Shakshuka is a dish that I instantly fell in love when I ate it at this quaint middle-eastern cafe near my school while I was studying in Perth. It was a red tomato goodness with eggs cracked over it, served with slices of bread. I was instantly in love with it because firstly, I adore any recipes with cooked mushy tomatoes, and secondly, I loooove bread. And I love using the bread to scoop up the yummy sauce like I do with curry all the time. My version of the Shakshuka is pretty blasphemous but I desperately wanted to make it my one-dish meal with protein, hence the minced meat. On the bright side, this dish completely fits my macros and it is very healthy! One serving is only 130kCal and has 16g protein!

Well, ever since I started gyming, I decided to ‘healthify’ my favourite foods to make it easier to curb my cravings. The recipes has to be cooked with whole foods and less oil. The recipe scores scores really high with me if the leftovers store well so that it can save me time on my other meals. And scores even higher when it’s versatile enough to eat in many different ways. So this recipe ranks up there for me. I cooked some and left a container of it in the fridge and my family members have been scooping it out to eat with bread, or atop rice.

BTW, I also saw Shakshuka recipes in Gordan Ramsay’s Ultimate Cookery Course (he calls it North African Eggs there, but I know better :P) and in the Weight Watcher’s savory cookbook. They approve of it? Score!

I am on a low-carb, low fat diet for the next 2 weeks, so I had mine with a nice salad bowl. Otherwise, I usually have it with 2 slices of toast.

Minced Chicken Shakshuka 

Ingredients: 

• 300g mince chicken
• 2 whole tomatoes (400g)
• 1 large onion
• 3 tbsp chopped garlic
• 1/2 tsp cummin powder
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon ground
• 1/2 tsp chilli flakes
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tbsp tomato paste
• 1/2 tsp ground black pepper
• eggs
• coriander (for garnishing)

1) Heat 1 tsp of canola oil in the pan, then stir in diced onion, garlic, cumin powder, cinnamon powder.

TIP: It is possible to sweat onions without oil! I am on a low-fat diet this week, so I skipped the oil. I just heated up the pan and added the ingredients. I just had some water nearby just in case anything burns (nothing happened really).

2) Stir in minced chicken, salt and chilli flakes, and tomato paste. Mix well until chicken looks cooked.

TIP: Not REALLY a tip, but if you’re not finicky about fats or sodium, then go ahead and use the original recipe, which calls for sausages instead.

3) Stir in chopped tomatoes and cook until the tomatoes collapse. It’s almost ready to serve!

Serving options: If serving the entire pan, then just create a few wells in the mixture. Break eggs into each well. Cook until egg white sets. Then serve garnished with coriander leaves. 

If only serving for one, then portion out how much you need into a microwaveable platter. I used a quarter of the recipe in photo above. Create a slight well in the center and then crack an egg in. Microwave on high (1000W) for about 2 minutes or until egg white sets. Enjoy!

I stored the rest of the recipe in my fridge and it should be good for up to 3 days, if you or your family does not attack it first. I make this every single week! If you do try this recipe, you must let me know how you like it!

Nutritional Information: 

Entire recipe contains 510kCal, 64.2g protein, 14.1g carbs, 18.9g fat.

1 serving (if it is split into 4 portions) contains 127.5kCal, 16g protein, 3.5g carbs, 4.7g fat.