Get ready for a flavor explosion with this spinach shakshuka featuring zesty tomatillos! This is a spin on the classic shakshuka, with perfectly cooked eggs nestled in a green sauce bursting with tangy goodness. It's a delightful mashup of Middle Eastern and Mexican flavors that'll have you craving more!
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💭 Why you'll love this recipe
I love my Moroccan shakshuka, but this spinach shakshuka takes it up a notch! Shakshuka means to mix things up, and we'll do plenty of that with this dish.
- Quick and convenient: The whole recipe comes together in just under 45 minutes, and is perfect for a lazy brunch or even as breakfast for dinner. If you want other delicious breakfast dishes, try this stovetop frittata, croissant French toast bake, or go for this kitchari, a savory Indian rice-lentil porridge!
- Loaded with nutrients: This recipe is packed with proteins as well as nutrients from all the green vegetables you just threw into the dish (similar to this egg white oatmeal, which can also be made savory!)
- Versatile, great for make-ahead: This is a "clear the fridge" recipe. You can throw in whatever you have in the fridge into this recipe, and also make the base ahead of time for when you need it in a pinch!
📋 Ingredients and notes
You'll need olive oil, shallots, garlic, a hearty portion of baby spinach and Brussels sprouts or other greens mixture for the base, eggs, and some spices (cumin, coriander, red chili flakes) for the recipe. Garnish with avocados and roughly chopped fresh cilantro for the best green shakshuka!
Notes and substitutions:
- Greens mixture: I use shaved Brussels sprouts, spinach, and tomatillos for a bit of tang in my recipe. I also top off with avocados for creaminess. But you can also use Swiss chard, kale, or even zucchini for the greens, or add spicy green pepper for a bit of a kick. You can also use frozen spinach in this recipe!
- Eggs: I love to use pasture raised eggs in my shakshuka, but if you're vegan, an egg replacement like Just Egg or chickpeas and tofu also work.
- Spices: I use cumin and coriander for an extra boost of flavor, but you can actually season this to your taste (or just use salt to keep it simple!)
- Garnishes: I use feta cheese as a garnish along with fresh cilantro and avocados, but you can leave these off if you don't have them on hand (or replace with goat cheese, cotija or one of these cotija substitutes) You can also finish with a squeeze of fresh lemon juice!
🥘 How to make spinach shakshuka!
The process of making this spinach shakshuka is similar to my traditional shakshuka - you first cook the base, crack the eggs into the base and cook it, and finish off with some excellent garnishes (especially the feta cheese!)
Cook the greens mixture
Sauté shaved Brussels sprouts in a bit of olive oil in a large skillet on medium heat. Once the sprouts get to a nice brown color (typically 10 minutes), add shallots and garlic cloves to the skillet (taking care not to burn them).
Then, I add the tomatillos and let the juices deglaze the skillet. Finally, I add the spinach to let them wilt (typically 2-3 minutes for baby spinach).
Once they're all cooked, I add salt, coriander, cumin, and red pepper flakes. Give it a good stir and let the aromas settle in. If you choose to add lemon juice, do it before you finish stirring everything in. This is your aromatic green sauce.
Cook the eggs in the base
I first add a little water to create steam in the base (just a couple tablespoons). Then, after making a few wells in the base, I crack my eggs into those holes (one at a time).
I cook on low to medium heat, typically uncovered, and wait for the whites to settle. If you want it to cook faster, or the yolks to set more, you can also cover the skillet. Your green shakshuka is done!
🍴 How to serve and store spinach shakshuka
Serve: I typically love to add some crumbled feta cheese or goat cheese along with some roughly chopped fresh cilantro or parsley to amplify the herby flavors. To give it a creamy touch, I sometimes add a couple of slices of avocado to the mix. Who can resist that?! Occasionally, I might finish with a squeeze of lemon juice as well (but not if I've already added this to the base).
Store: This recipe, as written, makes just three servings. If you have a small enough pan, you can downsize it to make shakshuka for one person or two!
I don't recommend storing or freezing the shakshuka once you've cracked the eggs in it. However, you can make the base ahead of time and freeze that for up to a month (in a freezer safe container). Then, when you want to eat it, just warm up the base, crack the eggs, and cook that!
Other great breakfast ideas
Did you make this recipe?! ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
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📖 Recipe
Spinach Shakshuka
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 shallots, medium
- 8 oz Brussels sprouts, trimmed, shaved or thinly sliced
- 8 oz baby spinach, packed
- 2 tomatillos, chopped
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 teaspoon coriander
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt, divided
- ½ teaspoon cumin
- ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes, substitute Aleppo pepper if you have some!
- 2 tablespoons feta cheese, crumbled, substitute goat cheese
- 5 eggs, large
Instructions
- Heat a medium skillet and add olive oil to it. Sauté the Brussels sprouts in the skillet until they reach a golden brown color (roughly 8 to 10 minutes)
- Now, add finely diced shallots and minced garlic and give it a good mix, taking care not to burn them. Sauté for about 2-3 minutes until aromatic.
- Add chopped tomatillos to the skillet to deglaze it, and allow to cook through for about 2-3 minutes. Add 1 teaspoon of salt at this stage and give it a good mix
- Add baby spinach to the skillet and stir well to combine with other ingredients. Cook down for about 2-3 minutes until the spinach wilts. Add the rest of the salt, cumin, coriander and red pepper flakes along with 1-2 tablespoons of water at this stage to create steam and mix well.
- Create six small indents in the base with the back of a spoon. Crack an egg into each indent, taking care not to break the yolk. Cook the eggs on low-medium heat for about 8-10 minutes to set the whites. Shakshuka is typically served with runny yolks, but you can cook the eggs to your liking if you prefer them a different way. Note: If you want to cook the shakshuka faster, cover the skillet with a lid to create steam.
- Garnish with some sliced avocados, crumbled feta cheese, and a few sprigs of fresh parsley or cilantro. Serve hot with flatbread of choice!
Notes
- You can use a wide variety of other greens in this dish - kale, collard greens, zucchini, finely chopped broccoli - all fair game!
- I suggest not using cast iron skillets for shakshuka (though it looks very Instagram worthy!) - cast iron (especially the ones that are not enameled) can be impacted by the acid from the tomatillos (or tomatoes in the case of regular shakshuka). Stainless skillets work best, I've found (though you can use enameled cast iron!)
- To mix up the spices, you can also add Aleppo pepper (which is quite spicy!) or other warm spices of your choice. To lighten it up a bit, you can serve this with some fresh yogurt or a raita!
What a fun twist to my favourite breakfast dish. I followed the notes on adding Raita and it was such a great pairing can't wait for the weekend to come so I can make again!
Easy and delicious brunch!! My partner and I wanted something simple but that fest special for our anniversary morning and this was perfect 🙂 Thank you!
Love the added greens to this shakshuka recipe! The brussels and spinach bring lots of extra fiber and satiety to this delicious dish. Great twist I'll be making again and again!
Such a tasty way to use up Brussels sprouts! And the red pepper flakes added were the perfect flavor twist.
OMG this Shakshuka tasted amazing! We had ours with some toasted bread and it was heavenly! Thank you for the recipe!