Shakshuka Stuffed Peppers Recipe
Shakshuka is a fun and delicious breakfast consisting of stewed tomatoes, bell peppers, spices, poached eggs, and plenty of bread. The bread is usually used for scooping the tomato sauce out of the skillet, and it soaks up that runny yolk and lots of warming spices along the way. It's a comforting dish perfect for slow weekend mornings, but those savory flavors also make for a great vegetarian dinner — especially if you use the pepper as the vessel.
This shakshuka stuffed peppers recipe flips the classic dish inside-out, featuring whole roasted bell peppers filled with bread, tomatoes, feta, and egg. The egg goes right on top of the pepper and bakes until set so that you can break the yolk into the bread-filled sauce, creating an all-in-one meal. The bread, which becomes soft and custardy in the simmering tomato sauce a la pappa al pomodoro, absorbs the flavors of the spices and adds structure to the filling just like rice, quinoa, or orzo typically would. A filling meal with a pretty presentation, these shakshuka stuffed peppers are the fun spin on breakfast for dinner with maximum savory appeal.
Gather the ingredients to make shakshuka stuffed peppers
The ingredients needed for this recipe are nearly identical to the ingredients in traditional shakshuka, but you'll be using them in different ways. To make the tomato sauce, you'll need olive oil, onion, garlic, fire-roasted tomatoes, tomato sauce, paprika, oregano, cumin, red pepper flakes, salt, pepper, spinach, and crusty bread. Don't use soft sandwich bread here, which will become far too mushy in the sauce. Instead, use a crusty bread like the French bread from the grocery store bakery, which maintains its shape while simmering. From there, you just need bell peppers (both green and red work), eggs, and crumbled feta cheese.
Step 1: Preheat the oven
Preheat the oven to 350 F.
Step 2: Heat oil in a skillet
Heat the oil in a skillet over medium heat.
Step 3: Cook the onion and garlic
Add the onion and garlic and cook until fragrant, about 2 minutes.
Step 4: Add tomatoes and seasonings
Add the diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, and seasonings and stir to combine.
Step 5: Stir in the bread
Add the bread pieces and stir. Let simmer until the bread is soft and begins melting into the tomato sauce, about 5 minutes.
Step 6: Wilt the spinach into the sauce
Add the spinach and stir to wilt into the sauce.
Step 7: Prepare the peppers
Slice the tops off of the peppers and remove all seeds from the inside. Place the peppers in a small oven-safe dish.
Step 8: Stuff the peppers with tomato filling
Fill the peppers just under full with the tomato mixture.
Step 9: Carefully crack eggs into peppers
Add one egg to each pepper.
Step 10: Top with crumbled feta
Top with crumbled feta.
Step 11: Bake the peppers
Bake until the egg is cooked through, about 25 minutes.
Step 12: Serve the shakshuka stuffed peppers
Remove from the oven and serve.
What to serve with shakshuka stuffed peppers
Shakshuka Stuffed Peppers Recipe
This shakshuka stuffed peppers recipe turns the classic breakfast dish inside-out, transforming it into a tomatoey, savory dinnertime-approved meal.
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- ½ cup finely chopped yellow onion
- 3 cloves minced garlic
- 1 (14.5-ounce) can fire-roasted diced tomatoes
- 1 (14.5-ounce) can tomato sauce
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 1 teaspoon oregano
- ½ teaspoon cumin
- ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon pepper
- 1 cup crusty bread, cut into ½-inch cubes
- 2 cups baby spinach
- 4 large bell peppers
- 4 eggs
- ½ cup crumbled feta cheese
Directions
- Preheat the oven to 350 F.
- Heat the oil in a skillet over medium heat.
- Add the onion and garlic and cook until fragrant, about 2 minutes.
- Add the diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, and seasonings and stir to combine.
- Add the bread pieces and stir. Let simmer until the bread is soft and begins melting into the tomato sauce, about 5 minutes.
- Add the spinach and stir to wilt into the sauce.
- Slice the tops off of the peppers and remove all seeds from the inside. Place the peppers in a small oven-safe dish.
- Fill the peppers just under full with the tomato mixture.
- Add one egg to each pepper.
- Top with crumbled feta.
- Bake until the egg is cooked through, about 25 minutes.
- Remove from the oven and serve.
Nutrition
| Calories per Serving | 300 |
| Total Fat | 16.7 g |
| Saturated Fat | 5.1 g |
| Trans Fat | 0.0 g |
| Cholesterol | 180.4 mg |
| Total Carbohydrates | 28.3 g |
| Dietary Fiber | 8.2 g |
| Total Sugars | 14.9 g |
| Sodium | 1,087.2 mg |
| Protein | 13.6 g |
Can I add meat to shakshuka stuffed peppers?
Both traditional shakshuka and these stuffed peppers are great, easy vegetarian meals that can easily be paired with meats to add more protein. Breakfast shakshuka is often paired with a side of sausage or bacon, which you can incorporate into these stuffed peppers by crumbling sausage into the tomato sauce or topping the peppers with browned bacon bits. You can also use hot or mild Italian sausage to add spicy or savory flavor, crumbling the sausage until browned before adding the aromatics and tomato.
There are also other ways to add meat to these stuffed peppers that are more dinner-adjacent. You can brown ground beef, chicken, or turkey and combine with the tomato sauce. You can also add shredded rotisserie chicken or pulled pork into the sauce, if you happen to have leftovers that need using up. Lastly, you can slice chicken sausages, brown them, and combine with the sauce for some added texture.
How do I keep the egg from spilling out of the peppers?
The hardest part of this recipe is working with the eggs, both in pouring them into the peppers and baking them to perfection. The easiest way to add eggs into the peppers is to crack them first into an easy-pour container with a spout, which you can then use to slowly pour each egg into the peppers. Before adding the eggs, though, prepare the peppers by flattening the tomato sauce into as even a layer as possible, then create a small pocket for the yolk to sit.
If the peppers are tilted and lopsided (many are), the best way to avoid spilling the egg out of the pepper is to arrange the tomato sauce in a way that balances out the tilt in the opposite direction. This means that if the pepper leans left, arrange the tomato sauce to have a pocket on the right for the egg to sit flush without tilting to the left and falling out. From there, bake the peppers until the eggs are just barely set, and let the yolks cook in residual heat to avoid overcooking. Alternatively, cover the pan with foil and let the yolks steam until set.