Easy Keto Shakshuka Recipe (Paleo, Low-Carb)

For an easy low-carb and paleo breakfast, give this keto shakshuka recipe a try. It’s a simple dish that combines eggs with tomato sauce but you can customize the recipe by adding meats, vegetables, and different seasonings.

Article Index

• Why you'll love it
• Ingredients
• Quick tips
• Instructions
• Variations
• ️ Serving suggestions
• FAQs
• Related recipes
• Recipe

I love discovering new cuisines and I’ve gotten pretty good at converting recipes to low-carb versions. I’ll admit that there have been some failures, but we all learn from our mistakes.

Over the years, I've created tons of delicious recipes just by making simple swaps or omissions. However, there's not a lot of changes you need to make a traditional shakshuka recipe suitable for the keto diet.

Why you'll love it

This simple dish is made with eggs poached in a sauce of tomatoes, peppers, and onions along with a spice blend that tastes amazing. Not only does it taste delicious, but it's super easy to prepare.

You can easily make this as a weeknight dinner to share with your family. Or, enjoy it for a weekend breakfast or brunch. No matter which meal you choose to serve it, the recipe is a winner that you will certainly be making again.

Ingredients

The great thing about this recipe is that you only need a handful of ingredients along with some seasonings.

Eggs

The eggs are poached in the tomato sauce and it’s the main protein in the dish. But you can definitely add in some meats for a heartier meal.

Diced tomatoes

A 28-ounce can of diced tomatoes is called for in the recipe. However, freshly diced tomatoes can be used if you prefer.

Onion and garlic

The sauce is seasoned with some fresh diced onion and minced garlic. You can omit or reduce the onion to lower the carbs in the dish.

Bell peppers

Green bell peppers have the lowest carb count so use those instead of the other colors like red bell pepper which tends to be sweeter. If you want to add in a little heat, go ahead and sprinkle in some chili peppers too.

Seasoning

This low-carb shakshuka dish combines paprika, cumin, coriander, turmeric, cayenne, and salt to flavor the sauce. But you can change up the flavor easily. Try adding in chili powder and cayenne pepper for a little Mexican flavor or try garnishing with fresh cilantro. You can also sprinkle on fresh herbs and some feta cheese!

Note: Scroll down to the recipe card at the bottom for a full list of ingredients used to make this low-carb recipe.

Quick tips

• Cook the eggs slowly. Poaching eggs in liquid that too hot will separate the egg whites before they have time to set. The eggs should be cooked in liquid that is lightly simmering.
• Use room temperature eggs. To warm eggs up quickly, you can submerge them in a bowl of warm water for ten to fifteen minutes.
• Add in extras. You can add in cooked meat, vegetables, cheese, and herbs to the dish to customize the flavor. Just add them into the sauce before adding the eggs.

Instructions

This is a really simple dish that's super easy to prepare. Just follow these basic steps.

Sauté onion

First, you'll heat up some olive oil in a large cast iron pan over medium-high heat.

Then add in the onion and sauté until golden brown and softened.

Cook pepper and garlic

The chopped peppers and garlic are added next. They are sautéed for a few minutes until the garlic is fragrant and golden in color.

Add spices

The spices are stirred in next and everything is stirred constantly for about a minute. You need to be careful with this step so the ground spices don't burn.

Add tomato paste

A small amount of tomato paste is then stirred into the vegetable mixture. It's cooked for a minute or two until everything is red in color.

Add tomatoes and salt

The diced tomatoes and salt are stirred in next and the sauce is brought to a simmer. Once simmering is reached, it's cooked for about ten minutes with an occasional stir.

Add eggs

The final step is to poach the eggs in the sauce. The recipe gives the option to poach 4-6 eggs. I used six large eggs as I got six servings from the recipe and wanted to make sure each serving had an egg.

You'll make a small well in the sauce for each egg and then carefully crack each egg into the holes. Allow it to cook at a gentle simmer over medium-low heat.

Cook covered

The final cooking of the eggs are done with a lid over the skillet. Cooking time will vary depending on whether you like solid or runny egg yolks.

Variations

Vegetables would be a nice add to the recipe. You can toss in some fresh spinach during the last 10 minutes of cooking, before adding the eggs.

To cut down the carb count, you can omit the onion or reduce it to only a small amount.

️ Serving suggestions

Although this dish is traditionally served for breakfast, you can enjoy this simple tomato egg skillet recipe any time of day.

It goes great with a slice of toasted keto bread for breakfast. You can sprinkle on some pepper sauce for a little more spice.

It's a great dish to serve for lunch with a salad on the side.

As a main dish for dinner, it goes well over a bed of cauliflower rice.

FAQs

Before getting to the full recipe, I wanted to go over some of the commonly asked questions people have about the recipe.

Related recipes

Want a few more tasty egg based keto recipes? You'll find some more tasty dishes below.

• Keto egg drop soup is a great alternative to the higher carb soup served at American Chinese restaurants.
• Instant Pot sous vide egg bites are every bit as tasty as the ones you get at Starbucks but come without the unnecessary added starch.
• Keto eggs Benedict are served over a tomato slice or low-carb bread with delicious hollandaise sauce poured on top.
• Chicken egg foo young is a keto-friendly version of the popular American Chinese dish.
• Bacon egg muffins are a simple dish that's perfect for making breakfast ahead.

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Recipe

First published on March 16, 2016. Updated on February 11, 2022, with new images and additional recipe information.