Menemen is a delicious Turkish egg dish that's perfect for brunch of any meal. It's kind of like the lesser known shakshuka, but definitely one to get to know it in it's own right. Easy, comforting and with great flavors.

overhead view of skillet full of menemen, Turkish scrambled eggs

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When I was a child, I went through quite a long phase of only really liking my eggs scrambled or as omelettes. I didn't mind the whites alone, but wasn't a fan of yolks as much. Thankfully, my parents were largely OK to go mostly that route, plus I became pretty good at cooking them myself if needed.

As I got older, I got back in to yolks, at least if they were runny. I think it was things like eggs Benedict/ eggs Royale that won me over. Then discovering shakshuka helped even more. It became a favorite comforting brunch.

skillet of menemen Turkish scrambled eggs with tomatoes behind

This dish, menemen, is a bit like shakshuka but generally with scrambled eggs. For me, it combines some of those flavors I've grown to love with the childhood favorite scramble. And believe me, this is one comforting dish you want to try.

What is menemen?

Menemen is a traditional Turkish dish combining vegetables, spices and eggs. It is typically made with onion, green pepper and tomato, along with spices like paprika, cumin, pepper and oregano or thyme.

Some people like to add red pepper flakes for a bit of spice, but that's really up to you. You basically soften the vegetables to make a sauce then add the eggs.

tomato, onion, pepper, eggs and small plate with spices

I say it's generally made with scrambled eggs though you can find it with the eggs poached in the sauce. From all I have found, scrambled is more common. Personally I really like it as scrambled which has the bonus of being quicker to cook.

Some recipes also add a little cheese or chopped charcuterie, but I've kept it simpler here with the egg and vegetable mixture.

Steps to make menemen

Dice the onion, pepper and tomato relatively small.
Warm the oil in a small skillet and add the onion and pepper. Cook a couple minutes until the onion softens.
Add the tomato, paprika and oregano and cook a couple minutes. You should see the tomato soften and almost melt into the mixture, as in the picture below.
Add the eggs to the skillet and stir so that the eggs mix and start to cook. Take off the heat before the eggs are fully cooked - they should be only slightly cooked - as they will continue to cook after it is off the heat.

Tips for making this

While this is an easy dish, a couple things that are worth keeping in mind. First, be sure to cut the vegetables very small.

Secondly, unlike other scrambled eggs you don't mix the eggs before adding them to the skillet. Instead, you mix them in the pan - it's actually expected that you'll have slight streaks of white in there.

Thirdly, as mentioned above, be sure to remove the skillet from the heat before the eggs are fully cooked as they will continue to cook after you take them off the heat. The eggs should be relatively soft and slightly undercooked, so take them off when some is still runny.

Menemen might not be a well known dish, but once you give it a try, it will soon be well-loved. Easy, with fresh but comforting flavors, it's perfect any meal of the day.

Like eggs? Try these other egg-based dishes!

Bacon lobster omelette
Asparagus frittata
Tex Mex migas
Baked eggs with mushrooms and asparagus
Greek eggs with tomato, strapatsada
Plus get more breakfast and brunch recipes in the archives.

skillet of menemen Turkish scrambled eggs

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