Turkish eggs (çılbır)
20 min · 28 g protein · 298 cals / serving
Soft poached eggs on a bed of cool, garlicky yogurt, with warm butter spiked with chili and paprika poured over the top and a scatter of fresh dill. The Turkish breakfast that took over brunch menus: creamy, tangy, warm and cold in one spoonful.
Ingredients
Garlic yogurt
- 1 1/4 cups nonfat Greek yogurt, thick, at room temperature
- 1 small clove garlic, finely grated
- 1/3 tsp salt
- 4 eggs, very fresh
Chili butter
- 1 tbsp butter
- 1 tsp paprika
- 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes, Aleppo or Urfa pepper if you have it
To serve
- a few sprigs fresh dill, chopped, or mint
Steps
- Stir the yogurt with the garlic and salt until smooth and spread it over two shallow bowls, making a well in the middle.
- Bring a wide pan of water to a bare simmer and add a splash of vinegar if you have it. Crack each egg into a small cup, swirl the water gently and slide the eggs in one or two at a time. Poach 3 minutes for runny yolks (4 minutes for jammy), then lift them out with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towel.
- Melt the butter in a small pan over medium heat until it foams and smells nutty, then take it off the heat and stir in the paprika and pepper flakes. It should sizzle and turn red.
- Set two eggs on each bowl of yogurt, spoon the chili butter over and scatter with dill. Eat at once, while the butter is warm.
Good to know
Which yogurt?
Thick, strained Greek yogurt. Nonfat works well here because the warm chili butter brings the richness; whole-milk yogurt makes it softer and milder, at about 50 instead of 61.
Why room-temperature yogurt?
Straight from the fridge it chills the eggs and sets the butter. Leave it out while the water heats, or warm the bowls of yogurt for 20 seconds in the microwave.
What do I eat it with?
Toasted sourdough or a warm simit for dipping is traditional. For a fully set yolk, poach the eggs for 5–6 minutes.
Per
- Calories
- 114
- Protein
- (39%)
- 11 g
- Fat
- (51%)
- 6 g
- Carbohydrates
- (11%)
- 3 g
- of which sugar
- 2 g
- Fiber
- <1 g
- Sodium
- 236 mg
More breakfast
Computed from the ingredients with our published formula, not yet kitchen-tested. How
As written, 596 kcal goes into the pot and 528 g of ingredients comes out as about 525 g of food: 114 kcal per 100 g. Cooking moves water and energy density is the score's biggest lever, so the dish is scored as cooked, not as an average of its parts. Every ingredient links to its food page, with the same data and score. The label's percentages are each macronutrient's share of the calories. The full formula.