An Easy Recipe To Make Menemen

Travel Inspirations from Turkey!

If you are looking for an easy recipe that is budget-friendly, we have it. Namely, Menemen.

What is Turkish Menemen?

Menemen is a traditional Turkish dish that includes eggs, tomatoes, green peppers, and spices. It is cooked in olive oil or sunflower oil with the option of adding white cheese and charcuterie products such as sucuk or pastirma. Menemen may be made with onions, but the addition of onions is often debated.

This traditional Turkish breakfast dish is served with bread.

Budget-Friendly | Easy | Quick

Ingredients

2 tbsp Olive Oil Extra Virgin
3 Green Peppers
2 Large Tomatoes
2 tsp Sugar
4 Eggs
1 tbsp Fresh Parsley

2 Garlic Cloves (optional)
6 tbsp Chutney (optional)
Small Beef Sausages (optional; quantity to own preference.)

Instructions

In a deep pan, prepare the sausages, then take them out and keep them aside.
Cook the green pepper, tomatoes, sugar, and garlic with olive oil for 15 to 20 minutes. (This is the most important step in the recipe. Take your time.)
Add the sausages and 4 eggs and allow to cook with the other ingredients.
As the eggs start to set, mix carefully into the dish in order to keep some of the eggs still intact (not totally scrambled).
Garnish with parsley and serve with homemade bread.

PREP TIME: 5 mins

COOK TIME: 25 mins

COURSE: Breakfast

CUISINE: Turkish

Notes

Go Turkish by using Sucuk, which is quite a spicy and rather dry sausage. Sucak is a traditional ingredient in Menemen.

For a South African twist… I used 6 tablespoons of chutney and small beef sausages (instead of Sucuk which I could not find at the time). The quantity of beef sausages depends on your personal preference.

What is a typical Turkish breakfast?

As a norm, I am not big on breakfasts. I know, it’s very unhealthy. I am working at changing my not-so-approving-non-breakfast habits.

But, not when I travel. Then I have no trouble enjoying a hearty breakfast! I just love having breakfast on holiday. Number one, because I have the time. And number two, because I enjoy the different breakfast cuisine from around the world. And Turkish cuisine is one of the most varied breakfasts I’ve had the pleasure to enjoy.

It is not uncommon to find soup as part of your breakfast. The very first time I saw soup on a breakfast menu was in Mexico. I could not believe serving soup so early in the morning, and a very decent portion too! Apparently, soup is a comfort breakfast food after an evening of indulging in good wine.

Bread comes with almost every meal, and so it does with breakfast too. A selection of two to three types in a breadbasket is not uncommon.

The Turkish has Kaymak, which is quite similar to clotted cream. Do yourself one big favor and spread it with honey on a slice of fresh bread. Delish! That’s all I can say.

Add a cheese (for instance, beyaz peynir and kaşar) platter with some olives and tomatoes, cucumbers, boiled eggs, homemade jams, and honey, and you already have a meal on its own. Sometimes fresh cucumber is replaced with a spread of cucumber, yogurt, and dill. The spread alone is something I can live on all day long.

However, be careful not to indulge too much because there are more to come! Such as the hearty Menemen, today’s recipe.

After breakfast, tea is traditional.

Do Turkish people eat pork?

Because Turkey’s population is mostly Muslim, pork is not on the menu.

Other Turkish cuisines

Köfte which is Turkish meatballs.
Corba is a Turkish soup.
İskender Kebab is a thinly cut lamb with pita bread and yogurt.
Su Böreği is a flaky Pastry with feta cheese filling.
Manti (or manty, mantu, manta) is a kind of dumpling with yogurt, garlic, spiced lamb, or beef as ingredients. It’s also popular in Asia.