Shakshuka
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Shakshuka is a one-skillet dish of eggs poached in a smoky, spicy, vegetable-laden tomato sauce.
Popular throughout the Middle East, particularly in Israel (where it ranks right up there with falafel and hummus as one of Israel’s most-loved dishes), shakshuka is one-skillet dish of eggs gently poached in a smoky, spicy tomato and vegetable sauce. The dish was brought to Israel by Jewish immigrants from North Africa and variations abound. One popular version called green shakshuka replaces the tomato sauce with a rich spinach and cream sauce loaded with green vegetables. My version is traditional, with a few small tweaks that take it up a notch. I add a splash of heavy cream to marry the acidity of the tomatoes with the richness of the eggs – it makes all the difference – and I also sprinkle crumbled feta on top.
Shakshuka is traditionally made in a cast iron pan and is simple to prepare. You start by making the sauce on the stovetop, then you gently crack the eggs into wells in the sauce and cook briefly before finishing the dish under the broiler. It’s the ultimate breakfast-for-dinner dish, but it can be served any time of day. Toasted buttered bread for mopping up the sauce and runny yolks is a must.
What You’ll Need To Make Shakshuka
Step-by-Step Instructions
Begin by chopping the onions, peppers, and garlic. Be sure not to chop the garlic too finely or it will burn.
In a large skillet, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the onions, garlic and bell pepper.
Cook, uncovered, for about 8 minutes, until softened.
Add the smoked paprika, cumin, coriander, red pepper flakes, 1-1/4 teaspoons of the salt, sugar, and tomatoes.
Cook, uncovered, stirring occasionally, for about 10 minutes, or until the sauce is slightly thickened.
While the sauce cooks, chop the greens.
Add the chopped greens and heavy cream to the sauce, and continue cooking, uncovered, until the greens are soft and wilted, about 10 minutes more.
Turn off (or remove the pan from) the heat. Then, using a spoon, make 6 wells/indentations in the sauce.
Carefully crack an egg into each well, then spoon a bit of the sauce over the egg whites (this will contain them and also help them cook a bit faster than the yolks), being careful not to disturb the yolks. Sprinkle the eggs with the remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt. And then sprinkle the feta around the eggs.
Set the pan on the stove over low heat and cover with a lid. Cook until the egg whites are mostly set but still translucent on top, 5 to 7 minutes. Transfer the pan to the oven and broil until the eggs are cooked to your liking, 1 minute or less for runny yolks. Remove the pan from the oven and sprinkle the cilantro over top.
Serve hot with bread.
You may also like
- Hummus
- Sufganiyot
- Middle Eastern Lamb Kofta
- Creamy Whipped Feta
- Middle Eastern-Style Grilled Chicken Kabobs
Shakshuka
Shakshuka is a one-skillet dish of eggs poached in a smoky, spicy, vegetable-laden tomato sauce.
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 2 small yellow onions (or 1 medium), peeled and diced
- 3 cloves garlic, peeled and roughly chopped
- 1 bell pepper (red, orange or yellow), diced
- ¾ teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon ground coriander
- ¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
- 1½ teaspoons salt, divided
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 1 28-oz can diced tomatoes, with juices
- 2 cups finely chopped greens, such as Swiss chard, kale, or spinach, tough ribs removed, gently packed
- ½ cup heavy cream
- 3 ounces feta cheese, crumbled
- 6 eggs
- Handful chopped cilantro
Instructions
- In a large skillet, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the onions, garlic and bell pepper and cook, uncovered, for about 8 minutes, until softened. Do not brown; reduce the heat if necessary.
- Add the smoked paprika, cumin, coriander, red pepper flakes, 1¼ teaspoons of the salt, sugar, and tomatoes. Cook, uncovered, stirring occasionally, for about 10 minutes, or until the sauce is slightly thickened.
- Add the chopped greens and heavy cream to the sauce, and continue cooking, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until the greens are soft and wilted, about 10 minutes more. While the greens are cooking, set an oven rack in the top position and preheat the broiler.
- Turn off (or remove the pan from) the heat. Using a spoon, make 6 wells/indentations in the sauce. Carefully crack an egg into each well, then spoon a bit of the sauce over each of the egg whites (this will contain them and also help them cook a bit faster than the yolks), being careful not to disturb the yolks. Sprinkle the eggs with the remaining ¼ teaspoon salt, then sprinkle the feta around the eggs. Set the pan on the stove over low heat and cover with a lid. Cook for 5-7 minutes, until the egg whites are mostly set but still translucent on top (check frequently towards the end as cook time can vary). Remove the lid, transfer the pan to the oven, and broil until the eggs are cooked to your liking, 1 minute or less for runny yolks (see note below on cooking eggs further). Remove the pan from the oven and sprinkle the cilantro over top. Serve hot with bread.
- Note: You can cook the dish entirely on the stovetop for just a few minutes longer (without using the broiler) if you like your egg yolks cooked through. If you like your eggs runny, however, I find that the stovetop-to-broiler method is the only surefire way to cook the egg whites thoroughly without overcooking the yolks.
- Make Ahead: The tomato sauce can be made up to 2 days ahead of time and refrigerated, or frozen for up to 2 months. Reheat the sauce on the stovetop and proceed with the recipe when ready to serve.
Nutrition Information
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- Per serving (6 servings)
- Calories: 254
- Fat: 20 g
- Saturated fat: 9 g
- Carbohydrates: 12 g
- Sugar: 7 g
- Fiber: 4 g
- Protein: 10 g
- Sodium: 636 mg
- Cholesterol: 200 mg
This website is written and produced for informational purposes only. I am not a certified nutritionist and the nutritional data on this site has not been evaluated or approved by a nutritionist or the Food and Drug Administration. Nutritional information is offered as a courtesy and should not be construed as a guarantee. The data is calculated through an online nutritional calculator, Edamam.com. Although I do my best to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures should be considered estimates only. Varying factors such as product types or brands purchased, natural fluctuations in fresh produce, and the way ingredients are processed change the effective nutritional information in any given recipe. Furthermore, different online calculators provide different results depending on their own nutrition fact sources and algorithms. To obtain the most accurate nutritional information in a given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe, using your preferred nutrition calculator.
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Hi Jen,
I’ve made your Shakshuka so many times and love it. I need to make enough for 10 people. I usually make it in my cast iron skillet for a only few people. If I doubled the ingredients would that work and what would you suggest I make it in for that many? I thought of a cookie sheet possibly but not sure that would work. Thank you for your help.
Hi Sheri, With a baking sheet, I’d be concerned that you may have leakage. Instead, I’d suggest using a large baking dish (or two smaller baking dishes) and instead of partially cooking the eggs on the stove, I’d bake them in a 375° oven for 7 to 10 minutes. Hope that helps and that everyone enjoys!
This was a delicious dish that we had with your homemade naan recipe. My two toddler girls, who are relatively picky, liked dunking the bread into the sauce. A 5 star family dish.
Love this recipe, I have made it countless times! I have also frozen it (tomato pepper tomato part) and it has come out perfectly! Would recommend 100%
I have tried and enjoyed so many of your recipes. This is another keeper! Thanks for the many delicious recipes. Your recipes have good and directions. I love the photos that accompany them. I’ll keep coming back to your website! Thank you for sharing your talents.
Delicious
I follow the recipe exactly and we swoon over this breakfast every time I make it. Someone at the table, takes a bite, exclaims how beautiful the flavors are, the next person takes a bite and does the same thing. It continues around the table until every scrap has been licked clean. Then everyone dreams about it over and over.
This is a beautiful dish. I served with naan and roasted red garlic potatoes. It’s perfect.
We had this for dinner last night with some naan and the leftovers were perfect for breakfast. This is a great recipe! I was initially hesitant to try it because it was so different from my normal recipes, but it was great (just like with everything else I’ve tried from Once Upon A Chef)! It was pretty easy to make too. My husband has a slight lactose intolerance, so I put in half the cream and omitted the cheese, and it was still delicious. I mistimed the eggs, so they were more cooked. This is definitely a recipe to make again!
Delicious sauce! Definitely a keeper, but I might have to play around with the egg timing, which is mentioned in the recipe, to get the runny yolks that we like. In retrospect, my sauce should have been a little bit thicker before I added the eggs in order to keep them in place. Since they kind of slipped under, I thought the whites weren’t done and cooked them a little longer than necessary under the broiler. As I said, this was my timing issue, the recipe is yummy…and there were no leftovers (eggs or sauce!) thanks to a loaf of fresh French bread to accompany the meal!
My cousin and I are debating the ingredients in the recipe. She would like to use fresh tomatoes. Can fresh tomatoes be used instead of canned? If so what would be the amount of tomatoes required?
I haven’t tried it, but you could get away with using fresh tomatoes here. It really depends upon the size of the tomatoes you buy but you’ll need about 3-1/2 cups of diced tomatoes (be sure to include the tomato juices). I’d love to hear how it turns out!
The final result was not as red I guess from the lack of the canned juices, however, the taste was awesome! We did not place the skillet in the oven since my cousin prefers a more solid yolk. Next time I make the Shakshuka I will use the canned tomatoes and place the skillet in the oven as I enjoy a more runny yolk. Thanks Jenn, your recipes are top notch!
Glad it turned out well — thanks for the follow-up!
Would it be possible to omit the dairy products?
Hi Trevor, You could use a non-dairy cream in place of the heavy cream or just drizzle some olive oil over top before serving. You can also omit the feta but may need to add a little more salt to the dish to taste when serving. Hope you enjoy!
We really enjoyed this recipe. My hubby who is a meat and potatoes man, loved it. He actually asked me if I was going to make this again. The recipe was easy and I had all the ingredients but the Feta. I used mozzarella, which was delicious with it. Thanks!!
We made this today for Mother’s Day, and it was a huge hit! It was so delicious! We used baby spinach for the greens. I didn’t have ground coriander, so I substituted Garam Masala (because online it said that was a good substitute). It was amazing! Thanks for another wonderful dish!
Excellent light dinner! I made two small changes. I used fire roasted canned tomatoes, (Muir Glen) and after the sauce had cooked for a while but before I added my chopped greens, I used my hand held blender to make the sauce a bit smoother texture. I used chard and it was a lovely easy meal.
I made this recipe during Lent. It was delicious and easy to prepare. It is similar to Heuvos Rancheros. Feel free to add more heat should that suit your palate.
I’d looked at this recipe several times but a poor runny imitation served at our hotel in Istanbul several years ago put me off trying it. The positive reviews convinced me to try it this AM. I have to say this was amazing. I followed the recipe to the letter and didn’t rush the recommended cook times. The eggs cooked perfectly and it was absolutely yummy. Served over fried potatoes. At some point, I’ll serve this for treasured weekend guests (it’s a very time consuming recipe). Thank you again Jen!
We had this for dinner tonight. It was a big hit. So full of flavor! Thank you for making me look like a great cook!!! Again!!
Dee. Lish. Us.
We ate this as our low-key Easter dinner. With only the two of us, we were trying to keep it simple, but novel. It did not disappoint and we now have a new meal in our rotation.
Thank you!!
I just cooked this for dinner. Absolutely delicious and much easier than I expected!
Hi Jenn, This was my 1st attempt ever at making Shakshuka and let me tell you..It was soo delicious. I didn’t have any kale handy so I used spinach and baby arugula. I’m such a big fan of cumin and love the flavors of this dish. I’m pretty sure I licked the spoon after every stir. Thank you for the recipe!!
Tried this today and was thrilled with it. The flavour is wonderful. I needed to let the eggs cook a bit longer before I put them under the broiler, otherwise, it was perfect. Thanks for this, Jenn.
This was so delicious! I wanted to make this when we had guests staying with us but they wanted to go out for breakfast. They don’t know what they were missing!
I made this for dinner last night and it turned out perfectly. I had some leftover and wasn’t sure if it would be good reheated, but it was surprisingly good.
Thanks again for another great recipe!
Jenn,
This was my first venture into cooking your recipes. I would not call myself a great cook, but the flavors in the shakshuka made me feel like a chef! Even my 17 year old daughter thought this was delicious. FYI, the cream adds a lot. Any chance you can come up with more shakshuka recipes? Thank you for this simple, healthy, and outstanding addition to our family dinner options.
Tanya, Salt Lake City
Glad it was a hit! I will keep more shakshuka variations in mind as I develop new recipes. 🙂
I just made this today. I used spinach for my greens. I didn’t have cream, so I used the whole-milk greek yogurt I had. The flavors were delicious! I love the idea of being able to make the sauce ahead of time.
Thanks for pointing this out.
I just made this earlier this week for a quick dinner. I followed the recipe exactly and the flavors were to die for! I did have some trouble getting the egg whites cooked thoroughly without the yolks being overdone. I left it on the stove several minutes longer but the whites were still marginally cooked while the yolks were not quite hard. Will definitely make this again but might leave off the eggs because of the cooking difficulty.
Well, before it was Arab it was from Latin America. Tomatoes are a New World fruit and were not in Europe before 1500. More than likely it came about via Spain and on to the Arabs.
I’m not a fan of smoked paprika. Could I substitute sweet paprika?
Sure!
This is an outstanding egg dish with a lot of flavor and good nutrition besides. It’s satisfying as well as filling. It’d be a wonderful dish to serve guests, because so much is do-ahead. I poach the eggs separately on the stove and add them just before serving.
This dish turned out amazing!!!! I substituted a Habanero instead of Chili flakes.
My one question is I had no cream so I substituted with milk (1/2 cup) and added 1 Tbl flour to thicken. Seemed to work out!!!
All around great dish!
Absolutely love this recipe; I made it for dinner last night. I didn’t have any heavy cream so I subbed whole milk, and I felt like it turned out just as well! It also looks beautiful in a cast iron pan 🙂
I am a subscriber. I usually save your recipes to my disk. Every other month I cook for my widowed sister-in-law and my vegetarian brother and his wife, so I am always on the watch for vegetarian recipes. I make you Shakshuka. It was very good, an unusual surprise dish for everyone to enjoy. I used you recipes without adjustments. Thank you for saving me in my hunt for vegetarian dishes, that I, a meat eater, can also enjoy.
This is my go to breakfast recipe when we have guests over. Even though it doesn’t have any meat the combinations of all the veggies make it amazing!! Also, I wasn’t sure about broiling the eggs because I’ve never done it before but they turned out perfect. This recipe is the bomb dot com!
Made this dish with some friends for brunch, and we all loved it! We halved the cream due to one friend’s request, but the dish didn’t seem to suffer because of it. Served it with toasted bread and it was oh-so-delicious. My one regret is that it didn’t taste as good when I heated up the leftovers the next day. Next time, we’ll just eat it all in one sitting!
Simply fabulous. I made it with andouille sauasage for dinner. Easy to make and so yummy!!
Made this amazing dish for breakfast for my adult children. It was a huge hit! We loved it so much I’m making again 5 days later. It will be in my recipe rotation now! I did not have fresh bell pepper so I substituted a jar of roasted red peppers and I think they worked well. My sauce was a little thick-I used San Marzano whole tomatoes. I will try your suggestion of adding a bit of chicken broth for a looser sauce next time. Thank you for sharing this really delicious recipe!
Just finished eating the Shakshuka……I consider myself an accomplished cook….but your pictures showing the prep really helped. We did not use the sugar and didn’t miss it at all….oh I forgot to mention how it tasted…. FANTASTIC…..
I first saw this recipe in a cooking magazine but I felt like their recipe was overly complicated. When I googled “Shakshuka” and found that you, my favorite recipe site, had a recipe, it immediately went on my menu plan! So excited to try it! We don’t eat bread, so I’m trying to decide if I should serve this over rice or golden potatoes to soak up and enjoy the sauce. Do you have a recommendation? Thanks so much!!
Hi Kelly, I think potatoes would be wonderful! 🙂
Thanks so much for your recommendation! It was DELICIOUS!! Once again, your recipe didn’t disappoint. This dish was so flavorful yet simple. Love it!!
Wow! I wish I’d made this the first time you posted the recipe, because we could already have enjoyed it more times. My husband kept saying, “This is amazing!” Now I know what I’m cooking the next time we have overnight guests. Thank you!!!
Next up – your shrimp and grits.
This was a wonderful version of this dish! I’ve made shakshuka before but with less eggs and no feta, both of which added a lot in my opinion. I would suggest only adding as many eggs as you plan to eat that night. Fry up fresh eggs for leftovers. We served with pita bread for sopping up the juices. Delicious!
The flavours in this are amazing. I added a pack of sausages to please my meat crazy boys and they just about licked the pan clean. Thankyou for sharing!
Hi Jenn,
I’ve made this several times and my family loves it, but tonight I have no cream…do you think it’s ok to use milk or better to leave it out altogether?
Hi Ellen, I think it will work with milk; it’s also totally fine just to omit the cream.
This dish is amazing- it’s our new go-to holiday breakfast. Very easy to make- and hard to mess up. We used swiss chard and added more than the recipe called for and it was fantastic. Great unami flavor.
This is great – warm and hearty with earthy complex flavors. I opted for your recipe over Melissa Clark’s, the feta I think is essential. I did go with Greek yogurt though. I would say you almost need a sous chef (or eager young apprentice!) when it comes time to getting those eggs into their little beds of tomato’y goodness.
Yummo and thanks so much…
I want to make this to bring to a friend for lunch so wondering what I can do ahead of time. Would you suggest cooking it at home and just reheating there? Or getting as far as putting in the eggs and do that and finish at my friend’s house?
Hi Bonnie, I’d prepare it up to the point of adding the eggs. Once you get to your friend’s house, you can add them and finish it off. Hope you both enjoy!
So. Good! If you are hesitating about this dish because it is ‘different’….don’t. Delicious is delicious. I highly recommend serving with a nice crusty bread. It saves people from having to lick the plate. Thanks Jenn for all your amazing recipes. We haven’t found one we don’t like yet.
Hi Jen,
Thanks for another fabulous recipe. Can i substitute light cream for heavy cream ?
Kind regards/Hai
Sure, Hai, that should be fine. Enjoy!
FANTASTIC!
My 8,7,5 and 3 year old (who eats cookies…and drinks milk…and that’s about it) just ALL ate their veggies because of this recipe; and liked them. Yes!!!
Ever thought of a children’s recipe cookbook?
Pray about it!
God bless!
😊 So glad you kids (including your cookie-eating 3-year old) enjoyed this!
MY FAVOURITE GO-TO SUPPER. Absolutely love the flavours. I have been having issues with the cream separating/curdling when I add it though. What should I do about this?
Hi Lindsay, Are you using heavy cream (fat content should be between 36-40%)?
Just finished dinner – a modified version of this based on what I had in the fridge. Eggplant and carrots instead of peppers and two tablespoons of milk and a tablespoon of cream cheese for the cream. Kept the spices the same. Served over egg noodles. My daughter – not a vegetable eater – inhaled it, pausing only long enough to exclaim, “OMG, this tastes amazing!” Definitely will make it again and pass the recipe on to my vegetarian (and carnivorous!) friends. Wish I could give it more than five stars;but then again, I feel that way about every one of your recipes that I have made.
🙂 So glad you all enjoyed this!
I’m happy to see this noted, thank you 😊
Hi Jennifer:
Looks like another winner.
What cheese can I substitute for the Feta?
My wife cannot eat goat cheese.
I’m thinking Mexican Cotija to get the dry crumbly texture and saltiness.
What do you think??
Thanks
–Lou P
Hi Lou, you could definitely try Cotija cheese; you could also get away with something a little milder and gooey-er, like cheddar or Monterey Jack. Hope that helps – I’d love to hear how it turns out!
Goat Cheese!!!