Eggs in Tomato Sauce for One
Half a can of tomatoes, two eggs, a small pan: Shakshuka in a single portion.
- Preparation
- 5 min
- Cook/bake time
- 15 min
- Total
- 20 min
- Difficulty
- Easy
- Calories
- 338 kcal
- Servings
- 1
- Prep
- 5 min
- Cooking & baking
- 15 min
Half a can of tomatoes, two eggs, a small pan: Shakshuka in a single portion. The problem with cooking for one person is not the recipe, it is the package sizes. Here, the half can is intentional. The other half keeps for three days and is ready in eight minutes the second time around.
Why this works
Eggs set between 62 and 70 degrees, with the egg white cooking first and the yolk later. In a gently bubbling sauce, the temperature is around 95 degrees, which is far too hot for a creamy yolk if you simply place the egg on top. That is why the eggs here go into little wells that you press into the sauce. There, the egg is surrounded by sauce instead of the hot pan wall, and the lid cooks the top with steam instead of contact heat. Both together cook the egg white through in four minutes, while the yolk remains runny. The second point is toasting the cumin. It only unfolds its aromas in fat, and if sprinkled into a finished tomato sauce, it tastes mealy instead of warm.
Step-by-step instructions
- 1
Sauté the onion and bell pepper
Sauté the onion and bell pepper in oil in a small pan for five minutes until soft. Make sure to use a truly small pan of about twenty centimeters, because in a large one the sauce will be too shallow and the eggs will have no support.
- 2
Bloom the spices in fat
Add the garlic, cumin, and smoked paprika, and toast them for thirty seconds until very fragrant. This is the step that makes the difference between a tomato sauce with spices in it and a Shakshuka.
- 3
Simmer the tomatoes
Pour in the tomatoes, season with salt, and let the sauce simmer uncovered for eight minutes until it is noticeably thicker and a spoon leaves a brief trail. A thin sauce will not support the eggs, and they will sink right through.
- 4
Add the eggs and cover
Press two wells into the sauce and crack an egg into each. Cover the pan and reduce the heat to a minimum. After four to five minutes, the egg white will be firm and the yolk still runny, which is visible when the surface is matte white instead of translucent. Sprinkle with parsley.
Our best tips
- Small pan, thick sauce. In a large pan, the sauce spreads out too thinly and the eggs will not have a well to sit in.
- Lid on, heat down. The steam cooks the top of the eggs without overcooking the yolk from below.
- The half can of tomatoes is intentional. The rest keeps for three days in a jar and makes for an eight-minute dinner the second time around.
Tasty variations
With feta and olives
Add 40 g of feta and a handful of black olives to the sauce before adding the eggs. The feta softens instead of melting and adds salt, so you will hardly need to add any extra.
Green Shakshuka
Instead of tomatoes, simmer two handfuls of spinach with 100 ml of heavy cream and season to taste with lemon. This creates a completely different bowl using the same technique, and without a can.
Nutrition facts
| Calories | 338 kcal |
|---|---|
| Protein | 17 g |
| Carbohydrates | 17 g |
| – of which sugar | 12 g |
| Fat | 22 g |
| Fiber | 6 g |
Where the 338 kcal come from
per serving
Calculated from the ingredients – how we do it
We add up reference values for every ingredient and divide by the number of servings. These assumptions are baked in:
- Reference values per 100 g – for the raw ingredient, exactly as listed.
- Tinned goods count at drained weight, bone-in meat at purchase weight: you eat about 70 per cent of a chicken thigh and leave the rest.
- Water evaporates as you cook. The energy stays in the pot, the weight does not – so the figure is per serving, not per 100 g of finished dish.
- Anything listed without a quantity – “salt and pepper” – is not counted.
A guide value, not a lab measurement: no two onions weigh the same, and fat content varies from pack to pack.
Frequently asked questions
My egg yolk was hard, what went wrong?
Too much heat or cooked for too long. After adding the eggs, the stove should be on the lowest setting, and five minutes is the absolute maximum. The residual heat of the pan continues to cook them even after that, so it is better to serve them half a minute earlier.
What do I do with the second half of the can?
Transfer it to a screw-top jar, and it will keep for three days in the fridge. The second time around, the dish is ready in eight minutes because the sauce only needs to be heated through. Alternatively, you can freeze it. Tomatoes in a can should never be stored in the can after opening anyway.
What should I eat with this?
Bread, and it is absolutely mandatory. The sauce is half the reason for the dish and begs to be mopped up. Flatbread is classic, but any toasted slice will do. Without bread, you are ultimately missing a third of the meal on your plate.
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