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Turkish Eggs Recipe for Two

A traditional royal Turkish Egg Recipe for two. This rich creation begs crusty bread to swim in its creamy garlic-infused yogurt dotted with a browned butter onion sauce kissed by a smokey pepper. Also known as Cilbur, this recipe dates back to the Ottoman Empire and is surprisingly easy to make.

A bowl of Turkish Eggs with browned butter sauce in a white bowl.

I have a confession to make.

Not sure if it’s a hoarding problem or just a passionate exploration into vintage culinary paper ephemera acquisition.  Some will say those are $10 words and others a euphemism for an addiction that will inevitably lead to writing a food blog.

Yeppers.  I collect cookbooks, especially old ones.

A vintage cookbook recipe.

Turkish Eggs Recipe for two is inspired by my favorite cookbook series I call Cooking the (insert your geographical region here) way.

The first book I discovered set me off on a journey to collect all of them.  Cooking the Scandinavian Way was the catalyst for a vintage cookbook collection and eventually led to this blog as I know it today.

They can be hard to find so keep your eyes peeled if you are like me.  They have been out of print for a long time.  Amazon is your fried as is second hand stores and estate sales.  In fact I’m going to an estate sale as soon as I finish this post.

My phone is set to alerts when there’s on in my area.  I know, you wish you had thought of that too.  That is how much I love collecting cookbooks.  I have to be careful, I live in a tiny house so these vintage books have turned into decorative features in the house.  I stack some of them sideways and put a plant on them.  I don’t think David has caught on that my collection is actually getting bigger.

This recipe is adapted from Cooking the Middle Eastern Way.  I actually posted about it when I first started this blog, back when I didn’t know about white balance, composition or any of those other fancy terms that help a picture go from so-so to fabulous.

If you want to see my progress as a food blogger, you can see my original post on Cilbur, I left it intact so that we both may have a good laugh.

But I digress. Turkish Eggs can be dated back to the Sultans in the Ottoman Empire.  One article I read suggested this meal was prepared for Sultans on a caravan.  To me, this is believable.  After experiencing cooking while camping and backpacking, I can picture the caravan making this easy dish that is very rich with big flavors, fitting for royalty on holiday, don’t you agree?

Make some for yourself and your significant other.  It’s an impressive dish with minimal effort.

The ingredients for Turkish Eggs.

Turkish Eggs can be broken down into three easy parts:

  1. Infuse garlic and salt into plain yogurt.
  2. Bake, fry or poach the eggs, making sure to leave the yolk runny and not over cooked.
  3. Make the browned butter, onion and Aleppo pepper sauce.

Assemble and you are done.  This recipe is for two but can easily be doubled, tripled etc. to meet your needs.  Consider the recipe a suggestion.  Feel free to amp up the butter sauce, but seriously… it’s perfect, don’t touch it.

Or garnish with fresh herbs etc.  Go crazy.  If you do go off this culinary deep-end, take a pic and tag #FusionCraftiness so we can all have a moment.

Ideas for Turkish Eggs

  • Add spinach to the onion sauce
  • Serve with Chutney 
  • Tomatoes would be a great addition too
  • Add sweet peppers to the onion sauce
  • Garnish with scallions, chives, fresh herbs or cracked black pepper
  • Serve with pita or Naan 

Aleppo Pepper

Aleppo Pepper is a mild chile pepper similar to paprika.  It has bigger flakes and a slightly smokey component.  I love to use it because of its taste and mildness of it compared to red pepper flakes or cayenne.  I feel like I can control the heat easier with this pepper.

It is also known as Pul Biber and is commonly used in Middle Eastern cooking.  You can certainly use paprika but I highly encourage you to add this to your culinary arsenal, you will love it.

A bowl of plain yogurt with garlic.
Two raw eggs in a ramekin.
A Ramekin with Turkish Eggs cooked.
Butter and onions melting in a cast iron skillet.
Browned onions and butter in a cast iron skillet.
A bowl of Turkish Eggs with browned butter sauce in a white bowl.
A chunk of bread dipped into Turkish Eggs.

Do you want to explore more egg dishes you probably never heard of?

Did you make this recipe?  Don’t forget to rate the recipe and comment below!  Take a picture and tag us @FusionCraftiness #FusionCraftiness on Instagram for a chance to be featured in our Insta Stories:)

A bowl of Turkish Eggs with browned butter sauce in a white bowl.

Turkish Eggs Recipe for Two

Yield: 2 bowls
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 30 minutes

A traditional royal Turkish Egg Recipe for two. This rich creation begs crusty bread to swim in its creamy garlic-infused yogurt dotted with a browned butter onion sauce kissed by a smokey pepper. Also known as Cilbur, this recipe dates back to the Ottoman Empire and is surprisingly easy to make.

Ingredients

  • 1 garlic clove, minced
  • 1 cup of plain yogurt, Greek style works well
  • pinch of salt
  • 4 Tbs salted butter, divided
  • 1/4 of a white onion diced
  • 1 tsp Aleppo chile powder, may substitute paprika
  • 4 large eggs
  • 2 Tbs of grated cheese, any that will melt, I used Cabot cheddar, finely shredded on a microplaner

Optional Garnish:

  • Fresh herbs
  • Cracked black pepper
  • A pinch of Aleppo pepper

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 450F.
  2. Mix the minced garlic, salt and yogurt in a small bowl and set aside.  The longer you let it rest, the better the flavors will meld.  Best option is to cover it and let it rest in the fridge overnight.  But if you are short on time, just make this first and press on with the rest of the recipe.
  3. In a small skillet, add 3 Tbs butter and onions and cook over low-medium heat.  You want the onions to at least soften until they are translucent but if the get those crispy brown edges, bonus.  Do not let the butter burn however.  Add the Aleppo pepper or paprika near the end.  The butter should have a nutty smell to it, then you know you are done.  Take off burner and set aside.
  4. In two small ramekins, rub 1 Tbs butter all over the inside.  Add two eggs in each.  Bake in oven 10 minutes or until egg whites are cooked.  They look solid white when they are cooked and not clear, gelatinous goop.  Take out immediately, they will continue to cook from the heat of the ramekin.
  5. Garnish with yogurt sauce and butter-onion sauce.
  6. Optional garnish with fresh herbs, cracked black pepper.

Notes

Be creative with the garnishes.

Nutrition Information:
Yield: 2 Serving Size: 2 Eggs
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 534Total Fat: 42gSaturated Fat: 23gTrans Fat: 1gUnsaturated Fat: 16gCholesterol: 461mgSodium: 613mgCarbohydrates: 15gFiber: 2gSugar: 11gProtein: 25g

Did you make this recipe?

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Hannah

Sunday 13th of January 2019

Quick, easy, and delicious! I may have found my new weeknight go-to meal 😋

Tina

Monday 14th of January 2019

Bianca and I both love this dish. It's easy and we love dipping bread into saucy or gooey entrees. We ate this 3 days in a row so I am glad you liked this too!

Marisa Franca

Wednesday 2nd of May 2018

We love our eggs made in a savory way. In fact one of our favorites is Eggs in Purgatory -- it's spicy and tomatoey. This is a fantastic variation we have to try. And I love cookbooks -- estate sales are a great way to collect them.

Tina

Sunday 13th of May 2018

Oh, I am so addicted to estate sales, it's my achilles heel.

Britt @ A Lil' Sweet, Spice, & Advice

Monday 30th of April 2018

Your photography is gorgeous and makes me want to make Turkish eggs tomorrow for breakfast! I love all of your add-in ideas, especially the scallions, chives, and herbs and then serving it with pita. Mmmm!

Tina

Sunday 13th of May 2018

Thanks Britt, I bet if you try them you will like them;)

Patty

Monday 30th of April 2018

Funny how seeing two runny egg yolks can always make me hungry, specially when so nicely photographed. It's incredible how endless the eggs recipe list is. Your pictures are so awesome, I hope to get there one day... Your Turkish eggs look scrumptious, I'll give it a try for one of our numerous egg dinners!

Sarah

Sunday 29th of April 2018

You take your cookbook collection more seriously than I do! Lol. That's awesome though.. I have a cookbook obsessed friend and I borrow hers all the time. And these eggs sounds delicious- I love yogurt sauces!

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