Ezme Recipe: Hot Ezme Salad (Authentic Turkish Style)
Hot ezme is a finely chopped Turkish meze of tomatoes, onion, green chilies, and herbs, mixed with red pepper flakes, sumac, lemon, and olive oil.
Originally published May 3, 2013, updated September 12, 2021
Ezme is a finely chopped Turkish meze of tomatoes, onion, and green chilies, seasoned with red pepper flakes, sumac, lemon juice, and olive oil. You chop everything very fine, strain off the juices so it stays thick, then mix in the spices and dressing.
Ezme is one of the most popular Turkish mezze and is found at almost all Turkish meals. It is a spicy and fresh accompaniment. Actually, this ezme recipe is very spicy, so you could opt to tone it down a little depending on your taste – just cut down on the chilies or the red pepper flakes. It seems a lot of work for such a small side dish, but I guarantee you will enjoy this little beauty! For more dishes in the same family, see our guide to Turkish mezes and the full set of Turkish recipes.
Ezme recipe
Ingredients:
- 3 medium tomatoes
- 1 medium onion
- 2 large green peppers/chillies (depending how hot you like it)
- 1 handful of fresh mint
- 2 handfuls of fresh flat leaf parsley
- 1 tbsp of red pepper flakes (again, amount can vary depending on how hot you want to make it)
- 1 tsp of sumac
- Olive oil
- Juice from half a lemon
- Salt
Method:
- Peel the tomatoes and remove the seeds. Dice very finely using a sharp knife.
- Peel and chop the onion very finely.
- Split the peppers/chillis lengthways, remove the seeds and chop finely.
- If needed, re-chop all ingredients again. This dish should be chopped very, very finely.
- Strain all the juices away and place the tomatoes, onion, and chillies together in a bowl.
- Add the spices and mix through.
- Finally, add the lemon juice and olive oil. Mix through and serve with a little extra parsley on top.
Ezme can be served by itself as a cold appetizer or a meze. It also works extremely well as an accompaniment to grilled meat (especially lamb) or fish. The spicier versions should be served with fresh white bread. Ayran, the traditional Anatolian yogurt drink is a wonderfully refreshing accompaniment, as is a light white wine.
Want to taste the real thing in the city it comes from? Our Taste of Two Continents tour runs you from a Spice Market breakfast across the Bosphorus by ferry to Kadıköy, in groups of no more than 10. We have been running food tours in Istanbul since 2013, with 50,000+ guests and a 4.95/5 rating from over 7,800 reviews.
