West AfricanEasy · Hot
West African Tomato and Egg Skillet
A vibrant one-pan breakfast skillet packed with rich tomato sauce, caramelized peppers, and soft-set eggs. This is the kind of dish that fills your kitchen with warmth and reminds you why jollof-adjacent cooking is the heartbeat of West African home kitchens.
Prep
10 min
Cook
25 min
Rest
2 min
Total
37 min
Method
Building the Tomato Base
1
Heat sunflower oil in a large skillet over medium heat until shimmering.
2
Add diced onion and bell pepper. Sauté for 5-6 minutes until softened and lightly golden.
3
Add minced garlic and cook for 1 minute until fragrant.
4
Stir in cayenne pepper and paprika, toasting the spices for 30 seconds.
5
Add diced fresh tomatoes and cook for 3-4 minutes, breaking them down with your wooden spoon until they release their juices.
6
Pour in the tomato sauce, add salt, and stir to combine. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer uncovered for 10 minutes until sauce thickens and deepens in color.
Adding the Eggs
7
Make 6 small wells in the tomato sauce using the back of your spoon.
8
Crack one egg into each well, keeping the yolks intact.
9
Cover the skillet with a lid and cook for 5-7 minutes over medium-low heat. Watch closely until the whites are set but the yolks remain runny and glossy.
10
Remove from heat and let rest, covered, for 2 minutes to finish cooking the whites gently.
Serving
11
Scatter fresh parsley generously over the top for color and brightness.
12
Serve straight from the skillet with crusty bread or fluffy white rice for soaking up that gorgeous tomato sauce.
B
Nutri-Score
Good balance
A–E · lower is better · score 1
Calories
277
per serving
Source of protein · 13gLow sugar · 9g
Protein
13g
Carbs
16g
Fat
19g
Sat. fat
4g
Fiber
4g
Sugar
9g
Sodium
900mg
Gluten FreeWhole30Low CarbDairy FreeHeart HealthyAnti InflammatoryDiabetes FriendlyHigh ProteinHigh FiberLow Glycemic
Nutri-Score is a general nutritional-balance guide, not medical or dietary advice.
B
Environmental impact
Low impact
A–E · lower is better · includes estimates
kg CO2e
0.8
per serving
BCarbonAEU all-round· carbon sets the grade
Water
0.4m³
Land
25Pt
Runoff
0.09g P
Eggs drives 46% of this recipe’s estimated footprint.
Carbon from Poore & Nemecek 2018; water, land & runoff from Agribalyse — modelled averages for comparing recipes, not a measurement of your groceries.
Flavor Profile
6
Umami
4
Sweet
5
Salty
3
Sour
1
Bitter
6
Spicy
Textures
TenderSilkySaucy
Aromas
SmokyHerbalSavorySpicy
Kitchen Equipment
Primary Tool
Frying PanCounter FootprintMedium
Safety & Storage
High Risk Population
Soft-set eggs with runny yolks are not recommended for pregnant women, young children, elderly, or immunocompromised individuals due to Salmonella risk. Consider cooking yolks fully if serving to these groups.
Cooking Temperature
Cook eggs covered over medium-low heat until whites are fully set. The residual heat during the 2-minute rest period continues cooking. Ensure no raw egg white remains before serving.
Storage
Refrigerate leftover dish within 2 hours. Consume within 3-4 days when refrigerated. Reheat thoroughly until internal temperature reaches 165°F throughout.
Cross Contamination
Use separate utensils for cracking raw eggs if serving some with runny yolks and others fully cooked. Never reuse the egg-cracking surface for other ingredients without sanitizing.
Handling
Crack eggs individually into a small bowl before adding to wells to ensure yolk integrity and catch any shell fragments. Discard any eggs with cracked yolks before adding to dish.
Pro Tips
Technique
When you crack your eggs into the wells, do it gently and keep the yolks centered — you want that gorgeous runny center when you pierce through, not a broken mess pooling into the sauce.
Flavor Boost
My grandmother would have added a tablespoon of tomato paste along with the tomato sauce to deepen the color and richness — it is an extra step that separates the good versions from the legendary ones.
Substitution
No fresh tomatoes on hand? Double the tomato sauce to 2 cups and skip the dicing — you will still get that beautiful jollof-adjacent flavor without compromising the dish.
Presentation
Serve this straight from the cast iron skillet to the table. In West African cooking, we eat with our eyes first, and that deep red sauce with golden yolks peeking through is a visual feast worth showing off.
From the chef
This is the skillet that makes getting out of bed worth it. A rich tomato base of fresh tomatoes, tomato sauce, and caramelized bell peppers gets bloomed with cayenne and paprika until the whole thing is smoky, spicy, and deeply colored. Six eggs nest into wells in that sauce and cook covered over low heat — whites set, yolks still glossy and runny. The trick is patience at the end: pull the lid, let it rest two minutes, and the residual heat finishes the whites without turning the yolks chalky. Fresh parsley over the top and serve straight from the skillet with crusty bread or rice. Simple, generous, impossible to eat quietly.
TagsTomato RichSpicyEggsOne PotWest African
AllergensEggs
Source: generated · June 10, 2026