Green Shakshuka Recipe

If you're someone who frequently goes out for brunch, then odds are that you've seen shakshuka on the menu before. According to The Culture Trip, the dish is a breakfast staple in Israel, but the ingredients and flavors take inspiration from North African countries as well. In the most classic form of shakshuka, eggs get poached in tomato sauce. Like any great recipe, however, plenty of variations have come along over the years.

One of the tastiest variations is green shakshuka, which involves cooking the eggs with spinach instead of tomatoes. Recipe developer Erin Johnson has crafted an easy and delicious recipe for green shakshuka, and if you make it for at-home brunch, you will very likely impress your guests. "I love that this comes together quickly and looks like it took more work than it really takes," Johnson says. "I think this is delicious anytime, but shakshuka is traditionally a breakfast food, so I usually make it for breakfast or brunch." After all, what brunch would be complete without eggs? Of course, if you so choose, go ahead and make this dish for lunch or dinner; these flavors taste pretty good any time of day!

It wouldn't be shakshuka without eggs, so to make this recipe, you'll need a few of those. To make the shakshuka particularly green, you'll need some spinach. And to round out the dish with extra flavor, you'll need an onion and green onions (chopped), garlic (minced), nutmeg, salt, pepper, and both Parmesan and feta cheese. And if you're looking to spice things up? "I like to top this with chili oil for added heat and flavor," Johnson says, though she does note that it is purely optional. "You could also use Sriracha if you'd like."

Before you do anything else, preheat your oven to 400 F. Then, grab an ovenproof skillet (the ovenproof part is important as the dish will finish baking in the oven!) and place it on the stovetop. Add the chopped onions and green onions — as well as the minced garlic — to the skillet, sautéing until they begin to soften and become fragrant. 

With this next step, you'll really start to see why it's called "green" shakshuka. Go ahead and add some of the spinach into the skillet and allow it to wilt. Continue adding more leaves in batches until it has all wilted down. Then season the mixture with nutmeg, salt, and pepper. Finally, stir half of the grated Parmesan cheese into the greens. 

Using the back of a spoon or spatula, make a well in the spinach, then crack an egg into the well — be careful to keep the yolk intact! It helps to crack the egg into a separate bowl, then pour the contents into the well. Repeat this process with the other three eggs, so you have four eggs evenly distributed throughout the pan. Cover the skillet and allow the eggs to cook for a bit — just until the whites begin to set. Now, sprinkle on the remaining Parmesan and the feta cheese. 

Pop the entire dish into the preheated oven, and cook the eggs just long enough to reach your desired level of doneness (traditionally, poached eggs are cooked to the point that the whites are set but the yolk is still runny). This shouldn't take more than 10 minutes. At that point, take the dish out of the oven, top off each serving with chili oil (if you'd like), and enjoy.

"I like to serve this with warm, crusty bread, but it is equally delicious served alone or as a side dish," Johnson shares. "I also like to serve it on an English muffin like eggs Benedict." She also notes that you could serve it alongside any breakfast meat to round out the meal. Unfortunately, due to the fickle nature of cooked eggs, leftovers won't keep very well. But, hey, all the more reason to enjoy a second (or third, or fourth) serving of this green shakshuka during brunch!