J. Kenji López' Top Tip For Perfectly Runny Shakshuka Eggs

One of the most irresistible aspects of shakshuka is the promise of a runny egg yolk dripping and swirling with the tomato sauce, making for a savory, molten bite. But if you've ever attempted make it at home, you'll know the key to a good shakshuka lies in the balance of a flavorful tomato sauce and perfectly poached eggs. But it's often easy to overcook the eggs as they simmer away in the sauce.

Luckily, chef, culinary consultant, and writer J. Kenji López has an easy fix for ensuring your eggs perfectly poach in your spiced tomato sauce. Just as you might use a ladle to effortlessly fry an egg, López' tip is to use the tomato sauce the egg is already cooking in. As he describes on Serious Eats, take a spoon and scoop up some of the tomato sauce, running it over the uncooked egg whites; the warm sauce will help efficiently cook the eggs faster. This way, you speed up the setting of the egg whites while keeping the runny yolk as is.

Before cracking the eggs into the shakshuka, make sure to reduce the sauce a bit and create little wells using the back of a spoon or spatula. This ensures that when you crack the eggs into the sauce, they have a shape to fill out instead of simply running and mixing into the sauce. And when you take López' tip and spoon the sauce over the top of the egg whites, you'll infuse the egg with even more saucy flavor.

Although the poached eggs are the cherry on top of shakshuka, the savory, spiced tomato sauce is just as important as the base of the dish, teeming with rich, charred vegetables. You'll want to build in layers of flavor here, and those sautéed aromatics and charred vegetables are the perfect place to start. Feel free to experiment with vegetables beyond typical aromatics like garlic and onion. Fresh chilis add an underlayer of spice while sautéed bell peppers (red, green, or both!) create a more hearty sauce. 

This egg dish with origins in North Africa is a one-pan delight, making for an easy cleanup meal that's sure to please. You can simply bust out that trusty jar of tomato sauce from the pantry and doctor it up with your aromatics and spices, but if you can start your shakshuka sauce from scratch, it'll have a bigger payoff in texture. Fresh tomatoes would be ideal, but even starting with canned tomatoes can make a difference.

Whole peeled tomatoes are the best canned tomatoes to use for a tomato sauce like shakshuka, as the tomatoes' velvety texture is unbroken and can eventually break down into the runny sauce you want. As for your eggs, any variety will do, but try using cold eggs right from the refrigerator — this will help them keep their shape while cooking in the sauce. Poaching those eggs with a bit of sauce ladled over the egg whites will harmoniously bring the whole dish together. Dip a slice of bread or pita into the perfectly runny eggs and enjoy your savory, worry-free shakshuka.