Menemen Calories: Turkish Egg Dish Nutrition Facts
Calorie and macro data for menemen from a tested recipe, showing how cheese, oil, and bread sides change the total.
Menemen — Turkish eggs slow-cooked with peppers, tomatoes, and often a little cheese — is naturally lower in calories than most Western-style egg breakfasts because it's vegetable-heavy and doesn't rely on cream or excess cheese. But bread on the side, which is traditional and nearly universal when eating menemen, is where most of the meal's actual calories come from. This guide uses our tested menemen recipe's real nutrition figures.
At a Glance
Per our tested Menemen recipe, one serving (220g, from a recipe serving 4) is 230 calories, with 12g protein, 10g carbohydrate, 16g fat, and 2g fiber. This figure is for the egg-pepper-tomato dish itself, cooked in olive oil, and does not include the bread that's traditionally served alongside for scooping.
💡 Tip: Menemen is almost always eaten with bread for scooping — factor that in separately, since the dish itself is relatively low-carb but the bread typically isn't.
Why the Number Varies
Egg quantity per serving is the first variable — some households use 2 eggs per person, others use 3, and each egg adds roughly 70-80 calories. Oil quantity is the second factor, since menemen is traditionally cooked with a generous amount of olive oil or butter for the pepper-and-tomato base; recipes range from lightly oiled to quite rich. Cheese is the third variable — some versions add crumbled feta or kaşar cheese toward the end of cooking, which can add 50-100 calories depending on the amount, while the most traditional versions skip cheese entirely.
Portion Size: How the Calories Scale
Using our recipe's 230-calorie, 220g serving as the baseline: a light portion (110g, roughly half): approximately 115 calories. A standard serving (220g, the recipe's default, using 2 eggs per portion): 230 calories. Menemen with a slice of crusty bread for scooping (220g dish + 1 slice, ~40g bread): approximately 335-345 calories. A larger 3-egg portion with cheese (roughly 300g with 60g feta added): approximately 400-420 calories.
How Menemen Fits Your Goals
At 12g of protein and only 10g of carbohydrate per serving, the dish itself fits well into a low-carb or keto approach — it's one of the more keto-compatible items in this series, especially if eaten without bread. For a calorie deficit, menemen without bread is a genuinely light, protein-forward breakfast around 230 calories. For diabetic eating, the low carb count and protein content make it a favorable option compared to bread-heavy or cereal-based breakfasts, provided the bread portion on the side is kept modest or skipped.
Calculate Your Exact Portion
Menemen's calorie count shifts with egg count, oil amount, and whether cheese or bread is added. Use our portion calculator to scale this recipe's per-100g nutrition (roughly 105 calories, 5.5g protein, 4.5g carbs, 7g fat, 1g fiber) to your specific egg count and any additions.
A Lighter Version, If You Want One
To lighten menemen, reduce the olive oil used for cooking the peppers and tomatoes by about a third — the vegetables release their own moisture and cook down well even with less oil, especially with a lid on for part of the cooking time. Skipping added cheese and serving with a smaller bread portion (or a low-carb bread) keeps the dish's naturally favorable protein-to-carb ratio intact.
💡 Tip: Cooking the pepper-tomato base with a lid on for the first several minutes reduces how much oil you need, since the vegetables steam rather than fry.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many calories are in menemen?
Our tested recipe puts a standard 220g serving (using 2 eggs) at 230 calories, with 12g of protein and only 10g of carbohydrate. Adding a slice of bread for scooping, which is traditional, brings a typical meal to roughly 335-345 calories.
Is menemen healthy?
Yes — it's protein-forward, vegetable-heavy, and naturally low in carbohydrate compared to most breakfast dishes. Cooked with a moderate amount of olive oil, it's one of the more nutritionally balanced traditional Turkish breakfast items, especially without cheese added.
Is menemen good for a low-carb diet?
Yes — at only 10g of carbohydrate per serving, menemen fits comfortably into a keto or low-carb approach, particularly if eaten without the traditional bread side. It's one of the more keto-compatible dishes in Turkish cuisine for this reason.
How many eggs are in a serving of menemen?
Our tested recipe uses roughly 2 eggs per serving across a recipe that serves 4. A 3-egg portion, common for a hungrier appetite, adds roughly 70-80 calories on top of the standard 230-calorie serving.
A standard serving of menemen, per our tested recipe, is 230 calories with a favorable 12g protein and only 10g carbohydrate — making it one of the more keto- and diabetic-friendly dishes in this series on its own. The traditional side of bread is where most people add meaningful calories, so it's worth accounting for separately if you're tracking intake closely.
Cook this hands-free
Get AI meal plans, step-by-step cooking mode, and your saved recipes in the free Bento app.
Plan your meals, track fasting and build your grocery list — free
MyCookingCalendar's dashboard runs right in your browser, no download needed.