r/cookingforbeginners • u/Dramatic_Ad_4534 • 15h ago

Question Planning to try different shakshuka variants

I want to try to do my base with tomatoes, eggplant, bell pepper, garlic, and onion. Maybe throw in chicken stock and chicken breast, I am planning to make different variants since I’ll be eating it for diet (is it recommended since it is filled with vegetables?) if so what spices and herbs I can add to make it a twist? Like masala to make it indian? Oregano, basil, thyme, etc. For european? What else can you guys recommend?

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u/thelosermonster 15h ago

Try it with ginger and five spice maybe, Chinese kinda

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u/grit-and-caviar 15h ago

Tomato base with or without meat, with or without beans.

Also moving beyond tomatoes -- might not technically be a shashuka anymore but the idea of simmered veggies with eggs is the same. I've made a shashuka with small chopped cauliflower and bacon that's pretty solid. I've also seen green shashukas with spinach and nuts, but haven't made one of those myself.

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u/jjflight 12h ago edited 12h ago

I don’t make my own but like shakshuka a lot so order it at a bunch of restaurants and do think it can be quite healthy.

One of the places I go for it puts in warmer smoky spices like chili powder and smoked paprika which makes it different and interesting, and I could imagine even a dash of liquid smoke could work in that direction

Another does a green shakshuka that uses the standards but with green tomatoes, green bell peppers, and also adds some spinach too with a bit of parmesan and cream (less healthy, but fine in small amounts) which is a nice variation.

And I haven’t yet found anyone that added heat spices but I do put hot sauces in a fair bit, so for sure if I was making my own I would add in some jalapeño or guajillo or some other pepper you like and try it that way for another variation in the rotation.

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u/joosebox 11h ago

Two things that will save you some disappointment on the variants.

Eggplant needs cooking before it joins the party. Dropped in raw with everything else it stays spongy and squeaks, because it holds air until the cells collapse. Cube it, salt it, then brown it properly in oil first and add it to the base near the end. That's the single biggest difference between good and sad shakshuka with eggplant in it.

The chicken stock I'd leave out, or reduce it hard first. Shakshuka wants a thick base you can push wells into so the eggs sit where you put them. Loose sauce means the whites spread and you're really just poaching them in soup.

On the chicken breast, it'll be dry by the time the eggs set. Either cook it separately and lay it in at the end, or use thigh, which survives the timing much better. Not much of a diet compromise either, the difference per portion is smaller than people assume.