Shakshuka! A North African baked Egg dish perfect for breakfast, brunch or dinner! Make the savory tomato pepper stew and top it with eggs and goat cheese, before baking in the oven. Serve with crusty bread! A simple delicious meal bursting with flavor.
This easy North African-style baked egg dish, called Shakshuka is bursting with Middle Eastern flavors. Fast and easy to make, it comes together in 30 minutes and it’s one we use a lot at home for dinner or Sunday brunch.
I love it best served with crusty bread to mop up all the flavorful juices. There are many variations of shakshuka, and I took a few liberties here with this one, adding bell pepper, goat cheese and fresh herbs.
Any way you prepare it, the combination of the spices, along with flavorful Tomato-Pepper stew, topped with the eggs – is one you will want to make over and over.
It is also a good recipe for entertaining because you could easily make the fragrant stew ahead, doubling the recipe, and placing it in a large baking dish. When ready to serve heat up the stew, add the eggs and finish cooking it in a hot oven.
Shakshuka can be made in one large, dutch oven, a cast iron skillet, or in individual mini skillets.
After a little research, I’ve found that Shakshuka is also really popular in Israel.
Here I’ve added bell peppers to the traditionally, all-tomato, stew. I wanted to add a little more texture and different flavors.
Make little wells in the stew, and add the eggs. Top with crumbled goat cheese ( or add it after its baked).
Bake in 375 F oven for 7-10 minutes, until the whites are opaque. I prefer to keep the yolks soft but cook to your desired doness.
Serve it up with your favorite bread and enjoy!
Let me know how you like this version of shakshuka in the comments below!
Happy weekend!
Sylvia
Shakshuka Recipe
Shakshuka -A flavorful North African baked egg dish with sautéed peppers, tomatoes and spices, topped with eggs and herbs.
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Cook Time: 30 mins
- Total Time: 40 mins
- Yield: 4 1x
- Category: Breakfast, brunch, vegetarian
- Method: Stove top
- Cuisine: Middle Eastern
Scale
Ingredients
- 3T Olive oil
- 1 red onion, diced
- 1 large red bell pepper, thinly sliced or diced
- 1 large yellow bell pepper, sliced or diced
- 4 garlic cloves, rough chopped
- 3/4 tsp salt, more to taste
- cracked pepper to taste
- 1 tsp cumin
- 1 tsp sugar
- 1 tsp smoked paprika
- 1/2 tsp aleppo chili flakes (optional)
- 3 medium tomatoes diced small with juices ( or one 14-ounce can diced tomatoes with juices)
- 1/3 cup water or white wine
- 2 tablespoons fresh basil ribbons, chopped cilantro or Italian parsley
- 4 –6 Extra large organic eggs
Other optional additions:
- 1/4 – 1/2 cup goat cheese or crumbled feta
- ¼ C finely diced Spanish-style cured Chorizo or 1 cup Merguez Sausage, a North African spiced sausage
Instructions
- preheat oven to 375F
- In a large cast iron skillet, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the onion and cook until tender, about 5 minutes. Add the sliced peppers and garlic, and turn heat down to med-low and cook for 5-7 more minutes, until peppers are tender.
- Add all spices, sugar and salt.
- Cook for 2 more minutes. Add fresh tomatoes and water (or wine).
- Simmer on low for 10-15 minutes, uncovered, adding more water if it gets too dry or thick. You want a saucy, stew-like consistency. After tomatoes cook down, taste, it should be full-flavored, so adjust salt, spices, and sugar if necessary.
- With the back of a spoon, make a well for each egg in the stew. Crack the eggs into each well, sprinkling each egg with a little salt and cracked pepper and Aleppo chili flakes.
- Place in the 375F oven.
- Bake until egg whites are become opaque and are cooked ( about 8-10 minutes) and yolks are still soft ( or to your desired doneness.)
- Remove from oven and top with fresh basil (or cilantro or Italian Parsley) and goat cheese.
- Serve with crusty bread.
Notes
If adding cured (cooked) Spanish style chorizo, add to the simmering stew. If adding Merquez Sausage, brown it with the onions and peppers.
Keywords: shakshuka, shakshuka recipe, what is shakshuka? skillet eggs, best Shakshuka recipe
1
I’m having a bit of trouble with all the instructions of your recipes. This one after I add 1/3 cup of wine and cover it, it becomes too soupy…I usually follow recipes to the exact instructions and I feel like I have to keep altering the recipe a bit.
★★★
I’m so sorry, it should have said cook “uncovered”, instead of covered. I get the confusion. 😉
This was really delicious. Thanks for sharing.
★★★★★
Thanks so much and great to hear! 🙌
My husband and I loved this very flavorful, colorful, and delicious meal!
★★★★★
Thanks Christina!
Lovely dish. Fed 2 greedy folk as a main course. I also added a chopped courgette 5 minutes before putting in the oven.
★★★★★
Thanks Ian!
Just made this for dinner tonight. It was so good! I added the chorizo because I had some in the fridge. The goat cheese was key. Super yummy recipe!
★★★★★
I have three college age boys home due to the Covid-19, and decided to make something different other than the regular Italian, Mexican and American dishes. This was a complete hit. The bread is a must and someone told me to serve it with hummus…. a great suggestion. Very very good. I used chorizo sausage and omitted the aleppo chilis as I couldn’t find them. Goat cheese is great too but let people add it themselves as it’s an acquired taste for certain. Thank you!
★★★★★
Thanks Ann!
I made half the recipe with 3 eggs. It was DELICIOUS, super easy. I had all the ingredients and spices, but didn’t have the goat cheese, so we used Cheddar and it was so GOOD! My husband ate it with tortilla chips. I ate with fresh baked french bread.hmmmmm….!
★★★★★
So happy you liked this!
Came out perfectly
Def would eat again
Something new and delicious
We doubled the recipe and 3 people were full as could be
Thank you for this recipe
★★★★★
First time on your site. Tried this recipe and loved it! Fantastic!
So happy you liked it!
We loved this recipe! I used a can of fire-roasted diced tomatoes because my fresh tomatoes were on their way out. The reicpe still turned out great! Yum!
★★★★★
Oh! I’m so glad you gave this a go! I love this one too!
My go-to brunch recipe for when we have company. Thanks for a delicious recipe!
★★★★★
We love this recipe- best we’ve found yet!
★★★★★
Excellent. I’ve been making your recipe for years. Before the NY times copied your recipe.
★★★★★
So good! We had shakshuka in a restaurant and loved it, so I was looking for a recipe to recreate it at home. So glad I found yours. It was delicious and hearty– perfect if you’re looking for a filling and tasty vegetarian meal. We served it with crusty toasted bread and I couldn’t get enough of it.
★★★★★
I love this recipe, it’s perfect for a cold day! I always add a teaspoon of turmeric as well.
🙂
Nice addition! Love that Cath!
I tried this in a cast iron dutch oven on a camping trip. We served them up on tortilla bread, rolled up like a burrito. The eggs were just cooked through to the point they weren’t runny. It was great.
Attention Food Truck Vendors…add this to your menu!!!
What a great idea to make while camping! Love it. Thanks for sharing.
Beautiful food styling!
I gave Shakshuka a try, finally. Delicious!
http://www.tastytalks.com/things/shakshuka
Yes! Glad you enjoyed it!!
This was very good. I did add the bread to the pan & they toasted to a nice crisp. Next time I will try cooked rice on the bottom of the pan till crisp. Like a Korean dish.
It is similar to a Basque dish called Piperade.
WHile I like your blog, this isn’t even close to the authentic Chakchouka. Never seen it with basil, wine or cheese tofu. And you roast the peppers, chop then saute in the tomatoes & onions.
You are right, it is not traditional- rather my take on it. 😉
My mother used to cook this and now I make it at home quite often. It´s almost the exact recipe, but together with the pepper, onion and garlics she added zucchini, so se made a sort of ratatouille from time to time she added chorizo and/or cheese but most of them she made without them… it was always great
Your blog is fantastic, I will follow you by mail
What’s funny is my dad used to cook these in “India” when I was growing up. Almost exact recipe. The difference Offcourse were some of the spices. And what he would do is — lay 4 slices of bread in pan (instead of toasting them) and then lay the cooked peppers and onions on top and then put the eggs on top and cook them with cheese. And he would serve each of us a slice — loaded with peppers, egg and cheese. The best part was the bread — it would soak up all the flavors from the dish. Happy cooking!!
I love the idea of adding bread in the bottom of the pan…what a brilliant idea! I will have to try it and thanks for the tip!