Green Shakshuka with Tomatillos (A Middle Eastern and Mexican Fusion Recipe)

Green Shakshuka with Tomatillos recipe. A delightful Mexican play on a Middle Eastern favourite, with a touch of Zhug, that Yemeni hot sauce.

Estimated reading time: 4 minutes

Green Shakshuka with Tomatillo
Green Shakshuka with Tomatillo

Green Shakshuka! Raising your eyebrows, perhaps? If you are a regular on LinsFood, you’ll know that every summer, if I’m around (and not travelling with the family), I try and grow tomatillos, those tart, green Mexican tomatoes. However, this is the first year, that I’m taking the time to make “real” recipes with them and blog about those recipes. You can read more about them here.

So far, we’ve had the Mexican Salsa Verde (of course!) and we’ve had the Tomatillo and Jalapeño Margarita. This Green Shakshuka with Tomatillos was just waiting to happen, after all, shakshuka is predominantly tomatoes, and tomatillos are tomatoes, right? Ok, kind of. Same family, anyway!

The result?

The Green Shakshuka is a delightful combination of tangy, herby and earthy flavours with a touch of heat. 

Green Shakshuka Recipe

The challenge in making this recipe was how much of the original recipe to change; do I stick pretty much to the original and just switch ingredients colour for colour?

My concern was that I wasn’t going to get enough depth in the sauce as when I make the regular red Shakshuka. I always use sundried tomato paste, which is like a secret weapon for me, for so many tomato based sauces.

In the end, I decided to close my eyes (in case it went a horrible brown!), take a deep breath and add some sweet smoked paprika. The paprika definitely lends additional flavour and that all important intensity. The colour did go a khaki green with the small amount of paprika, but that would have happened anyway once the vegetables were cooked in our green shakshuka. So I breathed easy on that end.

Green Shakshuka with Tomatillo
Total yum!

Green Shakshuka Sauce

The other worry was the sauce, or possible lack of. Tomatillos are not as juicy as regular tomatoes, and I really didn’t want to start adding other vegetables to get a sauce, as I wanted to stick to the tomato, capsicum (peppers) and herb combination.

So I compensated for the lack of liquid by chopping up a little of the ingredients; a couple of tomatillos and a small amount of the parsley and coriander (cilantro) went into the chopper with a small amount of water, which would be cooked off.

Then I remembered the Zhug recipe I have on this site, that Yemeni green chilli paste/sauce. It added a beautiful depth and a little heat that just made the green shakshuka perfect!

Zhug takes about 8 minutes to make with easy to get ingredients, and will last a couple of weeks in the fridge. So why don’t you get 2 recipes done while you’re at it? If you don’t fancy making Zoug, just add a jalapeño to the ingredients to be chopped.

Zhoug, Yemeni Green Chilli Sauce
Zhug for spice

Don’t have Tomatillos for our Green Shakshuka?

Just get your hands on some green tomatoes. Here in the northern hemisphere, with it being autumn, there are probably quite a few of those going, especially if you grow your own, like I do.

What to Serve with this Tomatillo Shakshuka?

Shakshuka is a recipe that is very commonly eaten as breakfast and brunch throughout the Middle East. So bread, of whatever description, is the perfect accompaniment to this Green Shakshuka. Whether it’s flatbread or not. Even a flavoured bread like onion bread or olive bread would go extremely well.

If you do make some Zhug, have a bowl of it on the side, as I like to, for added heat, if anyone wants it.

What I also like to do is sprinkle some cheese on the shakshuka sometimes. What cheese? Anything your heart desires. The all too common feta, cheddar and mozzarella, or go crazy with some blue cheese.

Shall we get our aprons on?

If you like the recipe, don’t forget to leave me a comment and that all important, 5-star rating! Thank you!

And if you make the recipe, share it on any platform and tag me @azlinbloor, and hashtag it #linsfood

Lin xx

Green Shakshuka with Tomatillo

Green Shakshuka with Tomatillos | A Middle Eastern and Mexican Fusion Recipe

Green Shakshuka with Tomatillos recipe. A delightful Mexican play on a Middle Eastern favourite, with a touch of Zhug, that Yemeni hot sauce.
5 from 27 votes
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Course: Side Dish
Cuisine: Middle Eastern and Mexican Fusion
Keyword: tomatillos
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 25 minutes
Servings: 4
Calories: 146kcal
Author: Azlin Bloor

Ingredients

  • 1 large onion
  • 1 clove garlic
  • 6 large tomatillos
  • 1 capsicum green peppers
  • 1 tsp ground cumin
  • ½ tsp sweet smoked paprika
  • 1 tsp salt
  • pinch sugar
  • 2 tbsp Zhoug
  • 4 eggs
  • 1 tbsp EV olive oil

To be chopped

  • 2 large tomatillos
  • ½ capsicum green pepper
  • 10 stalks flat leaf parsley curly will do too
  • 10 stalks coriander leaves cilantro
  • 1 jalapeño if not using zhoug
  • 125 ml water

Garnish

  • freshly ground black pepper
  • 5 stalks parsley finely chopped
  • 5 stalks coriander leaves finely chopped
  • cheese of your choice optional

Instructions

  • Chop your onions up fairly finely, about 1cm/half in square, roughly. Do the same with the tomatillos and capsicums (pepper).
  • Finely chop the garlic.
  • Roughly cut up the ingredients to be chopped and place them in the chopper with the water. Chop to a fairly fine, watery paste.
  • Heat the olive oil in a medium frying pan on medium heat and fry the onions for 2 minutes, stirring them from time to time.
  • Add the garlic, stir and cook for 30 seconds.
  • Now add the chopped up tomatillos, the chopped up capsicums (pepper), the green watery paste, the cumin, the paprika, the salt, the sugar and Zhoug, if using. Stir and bring it all up to a gentle boil. Then lower the heat down and simmer everything for about 5 minutes, to reduce and to thicken. Taste your sauce. Add more salt if you think it needs it, add more sugar for a slightly sweeter sauce.
  • Crack the eggs individually onto the shakshuka mixture. You can make indentations for the eggs if you like, but I don’t bother.
  • Cook for another 3-5 minutes until your eggs are done to your liking. I like my eggs very soft and runny, so I leave it uncovered at this stage. If you like yours more cooked, cover it with a lid.
  • Garnish with the chopped up herbs, some freshly ground black pepper, and cheese, if you like. Take the whole pan to the table and let everyone help themselves.

Nutrition

Calories: 146kcal | Carbohydrates: 11g | Protein: 7g | Fat: 9g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Cholesterol: 164mg | Sodium: 656mg | Potassium: 449mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 6g | Vitamin A: 1518IU | Vitamin C: 69mg | Calcium: 50mg | Iron: 2mg
Did you make this recipe?Mention @azlinbloor and tag #linsfood!
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12 thoughts on “Green Shakshuka with Tomatillos (A Middle Eastern and Mexican Fusion Recipe)”

  1. I’ve never heard of shakshuka before. Is it usually not green? It looks interesting, I’ll have to look into trying it sometime!

  2. I love you spin on shakshuka. I’ve made the traditional one and love it so much! I can’t wait to try it using tomatillos!

  3. Looks like a great dish for a brunch. I never heard of this dish before but I will have to give it a try the next time I want brunch esk meal.

  4. Wow, such a stunning recipe and also, the photos! I don’t think I can find tomatillos in this part of the world, but I have seen green tomatoes, so that’ll do.

  5. This looks absolutely delicious! I love how flavorful your dishes always look and this one contains many of my favorite ingredients too! Can’t wait to try it. 😉

  6. This dish looks so beautiful, and I am sure that it is delicious too! I’m also looking forward to reading your post on original shakshuka whenever you write it!

  7. Ravishankar Swaminathan

    Great Dish to go along with Indian Flat bread, Can this be done by using Cottage Cheese instead of eggs.

    1. Yes, absolutely. If you don’t eat eggs, after you’ve cooked the sauce, scatter your cottage cheese all over and take the pan to the table. Or make little balls with your cheese and drop them in, heat for a few seconds, then serve. Thank you, Ravi.

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