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Turkish

Menemen

Contains egg (no meat or fish)

Soft-scrambled eggs cooked into a sauce of green peppers and ripe tomatoes, finished with chilli flakes. A Turkish breakfast staple eaten straight from the pan with bread.

Menemen is a Turkish egg dish from Türkiye, ready in about 25 minutes and made with green bell pepper, tomato and egg. It serves 2 and is rated easy to cook.

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Prep
10 min
Cook
15 min
Total
25 min
Serves
2
Level
Easy
Calories
321

Ingredients

2 servings

Equipment

Method

  1. Step 1

    Warm the olive oil (opens in a new tab) in a frying pan over medium heat. Add the peppers (opens in a new tab) (and onion (opens in a new tab), if using) and cook, stirring, until soft but not browned.

    Onions frying golden in a pan
    How it looks · Photo: Magda Ehlers on Pexels

  2. Step 2

    Add the tomatoes (opens in a new tab) with the salt and simmer until most of the liquid has cooked off and the sauce looks jammy.

    • 6 min
    • medium heat
    A curry simmering in a pot
    How it looks · Photo: Bachir Mamud on Pexels

  3. Step 3

    Crack in the eggs (opens in a new tab). Stir gently and occasionally so they set in soft folds through the sauce — stop while they still look a little wet.

    • 3 min
    • medium-low heat

    Food safety: Cook eggs until whites are set if serving young children, pregnant people or anyone vulnerable.

  4. Step 4

    Lift the pan off the stove, scatter over chilli flakes (opens in a new tab), black pepper (opens in a new tab), feta (opens in a new tab) and parsley (opens in a new tab), and serve in the pan with bread while the eggs (opens in a new tab) are still glossy — they keep setting in the hot sauce.

    • 1 min
    Fresh herbs scattered over a finished dish
    How it looks · Photo: Klaus Nielsen on Pexels

About this dish

Origin
Türkiye · Well documentedAssociated with the Aegean town of Menemen near İzmir, though the attribution is popular rather than documented.More food from Türkiye
Dish
Breakfast · Brunch · Egg dishes
Cooking method
Pan-fried, Sautéed
Taste
savoury, spicy (chilli heat), fresh
Diet
Vegetarian (lacto-ovo) · No nut ingredients · Keto-style · Low-carb
All labelsVegetarian (lacto-ovo) · Eggetarian · Pescatarian · Flexitarian-friendly · No nut ingredients · No added sugar · Alcohol-free · Pork-free · Beef-free · Keto-style · Low-carb · Calorie-conscious
Without the optional extras: Ovo-vegetarian, Whole-food focused, Paleo-style, No gluten ingredients, Dairy-freeWorked out from the ingredients. How labels work
Good for
One-pan · Everyday · Budget-friendly
Cook more with
Green bell pepper · Tomato · Egg · Red chilli flakes
Techniques
Pan-frying · Sautéing · Simmering

Allergens

  • Contains, can be adapted: Milkfrom feta
  • Contains: Eggsfrom egg
  • Contains, can be adapted: Wheatfrom crusty bread / baguette
  • Contains, can be adapted: Glutenfrom crusty bread / baguette
  • May contain: Sesamefrom crusty bread / baguette

Based on typical versions of these ingredients and not verified allergen-free. Brands differ and cross-contact happens, so always check labels. For severe allergies, follow your clinician’s advice.

Nutrition

321 kcal per serving

Estimated

1 serving ≈ 416 g · recipe makes 2

Where the energy comes from

  • Protein 19%
  • Carbohydrate 17%
  • Fat 65%
Nutrition per serving and per 100 g
NutrientPer servingPer 100 g*
Energy321 kcal77 kcal
Protein15.3 g3.7 g
Carbohydrate13.7 g3.3 g
Net carbohydrate9.3 g2.2 g
Sugars8 g1.9 g
Added sugars0 g0 g
Fibre4.4 g1.1 g
Fat23.6 g5.7 g
Saturated fat5.1 g1.2 g
Trans fat0 g0 g
Cholesterol372 mg89 mg
Sodium738 mg177 mg
Salt equivalent1.8 g0.4 g
Vitamins & minerals per serving
Potassium
788 mg
Calcium
89 mg
Iron
2.8 mg
Magnesium
45 mg
Vitamin A (RAE)
267 µg
Vitamin C
121 mg
Vitamin D
2 µg
Vitamin B12
0.9 µg
Folate (DFE)
87 µg

How these numbers were made

  • Calculated from USDA FoodData Central (SR Legacy) per-100 g values and the listed quantities.
  • *Per 100 g of combined raw ingredients; the cooked dish may weigh more or less.
  • Optional ingredients are not included: onion, feta, parsley, crusty bread / baguette.
  • Red chilli flakes: Ground cayenne (FDC 170932) used as a stand-in for dried chilli flakes such as pul biber or Aleppo pepper.
  • “—” means the value isn’t known for enough of the ingredients; it is never zero by default.
  • Values are estimates for guidance, not for medical dosing. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central, 2019. fdc.nal.usda.gov.

Good to know

Tips

  • Grating the tomatoes on a box grater removes the skins and makes a smoother sauce.

Common mistakes

  • Adding the eggs before the tomato liquid reduces gives a watery result.
  • Scrambling hard over high heat: menemen should be soft and saucy, not dry curds.

Serve with

  • Serve with crusty bread, olives and black tea for a Turkish-style breakfast.

Storage

  • Best eaten immediately.

Variations

  • Sucuklu menemen: Fry slices of spiced beef sausage before adding the peppers.

Original editorial recipe · FriendsPantry editorial · Not yet independently reviewed · Added · Updated

Recipe DNA

How this dish is built

Grouped by each ingredient’s role in the dish. Each band’s width is its share of the dish by weight. Choose a component to see what it does.

What the dish is built around

Main ingredient

Used in steps 1, 2, 3, 4

Reviews & corrections

Reviews come from signed-in cooks and appear after a moderator checks them. We never show made-up ratings.

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