Warm up your mornings with Sarah Cobacho’s vegan shakshuka from The Ultimate Plant-Based Cookbook. Shakshuka is a traditional North African and Middle Eastern dish, often enjoyed for breakfast or brunch. This plant-based version features a rich tomato sauce with olives, bell peppers, and aromatic spices like cumin and paprika. It has 28 grams of protein, thanks to the addition of butter beans and tofu “eggs,” making it a hearty and nourishing start to your day.
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The sauce comes together quickly by sautéing onions, peppers, garlic, and chili before adding tomatoes and olives for depth. A creamy tofu mixture, seasoned with nutritional yeast and kala namak (black salt), acts as a substitute for traditional eggs. Spoon the tofu blend into the sauce and let it cook until warm and fragrant. Serve with grilled sourdough bread to dip into the sauce, making for a perfectly balanced, flavorful meal.
This vegan shakshuka is filling, flavorful, and packed with plant protein and fresh herbs. The slivered almonds on top add a crunch, while parsley adds brightness to the dish. It’s perfect for brunch or breakfast and is sure to impress with its vibrant flavors and comforting warmth.
Read more: 20 High Protein Breakfast Ideas
Vegan shakshuka
Ingredients
For the sauce
- 1 tsp olive oil
- 1 onion diced
- 1 small red bell pepper seeded and diced
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 1 small red chili seeded and diced
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp sweet paprika
- Pinch each of salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 1 14-oz [400-g] can diced tomatoes
- 6 kalamata olives pitted and chopped
- ¼ cup (15 g) fresh parsley chopped, divided
- 1 cup (170 g) cooked butter beans
- ¼ cup (60 ml) vegetable stock (low-sodium preferred)
For the tofu “eggs”
- 5 oz (140 g) extra-firm tofu
- 2 tbsp (15 g) nutritional yeast
- ½ tsp kala namak black salt
- ⅓ cup (80 ml) soy milk
- 1 tsp onion powder
- ¼ tsp ground turmeric
- 2 tbsp (15 g) slivered almonds toasted
Instructions
Prepare the sauce
- In a large skillet over medium heat, heat the olive oil, then add the onion and red bell pepper. Cook for 5 minutes.
- Stir in the garlic, chili, cumin, paprika, salt and black pepper. Continue to cook for an additional 2 minutes.
- Incorporate the diced tomatoes, olives, half of the parsley and then the butter beans into the mixture. Cover and cook for 10 minutes.
Prepare the tofu “eggs”
- In a blender, combine the tofu, nutritional yeast, kala namak, soy milk, onion powder and turmeric. Blend until smooth.
- Add the vegetable stock to the sauce and stir well. Using a spoon, create four shallow indentations in the sauce. Fill each of these with the blended tofu “egg” mixture and cook, covered, for a further 10 minutes.
- Adjust the salt to taste and top with the slivered almonds and the rest of the parsley.
Reprinted with permission from The Ultimate Plant-Based Cookbook by Sarah Cobacho. Page Street Publishing Co. 2024. Photo creds: Cameron Crawley.
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