Eggy Bread – Perfect Brunch Comfort Food

Turkish yumurtalı ekmek – eggy bread. A classic dish! Time for weekend brunch!

We’ve no doubt all had those situations where we’ve not been able to go food shopping for whatever reason and as a result, there aren’t a lot of ingredients in the house to inspire any sort of extravagant brunch.

This usually happens to us when we’ve got friends over to visit and days are spent on the beaches of Fethiye or enjoying all the great things to do in the area.

Regular routine goes out of the window and all of a sudden, the cupboards and fridge look a bit sad for themselves because we’ve neglected them by failing to replenish dwindling stocks.

So now, it’s brunch time, we’re hungry and we’re staring at not very much in the way of food.

What to do?

Fortunately, for us, we’ve usually got a bit of yesterday’s leftover stale bread lurking about the kitchen somewhere and it’s very rare that we don’t have a few eggs in the fridge.

Eggy bread to the rescue!

How To Make Yumurtalı Ekmek (Eggy Bread)

Let’s say right now; this is not the healthiest recipe you’re ever going to come across – but it is going to get you off to a good start for the day and it really does the trick in the satisfaction stakes.

Eggy bread is also common in Turkish cuisine and white bread, rather than brown bread, is the ingredient of choice.

Sometimes, you will see yumurtalı ekmek (eggy bread) served as part of your Turkish village breakfast.

But for the purposes of this post, we’re making this great simple dish as an emergency brunch or afternoon snack which, emergency or not, never fails to please!

Turkish bread is very airy and doesn’t contain preservatives so, even after just a few hours, it can lose that fabulous, freshly baked texture.

Cutting it into slices and making eggy bread is a great way of using up your not-very-fresh bread.

This basic recipe is one of those dishes where Barry takes over in the kitchen.

He’s good at this sort of food. And, well, our kitchen just isn’t big enough for the two of us!

I set the table whilst he mixes beaten egg, chilli flakes and other little additions on a large plate or shallow bowl.

He takes each slice of bread and starts to soak it in the eggy mixture.

Meanwhile, the oil and butter is gently heating on a medium heat in the frying pan and all manner of condiments and accompaniments are added to the table; salt, brown sauce (a favourite amongst us Brits) homemade tomato ketchup (Turkish kahvaltılık sauce) and süzme yoghurt.

Once all the uncooked egg has been absorbed, it’s time to add the soaked bread slices to the heated oil and butter in your hot frying pan.

We know butter is naughty, but we’re all allowed a little naughty food treat every now and then, aren’t we? It just makes for a richer flavour.

The cooking process is short and after just a few minutes (2-3 minutes on each side), your slices of eggy bread are a wonderfully tempting golden brown and your brunch is ready to hit the table.

Now brew yourself some çay (Turkish tea), sit down with your knife and fork, salt and pepper and work your way through your cooked eggy bread slices, marvelling at how simple ingredients can produce such a great lunch.

If you’ve got any süzme yoghurt in the house, a healthy dollop on the side works wonders.

Of course, in other circumstances, eggy bread can also be a perfect breakfast on its own or an accompaniment to a bigger meal.

It’s lovely served with a mixed salad, for example, (shepherd’s salad would be a good choice), but for this simple recipe, we’re keeping life easy. Well, we’re assuming there’s hardly any food in the house, remember.

Savoury Not Sweet

When you get yumurtalı ekmek in Turkey, it is a savoury dish rather than the sweet option of a French toast recipe.

We don’t have a sweet tooth so the savoury type of eggy bread suits us.

Eggy Bread Recipe – Ingredients & Method

Still hungry? Browse all of our Turkish recipes now.

Share this article