Turkish Menemen

Published by Fork Around & Find Out Kitchen — presented in the Lila editorial voice. Editorial standards

Menemen lives in the useful space between scrambled eggs and tomato stew. Onion and green peppers soften in olive oil, tomatoes cook down into a thick, seasoned base, and eggs finish directly in that sauce so every scoop gets some of both.

This version uses garlic, cumin, and Turkish red pepper flakes or sweet paprika alongside the tomatoes. Let the tomato mixture reduce before the eggs go in; watery tomatoes make watery eggs, and no amount of bread can fully restore order after that. Keep the yolks as soft as you like, or stir the eggs more fully into the sauce for a looser scramble. Either way, serve the skillet with crusty bread because menemen is less about polite fork work and more about scooping up every last bit. Breakfast rarely needs a strategy, but it does benefit from bread with absorbent qualities.

Prep20 minutes

Cook25 minutes

Total45 minutes

Serves4 servings

DifficultyEasy

Ingredients

Servings

4 eggs
3 large tomatoes, diced (or 1 can 14.5 ounces diced tomatoes)
2 green peppers (banana peppers or mild green chilis), diced
1 small onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon Turkish red pepper flakes (pul biber) or sweet paprika
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon kosher salt
Fresh parsley and crusty bread, for serving

Instructions

1Heat olive oil in a wide skillet over medium heat. Cook onion and peppers 5 minutes until softened.
2Add garlic and cook 30 seconds.
3Add diced tomatoes, red pepper flakes, cumin, and salt. Simmer 10 minutes until the tomatoes break down into a thick sauce.
4Make small wells in the sauce. Crack eggs into the wells.
5Cover and cook 4 to 5 minutes until the egg whites are set but yolks are still runny.
6Serve in the skillet with fresh parsley and plenty of crusty bread for scooping.

Nutrition Information

Estimated per serving: 1 of 4 servings.

180Calories

8 gProtein

11 gCarbohydrates

12 gTotal Fat

2 gSaturated Fat

3 gFiber

6 gTotal Sugars

670 mgSodium

185 mgCholesterol

Estimated from the ingredients and quantities in this recipe using standard food-composition values. Brand choices, trimming, cooking loss, optional ingredients, and actual portion size can change the numbers. How we calculate nutrition estimates.

Pro Tips

The tomato sauce should be thick before you add the eggs. If it is watery, simmer longer.
Runny yolks are traditional — they mix into the sauce and become part of it.
Eat this with bread. The bread is not optional — it is how you eat menemen.

Substitutions

Turkish red pepper (pul biber) → Aleppo pepper or sweet paprika Pul biber has a unique fruity heat. Aleppo is the closest substitute.

green peppers → Italian long hots or cubanelle peppers Similar mild heat and sweetness.

fresh tomatoes → canned diced tomatoes Canned work year-round when fresh tomatoes are not in season.

Storage Instructions

Best eaten immediately. Leftover menemen reheats but the eggs cook through.

Make Ahead

Make the tomato-pepper base ahead. Reheat and add eggs fresh when ready to serve.

Freezing

Freeze the cooked tomato-and-pepper base without the eggs. Thaw and reheat the sauce in a skillet, then crack in fresh eggs and finish the Menemen normally.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I make this ahead of time?

Yes. Cook the onion, green pepper, garlic, tomato, and spice base ahead and refrigerate it. Reheat the tomato mixture in the skillet, then add the eggs only when serving so the whites set while the yolks can stay soft.

How do I store the leftovers?

Best eaten immediately. Leftover menemen reheats but the eggs cook through.

Can I freeze it?

Freeze the cooked tomato-and-pepper base without the eggs. Thaw and reheat the sauce in a skillet, then crack in fresh eggs and finish the Menemen normally.

Can I adjust it for what I have on hand?

Yes. Tested adjustments on this recipe include Turkish red pepper (pul biber) → Aleppo pepper or sweet paprika; green peppers → Italian long hots or cubanelle peppers; and fresh tomatoes → canned diced tomatoes.