Menemen Recipe (Turkish Scrambled Eggs and Tomatoes)
Nov 17, 2020, Updated Jan 29, 2026
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This menemen recipe comes straight from the heart of Turkey. Made in one pan with eggs, tomatoes, and peppers, it’s ready in just 20 minutes and best served with crusty bread. It’s a simple, comforting breakfast that will transport you right to the streets of Istanbul.
You can serve eggs in so many ways for breakfast, which is exactly why they’re such a universal favorite. Some recipes that are always in rotation for us include, spinach omelette, and Persian date omelette. Today I’m going to show you how to make menemen exactly the way it’s made in Turkish homes. I’ve enjoyed this egg and tomato breakfast countless times, so you’re in for a really good one.
Table of Contents
What is Menemen?
Menemen, pronounced me-ne-men, is a Turkish eggs and tomato breakfast made in a traditional small pan called sahan (Pictured below). This traditional Turkish dish is often served for breakfast, however, it’s also common to serve it as a light meal.
This is not the only egg breakfast that Turkish cuisine offers, some other popular ones are sucuklu yumurta (spicy Turkish sausage and eggs) and çılbır(poached eggs in yogurt sauce).
You can find this traditional Turkish breakfast dish in almost any cafe in Turkey and it’s also very common to make it at home.
Ingredients
- Onion: Sweet onion or yellow onion would work well for this recipe. There is an ongoing debate about whether this dish should include onion or not, feel free to leave it out if you don’t like onions.
- Bell pepper: Green bell pepper adds such nice flavor to this Turkish scrambled eggs.
- Tomatoes: Fresh summer tomatoes are perfect for this recipe. You can either chop them finely or grate them. I suggest you use the tomatoes that are juicy and have a lot of flesh and a few seeds. I like using roma tomatoes. In case red and ripe tomatoes are not available, use canned diced or crushed tomatoes.
- Spices: You only need salt and pepper for this dish and we want to preserve the flavors of the ingredients. However, some would add cumin as well.
- Eggs: It’s best if the eggs are at room temperature. Use 1 or 2 eggs per person.
How to Make Menemen
Heat the olive oil in a pan over medium heat and sauté the onion until translucent. Add the chopped green peppers and cook for a few minutes until slightly softened.
Stir in the chopped or grated tomatoes and cook, stirring occasionally, until they break down and some of the excess liquid evaporates.
Season with salt and pepper, then crack the eggs directly into the pan. Gently and continuously stir the eggs into the tomatoes so everything combines evenly and doesn’t stick to the bottom.
Cook for a few minutes until the eggs are just set. Be careful not to overcook them. Menemen should not be dry or crumbly; it’s meant to have a soft, spreadable texture.
Recipe Tips
- Keep an eye on the eggs: After adding the eggs, you need to stir constantly to combine them with the tomatoes and prevent them from sticking.
- Don’t overcook: Menemen should not be dry so make sure it’s not overcooked.
- The eggs: You can add the eggs directly to the tomatoes or you can whisk them with salt and pepper in a bowl and then add them to the pan.
Variations
This classic Turkish breakfast has a few variations that are listed below:
- Sucuklu: Some Turkish people add sucuk, a dry Turkish sausage, to this recipe for more flavor. Saute sucuk in the pan with the onion and pepper, then add the tomatoes and eggs as mentioned in the recipe.
- Kasarli: Kasar (kashar) in a Turkish melting cheese. You can add shredded or sliced kasar cheese (or mozzarella if kasar is not available) at the very end and give it a stir to melt before serving. For a satisfying breakfast, serve with a fresh pide bread!
- With feta: Crumbled white cheese (beyaz peyniri) is also a common addition to this Turkish breakfast recipe. Feta or white cheese is usually sprinkled on Turkish tomatoes and eggs right before serving. If using this cheese, leave out the salt since the cheese itself is pretty salty.
- With pastrami: A fancier way of making traditional Turkish eggs and tomatoes, pastirmali menemen is another favorite way to make this traditional Turkish breakfast dish. Pastrami is added into the pan with the eggs.
Serving Ideas
This dish is perfect for a nice breakfast or brunch, alongside borek, some cheese, cucumbers, olives, halva and labneh. It’s a delicious and nutritious recipe that can be prepared in less than 20 minutes.
Menemen is traditionally served in the same pan its cooked in, which is usually a copper pan with double handles called sahan. However, you can make and serve this any pan. This dish is commonly served with bread for breakfast, for which you can try my simit recipe. I also love serving it with lavash, barbari or Turkish pide bread.
Frequently Asked Questions
Unfortunately, no. Unlike many other egg dishes, this one is best cooked and served right away. You can of course grate or chop the tomatoes, onions and peppers in advance but in terms of cooking, it’s best to cook the dish right before serving it.
Tomato based breakfast dishes are very common through the Middle East and Mediterranean regions. However, shakshuka and menemen are two different dishes.
We cook the eggs whole in shakshuka whereas in menemen, the eggs are scrambled into the tomato mixture. Moreover, shakshuka contains red pepper but Turkish scrambled eggs uses green pepper.
It’s best to have Turkish eggs and tomatoes fresh. However, you can store the leftovers in an airtight container for up to two days. To reheat, you can either use the microwave or heat in a pan over medium heat.
More Breakfast Recipes
Turkish Recipes
Turkish Pogaca (With 3 Fillings)
Turkish Recipes
Sucuklu Yumurta (Turkish Sausage and Eggs)
Turkish Recipes
Spinach Borek (The Easy Way!)
Breakfast and Brunch
Mediterranean Breakfast Bowls
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Menemen Turkish Eggs and Tomatoes Recipe
Ingredients
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- 1 yellow onion, chopped
- 1 green bell pepper, chopped
- 6 roma tomatoes, finely chopped or grated
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
- 6 eggs
Instructions
- Heat the oil in a pan over medium heat.
- Sauté onion until translucent. Add in the green pepper and cook until soft.
- Add in the tomatoes and cook, stirring occasionally until they are soft and some of the liquid is evaporated.
- Season the vegetables with salt and pepper.
- Add the eggs to the tomatoes. Gently stir and cook until the eggs are just cooked and mixed with the tomatoes. Make sure not to overcook the eggs. Menemen is not supposed to be dried or crumbled.
- Serve warm with fresh bread.
Video
Notes
- To make Kasarli menemen, sliced or grated kasar(kashar) cheese to the menemen at the very end and stir gently until it’s melted. Alternatively you can use mozzarella cheese.
- You can add the eggs directly to the tomatoes or you can whisk them with salt and pepper in a bowl and then add them to the pan.
- It’s best to have Turkish eggs and tomatoes fresh. However, you can store the leftovers in an airtight container for up to two days. To reheat, you can either use the microwave or heat in a pan over medium heat.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
This turkish scrambled egg with tomatoe looks absolutely gorgeous. It is even way better than most ordinary scrambled egg I tried in my life. Can’t wait to make this today.
I have been in a breakfast rut for some time so I am excited to try this new to me dish. I love all the fresh vegetables in this and when combined with the eggs, I bet it will keep me full for a long time!
This looks and sounds fabulous! Love this recipe.
This is an excellent breakfast recipe that elevates boring, traditional scrambled eggs to something much tastier! So quick and easy to make too. Thanks for sharing!
This dish was totally new to me, but I found it on Pinterest and had to give it a try. I loved the rich tomatoey eggs. So good.
We absolutely LOVED these eggs for breakfast! Will definitely be making them again.
Love this for an easy breakfast for dinner kind of meal. flavorful and so easy!
Loved making this twist on my daily scrambled eggs! They were delicious! Thank you!