Brunch & Breakfast SAVOURY

Shakshuka with Feta

Name: Shakshuka with Feta
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 30 min
Yield: 4 servings
Cuisine: North African
Ingredients: 3 tbsp olive oil; 1 large onion, thinly sliced; 2 red peppers, sliced, plus 2 jarred roasted peppers; 4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced; 2 tsp smoked paprika; 1 tsp ground cumin; 800 g tinned chopped tomatoes; 6 eggs, plus 120 g feta and a handful of flat-leaf parsley

Most shakshuka recipes ask for a sauce that simmers for forty minutes.

By Dana Reyes

Updated 19 Sep 2026 · Tested 3 times · 61 comments

Shakshuka with Feta — Crack the eggs into wells, cover, and resist stirring — the whites set in the steam rising off the sauce.

10 min

Prep time

20 min

Cook time

Serves

4.8

647 RATINGS

Why this one works on a weekday

Most shakshuka recipes ask for a sauce that simmers for forty minutes. This one gets there in fifteen by using jarred roasted peppers alongside fresh ones, which brings sweetness and depth without any long reduction.

The eggs are the only part that needs attention. Make proper wells with the back of a spoon, slide the eggs in, cover the pan, and leave the lid on. Every time you lift it to check, you lose the steam that sets the whites.

We tested it three times — once with fresh peppers only, once with jarred roasted peppers, and once with a spoonful of harissa for heat. All three worked. The notes below explain what each version changes.

Ingredients

Serves 4 · one 10-inch pan

3 tbsp olive oil
1 large onion, thinly sliced
2 red peppers, sliced, plus 2 jarred roasted peppers
4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
2 tsp smoked paprika
1 tsp ground cumin
800 g tinned chopped tomatoes
6 eggs, plus 120 g feta and a handful of flat-leaf parsley

Instructions

30 min total · one pan, start to finish

Warm the oil in a 10-inch pan over medium heat. Cook the onion and fresh peppers with a good pinch of salt for 8 minutes, until soft and just starting to colour at the edges.

Add the garlic, smoked paprika and cumin and stir for 1 minute — the spices need to hit the hot oil to lose their raw edge. Tip in the roasted peppers and tomatoes.

Simmer uncovered for 10 minutes, stirring now and then, until the sauce is thick enough to hold a trench when you drag a spoon through it. Season properly at this stage.

Make six wells in the sauce with the back of a spoon. Crack an egg into each, season the tops, crumble over the feta, then cover the pan and cook for 6 minutes.

Take the pan off the heat while the whites still look slightly glossy — they finish setting in the residual heat. Scatter with parsley and serve straight from the pan with bread.

Testing notes & substitutions

Three rounds of testing turned up three things worth knowing before you start cooking.

Fresh peppers or jarred?

Both, if you can. Fresh peppers give body and a little bite; jarred roasted peppers give the sweetness that usually takes forty minutes of simmering to develop. Using only fresh means adding a teaspoon of sugar.

Adding heat

A teaspoon of harissa or a chopped green chilli stirred in with the tomatoes raises the whole dish without making it sharp. Aleppo pepper is the gentler route if you want warmth rather than fire.

If the sauce is too thin

Keep it uncovered and simmer for another three minutes before the eggs go in. Once the eggs are in you cannot reduce it further without overcooking them.

Questions we get a lot

Can I make it without a lid?

You can, but the eggs poach rather than steam and the whites take longer. Foil pressed over the top of the pan works just as well as a lid.

Is it any good the next day?

The sauce keeps for three days and is excellent — the eggs, less so. Make the sauce ahead and poach fresh eggs in it when you reheat it.

What should I serve with it?

Warm flatbread, sourdough or pita. Something with a bit of chew that can be torn rather than sliced. A sharply dressed green salad on the side is enough.

Dana Reyes

Dana has cooked professionally for eleven years and has been testing recipes for Hearth & Thyme since 2019. She writes about weeknight cooking, slow breads, and the small techniques that quietly change a dish. Every recipe she publishes is cooked at least twice, in an ordinary home oven.