Name: Israeli Shakshuka
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 30 min
Yield: 3
Cuisine: Israeli
Ingredients: oil; 1 large onion, diced; 4 cloves garlic, minced; 2 14.5-ounce cans crushed tomatoes; 3 tablespoons tomato paste; 2 to 3 tablespoons vegetarian chicken bouillon powder; salt to taste; 6 eggs

Israeli Shakshuka is sunny side up eggs poached in a hearty tomato sauce. It's extremely easy to make and never fails to impress.

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Shakshuka is a breakfast dish that could be found in any Israeli cafe.

It's made of a hearty tomato base with sunny side up eggs poached in them, which maybe doesn't sound so impressive, but trust me it's delicious!

And I've actually never failed to impress a foreigner with this dish. Israeli's are used to it, but it doesn't get more exotic than this if you're not a local.

I think shakshuka was the first dish I ever learned how to make on my own. I'd learned to make some things by watching my mother, but this was the first dish I ever looked up recipes for.

I must have been about 16 or 17 years old. And I've been making it ever since.

In fact, by my mid-twenties it became my specialty. If I was making brunch and wanted to impress, this was my go to dish.

I'd often pair it with a mimosas or just orange juice in Champaign fruits because it really leveled up the look and experience.

I even did this as a treat in a friend's tiny one-bedroom apartment when he was a broke student living with two other guys and my friend's bed was in the living room. And we both thought my shakshuka Champlain glass brunch made everything so charming!

I've actually made it so many times that my family can't even look at it anymore.

This recipe is for 3 to 4 people, so if you want just a recipe just for one person, I recommend making my shakshuka for one instead.

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Variations

Red Peppers - while this is not common, I have seen it served at some cafes. I think they do to make it a little different than what you'd typically make at home. For this version, add one or two red bell peppers cut into strips when preparing the tomato sauce.

Spicy - while the spicy version is even less common than the pepper vision, I used to make it all the time when I was a teenager. Just add red pepper flakes to taste or a jalapeño pepper when making the tomato sauce.

Extra flavor - one of my favorite sources for Israeli recipes recommends adding 1 tablespoon sweet paprika, ½ teaspoon ground caraway, and ¼ teaspoon cumin.

How do you serve shakshuka?

At restaurants in Israel, shakshuka is often served with a bowl of leafy side salad or an Israeli salad.

Shakshuka is commonly eaten with pita which can be used for scooping.

Shakshuka can be eaten any time of day and is perfect for brunch.

Why use canned tomatoes?

There are three things that I love about using canned tomatoes.

The first is that they're always ripe, and not just made to look ripe like often happens with fresh tomatoes in stores.

The second reason is because I love how convent it is to skip cutting up the tomatoes.

And the third reason is because then I could make shakshuka whenever the mood strike instead of needing to make sure I have the right amount of tomatoes around.

Can I use fresh tomatoes instead?

Yes, if you want to use tomatoes instead of the crushed tomatoes, you can.

In fact, whenever I made this recipe as a teenager, I'd just take whatever tomatoes that were in the fridge and were going soft.

Use 10 ripe tomatoes. Make sure to dice them before putting them in the pan. Once added to the pan, add enough water to almost cover the tomatoes.

Make sure to occasionally press down on the tomatoes with the bottom of your spatula.

And increase the cook time to 30 minutes and

How much should the fresh tomatoes be by weight?

Since some tomatoes are bigger than others, it can be easier some times to go by weight.

It should be about 1-pound or 500g.

Can I use canned whole pealed tomatoes instead?

Yes, you can use an 28-ounce can because that has about 10 tomatoes. Make sure to include the juices.

But instead of dicing them like you would fresh tomatoes - which may be messy because of all the liquid - I'd recommend pureeing them in the blender before using them for this recipe.

Can I use canned diced tomatoes?

Yes. Use one 28-ounce can or two 14.5-ounce cans.

But since that adds up to 10 to 12 tomatoes, you may end up with an extra 2 tomatoes. If you do, you may need to adjust the seasoning a bit if you find the sauce a little bland due.

I've found that some brands leave the skin on their diced tomatoes, which creates this feeling of little bits of plastic in the food for some reason. I recommend using skinless if you can.

Can I use canned tomato Puree?

Honestly, I haven't tried, and I wouldn't recommend it.

It seems too smooth and thin to create a hearty sauce like shakshuka needs.

Can I use garlic powder instead of minced garlic?

Sure. Replace the minced garlic with 1 teaspoon of garlic powder.

Can I use granulated garlic instead of minced garlic?

Honestly, I've been doing this in recent years to save time.

Use 2 teaspoons of granulated garlic instead of the minced garlic.

Can I use onion powder instead of the raw onion?

Yes. You can use 1 ½ tablespoons of onion powder in place of the large onion.

Can I leave out the bullion powder?

If you want to, you can replace it with 1 teaspoon of salt.

Can I use stock instead of bullion powder?

You can use 2 cups of stock instead of the bullion powder and water, but the sauce will take much longer to cook because it will need to be reduced into a thick sauce.

Can I use broth instead of bullion powder?

Yes, just like stock, you can use 2 cups of broth instead of the bullion powder and water, but the sauce will take much longer to cook because it will need to be reduced into a thick sauce.

Which Type Of Oil should i use?

I don't specify in the recipe which type of oil to use because it's mostly personal preference and I don't want anyone to feel they have to use specifically that type of oil. For the most part, you can use whatever oil you feel most comfortable using.

I use neutral oils like canola oil and safflower oil, and I also like using pure olive oil a lot.

You can also use stronger oils like olive oil and coconut oil, but keep in mind that they may change the taste somewhat.

I've actually made shakshuka with coconut oil before and it gave it a tropical flavor.

If you're going to use olive oil, use the one labeled pure olive oil because it has the mildest flavor. This should make the flavor a lot less noticeable.

Is It Better to Use Canola Oil or Olive Oil?

Canola oil is relatively cheap and, due to its lack of flavor and high smoke point, is very versatile.

Olive oil, on the other hand, is generally considered a healthier choice.

So, really, it's whatever you prefer.

I've used both with good results.

How to make ahead of time

You can make the tomato sauce base up to 3 to 4 days in advance and store it in the fridge.

When you're reading to eat, reheat the sauce in a skillet and continue the recipe as instructed.

How to freeze

While you can't freeze a completely made shakshukah because the eggs won't freeze well, you can freeze the tomato base.

Place the tomato base in a resealable freezer safe bag or freezer safe container.

Store for up to 3 months. After three months it's still safe to eat, but the quality begins to degrade.

How to reheat

If you have leftovers with eggs already in them, reheat them very gently on the stove over low heat.

Recipe Tip

Covering the frying pan with a lid or tinfoil after adding the eggs will really shorten their cooking time.

However, covering the egg will also cause them to look poached instead of like Sunny-Side-Up.

SNAFU

The big mess-up I did when making this dish is that I didn't make sure the sauce was very thick.

This caused the eggs to sink into the sauce and take forever to cook.

The quick fix for this is either to lift the eggs out of the sauce once they start to cook or to cover them like in the tip above.

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Yield: 3 to 4 servings