Turkish Eggs (Çılbır) with Garlic Yogurt and Chili Butter

Turkish eggs are one of those dishes that sound unusual until you taste them, and then you wonder why you haven’t been eating them all along. Called çılbır in Turkey, it’s soft poached eggs set on a thick layer of garlicky yogurt, with butter melted with red pepper poured over the top. The yogurt is cool and tangy, the yolks are warm and runny, and the spiced butter ties it all together. Add a hunk of bread for dragging through everything and you have a 12-minute meal that feels a lot more special than the effort involved.

It’s traditionally a breakfast dish, but with a salad on the side it makes a lovely light supper, especially on nights when you want something warm without turning on the oven.

Three components, all at once

There are only three parts to çılbır, and they all come together in the same few minutes: garlic yogurt, poached eggs and chili butter. Get the poaching water heating first, mix the yogurt while you wait, and melt the butter while the eggs cook. Have your plates, a slotted spoon and a paper towel ready before the first egg goes in. Nothing here is hard, but timing matters, because the whole point is hot eggs on cool yogurt.

Ingredient notes

Greek yogurt. Use full-fat plain Greek yogurt (or Turkish süzme yogurt, which is similarly thick). Low-fat yogurt tastes thin and sharp here. If you only have regular plain yogurt, strain it in a coffee filter while you prep to thicken it.

Garlic. One small clove is plenty. Grate it on a microplane so it disappears into the yogurt; chopped raw garlic is too harsh.

Eggs. Fresh eggs make neater poached eggs. Check the pack date and use the newest carton you have.

Aleppo pepper. A coarse, deep red chili flake from Syria and southern Turkey, mild with a fruity, almost sun-dried tomato flavor. Turkish pul biber is essentially the same thing. Many grocery stores now stock it in the spice aisle, and paprika plus red pepper flakes is a fine stand-in.

Butter. Unsalted, so you can control the seasoning. Melting it until lightly golden adds a nutty note.

Dill. Fresh dill is traditional and its grassy flavor works beautifully with yogurt. Mint or parsley are good alternatives.

Method

Heat the water. Fill a wide pan with about 3 inches of water, add the vinegar and bring it to a bare simmer, with small bubbles rising from the bottom but no rolling boil. The vinegar helps the whites set quickly.

Make the garlic yogurt. Stir the grated garlic, salt and lemon juice into the yogurt and spread it over two shallow bowls or plates, making a swoosh with the back of a spoon to create a well for the eggs.

Poach the eggs. Crack each egg into a fine-mesh sieve set over a bowl and let the thin, watery part of the white drip away for a few seconds, then tip it into a small cup. Give the water a gentle stir and slide the eggs in one at a time, close to the surface. Cook them for 3 to 3 1/2 minutes, until the whites are opaque and set but the yolks still wobble when you nudge them. Lift them out with a slotted spoon and blot them briefly on a paper towel so no water runs into the yogurt.

Make the chili butter. While the eggs poach, melt the butter over medium-low heat until it foams and turns lightly golden. Take it off the heat before adding the Aleppo pepper; the residual heat is enough to turn it a brilliant red without burning the chili.

Assemble. Set two eggs on each plate of yogurt, spoon the hot butter over the eggs and yogurt, and scatter with dill and flaky salt. Serve straight away.

If poaching makes you nervous

Poaching is the classic way, but it’s not the only one. Fried eggs work very well, especially with crispy edges, as do soft-boiled eggs cooked for 6 1/2 minutes, peeled and halved. If you’re cooking for four, poach the eggs in two batches and keep the first batch in a bowl of warm water while you make the rest, then drain them just before serving.

Variations

• Add sumac: A pinch of sumac over the top adds a lemony tang.
• Herby yogurt: Stir chopped dill and mint right into the yogurt.
• Cumin butter: Add a pinch of ground cumin to the butter with the chili.
• Make it heartier: Serve on a bed of sautéed spinach or with roasted potatoes on the side.

What to serve with Turkish eggs

Warm crusty bread is non-negotiable: sourdough toast, a split simit, pita or a soft Turkish pide all work. Round out the meal with a quick chopped salad of tomato, cucumber, red onion and parsley with olive oil and lemon, a few olives and some feta. For more egg dinners, the quick shakshuka poaches eggs in a spiced tomato and pepper sauce, the spinach feta frittata is ready in 20 minutes, and the quick egg curry simmers boiled eggs in an Indian-style masala. You’ll find more ideas in our egg dinner recipes and Mediterranean dinner recipes.

Storage

Çılbır is meant to be eaten straight away and doesn’t keep well once assembled. You can mix the garlic yogurt up to a day ahead and keep it covered in the fridge (it will get more garlicky as it sits); just take it out early so it isn’t ice-cold when you serve it. Leftover chili butter can be refrigerated for a week and gently remelted to drizzle over rice, roasted vegetables or more eggs.