Menemen Turkey’s Soft Scrambled Egg and Tomato Breakfast

Menemen: Turkey’s Soft Scrambled Egg and Tomato Breakfast

Byorevia
Prep5 minutes
Cook12 minutes
Serves2
Total17 min
2 min readJump to Recipe ↓

Menemen is a classic Turkish breakfast, named after the town of Menemen near Izmir. Eggs are gently cooked in a pan with ripe tomatoes and green peppers until they are soft and creamy, not dry. It is served in the pan with plenty of bread to scoop.

In This Guide
  1. Did You Know?
  2. Ingredients
  3. Method
  4. Common Mistakes to Avoid
  5. Storage and Reheating
  6. Quick Answers

Did You Know?

Turkey has a friendly, long-running argument about menemen: with onions or without. Both camps are passionate. The dish is traditionally cooked and served in the same pan, and the eggs are meant to stay soft and slightly loose, not fully scrambled.

Ingredients

  • 2 tbsp butter or oil
  • 2 green peppers or 1 capsicum and 1 green chilli, finely chopped
  • 3 ripe tomatoes, grated or finely chopped
  • 4 eggs
  • Salt, black pepper, chilli flakes
  • Crumbled white cheese (optional)

Method

  1. Heat butter in a small, wide pan on medium heat. Cook the peppers for 3 minutes until soft.
  2. Add the tomatoes and a pinch of salt. Cook for 6 to 8 minutes until the water has reduced and it looks jammy.
  3. Crack the eggs on top. Break the yolks lightly and swirl, without fully mixing.
  4. Cook on low heat for 1 to 2 minutes, stirring just once or twice, until the eggs are barely set. They will keep cooking in the hot pan.
  5. Finish with pepper, chilli flakes and cheese. Serve right away with bread.

Note: Turkish households argue about onions. Some versions add them, some do not. Add a little if you like.

Use a small iron skillet or a triply fry pan. See our skillet pans.

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Common Mistakes to Avoid

  • Cooking the eggs hard. Take the pan off the heat while the eggs are still a little wet. They keep cooking.
  • Using watery tomatoes. Cook them down first until the juices reduce.
  • Over-stirring. Gentle folding keeps the pieces of egg and tomato distinct.

Storage and Reheating

Menemen is best eaten right away. If you must keep it, store for up to a day in the fridge and reheat gently, accepting that the eggs will firm up.

Quick Answers

Do I add onion to menemen?

It is up to you. Both versions are common in Turkey. Without onion it is lighter, with onion it is sweeter and fuller.

What do I serve it with?

Crusty bread for scooping is the classic way, with tea or a simple salad.

Written byorevia

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