Menemen
Menemen is a Turkish breakfast dish of eggs softly scrambled into tomatoes, green peppers and sometimes onion, cooked in olive oil or butter and eaten from the pan with bread.
Allergens at a glance
- UsuallyEggsEggs are the base of the dish.
- OftenMilkCooked in butter in many cafés; cheese versions add kaşar or white cheese.
- OftenGlutenServed with bread for scooping; the eggs themselves are wheat-free.
Usually in the standard recipe. Often in many versions. Sometimes in some kitchens, or a cross-contact risk.
Diets
- Vegetarian as standard, but not vegan: eggs, and often butter or cheese.
- Sucuklu menemen adds spiced beef sausage; it's usually halal in Turkey.
- Wheat-free in the pan; ask for no bread, and check the sucuk if it's added.
Recipes change from kitchen to kitchen. If you have an allergy, confirm every ingredient with the restaurant before you order.
What is menemen?
Menemen is eggs cooked into a soft, juicy pan of tomatoes and long green peppers, seasoned with salt and chilli flakes and brought to the table in the small two-handled pan (sahan) it was cooked in. It's a breakfast staple across Turkey. You eat it by tearing bread and scooping straight from the pan.
What's in it
Green peppers (sivri biber or çarliston) are softened in olive oil or butter, chopped tomatoes go in and cook down, then eggs are stirred in until just set. Salt, black pepper and pul biber (chilli flakes) finish it. Whether onion belongs in menemen is a long-running argument in Turkey; you'll find both.
Common menu versions:
- Sade menemen: plain.
- Peynirli menemen: with white cheese (beyaz peynir, like feta) or kaşar (a mild yellow cheese).
- Sucuklu menemen: with slices of sucuk, a dry, garlicky beef sausage.
- Soğanlı menemen: with onion.
- Kavurmalı menemen: with preserved fried meat.
It's sometimes compared with shakshuka, but menemen is scrambled rather than having whole poached eggs.
Allergens and diets
Egg is the dish, so there's no egg-free version. Milk depends on the kitchen: some cook in olive oil, many cafés use butter, and the cheese versions add more dairy. Ask for olive oil (zeytinyağı) and no cheese if you avoid milk.
Bread is always served alongside, so gluten arrives with it. The menemen itself is wheat-free. Sucuk is the wild card: recipes vary by brand, and factory-made sausage can include binders or spice blends you won't see. If your allergy is to anything beyond the basics, ask to see the sucuk packet or order it without.
On a full Turkish breakfast (kahvaltı), menemen shares the table with cheeses, olives, honey, kaymak (clotted cream), tahini and molasses, and pastries, so cross-contact at a shared spread is likely.
On the menu
Look for menemen under kahvaltı (breakfast) or sahanda (dishes cooked in the pan). It's often priced per pan, enough for one, or for two to share with a big breakfast. Yumurta means egg if you're scanning for related dishes like sahanda yumurta (fried eggs in the pan).
Last checked 1 November 2026. Spotted something wrong? Email support@inventum.com.au.