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Jack's Wife Freda Green Shakshuka (NYC's Famous Tomatillo Egg Dish, Made at Home)

Jack's Wife Freda Green Shakshuka (NYC's Famous Tomatillo Egg Dish, Made at Home)
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Prep 10 min Cook 35 min Serves 4
Quick answer: Roast a quartered medium onion and 3 garlic cloves with olive oil at 300°F for 30 minutes until completely soft. Blend with 3/4 lb halved tomatillos (husks removed), 1/2 seeded green bell pepper, 1 seeded jalapeño, 1/4 cup cilantro, 1/2 tsp cumin, 1/2 tsp coriander, 1/2 tsp salt, and 1 to 2 tablespoons of green hot sauce until smooth. Warm the sauce in a saucepan 2 to 3 minutes over medium. Meanwhile, heat 1 teaspoon of olive oil in a cast iron skillet over low heat. Crack 8 eggs into the pan (2 per person), cover, and cook until the whites are just set and the yolks are still fully runny, about 3 to 4 minutes. Slide the eggs onto plates, then spoon the warm green sauce generously over them. Garnish with fresh parsley. The key difference from classic shakshuka: the eggs cook separately and the sauce is spooned on at the end — the yolks stay runny and the vivid green sauce never browns or muddles.

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Jack's Wife Freda Green Shakshuka (NYC's Famous Tomatillo Egg Dish, Made at Home)

Jack's Wife Freda's green shakshuka swaps tomatoes for tomatillos, blended with roasted onion, jalapeño, and cilantro into a tangy green sauce. Eggs fry separately, sunny-side up, then the sauce is spooned over — $19 at the restaurant, about $4 per person at home.

Easy Prep: 10 min Cook: 35 min Total: 45 min4 servings ~$4.50/serving
Prep10 min
Cook35 min
Total45 min
Servings
4
At home~$4.50/serving
vs
Restaurant~$20.25/serving
You save ~78%

The Story Behind the Recipe

Jack's Wife Freda is the Greenwich Village neighborhood restaurant that made green tomatillo shakshuka famous in New York City. Marc Ghazal and his wife Julia opened the first location at 50 Carmine Street in 2012, naming it after Marc's South African grandfather Jack and his wife Freda. Marc grew up between South Africa and Israel; Julia between South Africa and America. The menu they built reflects that exactly — Israeli-style shakshuka, South African bobotie, French croque madames, and American pancakes all sit together without tension. Weekend brunch waits regularly hit 90 minutes. No reservations are taken. A second location on Lafayette Street opened as the first became a fixture on every "best NYC brunch" list.

The green shakshuka is the dish that defined them. Marc and Julia replaced the traditional tomato base with tomatillos — the tart, papery-husked Mexican fruit — and blended them with roasted onion, jalapeño, green bell pepper, and cilantro. One order at the restaurant runs about $19. Made at home with a pound of tomatillos and a carton of eggs, it costs roughly $4 per person. The technique that makes the difference: roast the onion and garlic at a low 300°F before blending. A raw blended version tastes vegetal and flat. The roasted version has sweetness and depth that makes the sauce taste like it took far more effort than it did.

Nutrition Facts

Per serving (4 servings)
Calories230
Total Fat14g
Total Carbs12g
Dietary Fiber3g
Sugars7g
Protein15g
Sodium450mg

* Estimated values based on standard recipe preparation. Actual values may vary.

Ingredients

  • For the roasted base
  • For the green shakshuka sauce
  • For the eggs
  • To serve

Instructions

💡
Pro tip: This recipe tastes even better the next day. The flavors need time to meld together in the fridge.
❄️
Storage: Keeps in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 2 weeks. Freezer-friendly for up to 3 months.
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Jack’s Wife Freda’s green shakshuka is the dish that built the restaurant’s reputation — and it’s made in 35 minutes at home for about $4 per person, versus $19 at the West Village original.

The difference from every other shakshuka you’ve had — including the classic red-tomato version — is that tomatillos replace the tomatoes, the eggs fry sunny-side up separately rather than poaching in the sauce, and the green sauce is spooned over at the very end. The yolks stay completely liquid. The sauce stays vivid.

The one step that matters most: roast the onion and garlic at low heat before blending. A raw blended tomatillo sauce is sharp and vegetal. The 30-minute oven step rounds it out.

🥗

Make It Healthier

Love Jack's Wife Freda Green Shakshuka (NYC's Famous Tomatillo Egg Dish, Made at Home) but want a lighter version? Try these simple swaps:

  • ✓Use 1 egg per person instead of 2 to cut calories and fat by roughly half while keeping the full sauce portion. The dish still works as a light brunch.
  • ✓Skip the challah or swap for a thin rice cake — the green sauce and eggs are nutritionally complete on their own.
  • ✓Add half a can of drained white beans (cannellini or white kidney) to the sauce while warming it — boosts protein and fiber without changing the flavor.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why does Jack's Wife Freda use tomatillos instead of tomatoes?

Tomatillos bring a bright, citrusy tartness that tomatoes don't have — there's almost a lime-like quality to them that cuts through the richness of the egg yolks. Marc and Julia Ghazal built the green shakshuka to reflect a culinary crossroads: Israeli shakshuka tradition meeting the tomatillo, which is a staple of Mexican green salsas. The result is a sauce that tastes simultaneously familiar and completely different from the red version. Tomatillos also hold their color once cooked, which gives the dish its distinctive vivid green presentation.

How is this different from regular shakshuka?

Two fundamental differences. First, the sauce: this version uses tomatillos, green bell pepper, and jalapeño instead of the red tomato and red pepper base of classic shakshuka. Second, the eggs cook separately rather than being poached directly in the sauce. Jack's Wife Freda fries the eggs sunny-side up in a cast iron pan, then spoons the warm sauce over them at the end. This keeps the egg yolk completely runny (poaching in sauce often over-sets it) and preserves the vivid green color of the sauce, which would go dull and brownish if you simmered eggs in it for several minutes.

Where did the name Jack's Wife Freda come from?

The restaurant is named after the grandparents of co-owner Marc Ghazal — his grandfather Jack and Jack's wife Freda. Marc, who is South African-born with Israeli roots, wanted a name that felt personal and warm rather than chef-driven or concept-led. 'Jack's Wife Freda' sounds like the kind of place where the food is home-cooked and everyone is welcome — which is exactly what it became. The restaurant opened in Greenwich Village in 2012 and became one of New York's most beloved brunch spots within its first year.

How spicy is the green shakshuka?

With one jalapeño and seeds removed, the sauce has a noticeable but mild heat — think a 3 out of 10. The jalapeño flavor is present but it won't sting. For more heat, leave the jalapeño seeds in or add a second jalapeño before blending. The green hot sauce added at the end (Cholula Green Pepper, Tabasco Green Jalapeño, or Valentina Verde) is the easiest lever: start with 1 tablespoon and taste before adding more. At the restaurant, the sauce runs mild-medium by default so that the dish works as a brunch item for all heat tolerances.

Can I make the green sauce ahead of time?

Yes — the tomatillo sauce keeps refrigerated for up to 3 days in an airtight container, and it actually improves slightly after a night in the fridge as the flavors settle. Reheat gently in a saucepan over medium heat, stirring, until just warmed through — do not boil or it will lose its brightness. This makes the dish genuinely fast on a weekday morning: the sauce is already done, you just fry the eggs and spoon it on.

What bread should I serve with the green shakshuka?

Jack's Wife Freda serves it with toasted challah, which is the traditional pairing — the slightly sweet, eggy bread cuts the tartness of the tomatillo sauce well. Thick-sliced brioche is the closest substitute if challah is unavailable. A sturdy thick-cut sourdough also works well and adds a mild tang that complements the sauce. What doesn't work: thin sliced sandwich bread, which gets soggy immediately, or crackers, which shatter. You want something that can scoop.

Why cook the eggs separately instead of poaching them in the sauce?

Two reasons. First, control: frying sunny-side up in a covered cast iron lets you set the whites completely without overcooking the yolks — the steam from the lid finishes the whites while the yolk stays liquid. Poaching eggs in sauce is faster but riskier; the sauce temperature is harder to control, and a few extra seconds pushes the yolk from runny to soft-set. Second, presentation: when you spoon the vivid green sauce over the eggs at the end rather than simmering the eggs in it, the sauce stays bright and the yolk remains a clean yellow against it. It looks striking. Simmered eggs in green sauce tend to go murky.

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