced or crushed tomatoes?
I had shakshuka for the first time last week and was not happy that it cost $10 a serving, so I’m really glad that I found your recipe which I made tonight. Sadly I did not have any chiles on hand so will have to use them next time. Note to Shelly – I took a can of diced tomatoes and ran them through the chop cycle in my blender. It worked perfectly.
Thanks for posting; this a go-to recipe now in my house.
I had a Turkish friend over for dinner and when we told him the name of this dish he burst out laughing, because in Turkey (at least the region where he grew up) “shakshuka” are the syllables you say when keeping time while dancing. He demonstrated by hopping around our kitchen a bit saying “shak-shuka! shak-shuka!” I guess it would be like naming a dish “cha cha cha!” or something.
Just some food for thought! Don’t want to stir the origin-of-the-dish pot any further.
It constantly saddens me that two of the four people in my house refuse to eat any eggs that aren’t cooked all the way through. (Even a little bit of gel is too soft for my mother.) And one of those two won’t eat anything remotely spicy.
Sigh. Someday I’ll get to make you, shakshuka… someday…
Jordan — No reason you cannot cook the eggs until they are hard in this dish.
Seems like a lot you could do to this recipe. I added capers to get some saltiness (we were out of feta) and I made a fun Moroccan flat bread recipe from Madhur Jaffrey. In hindsight I regret not adding bit of hot sauce.
Had this as the Merchant Tea House in Fremantle, West Australia yesterday – they added sliced chorizo and navy beans (though they looked more like chick peas to me) – it was DELICIOUS!!! Served with wedges of toasted Turkish bread – yum!!
I made this the other night, and served it over toasted english muffins, benedict-style. Supper yummy!
And @Jordan – I too, prefer my eggs cooked through. I don’t think the recipe suffered any. If I were making it for me and hubby, I’d have just dropped his eggs in later.
My friends and I made shakshuka last night with an entire Israel style brunch for dinner spread!
I <3 Smitten Kitchen!
Have been wanting to make this forever and finally did tonight – terrific recipe! We dipped slices of toasted challah in the sauce, and I substituted a teaspoon of chipotle pepper for the chilies, which gave it quite a spicy kick (might go for 3/4 teaspoon next time…). Yum!
Hummus Place is one of my favorite places in New York, true Israeli style! I’ve been living in Jerusalem for the year and have put myself on a shakshuka tour. It’s amazing. I’ve sat in cafes alone and had the cook teach me how he makes it step my step. My favorite here is with Bulgarian cheese and fried eggplant. The true Israeli way.
Fab. I used 2 jalepenos and a pinch of crushed red peppers and it was perfect. I think 3 would have been too much for us. I was out of fresh parsley so used cilantro and it complimented perfectly. Served with swiss chard. Yum!
I have two words that are going to rock your word: smoked paprika. Traditional? No. Mind-blowingly delicious? Why yes, yes it is. It takes this dish to the next level.
I know that this recipe was posted over a year ago now, but I can’t tell you how happy I was to find this!! I was in Israel two years ago and I had spinach shakshuka…it was one of the best meals I had on my trip. I am making this tonight for dinner. Can’t wait!!
follow up: made it for dinner and my husband and I LOVED it!! thanks
I am excited to make this and am looking for advice about replacing the canned tomatoes with fresh (especially in regards to quantity…)
I am enjoying a steaming bowl of this right now and it is delicious. I have two questions that I am hoping you can help me with. One minor and one major. One – is there any real reason to use the whole tomatoes and hand-crush them, instead of just using canned crushed or canned diced? Two – this is the biggie – why is it that EVERY time I poach my eggs they get all lacy and have many tendrils of cooked egg, instead of just one solid egg mass? I have tried less bubbles, more bubbles, different liquids – always the same. I thought for sure in the tomato mixture they would not have the tendrils all around the edge – but they still did. What am I doing wrong?
I simply fail to understand as to why I waited so long to make this dish when I knew about it since the day it is posted! I made it today with Light Wheat bread and OMG! Can’t explain the reactions from all the diners! Thanks a ton!
This is a fantastic dish. Ticks all the boxes and even confirmed carnivores will find very little to moan about when eating this. Noticed you cooked yours in a deep pan. I tend to cook mine in a much shallower pan or a Wok because that encourages sharing……You just place the pan in the middle of the table and everyone rips up handfuls of bread and use the bread like a spoon. It was one of the very first meals that my wife of 21 years made me and it’s just as nice now as it was back then. Ps To the woman who complained that her daughter would not eat eggs even slightly runny a few friends have similar foibles and my answer is just to turn their eggs upside down which then cooks the egg thoroughly and leave the other eggs the right way up for them to be cooked as per
I just made this for breakfast this morning and it was awesome. So spicy and delicious with the eggs. So perfect with the parsley and feta.
It is actually a great recipe, you can also add chicken sausages(Sequenced after adding the Garlics, sauting for 3 minutes, and before adding the tomatoes).
Hello!
You have the most wonderful blog!:)
I am an Egyptian and, believe me when I say, you’re quite popular amongst us Egyptian housewives!:)
I would just like to say something about this being an Israeli dish. Actually this dish originated during the Ottoman empire when Turkey controlled the region. So this dish isn’t really specifically Israeli. It’s a middle-eastern dish that was even Palestinian before being Israeli:).
Keep the AMAZING work up:)
Sincerely,
Layali.
I really recommend using haloumi cheese instead of feta. It’s amazing – and usually made with sheep’s milk – which for lactose-intolerants is ideal.
long time reader, first time commenter! :) i made this dish yesterday and even though i thoroughly overcooked the eggs it was so delicious, 4 of us finished the whole dish! i’m assuming i had the heat on too low when i added the eggs which meant they took forever to fully cook, which then caused the yolks to be completely hard. still, delicious. and spicy! with 2 jalapenos and 1 poblano i thought the spice was perfect. can’t wait to make it again. and again. (and again)
This was so yummy!!! I had never heard of this recipe before but it’s now part of my repertoire. And the name is fun, shakshuka!
I first ate shakshuka at Mimi’s Hummus in Queens. When I saw your recipe I knew I had to make it for my own! I made this dish with a lot of changes but kept the same basic spirit, I hope. Cubanelle peppers replaced the chiles, I used a whole head of garlic, I skipped the cheese, and fresh garden tomatoes replaced the canned tomatoes. I served the shakshuka with whole wheat roti. Your guidance helped make a very successful dinner! I wrote about it on my blog if you’re curious. Thank you so much!
Oh WOW! YUMMY! I first had this dish as a young college girl, many years ago. It was prepared by my amazing boyfriend, Ali, from Qatar. It is and was my favorite comfort food. Thank you for posting this.
I LOVED this while eating it. My stomach staged an all out revolt that night, though, I think due to the jalapenos. Any suggestions for a substitution?
“Must I be forced to make my own food again”? Oh, how often I say those words…but this recipe has me looking forward to the nightly quest for a palatable dinner made by moi and approved of by my family. Thank you, Deb! Your writing is always a joy to read (as I wipe the drool off my chin).
i do not know why? but I can’t stop staring at ths! its like the yummies thing i have every seen.
Please forgive me if anyone finds this offensive but using a can of Rotel as the base for this dish is pretty tasty. I sub in the Rotel for the peppers and crushed tomatoes, which is helpful in making this a more pantry friendly meal. I love making Shakshuka on the nights we are almost completely out of groceries! I also like to add a drizzle of honey and a tsp of tumeric instead of paprika ever since I read A Drizzle of Honey : The Lives and Recipes of Spain’s Secret Jews by Gitlitz and Davidson.
I just got back from Israel, and I pretty much lived on Shakshuka while we were there. Delicious! I can’t wait to try this recipe!
I recently had this dish for the first time in the Fishtown section of Philly and loved it. I did my own tweaking based on what I had handy. I had a bunch of green bell peppers left from my CSA so I used them instead of the anaheims and added 3 drops of pure capsaisin for heat. I also added turmeric, cinnamon, and a small pinch of nutmeg and cloves to the cumin and paprika. I wish I could eat cheese, but it doesn’t agree with me…I know that would have balanced the heat beautifully! I had some left over cilantro so I chopped that up with the parsley which was great! My husband is a big texture guy and a tough critic so I served it over brown rice. We loved it! It was exactly what I was hoping! So lovely and colorful!
Shakshuka is not an israeli dish :) its arabic and north african.
just like falafel and homous and kebabs and shawerma isnt israeli ou greek either :)!.
but nice recipe non the less
I have been surfing the net very often in search of delicious recipies.I stopped at your site to tell you that I like the way you show how to do step by step.
But I have to correct something here which is that shakshuka is not israeli but Palestinian.I have been working as journalist for a couple of years and have tasted the palestinian food which I liked very much.
:) Lol. I love your comment about the name Shakshuka. It sounds so funny to me because I am Israeli and I am so used to hearing that word that it’s cool to hear what other people think about when they hear the word Shakshuka lol. Your recipe looks amazing by the way. We always make this as an after school snack, or a late Sunday breakfast. :)
Great dish. I’ve been enjoying it with my Palestinian family for years.
after many previous posts clarifying the origins of the dish, perhaps you can edit to reflect that it is an Algerian, Tunisian or possibly Yemeni dish http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shakshouka
I don’t know if anyone else mentioned a similar recipe, but I make a dish called Eggs in Purgatory that is very close to this. In fact, it’s on the menu tonight! Yummy!
I lived in Israel for a few years and this was one of my favourite dishes for breakfast! I still make it regularly back at home here in UK, my girlfriend and her son love it too!
The great thing about this dish is that you can twist it to your preference and it comes up trumps every time. I’ve played about with this dish a few times and even given mine an ‘English breakfast’ twist by adding…bacon…be amazed just how well it works with the other ingredients I use!!
Garlic, onions, black pitted olives, courgettes, mushrooms, bacon, coriander, lemon, sugar, tinned chop tomatoes & purée,dried crushed chillies…crusty bread!! Tuck in!!
oops…re last post…forgot to add the eggs in the ingredients!! Thanks!
Added spinach when we had this again last night. SO good!! This is probably one of the recipes I recommend most to friends… Thank you!
This was very good.
I can’t wait to make this. I definitely need to include MUCH more “waistline-friendly” with my “delicious” hahaha
My boyfriend and I make this dish at least once a month. It truly is a favorite of ours and we enjoy adding new twists. So far, mushrooms and spinach added to the tomato sauce have been our favorites. Thanks so much for the delicious recipe and beautiful photos!
Tomatoes and eggs! LOVE! I used our own roasted tomatoes from the freezer. Thank you! So perfect for our Christmas brunch!
I made this tonight with a twist. Before adding the tomatoes, I put in sauerkraut. It sounds odd, but it turned out really good. Add some fresh dill to finish it off. Yum!
my godness this is a famous Tunisian food, my lovely shakshuka <3 by the way there's different type of shakshuka, im hungry…
Oh. my. goodness. I made this for the first time a few weeks ago. I am in love. This may be my new, favorite, go-to recipe. It’s so good, my meat-loving boyfriend keeps begging me to make it again! Thanks for all the great and delicious recipes!
Shakshuka is an arabic name of this yummi dish not israelian but “palastenian” actually…
This is delicious! Thank you. We ate this with pan fried polenta earlier this month.
Hiola, Marvelous dish, and fantastic pics!
Could the “sauce” be made in advance and kept cold for a few days, the reheated in micro? Egges of course would be prepared upon serving?
Gracias.
Hi Gerard — I definitely think so. Would be great to plan ahead for a brunch.
I made this tonight and the tomato sauce is remarkable. Pressed for time, I pulsed two green bell peppers and two jalapenos with the onion in my food processor. As I sauteed it, this bright green mixture mellowed out into a beautiful olive color. It thickened the sauce quite quickly, though, so I had to add a little more water. So delicious…thank you!
the debate is so silly. croissants are originally austrian, but the french perfected them and made them famous, and no one today would say that croissants are not french. the koreans invented sushi and it spread to japan, but once again, japan made it famous, and we call sushi japanese. here in israel shakshuka is served at basically every cafe in the country and almost every tourist that comes here eats it, unlike in those other countries. we were the ones that made it incredibly popular in our own country through jewish-arab immigrants and spread it first to western world through tourism, so like the japanese who get more tourism than the koreans, we are given the credit. food is a moving entity that evolves as is spreads. there is no such thing as a food belonging purely to one people group without roots in many others, so really whichever people group we give credit to as being the “original” is really just the last stage that we remember. who cares?
and as for all this “supposed to be” or “not supposed to be” with feta or bell peppers or onions or whatever, there are general trends here in israel with the dish but you’ll find interesting variations at many cafes. there’s no one right way to make it. it’s rare to find feta or any other cheese actually in the shakshuka (unless it’s another, less popular kind with spinach), but it’s often served with spreadable “white cheese” which i can’t think of a good american subsitute for (think half heavy sour cream and half cream cheese) on the side, or with tahini. also, there is almost always bell peppers in the sauce. at falafel joints you get it inside a pita and fill it with the toppings that they have for the other sandwiches, but if you’re eating it at a cafe it’s most often served with some hearty bread.
Wow, talk about memories of home! Haven’t had shakshuka since I was a little kid in Egypt visiting my tante and uncle, and used to love love love it! I am so happy to see this on here, I HAVE to try it again after too many years. I can still remember loving it. Admittedly, it wasn’t made with feta, but I think it makes a great addition, and it seems too perfect.
As for whole ‘supposed to be thing, listen up, people! I am an impossible snob about my caesar dressing (without egg or anchovies, it’s not a caesar as far as I am concerned), and about many others things, but Middle Eastern food imo leaves plenty of wiggle room, because it’s supposed to be infinitely adaptable.
if you need gluten free or just want to make this a bit more lite for a meal, use arepas instead of pita for your bread… What a great fast dinner for veggie night or lent
I finally made this; why did it take me so long? I used three jalapenos but probably could have thrown in a fourth, smoked paprika, and sprinkled some cilantro on top in place of parsley.
Next time, I’m thinking of a couple of cubed avocados tossed with lime juice and cilantro instead of the feta (not that I had anything against the feta!) would make for a tasty variation (authentic or no :P). And there will definitely be a next time.
I just made this Shakshuka (with the help of a chef) for over 200 people during a huge event. It was a MAJOR success, and I have tasted many Shakshukas in my life in Israel… Thanks.
I may be going out on a limb just to get pushed off here (for being blashphemous to Shakshuka), but since I am eating unprocessed foods and pita bread is out of the question for me…I am going to serve this over a perfectly seared steak for a play on steak and eggs. I am thinking of a lightly seasoned ribeye, seared in a hot cast iron skillet, then once allowed to rest, sliced with some of this DELCIOUS looking Shakshuka on top. Dinner tonight is going to be YUM. Thank you for all your wonderful recipes!
I first tried Shakshuka three years ago at an Israeli-owned coffee shop near my first apartment in Old City, Philadelphia. It is wonderful there, and I have periodic cravings that require me to trek across the city. I just made this recipe tonight (with four jalapenos), and it has completely obliterated the need for me to go back and pay for this delicious dish. The recipe is simple and more delicious than I could have hoped for. My husband and I are staying away from bread right now, so the steak and eggs suggestion actually sounds great.
@ Sarah
It was decadent!! My fiance said it was the best steak and eggs he has ever had! It also made for some very lovely photos, I like to take 4X6 images and write the recipes on the back and have them laminated for my recipe box. It is fun and hopefully will be passed on to someone very special one day <3 Good luck!
It was my first time ever making and eating Shakshuka, and it was fantastic! Since living in Japan, I now like eggs in any form raw or cooked. Thank you for another great recipe.
Now that winter is mostly over we are once again seeing decent peppers at the grocery store here in Alaska. So I was able to try this recipe last night with Anaheim chiles and everything. I’ve never had this dish before and didn’t know if I’d like it or not. I decided it’s awesome and I’ll definitely be having it again. I like how it’s hearty and a little spicy. It goes down easily like a chili or stew would. Very yummy!
This and your recipe for Red Kidney Bean Curry are 2 of our staple dishes. They are so delicious and easy! Thanks for putting them out here for everyone to enjoy
I’ve been using your site as my go-to meal idea spot for a few months now, and I have to say this is my favorite so far. Absolutely delicious! I had to substitute in serrano chilis and it ended up a bit too spicy for my girlfriend. Regardless, this will be a staple from now on. Thank you!
YUM
-but correction (shakshuka) is a middle eastern dish and comes originally from Tunisian, Egyptian, Libyan, Algerian, and Moroccan cuisines :) we eat it at breakfast at lest once a week its verry yummy indead great job :)
I wanted to share my shortcut — my husband was out of town and I rarely cook when he’s away (lots of salads). Last night I was sick of lettuce and craved something warm, simple & comforting, but it was already pretty late. I found your recipe, ran over to Trader Joe’s just before closing and grabbed a can of their diced organic fire-roasted tomatoes with green chiles. I tossed in 4 cloves of crushed garlic and a pinch of salt, sugar, and cumin, heated it and threw 2 eggs in, topped with feta — it worked really well and was SUPER-fast. Love!!!
This is fantastic and my entire family of seven loves it! We ate this most Fridays during Lent and served with homemade naan. Now, it is a weekly dish. Thanks!
I made this for dinner and had homemade crunchy sourdough bread with it. It was delicious
I’ve just got back from Israel where I tried Shakshuka, being the sort of person whose thinkg is “When in Rome (or Israel!) do as the Romans (or Israelis!! Lol!) The dish was served with a salad, three types of dips and challah bread (YUMMY!) Also had pickles. The only difference is that i had it with spinach and ricotta – I’d already had the tomato one at breakfast without knowing what it was! Lol!! The spinach and ricotta style was gorgeous! I’ve got the ingredients for that one and am gonna try and make that. Yum yum!! Big thumbs up!!
Recently I saw on a food tv channel , a turkish cef cooking shakshuka…he called this meal “turkish antree”.He chopped in sqares one eggplant , 3 potatoes cleaned and fried them , in turns , in a pan with vegetable oil. In another pan he put a mix of olive oil and sunflower oil and there put to be slow fried about 5 tomatoes , medium size. He also chopped 2-3 garlic and pute them in the tomatoes . He put in a plate , first the fried sqaure chopped potatoes , on top the egg plant fried and chopped as the potatoes , then he fried 3 long green chilly and put on the egg plant , then cover everything with that tomatoes from the pan.He decorated with parcely.Of course , everything was assesonated with salt and pepper.
I say you receipe looks and souds delicios and I bet as many houses are in wolrd , so many receipes existe. :D
Great blog…I add it on my blogroll and I took some receipes frmo you ,to cook for my family. And you kid is delicios….I love that picture from one year birthday. :D
Wish all the best!
This looks great, I just got the additional ingredients that I needed, and I’ll be cooking this for dinner! I decided to add some sausage, just for the heck of it.
I’m just finding your website now, and I have to say, I have never made anything this good. I could eat this all the time!!!!!!!
This. Was. Awesome. It’s the second recipe I’ve made from this site (the first was Ratatouille’s Ratatouille), and the second winner! You’re two for two Smitten Kitchen!
i chop up some eggplant and green pepper and throw that in early in the process, to make sure they cook thoroughly, then add the rest. if im out of chilis, tabasco will suffice.
The eggs actually should be baked to finish rather than covering them in the skillet.
I use a cast-iron pan for this recipe and use 1 or 2 seasonal vegetables in with the tomato and onion mixture, and then place the eggs under the broiler to finish them – it cooks the white on top and the white in the bottom poaches in the liquid, plus the top gets all sizzley. Actually when I’ve had it in the middle east about half the time the bottom has a little burn to it, and it’s served scalding hot.
One other small change – put the cumin seeds into the oil before anything else until they start popping. then add the onions…
My roomate accidentally made this last week. I think he was going for jambalaya but was missing half the ingredients, and then added spice in an attempt to cure his cold. At which point I yelled ‘You’re making shakshuka!’, shoved him away from the stove top and took over. Clearly I am the best roomate. The point to this post however, is that he added kielbasa to the dish, which might make it decidedly un-Jewish, but does elevate it to God-like levels of deliciousness. I’m going to remake the whole thing tonight and add some homemade pita bread to the mix.
This has become a FAVORTE for my entire family. We are making it at least once a week now. It’s SUPER easy, SUPER fast and SUPER cheap! When I went to buy all the ingredients (minus the eggs because we already had them) it was like $12.00 and fed all three of us with LEFTOVERS!
Thanks so much for the recipe!
This has become a mainstay for our diet in China. We can actually get all of the ingredients! Thank you for posting this!
Shakshuka is Tunisian Dish brought to Israil by Tunisian Jews.
Well this meal called Menemen or Melemen in Turkey and it is really delicious. Look for Menemen recipe if you want to do it right. Also there is another meal called ?AK?UKA but it is totally different from this and we also have a song called SHAKSUKA and here is the link for it:
O yeah I know I am ridiciolus ahahah
this is a really stupid question, but how are you supposed to eat this dish? Is it soup or mix it in with something?
I made this recipe a few weeks ago, and it was so good that I’m gonna make it again tomorrow. Thank you!
well i am making this tonight for me and my misses, its so very close to a recipe my mum used to make (and she’s Jewish)
just reading so many peoples comments trying to argue/correct about the origins of this dish – yes some Libyans make it, some Italians make a different version, Israelis make THIS version. Spanish people have their own make as well , and I bet if you go right over to china or Russia they have their version- food/recipes travel people just be thankful this kind person has taken the time to be creative and enlighten us to the recipe . a BIG well done and thank you to the cook :D
Deb– I have to know…. is Shaksuka supposed to be sort of runny (which would explain why people say to use bread to sop up the juice)? Or, as my friend insists, should it be non-juicy to be authentic… when she makes it, it is thick with no juice.
I actually have not tried your recipe; I sort of made up my own which turns out to be juicy and which I personally like a lot. I use my own canned tomato sauce and add to that.
Kaps — There are probably as many versions of it as there are people who make it and love it. All are correct. :) This one is loose but not terribly runny; definitely juicy. I think the correct way is however you like it the most.
I am so thrilled to have found this recipe and know the correct name. I saw this recipe (basically the same) while waiting at the dentist, winged it that night, but could never remember all the ingredients. I know I did add chickpeas which I would do again, but I am so grateful to have found the recipe from the expert, no less!
Hi Deb,
I won a baking competition recently – the prize being a two-week trip from Dublin, Ireland to New York! I’ve never been to New York, but am a frequent visitor to SK. Ever since I read your recipe for Shakshuka and then made it for myself, I’d been dying to try the Hummus Place’s version. Today I did. I went along and got a table for one and hardly had to look at the menu. It was fantastic. I’m here until next Saturday and I don’t think I’ll be able to leave without going back for round two. Thanks for the recommendation, that’s really my kind of food.
I love this recipe and have made it several times, trying different ratios and adding more or fewer eggs depending on how many people I’m feeding. It’s a favorite of mine.
But I must say, reading through the comments to see everyone’s different variations was really interesting! It seems like eggs poached in tomato sauce is something that many cultures lay claim to.
I recently adapted this recipe to make use of a bunch of Old Bay (crab seasoning). Authentic? No. But it certainly was delicious, and falls in line with this dish having innumerable variations. And as Deb said, all of them are “correct” as long as you like it.
This tastes absolutely amazing. I can’t believe I have never had this before. Thank you so much for sharing this recipe. It is definitely a keeper!
loooove it so easy and tasty .. i like it (- feta ) better
thanks for sharing this recipe
I’ll be making this tonight (first time). When I first saw this I thought it was so… weird, but it seemed so right. I rarely ever make egg based recipes, but this seems great!
This is the second recipe of yours I’ve made in the last week (the other was the whole lemon tart) and it was also fantastic. I’m leery of making recipes from blogs because I’ve been burned in the past — they don’t usually get the kind of rigorous recipe testing that are needed for them to work consistently. Still, two winners in a week (both of which were also better the next day!) means I’ll be coming back for more, and looking up your cookbook, too! Thanks for the great work.
Went to visit future in-laws in Israel in September and my future great niece made this for me. Trust me, make this…and to ask about drink combination, well it WAS breakfast, so coffee, most other meals, since the family is Jewish of Ukrainian origin, Vodka!
I ate this at The Hummus Place in Greenwich Village Monday and I HAD to find a recipe! Thanks! Can’t wait to try it!
I made this for the first time tonight and loved it! Thank you so much for te delicious recipes!
How did I miss this when I spent a semester in Jerusalem? Damn. I’ll have to go back.
I made this for New Year’s Day breakfast for my husband and I, and it was delicious! I substituted crumbled goat cheese (they conveniently sell it in tubs at Trader Joe’s) for the feta. I also will take Deb’s advice in previous comments and buy more Jalapeños and taste them ahead of time in case they are mild. The ones I purchased might as well have been bell peppers, but the dish still tasted good. I will look forward to making sure there is more heat to the dish next time. Thanks for a great recipe that a novice cook can make!
My husband & I just got back from Israel & enjoyed this dish several times. Many different variations on the basic one. Half & half version uses sliced mozzarella one side & spinach on the other or combo dos. We absolutely loved it everywhere we had it. It is indeed very light but very sustaining if you’re in for a long day. Am hosting an Israeli themed brunch this Sunday & this is the feature dish. We are going for the side dishes of fresh toasted rolls/bread with goat cheese drizzled with olive oil and middle east spices, (zatar being one), & roasted egg plant with red peppers. Suggest you make a slight depression in the sauce for the eggs to nestle into. cheers, Julie G. Tucson AZ
@Deb, love your blog. Thank you for sharing this recipe … made it & loved it yesterday. I’m about to enjoy it again today! Deeelish!!! My canned, crushed tomatoes had basil in them. I planned to sauté kale as a side & then decided to just toss it into the sauce & a little more water to compensate during the 15 minute cooking time. Returned home from grocery shopping & discovered that I forgot fresh peppers & feta. Thankfully, jarred, “tamed jalapeños” & Parmesan cheese worked well in this recipe. Tamed jalapeños don’t pack the heat of fresh ones; so, I may add more while reheating the sauce before adding a few more eggs. Eggs with tomatoes or stew-like soups are always so yummy.
I know this is a super old post, but I had to laugh when I read it because this morning I was thinking about the Shakshuka we had at The Hummus Place the last couple times we’ve visited NYC (I live in NC) and so I googled a recipe. Lo and behold, my favorite food blog came up with the recipe and a mention of one of our favorite lunch places in Manhattan! BTW, I got a signed copy of your cookbook for Christmas,and I am loving it!
My 5yo AND my 1 yo loved it! A keeper!
Guys guys guys…no one knows where it originated but I can tell you, we didn’t learn it from Libya. We learnt it right here in Israel,from the Palestinians. They’ve been making it before our state was created.
Playing hooky on a Monday was the perfect day to make shashuka-finally! My husband came across a different recipe online, but when he mentioned shashuka I said, “Wait a minute! I know who has the perfect recipe!” You, of course :) It was simply divine. The prep was easy and we made it with what we had on hand,minus the chiles. We used red pepper flakes. It was such a warm and comforting dish on a gloomy Monday morning. We ate it with a 9-grain bread, and it was scrumptious! We will be making it again! Thank you so much for ALL your wonderful recipes! Peace and love from South Texas!!!
A friend of my introduced this dish to me about 2 years ago. It was awesome! She used cilantro instead of the parsley. It gave a nice flavor..especially, since I’m not in love with parsley. My husband can’t stand the smell of it; so, I’m currently cooking it for lunch while he’s at work. =D
This dish was amazing! I didn’t have any jalapeños or anaheim chiles, plus I didn’t want it to be too spicy for my kiddos, so I made it with a bell pepper to add a different texture on top of the tomatoes. I also used crushed tomatoes instead of whole, since that was all I had, and I ran out of cumin the day before I made this so I added a little ground coriander along with the paprika. Last, I sprinkled it with a little goat cheese and fresh cilantro. I made it for dinner and ladled it on top of brown basmati rice. I’m definitely going to make this again, next time with the correct ingredients, but either way it was delicious and everyone downed their dinner. My family has decided that this is a “make-it-again meal”. Thank you!
This shakshuka is the perfection of egg breakfast. It’s become my go-to breakfasts at my B&B, even going so far as to make three simultaneously in different skillets when we’ve got a full house. It’s also great with artichoke hearts. And if you break your yolks, you just scramble the eggs to transform your shakshuka into the Turkish version, called Menemen.
I made this for my daughter when she came home from college for spring break. She had decided to go vegetarian for lent and she absolutely loved it. It tasted just like some of the shakshuka I had while in Ashkelon, Israel last year on business. I agree with some of the other posters here and would add all 5 of the peppers called for. We also fudge a bit on the feta since our family loves the stuff. Thanks for this easy to follow recipe that even a working dad such as myself can throw together before my also working wife gets home.
As said, this is an excellent, easy dish. Very high effort to reward ratio, and inexpensive to boot. This is going into heavy rotation, for sure. I made it with the pita bread recipe on here for a superb supper.
Oh my gosh Deb, this is going on high rotation for a mid week meal. Infinitely adaptable too by adding ‘whatever I have in my fridge’ to the sauce and is also husband ‘must be able to cook and eat in half an hour’ friendly :) Thank you for all your amazing recipes I love this site and you amazing book! x
I think Melissa Clark ripped you off
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/08/dining/shakshuka-a-rich-egg-dish-that-satisfies.html
Jan — I’m hardly the inventor of shakshuka! (My recipe is adapted from Saveur.)
I wouldn’t fry the anaheim/jalapeno with the onions – unless your worst enemy also happens to be in the kitchen at the same time. I would add the pepper at the very end, and mix well.
Approximately a tablespoon of tomato paste really, really helps bring this to the next level of flavor.
This actually originated in Paxico, Kansas where it was first created by Mrs. Alfred Kitzslobber in her little kitchen.
Made this for breakfast yesterday. I have actually made so many of your recipes and I keep telling myself I’ll post a comment…. then I get lazy (probably because I’m full) and never do. Anyway made this yesterday… came out so good me and my roomie burnt our entire mouths eating. We couldn’t get enough.
I did change a few things up… I added only jalapenos (2) and used red onion (only because I didn’t have a yellow onion around). Then I also added garbanzo beans (1/2 cup); I know they are used in other recipes for shakshuka so I figured ehh why not. Thats bout the only big changes I made and I played a little with the proportions of everything. I think the red onion probably didn’t change much; might have made it a little more spicy. The garbanzo beans were a good addition I think.
Thank you for the recipe and I love your blog. I’ve been cooking your food for about 3 years now.
hi deb!
i love this recipe but can’t seem to get the whites to cook before the yolks and i LOVE a runny yolk. any suggestions?
thanks!
Hi Katie — Do you mean that the yolks are cooking before the whites or that you’re having a tricky time getting the timing right after the whites set but before the yolks do?
Yes, the yolks cook before the whites. I take it out of the oven as soon as the whites lose all their clear stuff and the past 3 times I’ve tried, the yolks have been more solid than runny.
Thanks!
Hi Katie — Take it out even sooner. The eggs will continue cooking outside the oven, so even if it seems a little too soon, it will probably be just right when you serve it. (I advise the same with scrambled eggs, too! To stop scrambling when they’re still a touch runny and put them on a plate. They’ll finish cooking on the plate from the retained heat, and not end up dry.)
I love this recipe! I’ve made it at least 5 times over the last couple of years with various alterations based on what’s in the fridge… this morning I used fresh roma tomatoes and a bit of extra water instead of canned, and simmered a bit longer. I also added a chopped yellow bell pepper and small zucchini to give it some extra veggie ‘umph’. It was beautiful, thank you so much for such delicious breakfast inspiration!
My word. It took ages to get here. So many comments and all good. I’m a Brit who came to Israel 45 years ago. I’ve eaten plenty of
Shashukas and my daughter makes it. I’m too lazy but it’s always made with fried eggs. I LOVE poached eggs but I’m too scared to make them. I saw Julie trying to make them!! Julia obviously made perfect ones. How do I poach eggs and especially if I eat 3 at a time.
Oh. And fresh tomatoes. I prefer yours though.
Oh. Sorry. In a restaurant they ALWAYS give hard yokes. Really. Who eats hard yokes.
Just made this for dinner tonight! It was very tasty. My first time making it, and actually my first time cooking anything substantial in about a year. It tasted DELICIOUS despite some hiccups… it’s Eid here so no fresh parsley could be found! I used the dried stuff. I got some feta that ended up being really soft, but it still tasted awesome. Also, I had no sense of timing and the yolks were solid by the time I pulled them out! Wish I had read to the bottom of the comments first… At any rate, it was another excellent recipe and I’ll be making it again, hopefully with hard(er) feta, fresh parsley, and better timing on the eggs… plus more chilis and garlic. :) I need more garlic!
this is a really great recipe, I totally loved it and so did my boyfriend. I made too much for breakfast, so in the afternoon I made a pizza out of it – just spread it on fresh pizza dough and put in the oven – amazing!
Love this! I ended up subbing in chevre for feta and it worked extremely well.
I’m interested in a variation of the shakshouka recipe. I was wondering about a variation with mozarella balls instead of eggs. What could I top it with beside another cheese? Thanks.
This recipe is fantastic!
I usually replace the fresh chillie with green pepper and dried chillie flakes..also I skip the cheese. I love it most alongside smoked fish.
Re the ‘origin debate’, let’s just all thank particularly the North Africans, but also other Arabs, Turks, Mexicans and Israelis for giving it to the rest of us.
Just made this- perfect low key fall dinner, thank you! I got a little nervous as I chopped up jalapeño #3 but when they cooked down the spice was just sort of pleasantly warming. Not too much at all. Anybody who bothers to read this, proceed fearlessly with the peppers! I’m sure this will be a regular brunch/dinner/whatever for us in the future. Also, I had to laugh at the origins debate above- who knew eggs and tomato sauce could be so controversial? The Internet is a strange place…
Perfection. This is the best one I’ve ever made! I keep cooking from your site and am never disappointed. Seriously, you are AMAZING. Thanks!
I love this recipe. I make it at least once a month and we eat it with garlic naan bread. It’s so simple yet very flavorful and unique. It’s one of my favorites
I use cilantro instead of parsley and no peppers. I also add curry
@Judy
My dad actually cracks the eggs open about half a meter above the frying pan and drops them into the sauce in a magically perfect ball – he keeps insisting it’s just basic physics, but I’m terrified of trying it myself lol :) I think the best way to add the eggs in the shakshouka is to create little dips in it with a wooden spoon and pour them straight in, about 8-10 minutes before the whole thing is done cooking. Good luck!
I made this shakshuka recipe (and added diced potatoes to it.) Love it. Does not exactly serve 4-6 because between two people, we gobbled it up in minutes! SO DELISH!
Finally got around to trying this recipe, and it’s fantastic! Thanks so much :-)
This is a great recipe — I’ve made it numerous times since it was first posted. Most recently, I added a little cinnamon and caraway, and 1/2 pound or so of green beans. Cook the green beans down, low and slow in the sauce — delicious! This was a sneak in the veggies trick, and I think I’ll keep it!
Hi there, I only heard for the first time a few weeks ago of shakshuka, in a Guardian feature about good hangover food. I decided to cook it tonight but after a little Googling, I used your recipe. Well, I modified it slightly by using both canned and fresh (baby plum) tomatoes and a little saffron. Oh baby, it was delicious – I’m sold! Most importantly, my best friend, who I hadn’t seen for a while, loved it too. I was so glad to have made her something she enjoyed so much. Thankyou!
I just made this and it is already my new favorite dish. So delicious, just AMAZING! Thanks Deb!!!
I made up a similar recipe this morning for breakfast (I spiced tomato sauce with ras al hanout and onions). I wiped the inside of mini cocottes (le creuset) with harissa olive oil and baked two eggs in each dish for personal versions (15-20 minutes covered at 325). I topped them with feta and some green olives.
Then I found your page and realized what I had made! Shakshuka!
Rather late to the party, but I made this for brunch yesterday for friends and I’d forgotten that two of them lived in Israel for several years. Both loved it and said it was as good as any they’d had in Israel and better than the version one’s mother had attempted. Thanks, Deb.
Amazing, fantastic, delicious!
Used this flavor base, but changed the eggs out for lentils (and used a couple of chipotles in places of fresh peppers). This is my new favorite thing–thank you!
Hecka good. Hecka messy. So worth it. Not sure my stove top cooks evenly as some of the eggs were really loose while others were a bit over cooked. Should the eggs run a lot when ready to eat? Used one Jalapeno, def not enough heat. Will use another 1 or 2 more next time. Thanks!!
Made this tonight for my lady and I, thank you so much! I’d had the dish at a cafe for breakfast a couple of years ago and forgot all about it. Stoked to have made it myself! Evidence ‘n all: http://instagram.com/p/kBvTVkKUI2/
This is not an Israeli dish.
Now edited/fixed.
“I called this version Israeli because a) the name is Israeli,”
Shakshuka is an Arabic name/word.
adonis — The origin of the recipe has been corrected; I’d been misinformed.
I don’t know how I missed this recipe earlier, but I made this last night, it was wonderful!! I made some pearl barley and spooned some of the extra sauce over it, which was great, but I definitely want to try it with pita too. So delicious! I have never tried poaching eggs in anything but water, and in general have had pretty bad experiences baking eggs (the yolk is always too hard for me), so I was so happy when this worked so well!! Thank you!!
Holy cow, this is a tasty dish! Both my husband and I loved it. I made this for dinner tonight and your favorite brownies for dessert. Delish! Thank you, Deb! Happy Valentine’s Day!
Mouth is watering here, my daughter is making this tonight and she just posted the link to your site. Love your writing style and your humour…best of all, I love your well loved wooden spoon…you cook you! :)
This was incredible. I added two sliced bell peppers (one red, one yellow) and a generous spoonful of harissa because we didn’t have any chile peppers. It was awesome–loved it!
I was skeptical I could pull it off, but shakshuka is incredible, easy, and beautiful! I have sent this to everyone I know. Thank you so much for this healthy, flavorful recipe!!
I made this for a work competition yesterday. It didn’t win, but I think it’s mainly due to the VERY conservative audience (vegetable lasagna won). Despite that I got a TON of compliments on how flavorful and unique it was. Two notes – four seeded and de-membraned jalapenos yielded absolutely NO HEAT, so I added about a TBS of sriracha sauce. Also, next time (likely this weekend) I will poach the eggs separately as when I added them to the sauce yesterday I was a bit blind to their doneness when serving.
oh…I am so stuffed! I over estimated how much I could eat, I even cut the recipe way down! I’m sure I committed some sort of cardinal sin by fully cooking the eggs buts thats how I role and it was delicious.
It has finally happened. You were right, I no longer want to go to the Israeli spot on the corner of my block here in Harlem. You version is simply perfect; theirs had uncooked egg whites and lacked the spice. It used to be my favorite hungover breakfast, simply call and have it delivered. Now I have to man up and make it myself!
I made this today and it was fantastic! I thought it would be too much for my husband and I and was concerned about leftovers, but the cast iron skillet was empty at the end of the meal! I am going to go the oven route myself next time because I too had problems with poaching the eggs to the proper doneness. Otherwise, a great experience.
Sooo weird I know this dish as Egyptian we ate it with foul medames ..and falafel
Yumyumyumyum! I used this recipe as a bit of a dumping ground for some leftover sweet potato and smokey bacon (making it a little less suitable for consumption in Israel!), and also added some frozen spinach… unlike some of the weird chimera meals I’ve made before, this dish was absolutely amazing. I used smoked paprika as well as normal paprika, so all in all was probably much smokier than the original version, but I will definitely be making this again, with or without my weird additions!
I made this dish tonight, used 3 jalapeños, it was delicious! Simple ingredients and spiced perfectly. Wow.
Tried your Shakshuka last night, Deb, with eggs from our chooks, parsley and unknown red chilis from the garden, homemade feta and rather unappealing unripe fresh tomatoes from the supermarket. (I had to add a bit of water during the cooking process, of course.) I served it on a bed of leftover mashed potato and sweet potato. Heaven! Next time I’m adding in spinach (thank you Full and Happy) from the garden, to inject some more greens into the conversation. We have a Japanese green growing wild. Tastes bitter when raw but cooks to a blander flavour. This is quick, easy and delicious. I grew up on eggs scrambled with tomato, but this is even better!
I made this today and what an awesomely easy and delicious recipe for shakshuka! And I disagree with other commenters about it not being an “Israeli” food. Shakshuka is a main stay of Israeli cuisine and whether or not it originated there, it is still considered a part of the Israeli food arsenal. That’s just my two meta cents about food and its place in cultures and countries. I still call it Israeli, even if it came from Tunisia just like I think of hummus as Israeli, even if it originated elsewhere. Either way, your recipe was DELISH and I’m excited to make it again soon!!!
Thank you so much for posting this recipe. I used your recipe once before, but tonight I was able to share with my parents a dish that I had enjoyed so much the year I spent in Israel. They made it with me, and I almost cried when we sat down to eat. I so wish they could have seen the places where I was when I was eating this before.
Many Blessings.
this is without a doubt my favorite thing to eat for breakfast.
Made this a week ago for the first time. Just made it again. I can’t really believe how good it is. THANK YOU!
Great recipe. I didn’t have paprika so I used some chili powder and a little sugar.
I make this dish at least once a week. It is so EASY, delicious, and cheap. :) Thanks for posting it!
Its Judeo-Yemini [Yemenite] in origin, not Tunisian.
After shakshuka appeared both at my hip local bakery and on my foodiest friend’s dinner table, I thought I ought to try it. It’s kind of unreal how easy and delicious it was. Had no pita (it’s shockingly difficult to find good pita around here!) so ate it with sweet wheat bread. I’m seriously thinking of finally starting the herb garden I’ve always wanted so I can always have fresh parsley for it!
Made this yesterday whilst suffering from a 10 day long lurgy-think headache,cough,occasional temperature and generally washed out-NOT fun and needed something tasty.This was so fab-and utterly healthy!- I intend to make a big pot of the tomato sauce and batch freeze it.Should last at least six months and even up to a year according to my little ‘will it freeze book!What I love is it seems to be a global dish which you can adapt to your personal taste.I added a little tahini drizzled over the eggs and topped with yoghurt mixed with garlic and olive oil and Zahatar.Think I will play with some other ingredients having read some of the previous posts!That’s what I love about cooking-how it evolves!ENJOY!
Saw shakshuka for the first time in Seattle last weekend. Just made the recipe substituting red bell peppers plus a habanero (mostly deseeded) for the Anaheim and it was amazing. Thanks!
Made this today and forgot the parsley and feta, and it was still delicious.
I didn’t realise you had a North African tag until I was looking at the homemade harissa post today. Would this count as North African too if it’s Tunisian? Wouldn’t want anyone to miss out on it if they’re looking through the archives, it’s one of my favourites!
Jenny — Yes! Thanks for the tip.
I have tried several variations of eggs-in-tomato-sauce style dishes and keep coming back to this one, so simple, adaptable, and flavorful. And nothing quite like having Shakshuka with fresh, homemade naan bread! Thank you for sharing!
My daughter made this for a family dinner one night. It’s been a week and I’m craving it again. Very, very yummy.
I didn’t know it, but this is exactly what my pregnant self has been wanting!
Sorry to be so late with this, but I HAVE to know: if you do the dish with haloumi, do you fry it first, or do you just tear it into the dish uncooked? haloumi gets gooey in high heat, will it be enough here? thank you lots.
Yep, another believer here. After eyeing this for months I finally made it last night. I added just a little sugar to the sauce (making up for the fact that I was using relatively flavorless store brand tomatoes instead of the delicious San Marzanos) and served it over cheesy polenta. Oh, and I added anchovies to mine, because why not. So good.
This is a Tunisian dish, thus it should use traditional Tunisian spices. Most of the Shakshuka recipes I’ve found online are similar to the ones above, but they are all missing the essential spices which make this quintessentially Mediterranean. I recommend not putting in paprika in it, since if you are looking for spice, either add one small red pepper (spicy) and take out half of the seeds, or a tablespoon of harissa with which the shakshuka is traditionally made with (can be bought at whole foods). Normally, when I am in Tunis, there are three core spices to this dish: cumin, caraway seeds (ground), and coriander. It honestly makes this dish so much more interesting to use those spices. Also, I recommend, if you are able to find it, to put in a teaspoon of dried mint, which is a very Southern Tunisian way of cooking it, but I think adds another layer of depth to the dish. Also worth looking up the recipe of Merguez, a North African sausage which is many times put in Shakshukas instead of eggs.
this recipe is goo to me.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
When I first started seeing Shakshuka/Shaksouka/eggs poached in tomato sauce recipes, they did not appeal. I love poached eggs and I love tomato sauce, but the combo did not sound good.
For whatever reason, this past week I cannot get enough tomato soup or sauce! ( I’m nearly 60 so it is not pregnancy!) – Anyway, I made a tomato sauce that included roast cauliflower and roast broccoli and slow roasted grape tomatoes as well as some jarred whole tomatoes…simmered ala Marcelle Hazan with a knob of butter and a chunk of onion. I typically use a bit of curry powder in tomato sauce…not enough that you can say “curry powder”…but this round my hand was a bit heavy and you can definitely say “curry”!
So, I poached an egg in some per the method in the recipe and YUM! I do want to make the posted version as I love green chiles and some heat. And I’ve read all of the comments and love the different origin spice mixes so have much to try.
I know this recipe was posted almost 5 years ago, but it is a great one and lots of good suggestions in comments.
by far the easiest and fave dish ever. My fiance gets excited when i tell him im making him shakshuka/ shaksouka tonight. We buy french bread and spread garlic butter and wow it goes perfectly with this <3
I use Foodgawker to look for recipes that are interesting and I’d seen shakshuka come up a number of times. I’d never heard of it before but I was intrigued. A snowy Saturday today proved to be the perfect time to give it a try. I skipped the parsley (not a big fan) and for the paprika I used 2 tsp sweet paprika and 1 tsp smoked. I also only used 4 eggs since there are just 2 of us. Delicious and easy!
This is so amazing I make this a couple times a month. I always use poblanos peppers easier to find here in the northeast. My daughter made this for me years ago when she saw the recipe here. You have to try you’ll love it!!
this is delicious! so much more flavour than what i expected from the list of ingredients! the feta and parsley add a lot — i’ve also tried bits of garlic cream cheese when i had no feta on hand and this worked well too. i used 3 jalepenos, deseeded, and the kids were fine with the mild spiciness.
I made this dish Tuesday morning, cooking outside using my friend’s grill. It was wonderfully delicious. I cannot wait to make it again. I ended up using 4 large anaheims, and it wasn’t spicy at all. Maybe next time I will try just one jalapeño.
Thank you for publishing.
Just made this and it. Is. Wonderful. Subbed the anaheim/jalapeno for green chilis because that’s what we had. Still delicious. Thank you!
Have you seen this? Shakshuka pizza!!!
http://mynameisyeh.com/mynameisyeh/2015/1/shakshuka-pizza
Why have I not thought of this before???!!!!
:)
Argue all you want. This dish originated in Armenia!
Just made this for dinner. So good. Forgot the peppers at the store so used thinly sliced green cabbage as a fairly neutral item that would saute well with onions. Also used as a foil for the last few matzah crackers in the box. Deeelicious!
I make this all the time – we call it Moroccan eggs. Instead of putting a lid on the pan try putting the whole dish under the grill to finish off the egge on top. It works briliantly and is much quicker and easier but be careful not to over cook the egs.
Delicious, simple, flavorful and budget friendly! My fingers are still burning from chopping the jalepenos, but the 3 I used added a great amount of subtle heat. Really glad I didn’t scale back. Next time I will make this again I will be more careful to not overcook the eggs.
I know several people have mentioned a version of this dish with scrambled eggs mixed in. I too am one of those people who can’t stand runny eggs of any kind. I was thinking about scrambling the eggs and just pouring them in, in spots, like you would crack an egg into the sauce. (I hope that makes sense.). Do you think the eggs would cook through in the same time, or should I cook it longer for the scrambled eggs to cook? I have also considered pre cooking the eggs until they are almost done and then adding them to the sauce before the final cooking. What do you think?
Debra — Do you eat hard-boiled eggs? To be honest, at least 50% of the time, most people find that these overcook to the point to be hard-cooked anyway, as it’s very hard to find the exact moment to pull the eggs out while they’re still soft in the center. If so, you might as well just cook them a couple minutes longer than recommended and runniness will not be an issue.
One, I wish you would tell us how manypeeled tomatoes have to be used. Two, your recipe mention potatoes but doesn’t tell us how they are to be used.
Sorry about the potatoes comment. But I wish you let us know about how many peeled tomatoes are needed.
Made this for dinner. It was fast, delicious, and I’m not honestly sure why I ever eat anything else.
Question: If I’m cooking for two people, should I halve the whole recipe?
Gaby — You can definitely scale it down or up.
Tara Nair — A 28-ounce can of tomatoes holds about 3 cups (with liquid) and 2 cups of peeled tomatoes (without). Hope that helps.
In my Moroccan family, we make this, heavy on the fresh tomatoes, a little red pepper, a little sugar (to cut the acid) and no eggs (though I know this is popular the farther east you go), served cold/at room temp and with loads of sliced french bread. It’s a party dip/salad at our house.
To everyone going on about it not being an Israeli dish- she fixed the origination. Also, calm! We all know better- most Middle Eastern dishes have borrowed from each other, whether ancient or recent. Just enjoy your eggs.
PS. I’ve made this dish countless times. It’s amazing. And yes, you can adjust the spices, types of peppers, etc. to your liking and/or upbringing. Delicious in all forms :)
My friend made this once and it was delicious! She put it over hash browns and sprinkled shredded cheddar over the top.
Just made a super simple version of this with Trader Joe’s fire-roasted tomatoes, some garlic and pepper. It was lovely. I imagine we’ll make this more because everything in it is stuff we’re likely to have on hand, it’s very time-friendly, and so good for cool nights.
I made this exactly as your recipe says only divided by 2 (for 2 p) and instead of the bread I used it as a sauce for linguine with an extra splash if extra virgin oliveoil on top. It was delicious!
Shakshuka is definitely not Israeli. However, it’s clear Israelis love it along many other Arab foods, i.e. hummus, falafel, za’tar, etc. What’s really offensive is…..when Israelis make it (changing nothing mind you), they call it Israeli. The Tunisians don’t call it Tunisian Shakshuka, the Moroccans don’t say Moroccan Couscous, the Egyptians don’t call it Egyptian falafel even though these respective foods originated in these countries, their names are Arabic and they belong to that region and have been eaten there for hundreds, thousands of years. Why can’t the Israelis just call these foods: shakshuka, hummus, falafel like the rest of us Middle Easterners? Could it be about cultural appropriation, similar to land appropriation. In the same why they can admit that Palestine belong to others, they can’t admit that these foods belonged to others. This IS the Israeli problem.
They don’t have a problem, you have the problem, Amal: bigotry.
Agreed–it’s cultural appropriation to call this dish Israeli. Glad to see that SK clarified the origin!
Having just discovered Shakshuka, I had to try my hand!
I was just making a turkey chili with some of the leftover bird, so as it simmered and thickened, I dropped in and poached some eggs. Marvelous!!
That was last night,and it was so good, I had to have another tonight…
Thank you for the introduction!
@amal Get a grip. This is a food/recipe blog, not a blog for debating ethnic/cultural/political/historical viewpoints. Your comment: “This IS the Israeli problem” needs to find another home, as you are not only offending the author of this blog, but thousands of other readers who come here for Deb’s sense of humor and great recipes, not to read your or anyone else’s insults to an entire nation of people.
Wowie! This is so good. I’m going to do it for the second time this weekend. I love the complex richness…. and btw I haven’t read all the comments but I’ve been eating almost uncooked warm egg yolks for decades. My cholesterol is perfect, I am in good health at 63 years old. My doc is happy with my health. SO everyone…give up the raw/undercooked egg thing! And these are cooked….cook them to your comfort level. Try it….the recipe is yummy!
Intrigued by the name and fascinated with the ingredients, I tried this last night. It’s a keeper! I used 3 jalapenos, for a gentle warmth (maybe 4 next time), and used crushed tomatoes in puree as a shortcut to smushing tomatoes by hand. I posted the recipe (and my not-so-professional photo of it) on my store Facebook page (Olive & Well), attributed to you.
I turned this into a West Indies-style dish by making a few changes to the spices primarily. West Indies curry and tumeric instead of the paprika. Coconut milk instead of water. Cilantro instead of parsley. It was great!
I cannot even begin to tell you how much I LOVE this recipe! Since discovering over a year ago I have made it countless times (and tried to get as many people as possible to try it!). It’s delicious, quick, and cheap! Thanks again for the amazing recipe!
Oh Deb, oh Deb, oh Deb. Shakshuka or Putanessca … are you really making me decide which one to make tonight!!!
Wonderful recipe!! I’ll try to make this one with my new fuzzy logic cooker. Later I will write the result :)
I moved less than a week ago and this was the perfect dish to make with what I had on hand – which included a big bag of jalapenos. I didn’t have feta or parsley, but it delicious anyway. I easily cooked this for one with just two eggs, and put the rest of the sauce in the fridge for tomorrow’s lunch.
Here’s another shakshuka article.
http://forward.com/food/132953/all-shakshukad-up-eggs-israeli-style/
Why was “Israeli” crossed out and changed to, “Tunisian”? It is very much an authentic Israeli dish, although there are numerous versions of it all over the middle east and southern Europe.
Because I’d originally written Israeli and since learned that is not where it originated, even if it may be very popular in Israel.
If, like me, you find yourself craving some eggy, tomato-y, deliciousness the day you get back from vacation but do not have any fresh chilies at hand, I made this today using 1 can diced green chilies and 1 chipotle pepper in adobo sauce (1 single pepper not a whole can) and thought it was perfect. I made it using fresh ingredients a few months ago, and found the canned peppers to be similar in taste. A toasted hot dog bun, while not quite as nice as pita, served as good way to help get more of the goodness into my mouth. And if, also like me, you are the only person in the house who will eat this, I poached two eggs in the tomatoes today and will just make freshly poached eggs tomorrow and serve them over the reheated tomatoes. (I also did this last time and found it worked well.)
I have made this a few times; it is simple and delicious. I recently went on an allergen diet and can’t have eggs, but was hankering for the taste of this shakshuka. Made a delicious stew by tweaking it a bit (added veggie broth and some diced potatoes) and adding a protein I can have. Again, delicious, one pot meal.
Smitten Kitchen, when you pop up in a recipe search, I always seem to go with your recipe. Thank you!
Why this? Israeli (crossed out) Tunisian
Because I originally called it Israeli and it is Tunisian in origin.
This is magnificent! I made mine with end of the year tomatoes. Other recipes said to take skins off tomatoes; I didn’t bother. I also substituted cumin seeds for ground cumin and added a dollop of butter and decreased olive oil by same amount. I didn’t add cheese or bread and it was still unbelievably good. Thank you!
This excites me, do you know how well it keeps when refrigerated?
I’ve been wanting to make this for years! Finally this Sunday I had the time (ingredients are always in the house, which is the genius of the recipe). Wow, it did not disappoint. Absolute perfection. Thank you!
I made this for dinner tonight (for myself…sadly my 8 year old and husband were not sold on the idea). I cut the recipe in half and used a 10 inch cast iron. I left off the feta entirely, because I don’t like it, but did add a couple of big handfuls of fresh spinach leaves (stirred to wilt) just before adding the eggs. Another hit!
This looks amazing! Does this dish hold up for leftovers or would it better to cut the recipe in half?
Make the sauce in full; it keeps. I’d simmer in eggs as you’re ready to eat them, only takes a few minutes and that way they’ll always be perfect. Or, you can do the whole pan and rewarm; we have, but it almost always leads to hard-cooked yolks.
Just made this and absolutely loved it… thanks for the excellent recipe! :)
Shakshuka is LIBYAN recipe!!! From Libya( North Africa)!
Your shakshuka recipe is outstanding! Definitely a make again!
This has been my go-to shakshuka recipe for years. Thank you for this delicious, nutritious, and easy meal.
Why did you cross out Israeli? It is an Israeli dish.
It is served all over Israel and popular in Israel, but it did not originate in Israel. I was incorrect.
What do you think about making this in a crockpot? We have crockpot Fridays every Friday at work and this looks like it would be amazing.
I think the sauce could be done but for the eggs, you’ll want to watch it very carefully so they don’t cook through.
Yeah, that’s what I thought too. Our crock pot can be pretty erratic, especially in the back left corner. Maybe not a work lunch idea. I’ll keep an eye out for others on SK. I’ve definitely converted others on your blog. The roasted tomato soup with balsamic onion grilled cheese has been a recurring favorite! :)
Hello – I love your recipes. Just tried this and was good. I overdid the eggs but we still thought good…next time I will try turning off heat when setting like you suggest. Question – it seems like this can be reheated on stove the next day. Agree?… especially if yolks overcooked the first time. Any suggestions on how to do left overs is appreciated. Thanks
If you’re okay with the eggs being fully set in the center, you can reheat it as is — on the stove or in an oven. But if you’d like the eggs to be runny, I’d add them when reheating the sauce. They don’t take long once it’s simmering, after all.
I’m planning on making this again this week. It’s become a huge favorite for both us and friends who come over. For my gluten free friends we have served it over rice and loved it that way too. I’m doing the Whole 30 challenge right now and will serve it over roasted cauliflower this week with the feta on the side for others. There’s just no losing with this recipe.
Some cafes in Israel make this with spinach and parmesan instead of the tomatoes, and it’s amazing.
Jews ‘expelled’ from Tunisia post 1947 brought this dish and many other to Israel. (Which is why Israel is a melting pot of flavors and foods)
Bloody hell, you’re prescient – that whole “I can’t believe we are being assaulted with a snowstorm in April!” thing came true after I cooked Shakshuka for the first time yesterday. I went outside for a few minutes this morning in my fleece jacket and returned looking like a snowman, and it’s been snowing like mad all day.
Totally worth it, though. Shakshuka is a big hit with the whole family now.
I decided on this recipe for brunch with my in-laws *before* noticing the April snowstorm comment. Two episodes of flurries this week and a good amount of sleet. More scheduled for the weekend, but at least by then we’ll have this in our bellies!
Can I bake this? I would like to double it and cook the sauce the night before. If the sauce is cold should I warm it up be for adding the eggs? Any suggestion for time and temp?
You can bake the eggs. I’d rewarm the sauce until simmering in the oven before adding them, and then watch it carefully most because it’s going to seem like they raw, then still raw, then just barely beginning to become opaque, and then boom, overcooked. It happens fast. Easiest to take them out a minute before they’re as done as you want them (i.e. opaque whites but maybe they aren’t totally solid yet) and eat it right away. If you’d like to take it out of the oven and serve it even 10 to 15 minutes later, they’re going to keep cooking so take it out when the eggs are even less cooked than I described above. Hope that helps.
hi just wondering why you use whole tomatoes and then crush with your hands instead of buying canned crushed/pre cut tomatoes ?
More texture!
Absolute perfection! What else can I possibly say?
I’ve made this dish so many times, I’ve lost count! It’s a favorite of mine and my husband. Generally, I use 3 jalapeños, and include the seeds of half of one to make the dish spicey (that’s for my husband; I would include the seeds of one whole pepper if it were just me). I also double the spices. I don’t like feta very much, but love goat cheese, so we always sub it out. Delicious every time. Thank you!!!
What did i do wrong? Whites didn’t look cooked, so I kept it simmering, but then yolks were solid. Still delicious but would prefer runny eggs.
It helps to take it off even sooner, you can even let the whites set off the heat. And even 10 minutes resting time when it’s cooked just right can cause them to go over. It’s so persnickety, I know, but it always comes down to taking it off the heat sooner than seems like a good idea.
I used morita chiles that I rehydrated and chopped and threw in with the tomato sauce, and chard that I’m trying to use because I have mass quantities. It was a smashing success!
Even better with fresh tomatoes, as they’re in season now (on this side of the hemisphere). Thanks so much for this recipe, we made it twice so far and it’s always super yummy!
Thank you for this – had it last night & it was so delicious! We used serranos since that was available – added pasilla, and shiso leaves as garnish because they’re in my garden and so easy to grow. I can’t wait to eat this again. LOVE LOVE LOVE your recipes and have never heard of this dish before.
I love this. I usually use red pepper flakes instead of fresh hot peppers since I rarely remember to get fresh peppers and then I find it so hard to predict the spice level. I like to keep it pretty saucy and add a can of chickpeas to fill it out a bit more. It’s amazing lunch leftovers too, you can even bring a raw egg and poach it in the microwave when you reheat.
I would like to make this for 8 – 10 people. I’m thinking of doubling the sauce and then finishing by baking the eggs in the oven. Thoughts on a successful strategy to keep the yolks runny? Is there an oven temperature that you would recommend?
I’ve made this before and loved it. My husband? Not so much.
Made this in a cast iron pan, but added Neeses sausage. Delicious.
Delicious new seasonal favourite recipe for us! Thanks!!! Everything grown ourselves ( except the feta!) – we used a bunch of tomatoes from the garden, & the hens – once again – contributed their eggs! Love your site!
…. and the olive oil, we didn’t grow the olives, but other than that!
This is in regular dinner rotation at our house. I LOVE it. I usually up the jalapenos and cumin because I really like those flavors, and we just use a can of crushed tomatoes instead of whole to cut out a step. Usually served with whole wheat toast instead of pitas because I never remember to buy them lol. Definitely one of my fav recipes on Smitten.
Hi! Made the shakshuka this weekend (a rabbi came with her family for brunch so I figured it was a good choice) and it was delicious! The eggs got puffed up and white covered the yolk. What did I do wrong? Truly tasty however and I ate leftovers later with tortilla chips. Thx!
Wow. Totally different meal and flavors for me. Delicious. Thank you!!
Goof recipe. Maybe worth adding a note for dumb-dumbs like me who forgot about hot pepper hands and are now writhing in pain.
This seems to be very forgiving recipe because I used poblano chilis (instead of jalepenos) and Kashmiri chili powder (instead of paprika) that I had on hand and the dish turned out beautifully! Its definitely a new favorite!
SUMAC SUMAC SUMAC, your recipe is missing it :)
Made this today and it turned out great! Here are my minor modifications (born out of China’s limitations, not my own desire or any thought that they might be better):
-7 medium fresh tomatoes instead of canned. Scored the bottoms, boiled for about a minute, then peeled and smashed.
-Red onion instead of yellow.
-3 peppers (possibly Anaheim, possibly guernica?? Sorry to say I can’t identify) and 1 of those tiny, really skinny long green peppers (Thai??)
-Chile powder with red pepper flakes instead of paprika
-No feta
-Squeeze of lemon juice at the end.
Just made this for two different crowds with very different food tastes and everyone loved it! I put half the peppers into the dish and passed the other half on the side to accommodate the both heat-loving and nonheat-loving.
shakshuka is not an israilen recipe
Hi there … what an amazing dish … I would love to make this in individual size portions in cast iron skillets, what size skillets would I need please ?
Just found your site and love it …’ Happy Eating ‘ Valerie from UK
I was playing with a version of shakshuka recently and added Aleppo pepper, sumac, coriander, chili powder and a little cinnamon. It was delicious! I encourage you to try it with different peppers too! 🌶
This was incredible; I didn’t have paprika so I used some chili sauce and a little sugar. It was awesome–loved it!
Thank you so much for introducing this to our family. Over the past 2 years, we’ve made it so many times – once even camping since it’s easy one pot cast iron dish. It’s so easy and flavorful and always a bit different depending on what chilies we’re able to get. The latest edition is with a Creole flair with ocra, sausage and shrimp over rice. We’ve also done a mexican version and top with diced avocado and added black beans. I had never heard of it before you posted it here.
I made this yesterday for a brunch and loved it. I think next time I’ll amp up the spice of the peppers by not removing the seeds, as I kind of wanted a bit more of a kick. But overall very yummy and satisfying with a side salad. I also used crushed tomatoes to skip a step with whole and didn’t regret it. I served with a hot salt (scorpion salt) to kick it up a bit at the end for those who want more heat. Overall, super delicious and lots of ways to customize with whatever’s on hand.
My husband and I have been on a HUGE shakshuka kick, we make it almost every weekend! I love it for slightly stale bread too, toast the heck out of it as a perfect “spoon” for the tomato-ey, eggy goodness :)
So good, but don’t use 3 jalapeños unless you’re good with a high level of spice! I had guests over and needed to stir in two giant dollops of cottage cheese to tone it down, but they still found it extremely spicy (albeit delicious!). I served it with some Irish soda bread and the bread’s crustiness paired wonderfully with the soft eggs.
It looks (and tasted) wonderful. A treat for the mouth (& teeth).
SO yummy! This is a family favourite that we enjoyed on a trip to Israel and I always wanted to try it again. This recipe did not disappoint! I’ve also made it with chopped tomatoes from the garden which I add after I fry the onions, peppers and garlic for a bit. Then I add some water and a bit of sugar to taste. Great recipe, as always!
The recipe is amazing. I would love to give it a try. and use some vegetables instead of eggs to make it completely vegetarian. your idea of using a few ingredients to make a wholesome meal is intriguing. I am a food blogger too I post Indian recipes on my blog yummy healthy recipes do visit my blog and try some of my recipes. I’m eager to receive your feedback.
This was excellent! I have been eyeing this for a while and finally made this. So tasty! Thank you!
This was a lovely, easy dinner. My boyfriend had me add it to a list of his favourite meals! Next time I would keep the seeds from one of the jalapenos or saute some chili flakes to add some kick. Definitely will become part of the regular dinner rotation.
looks so delicious. Great recipe this is and very easy to make. Excellently explains the things. Great dish always with mouthwatering taste.
I’ve made this twice, the first time nearly to the letter, and the second time with the following “I just worked 12 hours and have no excuse/cannot handle another trip to the grocery store” tweaks:
-diced tomatoes instead of whole
-1 almost not okay anymore and very spicy jalapeno and a pinch of red pepper flakes
-1 finely chopped celery stalk in with the onion to make up for low pepper content
-accidentally doubled the paprika (yeah, I know)
-skipped the parsley entirely
And just like everyone says…. it’s amazing. And versatile! And forgiving!
Shakshuka looks so good! And this blog post was successful in helping others know exactly what to do, to make this dish. It was very helpful!
This dish look very delicious and appetizing! It can be easily made at home and it contains ingredients that are easily top find. I would want to try to make this dish at home.
I have never had a Tunisian dish before. This seems like a traditional dish that one would eat for breakfast everyday. If I am correct would you eat it by itself like that or would you eat it with something else? Also, is it technically considered a soup dish that you would eat on a cold day? I have got to learn more about this dish it looks delicious!
You should erase words,not cross them out.
I personally would not want to eat this dish because the two together don’t sound appetizing to me. I do not like poached eggs and the only way I eat tomato sauce is with pizza or pasta.
I have never had a dish like this before but the it looks like something I would try sand it s something different because it has egg in a entire dish and it kind of surprises me that it has eggs because it is usually a breakfast food.
In my opinion, the combination of the poached eggs and tomato sauce don’t sound very appetizing to me. Although, this could be a really good dish that other people might like if they are willing to try something new.
Honestly this sounds disgusting it not my type. poached eggs and tomato sauce that is nasty!!! Not liking tomato in general wouldn’t make me want to eat this. Eggs on the bother hang is good and goes sound appealing to me.
This ingredients looks like there would be a lot of taste into it since it does have eggs and mixed with potato sauce and feta cheese. I believe it would be tasty but just not for me…
I really liked all the pictures but i would have put way more detail in the dish after it was done and more about how it tastes and its flavors.
This dish looks really good and I would definitely would like to try this dish at some point in the future. I like how the dish looks because presentation is everything on a dish.
It looks very tasty since it has eggs and tomato sauce as well!! looks like a a good dish to eat but just not for me since I don’t like eggs at all.
Great recipe might have to try it one day. I liked how the food looked it was delightful to see.
When you mention what culture dish this is, you forgot to remove ‘Israli’
the shakshuka what a name for a dish and what great spices and ingredients for something spectacular and to be honest this dish has more meaning then you think. it has the very creamy sound to it that makes it sound so delicious.
You had a very lovely description of how to make the dish, but pictures along the way would also be helpful to get a better idea of the intended brownness and showing the right amount of thickness. That would be greatly appreciated, Thank you !
I really enjoyed your description of how the dish makes you feel and the times this dish would be perfectly appropriate for. Although a more thorough description of the recipe more would be greatly appreciated with an addition of pictures along the way.
This recipe is really interesting to me especially as a person who does not like spicy foods. I would try this recipe if it was made with a mild amount of spice.
I loved the recipe. I loved that there was information and background on the dish. I look forward to trying it one day.
Thank you so much for this delicious meal, I will definitely try this at home and hopefully it comes out just like your. Lots of love for you work.
I like how you explain the steps with pictures. This blog makes my day. It Is very simple and It gives me ambition to go out and try something new!
This dish looks fire! i cant wait to try
I believe the recipe is a good one because it gives you step by step instructions on how to make it, and it looks delicious.
This recipe looks delicious and I would try it as I like spicy foods. Seems very interesting to try this dish.
I’ve never heard of this dish but it looks delicious. Also If I were to make this dish I would add tomatoes or lemon to the dish if it would taste good.
This recipe is pretty good it gives you step by step you can understand it. Each step is really clear when i get home I’m going to make this recipe.
Very interesting descriptions. You have a great way with words. Keep blogging. I’ll have to try this Shakshuka now.
I think that this blog is a very good blog because you go over all the details and steps to cook shakshuka, I think that one day I will cook this dish using your steps and recipe.
This dish looks really good ! and it does not look simple but the texture into this is very Delicious. how everything is saute into the pot is amazing and how everything is diced and cut very tiny for the taste not to change. and how everything is layered and how everything is plated especially how at the end the parsley is sprinkled upon the whole dish. Anyone who knows how to make eggs know how hard to make those type of eggs. the fact that it has a spicy tomato sauce has me because love anything spicy
This dish looks amazing, I like the idea of having something that is easy to make and easy to eat when there is leftovers. The spiciness of the tomato sauce will compliment the eggs very nicely!
I have never tasted a Tunisian dish, but I would like to one day. Not a fan of poach eggs but it would not hurt to taste this recipe. I assume Tunisia loves spicy food from all the spices in this recipe. Good Blog.
Shakshuka sounds like a very easy meal, however I’m not the biggest fan of poached eggs. I would like to remake this dish with something like potatoes instead of eggs so I could still have an easy, delicious meal ready when I get home. Another problem I have though is I don’t have a microwave but this dish seems easy to reheat on the stove which works out perfectly for a quick meal. One question I have is, is there a version of this dish that isn’t spicy? I’m sure I could replace the chilies but I would like another version of this dish without the spicy kick.
The way you described how the dish tastes was amazing. The pictures of the Shakshuka made me crave this Tunisian dish.
This dish looks delicious and something that I would want to try to make at home. It seems like a pretty easy dish to make.
This dish look very delicious! The recipe looks so easy to make at home . Possibly i’ll try it one day !
Hello !!!!
Well, you will probably get more comments on this post than usual, and the reason why is because I assigned my class to read and comment on it. I am a Culinary Arts Teacher and I introduced blogging to my students this school year. I believe Smith Kitchen is a great source of recipes if you are looking for affordable dishes, and the reading is engaging and interesting. Great job, Deb!
Gabriela
Culinary Arts Instructor at GHS
Hi Gabriela — First, thank you! Second, I’m so sorry. My spam catcher tends to flag when a lot of comments come from the same IP address or with the same email handle in a short period of time and your students comments might have gotten caught up. Did you get to see them? If not, I will fish them out of comment purgatory. I feel terrible but it usually does good, not harm.
Making eggs in Tomato sauce is very different, but I like it! Can’t wait to try this dish at home.
looks good
This dish looks very delicious. AND I LO0VE THIS BLOG. i WOULD WANT TO TRY THIS VERY DISH AT HOME.
thank you for such an interesting blog! This dish seems very appetizing. I would love to try it myself.
This looks like a very delicious dish, I’m excited to try to cook something new!
I like how you explain the steps with pictures,which makes me think this Tunisian dish easy to cook. I’ve never had anything like this before, but I can’t wait to try it!It’s my first time checking out your blog,but I don’t think is going to be the last one.
This was a really interesting and flavorful looking dishes I have seen in a while!
This looks fun & really good to make. I might give it a try.
After reading this article, I am determined to try this dish. The unique presentation and color way have intrigued my taste buds!
This dish sounds amazing. I have never tried Tunisian cuisine before, but this looks like a great dish to start with.
I found it very interesting how this is part of a culture, The Middle Eastern. It’s amazing to see other cultures bring out their specialties and sharing it with the world.
This blog looks amazing and I would like to try out your recipes.
I really enjoy learning about shak shuka and i and really want to eat it.
If this dish is budget friendly,then of course ill make it . It sounds so delicious !! and it looks very tasty.Hope this dish makes me as strong as a superhero ! LOL
I really like this blog! the beginning was funny and this seems like a very interesting tasty recipe!
Great blog! I like how the tomato sauce looks with all the spices because it adds taste. I will be willingly to try to make this recipe at home.
This dish sounds very delicious, and I might try it myself one day to see how it tastes.
Having a picture to look at with every step really helped me understand the dish. It looks tasty, but personally I do not like middle eastern food. Maybe I’ll try this one though.
Looks really good:) The dish overall looks very appetizing too me. Great blog!
I really like the blog because they explain why are they going to cook that dish and they make a comment about they name of the dish that sound like the name of a comic super hero’s name and that was fun. they add to the name of the ingredients and that’s to know what the dish haves on it. it was a very good blog to read and it was fun in some parts.
wow I like the blog is kinda like its talking to you and then its all the way at the bottom to tell you how to actually do it
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Totally delicious!
I have had shakshuka in a local cafe several times and have been meaning to make it at home. We made your recipe to the letter and it was utterly yum!! There’s a little bit of sauce left that’s destined to be served on toast for lunch tomorrow. A great new addition to our vegetarian repertoire. Thanks Deb.
Oh I so love this dish….it was great and have made it a couple of times now…..the only thing different the 2nd time was I added some crushed red pepper flakes to spice it up a bit…..*Totally Delicious*
I love this but here is how I adapt it for just two of us. I make the sauce, use just enough for two people, and put a fried egg on top, and of course the feta and parsley! It’s just as good, then I freeze the remainder of the sauce for other meals and prep it the same way.
alot of info thank u alot
I’d be willing to make it again. It was good, but I didn’t love it — but to be fair I had to make substitutions all over it. I didn’t have a large can of whole tomatoes like I thought, so I used 2 small cans of diced. I had jarred garlic in the fridge, the grocery store was out garlic heads and jalapeños. I had to use a hot poblano — it wasn’t hot so put a small amount of cayenne in there, But the recipe was very easy to make and has lots of flavor.
Just made this for my mom for birthday brunch; it’s her favorite at a restaurant at frequent and we are still not eating out in public. I used 3 fires roasted hatch chilies since they are in season and it was the perfect heat level. I topped the eggs off with za’atar and served with a loaf of no knead bread. Great recipe!
We make this shakshuka almost once a week in my house, and it is a keeper! I like to reheat the leftovers while poaching a few more eggs the next morning for an excellent breakfast. The recipe is super flexible, too – it tastes great no matter which ingredients I forget to add or toss in to use up old produce. I can’t recommend this recipe enough.
This has long been on my “to make” list and tonight was the night! Worth the wait, why did I wait so long? This is sooo my idea of comfort food! We loved every morsel of it. And it didn’t hurt that it was a quick weeknight fix. Thanks Deb!
One of my favorite SK recipes of all time. We rarely have jalapeños or other peppers around, so I sub in chipotle pepper flakes or a chipotle pepper in adobo sauce. We usually eat it with rice. I’ve added in sausages before – browning them in oil at the beginning and make sure they cook through in the sauce during the 15 minutes. Leftovers are delicious.
So, so, so good!
Did you inventory my AZ kitchen
This is killer!
I had feta and parsley last week it was delicious.
This week I substituted in chevre and terragon, and red pepper flakes for the whole peppers. The goat cheese sunk into the broth, wow. Such a smooth mouth feel with the kick of spice at the end!
Made this for Eid breakfast this morning. I used crushed can tomatoes and it was a huge hit with my husband but I found the dish a little tangy. I added a bit of sugar which helped but is there something else I could do to get a rich tomato flavor without the tang?
I’ve made this and it is great. I used 3 jalapeños seeds and all and it was no where near too hot. I find jalapeños are not hot any more. I think mass production has bred the heat out of them. I serve this with homemade naan. Recipe: rasamalaysia.com It’s super easy!
I really enjoy how easy this dish is, it’s perfect for when you want something quick and easy but still tasty! Also eating it direct from the skillet means less washing up haha
this turkish dish its a barkefast to be
Do you think you could use fresh tomatoes and if so, how many?
I’d like to make this for brunch to serve 10. I’m wondering if I can prep the sauce the day before in two 9×13 casserole dishes and then crack the eggs in the morning of the brunch and bake them like your egg/spinach/mushroom recipe?
If I was using fresh tomatoes instead of frozen, how many would I have to put in?
P.S I have made a lot of your recipes and I have loved them all. They are never-fail recipes and that is how I recommend your blog to friends.
Thank you. A big can is usually 1.75 pounds; I’d start with 2.
Thank you for acknowledging that this is a Tunisian dish. Food appropriation has to be addressed. Although you may consider just deleting Israeli. It is popular all over the middle east and North Africa.