When I first heard of Turkish eggs or Cilbir I thought it sounded like the strangest combination, but it turns out to be an absolute breakfast favourite of mine! Cilbir (pronouned chil-birr) is a native popular Turkish breakfast dish which is quite different to Shakshuka. What I love about this easy Turkish Eggs breakfast recipe is not only is it vegetarian, healthy and delicious I love the layers of flavour and textures!
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I just can’t go past this creamy savoury yoghurt base, perfectly poached eggs, chilli oil drizzle, and crunchy seeds with toasted sourdough. It’s like a luxury cafe breakfast without much effort and its so addictive, cant say I didnt warn you haha.
This breakfast is high in protein and so filling, I quite often cook it using just one poached egg. I have included how I poach my eggs in the recipe below (always use fresh free range eggs). I also like to double the savoury yoghurt sauce so I can have it a couple of times during the week, just make sure you bring the yoghurt sauce to room temperature before serving!
If you have fresh dill on hand I highly recommend substituting the dried dill for fresh and using a little extra to garnish your Turkish Eggs. If you dont have chilli oil to pouring over your Turkish Eggs, you can try the buttery chilli drizzle in the recipe notes below. In New Zealand you can source Aleppo Pepper from speciality stores otherwise I have added an alternative using paprika and cayenne pepper which you can find easily at the supermarket. If you like to play it safe with spice just adjust to your liking.
Follow the recipe below on how to make easy Turkish Eggs for breakfast!
TURKISH EGGS
Ingredients
- 1 cup greek yoghurt
- 1 teaspoon dried dill
- 1 garlic clove finely grated
- 4 eggs
- Chilli oil
- 1 tablespoon pumpkin seeds
- 1 tablespoon sunflower seeds
- 1 teaspoon black sesame seeds optional
- Salt + pepper
- 2 slices sourdough bread
Instructions
- Remove the yoghurt from the fridge to prepare the yoghurt sauce in a small bowl. Combine the greek yoghurt, dill and garlic to bring to room temperature while you cook the eggs.
- Almost fill a small to medium sized pot with water, pop the lid on and bring to the boil over high heat.
- While the water is heating up, place a clean tea towel and slotted spoon next to the stove top.
- Once the water has come to the boil, crack the eggs gently into the pot and turn down the heat to low. Remove the eggs when they firm but still have quite a bit of a jiggle, using a slotted spoon place them onto the tea towel and gently pat to remove the excess water.
- Toast the bread to your liking.
- To plate: gently spread the savoury yoghurt sauce on the centre of each plate, then place two eggs onto the yoghurt sauce, drizzle over the chilli oil and sprinkle with salt + pepper, seeds and add your toasted sourdough on the side.
Notes
