Why we’re making Baghdad eggs for breakfast

When life hands you lemons, you make Baghdad eggs. Made with just a handful of ingredients, Baghdad eggs are simple but outrageously tasty.

baghdad-eggs

Long gone are the days when one has to settle for a plain fried egg for breakfast. Why? Our Food Director Amira has dug up a recipe bound to spice up your current eggs – they’re called Baghdad eggs.  

As the name suggests, this Middle Eastern recipe comes from the Iraqi city of Baghdad. This recipe is hundreds of years old and at taste.com.au it’s having its moment. 

What are Baghdad eggs (and do they really work)?

Amira enlightens us: “I first came across Baghdad eggs as I was perusing Neale Whitaker’s book The Accidental Foodie almost 20 years ago… I was intrigued by the combination of eggs with lemon and thought: ‘Could this mix really work?’”

The recipe also appealed to her because it was so simple. “No mixing required!” she says.

How to make Baghdad eggs

Amira says: “The recipe involves cooking garlic in butter and then topping it with cracked eggs, lemon juice and a sprinkling of cumin and fresh mint. All the flavours (which I’d never tried together before this dish) worked so well together. The lemon cuts through the creaminess of the eggs and the spices really take the dish to the next level.” 

What spices to use when making Baghdad eggs

After Amira introduced me to this style of fried eggs, I came across so many different ways cooks experiment with spices to make Baghdad eggs: cumin, coriander seeds, paprika, fennel seeds, harissa, turmeric and many more. 

Like a lot of us, avo smash is the reigning breakfast dish in my house, so I’ve always got this mixed spice blend at the ready – it’s now my holy grail for whipping up Baghdad eggs – just pepper it in with the butter and lemon and you’ll get so much flavour and fragrance. 

Amira says she has also tried many variations of this dish… “with crumbled fetta, a dollop of pesto, a drizzle of chilli oil, but always, always with a good splash of lemon juice. 

“I never have my fried eggs without it now,” she says. 

Egg trends that have gone viral

@taste.com.au

We are obsessed with the viral feta fried eggs! 🍳 Click the link in our bio for the recipe or Google “taste Tuscan feta fried eggs”. #feta #fetaeggs #eggs #breakfast #easyrecipe #foodie #brunch

♬ Do It Better – Beachcrimes & Tia Tia

Speaking of pesto and fetta, remember our Tuscan-style fried eggs? This combo of sun-dried feta and spinach is a no-brainer for Italian-loving foodies. It’s also packed with protein and is a good choice when you want to impress your friends with brunch. 

Then, in 2021 we had the genius idea to pair pesto eggs with cheese toast! Yes, we’re still mourning the loss of Sizzler (who isn’t), so we put the pesto egg trend to the test and twisted it with our version of Sizzler’s iconic cheese toast. Life. Changing. 

The best breakfast sides for Baghdad eggs

To complete your Baghdad eggs, we recommend fresh mint, Greek yoghurt and some form of bread for dipping. And when in doubt, squeeze some more lemon.  

50 of our ultimate egg recipes 

Originally published as Why we’re making Baghdad eggs for breakfast