Ground Beef and Eggs Breakfast

Perfect Savory Breakfast!

As a Turkish family, our breakfasts are almost always savory. We love eggs in one form or another, and on weekends we sometimes turn them into a full dish instead of just frying or boiling them. This ground beef and eggs breakfast is one of those meals.

With onions, peppers, spices, and tomato paste cooked together with the eggs, it turns into something really satisfying.

In Turkish cuisine, this ground beef breakfast is known as kıymalı yumurta, and it’s a very common way to serve eggs at breakfast.

About the Ingredients

This is an easy yet satisfying breakfast recipe with ground beef and eggs. You need a few simple ingredients. Here are a few quick notes about them.

Ground beef: We usually use ground beef with about 15% fat, but 20% fat (80% lean) works well too.

Onions: We use two small onions, but one medium onion works just as well.

Red pepper: A sweet red pepper adds nice color and flavor. Romano pepper or red bell pepper both work. If you prefer, you can use green pepper, or even half red and half green.

Spices: We keep it simple with salt, black pepper, and paprika. We also like adding a little pul biber (Turkish red pepper flakes) for mild heat. Aleppo pepper works great too. If you prefer no heat at all, you can simply leave it out.

Eggs: This recipe serves four people, so we usually cook one egg per person. If you prefer more eggs, you can add extra. Just make sure your pan is large enough.

You can find the full list of ingredients and their exact measurements in the recipe card below.

How to Make Ground Beef and Eggs Breakfast

This ground beef and eggs dish comes together in just one pan and takes very little time to make.

First, cook the ground beef until it is nicely browned. Then add the onions and peppers and cook them until they soften and become fragrant. Stir in the tomato paste and spices so everything is well combined and full of flavor.

Next, create small spaces in the beef mixture and crack the eggs into them. Let the eggs cook until the whites are set while the yolks stay soft. Finish with a sprinkle of red pepper flakes and some chopped parsley, and serve it warm.

You can find the full instructions with step-by-step details in the recipe card below.

Make Sure Your Pan Is Large Enough

For this recipe, we want the ground beef to cook in a thin layer in the pan so it can brown nicely and develop flavor.

If the pan is too small for the amount of ground beef, the meat will pile up on top of itself and release much more liquid. When that happens, the beef ends up cooking in its own juices instead of browning.

A little liquid at the beginning is completely normal. As the beef continues cooking, that moisture will evaporate and the meat will start to brown.

Use a pan that is large enough for the ground beef to spread out. Cook over medium-high heat and break it up with a spoon or spatula as it cooks, stirring occasionally until it is nicely browned before adding the other ingredients.

Serving Suggestions

This ground beef and eggs breakfast is delicious served simply with some fresh bread on the side. A crusty loaf works great for scooping up the beef and eggs. Our traditional Turkish pide bread would be amazing too.

At home, we often turn this into a full Turkish breakfast spread. We like serving it with sliced tomatoes, green and black olives, and of course a glass of çay (Turkish tea) on the side. 

Ground Beef Breakfast for Dinner

Even though it is usually served for breakfast, we often make this ground beef and eggs dish for dinner too.

It’s one of our favorite quick dinners, especially on weekdays when we don’t have much time but still want something satisfying. It usually takes about 30 minutes or less from start to finish.

When we serve it for dinner, we either keep the savory breakfast style with olives, tomatoes, and tea, or we make a quick salad on the side, like a simple Turkish lettuce salad.

Variations

This ground beef breakfast recipe is very easy to adapt depending on what you have in the kitchen.

If you like tomatoes with eggs, you can add a chopped tomato to the pan when cooking the peppers. For a stronger flavor, especially if we are planning to serve it for dinner, we like adding one or two cloves of garlic, chopped, along with the peppers.

If you prefer more eggs, feel free to add extra. Just make sure your pan is large enough so the eggs have space to cook properly.

Turn Them Into Scrambled Eggs If You Prefer

We usually keep the eggs whole in this dish. The yolks stay soft and runny, and dipping bread into the yolk is one of our favorite parts.

But if you prefer, you can beat the eggs in a bowl and pour them over the cooked ground beef mixture. Stir gently as they cook and you’ll end up with a more scrambled-style version of this ground beef and eggs breakfast.

Both ways work well, so it really comes down to personal preference.

Storage and Reheating

In our house, the eggs in this ground beef breakfast almost never end up as leftovers. We usually crack one egg per person and leave the eggs whole, so everyone finishes their egg. But if you do happen to have leftovers, you can still store them for later.

Let the ground beef mixture cool completely and transfer it to an airtight container. Store it in the refrigerator for up to 2–3 days.

To reheat, warm it gently in a pan over low heat until heated through. Keep in mind that the egg yolks will cook further when reheated and will no longer be runny.

Can I Make It Ahead of Time?

This ground beef and eggs breakfast is best enjoyed fresh, especially because the eggs are meant to stay soft and runny.

If you want to save time, you can cook the ground beef mixture ahead of time and keep it in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. When ready to serve, simply reheat the beef mixture in a pan and crack the eggs on top. Cook until the whites set and serve right away.

We actually do this quite often. Sometimes when we are already cooking ground beef for another dish like Turkish musakka, we cook a little extra the same way and save some to use it for breakfast the next day. Then all we have to do is warm it up in a pan and add the eggs.

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