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Breakfast

Savory Greek Yogurt Bowl with Blistered Tomatoes, Olive Oil, and Dukkah

Thick lemony Greek yogurt under hot blistered cherry tomatoes and their garlicky oil, finished with crunchy hazelnut dukkah, cucumber, and mint.

Why you'll love Savory Greek Yogurt Bowl with Blistered Tomatoes, Olive Oil, and Dukkah

Across the eastern Mediterranean, yogurt is a savory food, eaten at breakfast with olive oil, tomatoes, cucumbers, and herbs. This bowl builds on that habit. Thick whole-milk Greek yogurt seasoned with lemon is spooned into a wide bowl, and cherry tomatoes go straight from a hot skillet into the middle of it, still spitting, with the garlicky olive oil they cooked in.

Blistering is the technique. Cherry tomatoes in a very hot pan char in spots and split before they have time to collapse, so each one bursts in your mouth with a jammy, concentrated center. The juices that run out mix with the olive oil in the pan and become the dressing, which seeps into the cool yogurt around it.

The hazelnut dukkah on top is what makes it breakfast you want again tomorrow. Toasted hazelnuts, sesame, coriander, and cumin, crushed coarse, bring crunch and warmth against the soft yogurt and tomatoes, and a real fat that keeps the bowl satisfying all morning.

Quick overview: This Savory Greek Yogurt Bowl with Blistered Tomatoes, Olive Oil, and Dukkah takes 15 min of hands-on time and about 30 min in all and makes 4 servings, each about 1 cup yogurt with tomatoes and dukkah. You'll need a skillet and a mortar and pestle.

Jump to recipe

Greek yogurt bowl with blistered tomatoes, cucumber and hazelnut dukkah
Prep 15 minCook 15 minTotal 30 minServes 4Serving about 1 cup yogurt with tomatoes and dukkahYou'll need Skillet, Mortar and pestle

Ingredients

  • one 32-oz tub (about 3 3/4 cups) plain whole-milk Greek yogurt
  • 1 tsp finely grated lemon zest
  • 1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
  • 3/4 tsp fine sea salt, divided
  • 1/4 cup hazelnuts
  • 1 tbsp sesame seeds
  • 2 tsp coriander seeds
  • 1 tsp cumin seeds
  • 1/4 tsp black peppercorns
  • 1/4 cup olive oil, divided
  • 2 pints cherry tomatoes (about 4 cups)
  • 2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
  • 1 small English cucumber, diced
  • 1 tsp ground sumac Label: sumac, and salt if any
  • 1/4 cup fresh mint leaves, torn
  • 2 tbsp chopped parsley
  • Make it from scratch: Hazelnut Dukkah

Instructions

  1. Toast the hazelnuts: Toast the hazelnuts in a dry skillet over medium heat, shaking the pan often, for 6 to 8 minutes, until the skins crack and the nuts smell toasty. Tip them into a clean kitchen towel and rub them together to loosen most of the papery skins, which taste bitter in quantity.
  2. Toast the seeds: In the same skillet, toast the sesame, coriander, and cumin seeds with the peppercorns for 1 to 2 minutes, until the sesame turns golden and the cumin smells warm. Tip them onto a plate right away, since small seeds scorch in the time it takes to turn around.
  3. Crush the dukkah: Let the nuts and seeds cool for a few minutes, then crush them with 1/4 teaspoon of the salt in a mortar and pestle until coarse and crumbly, with pieces of nut still visible. Cool nuts break into crisp pieces, while warm ones release their oil and clump into paste.
  4. Season the yogurt: Stir the yogurt with the lemon zest, lemon juice, and 1/4 teaspoon of the salt until smooth, stirring gently so it stays thick. Spread it into four wide, shallow bowls and swoop the back of a spoon through the middle of each to make a well. It sits out while the tomatoes cook, so it is cool rather than cold when the hot tomatoes land.
  5. Blister the tomatoes: Wipe out the skillet and heat 2 tablespoons of the olive oil over medium-high heat until it shimmers. Add the tomatoes in a single layer and leave them alone for 2 to 3 minutes, until the skins blacken in spots and start to split, then shake the pan and cook 2 to 3 minutes more, until about half have burst. High heat chars the skins fast, before the tomatoes cook down into sauce.
  6. Add the garlic: Lower the heat to medium, add the garlic and the remaining 1/4 teaspoon of salt, and stir for 30 to 60 seconds, until the garlic is fragrant and pale gold. It goes in last because sliced garlic scorches long before a tomato blisters. Take the pan off the heat and press a few tomatoes with the spoon so their juices run into the oil.
  7. Build the bowls: Spoon the hot tomatoes and every bit of their pan oil into the yogurt wells. Add the cucumber to one side, drizzle the remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil over the top, and scatter on the dukkah, sumac, mint, and parsley. Serve right away, while the tomatoes are warm and the dukkah is crisp.

Storage and leftovers

This bowl is best put together just before eating, and every part can be made ahead. The seasoned yogurt keeps in the refrigerator until the date on the tub. The blistered tomatoes, with their garlic and oil, keep in a sealed container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. The dukkah keeps in a sealed jar at room temperature for up to 2 weeks.

Rewarm the tomatoes in a skillet over medium heat for 2 to 3 minutes, or eat them at room temperature over the yogurt, and add the dukkah at the last moment so it stays crunchy. Yogurt turns grainy once frozen and thawed, so keep this one in the refrigerator.

Variations

  • Pistachio dukkah: Use shelled pistachios in place of the hazelnuts, toasting them for only 3 to 4 minutes.
  • With a jammy egg: Set a halved 7-minute egg on each bowl for a breakfast that carries you a little longer.
  • Za'atar finish: Skip the dukkah and dust the bowls with za'atar and a few toasted sesame seeds.
  • Summer raw: In high summer, halve the ripest tomatoes and spoon them over the yogurt raw with salt, olive oil, and torn basil.

Notes and tips

  • Use your Hazelnut Dukkah: If you keep a jar of Hazelnut Dukkah from the Pantry Staples, scatter about 1/3 cup over the four bowls and skip the first three steps.
  • Dry the tomatoes: Wet tomatoes steam and spit in hot oil. Rinse them ahead of time and roll them on a towel until dry.
  • Leave them alone: Shaking the pan too soon keeps the skins from charring. Give them the first 2 minutes untouched.
  • Check the yogurt label: Look for plain whole-milk Greek yogurt with a label of milk and live cultures, which stays thick under the warm tomatoes.
  • Mix the colors: Red, yellow, and orange cherry tomatoes blister the same way and make the bowl look like a market table.

Nutrition and mindful eating

  • Whole-milk Greek yogurt is the protein in this bowl. Straining concentrates it, so a cupful carries real staying power, and its live cultures make it a fermented food at breakfast.
  • Tomatoes cooked in olive oil give up more of their lycopene, the red pigment, because it dissolves in fat and heat loosens it from the tomato's cell walls.
  • Hazelnuts and sesame bring monounsaturated fat, vitamin E, and crunch, and the fat slows how fast the meal leaves your stomach, which keeps your energy even through the morning.
  • Cucumber, mint, and parsley add water, fiber, and freshness, so the bowl feels light while it holds you.
  • As you eat, notice the cool tang of the yogurt against the hot, bursting tomatoes and the crunch of the dukkah, and check in around lunchtime: a bowl built on protein and fat like this one should carry you at least 3 to 4 hours with steady energy and no pull toward something sweet midmorning.

Frequently asked questions

Have a question about this Savory Greek Yogurt Bowl with Blistered Tomatoes, Olive Oil, and Dukkah? Start here, with the questions people ask most.

Can I use regular plain yogurt?

Yes, if you strain it first. Line a sieve with a coffee filter or cheesecloth, set it over a bowl, add plain whole-milk yogurt, and refrigerate it for 1 to 2 hours, until it is as thick as Greek yogurt. Thin yogurt runs under the hot tomatoes and turns watery.

Can I eat this warm and cold at once?

That contrast is the point. The yogurt sits out for the 10 minutes the tomatoes take, so it loses its refrigerator chill and the hot tomatoes warm the center of the bowl.

What if I can't find hazelnuts?

Use almonds, pistachios, or a mix of pumpkin and sunflower seeds in the dukkah. Seeds need only 3 to 4 minutes in the skillet, until they puff and color.

Can I make it ahead for a work morning?

Yes. Make the dukkah and blister the tomatoes the night before. In the morning, spoon yogurt into a bowl, warm the tomatoes for a couple of minutes, and finish with the dukkah and herbs.

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Tags: Breakfast, Eastern Mediterranean, 30 Minutes or Less