Sucuklu Yumurta (Turkish Eggs with Spiced Sausage)
سجکلو یومورتا (مصالحے دار ساسیج کے ساتھ ترکی انڈے)
Sucuk is Turkey's favourite sausage: dry-cured beef (sometimes mixed with lamb) seasoned with garlic, cumin, red pepper and sumac. Slice it, fry it until the edges curl and the fat turns red, then crack eggs right into that spicy fat, and you have sucuklu yumurta, one of the most popular weekend breakfasts in Turkey. It's served in the small two-handled pan it was cooked in, with plenty of bread to wipe the pan clean.
- ⏱ Total: 10 min
- Prep: 3 min
- Cook: 7 min
- Easy
- Serves 2
Method
Tap a step when it is done.
Peel the casing off the sucuk if it's thick, then slice into thin rounds.
Melt the butter in a small frying pan over medium heat. Add the sucuk and fry for 2–3 minutes, turning, until the edges curl and the fat turns red.
Crack the eggs between the slices. Cover and cook on low heat for 3–4 minutes, until the whites are set but the yolks are still runny. Season with a pinch of pul biber.
Serve straight from the pan with bread.
Kitchen notes
Don't add much fat. Sucuk releases its own, and that red, spicy fat is the best part.
Sucuk is sold in Turkish shops worldwide and is usually halal beef. Check the label, as some imported cold cuts are not.
No sucuk? Use spicy beef sausage, beef pepperoni or chorizo-style halal sausage, sliced thin.
Turkey’s favourite sausage
Sucuk is a dry, fermented beef sausage seasoned with garlic, cumin, red pepper and other spices, then air-dried until firm. It’s been made in Anatolia for centuries, and Kayseri in central Turkey is especially famous for it. Because it’s made from beef, it’s a breakfast staple across the country and in Turkish communities everywhere.
The breakfast pan
Sucuklu yumurta is cooked and served in a sahan, a small two-handled pan, which goes straight from the stove to the table. There’s no sauce and no fuss, just crisp sausage, eggs and the spicy fat that collects in the pan, mopped up with bread.
Finding sucuk
Sucuk is sold in Turkish, Middle Eastern and many halal shops in Europe, North America and the Gulf, often in long horseshoe shapes. In South Asia, look for imported Turkish sucuk in larger supermarkets, or use a spicy halal beef sausage.
Serving
Serve with crusty bread or simit, tomatoes, cucumbers and olives, and a glass of Turkish tea. For a meat-free Turkish egg breakfast, try menemen or çılbır.
Questions people ask
Can I scramble the eggs instead?
Yes. Many people stir the eggs into the sucuk for a scrambled version; both are common.
What is a sahan?
The small, shallow copper or steel pan with two handles that Turkish egg dishes are cooked and served in. Any small frying pan works.
Can I add vegetables?
Yes. Some cooks add sliced green peppers or tomato with the sucuk, halfway towards menemen.
Nutrition (estimate, per serving)
- Calories
- 390
- Protein
- 22 g
- Fat
- 31 g
- Carbs
- 3 g
