Turkish Menemen (Scrambled Eggs with Vegetables)

Turkish menemen recipe with softly scrambled eggs, tomatoes, and green peppers

Turkish Menemen (Scrambled Eggs with Vegetables)

Menemen is a Turkish dish in which eggs are gently scrambled and folded into a cooked mixture of tomatoes and green peppers, rather than fried whole or cooked separately

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 10

Cook Time 15

Servings: 2

Calories: 280

Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients

4 large eggs

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

2 medium ripe tomatoes, finely chopped

2 mild green peppers, thinly sliced

½ teaspoon Aleppo pepper or mild red pepper flakes, optional

¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

½ teaspoon kosher salt or to taste

Crusty bread, for serving

Method

Prepare the vegetables. Finely chop the tomatoes and thinly slice the peppers. Beat the eggs lightly in a bowl and set aside.

Cook the peppers. Heat the olive oil in a wide skillet over medium heat. Add the peppers and cook until softened and fragrant, without letting them burn.

Reduce the tomatoes. Add the chopped tomatoes and salt. Cook until the tomatoes soften and their excess liquid reduces into a thick, spoonable mixture. This is the most important consistency checkpoint.

Season. Add the black pepper and optional Aleppo pepper.

Add the eggs. Lower the heat and pour in the beaten eggs. Gently stir and fold the eggs through the tomato-pepper mixture.

Stop before the eggs become dry. Remove the skillet from the heat when the eggs are softly set but still visibly moist. Residual heat will continue cooking them.

Serve immediately. Spoon the menemen into warm serving dishes and serve with crusty bread for scooping.

Notes

Texture: Menemen should be soft and moist, not dry or rubbery.
Tomatoes: Don't rush the reduction. Excess liquid should cook off before the eggs are added.
Peppers: Turkish green peppers are ideal when available; shishito, Padrón or Chinese long green peppers can be practical substitutes.
Onion: Both onion and no-onion preparations exist; this recipe uses the no-onion baseline to keep the ingredient list focused.
Cheese: Cheese is optional and belongs in the variation section rather than the baseline.
Serving: Serve immediately with crusty bread.
Food safety: Egg mixtures should reach 160°F/71.1°C according to USDA guidance.