Menemen Recipe (Turkish Scrambled Eggs With Tomatoes)

What Is Menemen?

Menemen is a traditional Turkish breakfast dish that is mostly served in a pan. It is a simple one-pan dish with eggs, tomatoes and green peppers.

There is always a discussion in Turkey about whether menemen should contain onions or not. It is a matter of taste. We love them both. You can try and decide for yourself.

This simple egg dish gets its name from a Turkish town called Menemen, which is located in Izmir. It is said that this egg dish was made first by the Cretan Turks who moved to this town.

Although menemen is the star of a well prepared traditional Turkish breakfast, this Turkish scrambled eggs with tomatoes can be served for all meals.

It is a quick lunch or dinner for Turkish people especially during summer months when tomatoes and peppers are in season.

Is Menemen The Same As Shakshuka?

These two dishes are almost the same. They are both breakfast dishes basically made with eggs, tomatoes and peppers.

Shakshuka is from North African cuisine but has become popular in Middle Eastern countries too.

The main difference between menemen and shakshuka is their look. In a traditional menemen recipe, everything is mixed and combined well while the eggs are not mixed with the tomato base in a shakshuka recipe.

That being said, Turkish menemen has a similar version too. You can leave the eggs whole after adding them in the tomatoes and peppers cooking in the pan. It is not as popular as the scrambled egg style though.

About The Ingredients

What makes Turkish scrambled eggs with tomatoes so special is the simplicity behind it. You always have the ingredients below, don’t you? Especially during summer. You can easily make this recipe with these ingredients. BEST breakfast ever!

• Oil: We use olive oil because we love its flavor in all dishes. Butter is also used when making menemen in Turkey. So you can choose whichever you like.
• Green peppers: In Turkey, we use fresh green peppers like Turkish sivri biber or çarliston biber in this recipe. But green bell peppers work fine too. You can even use a combination of sweet red, orange and green peppers. We normally use sweet peppers, but you can use hot peppers if you like.
• Tomatoes: Fresh tomatoes are the best option, especially in summer. Try to use the tastiest tomatoes you can find. It affects the final taste a lot. Peeling the tomatoes or not is up to you. If you can't find fresh tomatoes or are in a hurry, use store-bought tomato sauce.
• Eggs: Organic eggs are the best. There is no strict rule about the number of eggs in this recipe. You can reduce or increase it depending on the number of people who will eat it.
• Spices: We use spices like sweet paprika / chili powder (toz biber), generous amount of black pepper and red pepper flakes (pul biber or aleppo pepper). You can use cumin and oregano too if you like them in your dishes.
• Herbs: We use them for garnish. Although it really doesn’t need one, we always like our menemen with some fresh herbs like parsley, dill, mint, thyme or green onions.

How To Make This Recipe

The recipe is quite straightforward and ready in about 15-20 minutes.

1. Heat olive oil in a pan. Sauté chopped peppers in it over medium heat for 2-3 minutes. Add in chopped tomatoes with all the juices. Season with salt and paprika and cook over medium low heat until tomatoes are tender, stirring occasionally. Now bring it to medium-low heat.

2. In a bowl, beat the eggs gently. And pour it all over the tomato mixture in the pan. Cook it uncovered stirring gently so that the eggs can spread everywhere.
3. It takes no longer than 3-5 minutes. Don’t overcook. This Turkish scrambled eggs recipe is even better for dipping bread. It even turns into a perfect egg dip with this method. 
4. Remove from the heat, garnish with red pepper flakes and chopped parsley. Serve immediately.
5. Optionally, drizzle a little olive oil over it right before serving.

Want To Leave The Eggs Whole? Follow the steps below:

1. After the tomatoes and peppers are cooked in the pan, use a spoon and make wells for each egg.
2. Break eggs into those hollows. Let it simmer uncovered until the egg whites are set and the yolks are still runny for 8-10 minutes.
3. Help egg whites cook well by pushing and poking into them gently with a spatula. Alternatively, cover the pan with a lid and let it cook until the whites are set. But remember the yolks will be covered with a thin egg white then.