The best baked eggs in the world – Shakshuka! A Middle Eastern and North African dish traditionally served up for breakfast or lunch, this can be made entirely on the stove or finished in the oven. However, bread for dunking/mopping is not optional!
Shakshuka
I’ll let you in on a trade secret – usually, the photos you see of so called baked eggs aren’t really baked at all.
When eggs are baked, the thin film of egg whites covering the yolks becomes opaque, fogging up the beautiful bright yellow yolks.
“This is a catastrophe!” said some food magazine editor, somewhere. “We cannot have foggy yolks! They must be bright yellow. This must be fixed!” (I hear this in my head with a French accent, but I don’t know why)
And so some food stylist scuttled off, and came back with a solution now adopted by food stylists everywhere: pan fry the eggs sunny side up then slide them into whatever sauce or vehicle they were supposedly baked in.
It’s always obvious when this is done because you don’t get the messy bleed of whites mixed in with the sauce, like you see in these photos.
So yes, I sacrificed glaringly yellow yolks to make this the way the recipe is written. I did cheat a bit though- I carefully wiped off as much of the egg whites from the yolks before baking them.
I assure you I do not do that in real life. 😂
Now that I’ve changed the way you’ll look at baked eggs photos forever, let’s talk about the world’s best baked eggs – Shakshuka.
WHAT IS SHAKSHUKA?
It’s basically eggs that are baked or poached in a fragrant tomato sauce, usually with capsicum (bell peppers), onion and spices like cumin and paprika, reflecting the Middle Eastern and North African roots of this dish. It’s actually quite similar to Huevos Ranchos – the Mexican version of Shakshuka!
Though traditionally thought of as a breakfast or brunch recipe, I’m forever on my “eggs anytime of the day” crusade and I’m sitting here at 5.18pm on Wednesday 25 July 2018, wondering what to have for dinner tonight and I just decided to make this (again).
BRILLIANT FOR CAMPING – AND MAKING IN BULK
Though I call Shakshuka a type of baked eggs, ironically my favourite way of making it is over campfire, poaching rather than baking. One of my best friends had a remote wild-river wedding and the outdoor caterers they hired made Shakshuka for 80 wedding guests over campfire.
It worked brilliantly because eggs take mere minutes to cook, so they made large pots of this fragrant tomato sauce then cooked dozens and dozens of eggs in them. Poach, serve, then repeat in the same pots.
I had all good intentions of helping. But I had a very sore head that morning… 🥂🤢 Hey! I was a bridesmaid – I had to do lots of toasts! …. – Nagi x
MY FAVOURITE BREKKI/BRUNCHY EGG RECIPES
-
Healthy Egg Muffins – grab ‘n go brekki!
-
Frittata – a classic everyone should know!
-
Quiche Lorraine (must try at least once!)
WATCH HOW TO MAKE IT
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Shakshuka (Middle Eastern Poached or Baked Eggs)
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 small red onion , peeled, halved and sliced
- 1 garlic clove , minced
- 1 small red capsicum (bell pepper) , halved lengthways and sliced into 0.5cm/1/4” strips
- 1 tomato , diced
- 400 g / 14 oz can crushed tomatoes
- 1 tbsp tomato paste
- 1/2 cup / 125 ml chicken or vegetable broth (or water)
- 1 tsp EACH paprika and cumin
- 1/4 tsp EACH black pepper and cayenne pepper (or other hot spice, adjust to taste)
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 4 eggs eggs (up to 6 eggs ok)
- 2 tbsp fresh parsley or coriander / cilantro , roughly chopped
- Pita or crusty bread, to serve
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 180C/350F (if intending to bake them).
- Heat oil in a medium size cast iron skillet over medium high heat. Add garlic and onion, cook for 2 minutes until onion is translucent.
- Add capsicum, cook for 1 minute. Add diced tomato, cook for 2 minutes until broken down and it becomes a bit pasty (see video).
- Add canned tomatoes, tomato paste, broth, paprika, cumin, salt and pepper. Mix to combine well.
- Lower stove to medium low and simmer for 5 minutes until just thickened enough to make indentations (don't want dry sludge, needs to still be saucy).
- Make indentations in the mixture and carefully crack the eggs in. Leave to cook for 1 minute until edges of whites are set (Note 1).
- Transfer to oven and bake for 7 to 12 minutes until whites are just set but yolks are still runny (or to your taste). OR cover with lid and steam on stove for 3 minutes (runny yolks), or just simmer them without a lid.
- Remove from oven/stove and serve immediately, scattered with the coriander or parsley. Serve with crusty bread, or pita bread.
Recipe Notes:
Original recipe published in May 2014, officially one of the very first recipes I ever shared. So it's 4 years overdue for new photos and a video! Recipe slightly tidied up but is fundamentally the same.Nutrition Information:
LIFE OF DOZER
And he’s back in the water!!! The vet tells me it’s excellent for rehab*. So I’m making him do laps back and forth along the beach – not allowed to run on the sand!
* For those playing catch up: Dozer busted his knee a couple of months ago and had to undergo surgery. We’re 8 weeks into a 12 – 16 week post op recovery period. He’s doing fantastic! A little too well – if he had his way, he’d be bolting after rabbits in the backyard, then he’d end up back on the operating table… 🙄
I added some sliced olives and some crumbled feta cheese and it was spectacular. more towards the greek cuisine 🙂
Sounds great Ariadna! N x
I made this today and it was delicious! I had to make a few substitutions based on what I had (white onion instead of red, green bell pepper instead of red, and canned diced tomatoes that I smashed down a bit instead of crushed), but the flavors were amazing and the spices were measured perfectly! I also added a dash of smoked chili flakes. I cracked 5 eggs and it was the perfect portion for 2 people. I cooked about 11 minutes in the oven and the eggs were how I like them – not too liquidy but a slightly runny yolk with some firm bits as well. Will make again for sure!
Really delicious recipe and very easy, thank you 😊
Looks so good! I’ve made this before from another recipe which I’ve since lost, this one is so yummy! I use smoked paprika instead of plain, it adds a really nice flavour to it. Thanks again, stay healthy and safe!
That’s great to hear Monika, yes smokey paprika would give a lovely taste! N x
This looks delicious! Thank you so much. I have 2 questions. Would it taste good if I add chorizo? Also would love to use my cast iron pan like you in the video. But will the acidity from the tomato mixture ruin the patina in my cast iron pan? Thank you for your help. Love all your recipes. Please take care of yourself and Dozer.
Dear Nagi,
Thank you for the wealth of recipes which you share with us and their presentation including some historical background as well..
I am a 71 years old male who enjoys your website and admires its content.
In particular, the Shakshuka dish caught my attention because it did not resemble my aunt’s recipe.
My aunt (deceased some 30 years ago) was a great cook of Lebanese food in her time. She left us with a wealth of authentic recipes of which the Shakshuka was one of them.
The Shakshuka was not considered a main dish but rather a starter and it contained no eggs at all though if you look at the ingredients you would notice that the addition of eggs is a possibility.
I have cooked her dish many times and would like to share it with you so that you can compare it with your recipe and perhaps try it as well or share it with the readers.
If you agree I can send you the recipe and a photo of the finished food separately. Thank you.
You are a wise girl great that you do this for us thank you you are awesome
You’re so welcome Robert! 😍
I love This served on palenta, Yum. Must do IT ASAP as Fresh tomatoes Are coming endOf Season . Dozer is Lucky to have YOU to Look after him so Well. Ok, be good.
YUM! I love polenta Vera, great idea! N x
I love the look of this recipe and cant wait to try it
I hope you love it Kerry!
This sounds terrific. How can I make this so the egg whites are cooked (as in ‘over-medium’), without cooking the yolks? I hate uncooked whites.
🤢
Hi Mimi, my whites are completely cooked in this recipe, if yours aren’t, just cook them a little longer ☺️
I have a big group coming and wanted to know if I can put the tomato mixture in a 9X13 pan and bake it off with 8 eggs to finish. Made this and loved it so I really want to use it to entertain for brunch.
Yes! That’s the perfect way of making a big batch at home. I once helped make this for a 80 guest wedding party, camping by a river. We made big pots of the sauce then dropped eggs in and just cooked them in the sauce, then served the eggs with a bit of sauce then kept adding more eggs into the remaining sauce in the pot. But a pan in the oven means you can bake with lots more eggs in one go! N x
You sure can Sue!
Another delicious recipe, thanks, Nagi! We like it very much. Its so easy to make. Second time today with only half of the broth, because the canned tomatoes here (Switzerland) are far more liquid…
Sounds like you nailed it Mady!
Just made this dish. So easy and really delicious. Thanks.
I love baked egg and it looks delicious to eat them. So I want to try this in my house.
I hope you love it!
I made this and added feta cheese on the top. Would highly recommend this modification/suggestion.
Sounds delicious Yvonne!
Bless us, Nagi– for we have sinned. We tried a few recipes over the last few weeks from other sites… we swear it won’t happen again! 😛
Made this tonight and not only was it easy, but Quynh (who usually *hates* tomatoey things) loved it. I’ve been eyeing this recipe for months and finally decided to try it. How you continually manage to make 5 star recipes so easy is beyond me, but it’s appreciated! Happy holidays to you, Dozer, momma, and the fam!
Can I use fresh tomatoes only? As we don’t get canned tomatoes here
You could, just crush them ☺️
I just made this for lunch and it was yum! Thank you for another fantastic recipe x
Hi Nagi. Thank you for the recipe. Made it today. It was delicious.
You’re so welcome! Glad you enjoyed it!!! N xx
Hi nagi. Is it possible to make this recipe without going to the overn. Just stovetop and covered. I wonder what would be a big difference in taste. Thanks.
It works great! I put the directions in the recipe 🙂 I do that all the time over camp fire
Hi Nagi,
I have just cooked this but I think I may have overcooked the yolks a bit, still delicious tough, next time I will take it out of the oven on the 7th minute mark, one question what is the best way to reheat them?