Slow-Pepper Shakshuka
The version I grew up eating on Saturday mornings, where the peppers and onions get a genuinely slow start — ten unhurried minutes — before the tomatoes ever show up. That patience is the difference between shakshuka and eggs in tomato sauce. Everything happens in one pan, and it goes to the table in the pan.
mostly unattended — the clock does the work
By @sofia
- submitted
- kitchen-tested
- community-validated
- editor-verified
- featured
Ingredients
for 4 servings
- 3 tbspolive oil
- 1yellow onion — thinly sliced
- 1red bell pepper — thinly sliced
- 3 clovesgarlic — thinly sliced
- 1 tspground cumin
- 2 tspsweet paprika
- 0.5 tspchili flakes
- 1 cancrushed tomatoes — 800 g / 28 oz can
- 1 tspfine sea salt
- 6eggs
- 80 gfeta — crumbledoptional
or: soft goat cheese · decent stand-in — Tangier and creamier — it melts into the sauce instead of sitting on top.
- 0.5 bunchesflat-leaf parsley — roughly choppedoptional
- as neededcrusty breadoptional
Equipment
checked against your kitchen
- ✓stovetop
- ✓cast iron skilletoptional
Any wide lidded skillet — cast iron just holds the heat to the table.
What cooks learned
Only 4 cooks have logged this one in Cook Mode so far — not enough to say anything about where it goes wrong.
Method
- 1
Warm the olive oil in a wide lidded skillet over medium. Add the onion, pepper, and a pinch of the salt, and cook 10–12 minutes, stirring occasionally. Do not rush this — the sweetness of the whole dish is built here.
12 min · 6 min attentionDone when: Peppers slumped, onions translucent-gold at the edges.
- 2
Add the garlic, cumin, paprika, and chili flakes. Stir for 1 minute.
2 minDone when: Fragrant, with the oil stained brick red.
- 3
Pour in the tomatoes and remaining salt. Simmer uncovered 12–15 minutes, stirring now and then, until noticeably thickened.
15 min · 4 min attention⏱ Sauce reduce · 13 minDone when: A spatula dragged across the pan leaves a trail that holds for a second.
→ the sauce
- 4
With the back of a spoon, make six wells in the sauce. Crack an egg into each and season the yolks with a little salt.
3 min - 5
Cover and cook on the lowest heat 6–9 minutes. Check at 6 — the line between silky and rubbery is about ninety seconds wide.
8 min · 2 min attentionskill: comfortable⏱ Eggs set · 6 minDone when: Whites opaque; yolks still wobble when you shake the pan.
- 6
Off the heat: feta, parsley, a last thread of olive oil. Bring the pan to the table with the bread.
3 min
Why this grade?
- community provenance+40
- 1 verified cook+2.7
- Trust score43/100