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This 30-Minute Chickpea Shakshuka Puts Pantry Staples to Work

Learn how to make this quick and filling vegetarian meal.
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Published Dec. 1, 2021.

This 30-Minute Chickpea Shakshuka Puts Pantry Staples to Work

For quick, filling meals that won’t break the bank, eggs are often the go-to staple ingredient. They cook in minutes, you can get a dozen for a few bucks, and they can be transformed into countless different dishes.

One of our favorites is shakshuka, a North African dish of eggs poached in tomato sauce. It’s almost as quick to make as eggs and toast, but the warm, complex tomato-y sauce upgrades it to a satisfying option for breakfast, lunch, or dinner. There are many versions of this dish, but you can learn how to make one of our favorites, Chickpea Shakshuka, in the latest episode of our YouTube series, Today’s Special, with Ashley Moore.

Other than the eggs, an onion, and a little goat cheese, all of the ingredients are pantry staples, which means you can be ready to whip it up whenever the craving strikes. Two pantry ingredients in particular add an instant enhancement for a more flavorful, hearty meal.

  1. Jarred Red Peppers: Instead of fresh red peppers, this weeknight-friendly recipe relies on jarred roasted red bell peppers, which you can find at the supermarket. You can make them yourself if you prefer, but keeping a premade jar in your pantry at all times will come in handy in a myriad of ways (try dips, salads, and even soups). For this shakshuka, Ashley cuts them into sizable chunks so that you can’t miss them when you take a bite. 
  2. Chickpeas: The eggs in the shakshuka contain a fair amount of filling protein, but chickpeas add a bit more substance while helping to vary the texture of the final dish. For this dish, we turn to convenient canned chickpeas, which require no prep other than draining. 

Chickpea Shakshuka

Chickpeas add nutty depth—and substance—to this vegetarian egg dish.  
Start Cooking

“The egg is jammy, the sauce is bright with a bold red bell pepper flavor,” Ashley says. “It uses ingredients that I always have on hand in my pantry.” 

For a one-pan meal that takes 30 minutes to make, it doesn’t get much better than Chickpea Shakshuka. You’ll want to remember to serve it with a hunk of crusty bread (or rice, or polenta!) so that none of the warm, spiced tomato sauce goes to waste.

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10 ingredients. 45 minutes. Quick, easy, and fresh weeknight recipes.


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