Recipe
🍳 BREAKFAST
Shakshuka bel Harissa
Eggs poached directly in a fiery, harissa-laced pepper and tomato sauce, eaten from the pan with bread.
Tunisian · easy · serves 2
prep 10 min · cook 25 min
~239 cal · 17g protein · 20g carbs · 12g fat · 5g fiber · 9g sugars · 3g sat fat (estimated, per serving)
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Shakshuka, eggs poached in a simmering sauce of tomatoes, peppers, onion, and spice, is a North African breakfast that has become a global one. Its name comes from an Arabic-Maghrebi word meaning 'a mixture,' and while several countries claim it, the Tunisian version is defined by , the pounded roasted-chili-and-garlic paste that gives Tunisian cooking its signature fire.
In Tunis the dish leans hotter and more piquant than its milder cousins, the deepening the tomato base to a brick red before the eggs are cracked in and left to set with runny yolks. It grew out of a thrifty peasant logic: a pan of cheap vegetables stretched into a full meal with a few eggs.
Shakshuka is eaten straight from the pan it's cooked in, set in the middle of the table with plenty of bread for scooping up sauce and yolk. Equally at home at breakfast, lunch, or a late supper, it is fast, communal, and endlessly adaptable to whatever peppers the season brings.
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Make it yours
✓ Naturally vegetarian and dairy-, nut- and pork-free. No swaps needed.
Toggle a diet and the ingredients rewrite themselves with regional substitutes.
🥕 Vegetarian
🌱 Vegan
🌾 Gluten-Free
🥛 Dairy-Free
🥜 Nut-Free
🥚 Egg-Free
🐖 Pork-Free
Dietary labels are a cooking guide, not allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish; we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, read the label on every product you use, and note that a kitchen can cross-contaminate in ways a recipe cannot control.
Ingredients
US
Metric
Serves 2
4 eggs
4 (or 14 oz) ripe tomatoes, chopped (or canned)
2 red bell peppers, sliced
1-2 tbsp
3 cloves garlic, sliced
1 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp caraway
3 tbsp olive oil
a handful parsley or cilantro
1/2 loaf crusty bread, to serve
Instructions
1
Soften the peppers in olive oil over medium heat, 8 minutes. Add garlic, cumin, and caraway for 1 minute.
2
Stir in the tomatoes and harissa; simmer 10 minutes until thick enough to hold a spoon-trail.
3
Make wells and crack in the eggs (or nestle the tofu). Cover and cook 5-7 minutes until the whites set but yolks still tremble.
4
Scatter with herbs and bring the pan to the table with bread for scooping.
✎ Chef’s note
In Tunisia this dish is properly called ojja. Shakshuka is a related but different thing there, usually built on potatoes and not always containing eggs at all, though the two names have long since blurred together outside the country. Ojja is often made with merguez, and a little tuna or sardine stirred in at the end is common; the salt cuts the richness of the yolk.
Tunis medina home cooking.
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🌏 While it simmers, know your destination
📍
Tunis. Tunis cooks the Maghreb's spiciest food, where harissa fires up couscous, brik pastries, and shakshuka. The medina's souks and Mediterranean coast shape a bold, chili-laced capital table.
🗺️
Tunisia. Tunisia is North Africa's spiciest kitchen, where fiery harissa paste flavors nearly everything, from couscous to brik pastries and shakshuka. Its Mediterranean coast brings olive oil, seafood, and tomatoes to a table shaped by Berber, Arab, and French hands.
🌍
Africa. The structure repeats across most of the continent: one starch and one sauce. A grain or root is cooked stiff, torn or rolled by hand, and used to carry a stew of leaves, groundnut, okra or fish, usually from a shared bowl and with the right hand. UNESCO listings have followed that logic, inscribing couscous in 2020 as a shared Maghreb tradition and Ivorian attieke in 2024.
The story behind this dish is up top, worth a read while the pot works.
More from Tunisia
LablabiChickpeas in garlicky cumin broth ladled over torn bread, hit with harissa, lemon, and a soft egg, Tunisia’s working breakfast.
Couscous bel HoutTunisian fish couscous: steamed semolina under a spicy tomato broth of fish and vegetables.
BrikA crisp fried pastry parcel with a runny egg, tuna, and herbs inside, the essential Tunisian starter-lunch.
Browse all Tunisia recipes →
Good to know
Storing it: Fried food is best eaten fresh while crisp. Re-crisp leftovers in a hot oven or air fryer; the microwave makes them soft.
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Frequently asked questions
What is Shakshuka bel Harissa?
Eggs poached directly in a fiery, harissa-laced pepper and tomato sauce, eaten from the pan with bread.
Where does Shakshuka bel Harissa come from?
Shakshuka bel Harissa is a Tunisian dish from Tunis, Tunisia.
Can Shakshuka bel Harissa be made vegan, gluten-free, or dairy-free?
This Shakshuka bel Harissa recipe includes substitution suggestions for vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free, egg-free, and pork-free versions, including several at once such as gluten-free and dairy-free together. Treat them as a starting guide rather than a guarantee, and see the allergen note below.
Is Shakshuka bel Harissa safe for people with food allergies?
Our dietary labels and substitutions are a cooking guide, not medical or allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish, but we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, always read the label on every product you use, and remember a home or commercial kitchen can cross-contaminate ingredients in ways a recipe cannot control.
How long does Shakshuka bel Harissa take to make?
About 35 minutes total (10 minutes prep, 25 minutes cooking), serving 2.
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