If there was ever a recipe worthy of “breakfast for dinner” it would be shakshuka. This rich, saucy dish is full of smoky spices, hearty beans, and rich eggs. Make sure to buy or make some homemade crusty bread for dipping, because you’re not gong to want to waste a drop of this delicious tomato sauce!
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What is Shakshuka??
Shakshuka is delicious dish cooked all across the Middle East and North Africa. It’s an incredibly simple and hearty dish consisting of eggs poached in a spiced tomato sauce. I decided to take my shakshuka in a slightly different direction by adding cannellini beans to bulk it up a bit, plus a hefty dose of smoked paprika to give it a deep, fire-roasted flavor.
How to Serve Shakshuka
Most people in the U.S. eat eggs mostly for breakfast, but this delicious dish is great for breakfast, brunch, OR dinner. You’ll want to serve the shakshuka with some crusty bread, pita, or naan to sop of the delicious sauce. No bread? No problem. Spoon the saucy mix over a bowl of grits or rice (like we do here in the south). Just don’t let one drop of that sauce go to waste, promise? K.
Smoky White Bean Shakshuka
Servings 4Ingredients
- 2 Tbsp olive oil ($0.32)
- 4 cloves garlic ($0.32)
- 1 yellow onion ($0.16)
- 1 28oz. can whole peeled tomatoes ($1.69)
- 1/2 Tbsp smoked paprika ($0.15)
- 1 tsp ground cumin ($0.10)
- 1/2 tsp dried oregano ($0.05)
- 1/8 tsp crushed red pepper ($0.02)
- Freshly cracked black pepper ($0.05)
- 1/4 tsp salt, or to taste ($0.02)
- 1 15oz. can cannellini beans ($1.19)
- 4 large eggs ($1.10)
- 1 handful fresh parsley, chopped ($0.20)
- 2 oz. feta, crumbled ($1.12)
Instructions
- Mince the garlic and finely dice the onion. Cook both in a large deep skillet with olive oil over medium heat until the onions are soft and transparent (about 5 minutes).
- Add the canned tomatoes and their juices, crushing the tomatoes with your hands as you add them to the skillet. Add the smoked paprika, cumin, oregano, red pepper flakes, and some freshly cracked pepper as well. Stir to combine.
- Allow the sauce to come to a simmer. Let the sauce simmer, stirring occasionally, for 5-7 minutes, or until it has thickened slightly. Add 1/4 tsp salt, then taste the sauce and adjust the salt or other spices to your liking.
- Drain the white beans, add them to the skillet, then stir to combine. Allow the skillet to return to a simmer. Simmer for 2-3 minutes more.
- Crack four eggs into the skillet, then place a lid on top and let them simmer for 5 minutes, or until the whites are set but the yolks are still soft. Top the skillet with the crumbled feta and chopped parsley.
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How to Make Shakshuka – Step by Step Photos
Start by mincing 4 cloves garlic and finely dicing one yellow onion. If you want to, you can also dice a jalapeño and toss it in there as well. Add the garlic and onion to a large skillet along with 2 Tbsp olive oil and cook over medium heat until the onions are soft and transparent (about 5 minutes).
Add a 28oz. can of whole tomatoes (with the juices) to the skillet. Use your hands to crush the tomatoes as you add them to the skillet. Word on the street is that the best tomatoes are reserved for the “whole” canned variety, while lesser tomatoes are used for “diced” or “crushed”. I’m not sure if that’s true, I just liked the organic shapes of the hand crushed tomatoes rather than perfectly diced bits. You can use diced or crushed if that’s easier for you.
Along with the crushed tomatoes, add 1/2 Tbsp smoked paprika, 1 tsp cumin, 1/2 tsp oregano, 1/8 tsp red pepper flakes, and some freshly cracked pepper (about 10 cranks of a pepper mill). Stir to combine.
Let the sauce come to a simmer over medium heat. Let it simmer for 5-7 minutes, or until it’s slightly thicker and saucy. It starts out more watery, but you want it closer to the thickness of V8 juice (if you’re familiar with that!).
Now that the sauce has thickened, it’s time to add the salt. Stir in 1/4 tsp salt, then taste and adjust to your liking. You can also add more smoked paprika or red pepper flakes, if you like an extra punch.
Drain a 15oz. can of cannellini beans and add them to the sauce. Cannellini is the best white bean to use for this recipe because they are larger, tend to be more firm, and don’t break down as easily as navy or great northern beans. Garbanzo beans also work well in this.
Stir in the beans and let it come back up to a simmer. Let it simmer just a few more minutes…
Finally, crack four eggs into the sauce and place a lid on the skillet. Let the eggs simmer in the sauce for about 5 minutes, or until the whites are set and the yolks are still soft. The yolks will be cloaked in a white veil when they begin to cook, so you’ll have to watch the vibrations in the simmering sauce. When they’re still liquidy, they’ll shake from the popping bubbles of the simmering sauce. :)
As it simmers, the sauce will settle some, so I always take a spoon and stir the sauce around the eggs to remix the beans and tomato pieces.
Finally, top the eggs and sauce with 2oz. crumbled feta and a handful of chopped parsley. NOM.
And seriously, every beautifully golden runny yolk deserves some bread for dipping, don’t you think?
Smoky White Bean Shakshuka, it’s what’s for break… dinn… BRINNER!
Great recipe! I added a little sugar to balance the acid. I also substituted in chipotle powder for the red pepper. Everyone loved it! The balance of spices and flavors was just right and really hit the spot on a cold winter day.
This was really good, I used zucchini instead of beans and added a little sugar and vegetable stock powder to mellow the acidity of the tomatoes, I served over roasted potatoes.:)
This was so good and so easy to make, thank you for sharing!!! When my husband and I made this, we added half a bell pepper because it was hanging out in our fridge waiting for a purpose and used black eyed peas instead of cannellini (we use dry beans because they’re cheaper and black eyed peas were the beans I batch-prepped this week). I personally dislike poached eggs so I put my egg in earlier so the yolk would harden. We served it on brown rice with a bit of pita bread. It was delicious and it took a LOT of willpower to not eat the whole batch. It’s being added to our list of go-to recipes!
Satisfying and very quick meal. Really wouldn’t recommend if you don’t have the eggs, the bread, or the cheese, as they really mellow out and blend the flavour away from its base “dilute tomato acidity” (though maybe I should just have let it simmer longer) – they add the “rich, satsifying” descriptors to this meal. Not something I’d prepare for company, but it will definitely become a weekday go-to when I want something good, warming, and fast!
This is one of my favorite recipes from this site, and I make it fairly often. I can’t eat onions or garlic, but I can tolerate shallot and scallions better, so I often sub those in depending on what I have on hand. Today I made it for my boyfriend who can’t eat eggs, so I swapped the eggs and white beans out for two cans of garbanzo beans. It paired nicely with bread and was a big hit! I’ll keep making it with eggs for me, but it’s nice to know this variations works.
This is my favorite way of using up half-opened jars of salsa from the back of the fridge–easy shakshuka starter. I usually have chunky on hand which already has onion and jalapeno, I just add garlic and extra spices.
Love this variation with the beans! Haven’t thought of that before, makes this more filling!
This recipe is sooo good! I could definitely see myself eating this every week!
I absolutely loved this recipe! It was flavorful and quick, not to mention I had every single thing this called for on hand which made it come together in a pinch. I have recommended your site over and over and will continue to do so the more I try your recipes!!
This is my first time ever having shakshuka. I substituted my homemade garden marinara sauce for sauce in this recipe. It turned out really good! I also used cheddar cheese instead of feta because that is what I had on hand. For the bread, I used the ciabatta bread from budget bytes. Definitely making this again!
This is a new version of my favorite “eggs in purgatory” recipe that I’ve made for years! Since I’m eating alone, I stopped before adding the eggs and kept the base of the dish in the fridge. Instead of doing the eggs on the stovetop, I do an individual portion in a ramekin and bake it in the oven til the egg white is done and the yolk is runny. Perfect for any meal of the day :)
I had this same idea for meal prep – how long/what temp do you cook the eggs in the oven?
this is a great recipe but my eggs take almost 4x the amount of time to cook.
Since moving in together, my boyfriend and I try lots of new recipes so that we can figure out what our “go-to” ones will be and I’m happy to say that this one definitely made the list! Every time we add something new to see how the taste changes. This time we added some jalapeno sausage and it was AMAZING!
We loved this! I made a few modifications just for fun and because I had the ingredients in hand that needed to be used up. Added zucchini to the sautée, used garbanzos instead of white beans, and added a 1/8 teaspoon of cinnamon. The egg poached perfectly and it was delicious served over rice! My husband chopped up serranos and sprinkled them on his serving to add spice.
It was so, so delicious I instantly regretted not having any bread to sweep the plate clean. I addeda bit of sausage to have a bit more to chew on and it turned out incredibly filling. Thank You soo much, I’ve done shakhuka in the past but I’m almost brought to tears by how good it was.
Oh wow! Thanks Anita!
One of my favourite recipes! SO so tasty and versatile. I eat mine with couscous. Excellent pairing!
Oh yummy! Thanks Celi!