Breakfast Turkish
Menemen with mushrooms
Turkish scrambled eggs with tomatoes and green peppers, made heartier with well-browned button mushrooms. On the table in 30 minutes.
- Prep
- 10 min
- Cook
- 20 min
- Serves
- 2
- Difficulty
- Easy
Button mushroom
Menemen is Turkey's favourite breakfast pan: soft scrambled eggs cooked into a sauce of tomatoes and mild green peppers, scooped up with fresh bread. Adding mushrooms makes it more filling and gives it a gentle, earthy note.
The one rule is to brown the mushrooms on their own first. If they go in with the tomatoes, they release their water and the menemen turns soupy. This version is made without onion, the way many Turks prefer it, but you can soften a small chopped onion before the peppers if you like.
Ingredients
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Menemen
To serve
Method
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-
Wipe the mushrooms with a damp cloth and slice them thinly. Seed the peppers and cut into rings. Peel the tomatoes and dice or grate them.
~7 min -
Heat the butter and olive oil in a wide frying pan over a medium-high heat. Add the mushrooms; they will release their liquid first. Keep cooking for 5–6 minutes until it has gone and the edges are lightly browned.
~6 min -
Add the peppers, lower the heat to medium and cook for 3 minutes, until they soften but stay bright green.
~3 min -
Stir in the tomatoes, salt and chilli flakes. Cook for 6–8 minutes, stirring now and then, until most of the tomato juice has evaporated and the sauce has thickened, without letting the pan dry out.
~7 min -
Crack the eggs into the pan. Either leave the yolks whole, cover and cook for 3 minutes, or stir gently a few times for soft, loose curds. Take it off the heat while the eggs still look slightly glossy; they'll keep cooking in the hot pan.
~3 min -
Grind over some black pepper, scatter with parsley and serve straight from the pan with fresh bread.
~1 min
Enjoy!
The mushroom in this recipe
Mushroom swaps
- Chestnut / cremini mushroom Agaricus bisporusReleases less water and has a stronger flavour.
Oyster mushroom Pleurotus ostreatusTear into strips by hand; it cooks in 3–4 minutes.
Shiitake Lentinula edodesDiscard the tough stalks; it adds a slightly smoky depth.
Tips
- If your tomatoes are out of season or not very juicy, add 1 tsp of tomato paste.
- Spread the mushrooms in a single layer; in a crowded pan they steam instead of browning.
- Scatter over a little crumbled feta or grated cheese and cover for a minute for an extra-indulgent breakfast.
Storage
Menemen is best eaten straight away. Leftovers keep in an airtight container in the fridge for 1 day at most; reheat thoroughly in a pan and don't leave it sitting at room temperature, as it contains eggs.
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Kitchen guides
Before you cook: clean, store, dry
How to clean mushroomsPractical ways to clean everything from button mushrooms to morels without waterlogging them or ruining their texture.
How to store mushroomsHow to keep fresh, cooked, frozen and dried mushrooms at their best — and how to tell when they’ve gone bad.
How to dry mushroomsA step-by-step guide to drying mushrooms at home in the oven, in a dehydrator or on a string — and how to store and rehydrate them.