Packed with flavor and super easy to put together, Acili Ezme is a Turkish salsa that you'd commonly find served as a side to Kebabs or with some Turkish Pide.
This salsa is put together using fresh ingredients and seasoned with spices and lemon juice. If you've been to Turkey, you're most likely to come across it at a Turkish restaurant or even just a street vendor selling authentic Turkish food.
If you love Pico de Gallo or even the traditional tomato salsa for that matter, you've got to give this easy recipe a shot.
I've recently been experimenting with food from different regions of the world, and the simple yet unique flavors of Turkish food always had my heart.
In fact, I tried making some easy Sumac onions sometime back, and they were a total hit in my household, so I knew I had to give this spicy Ezme recipe a try too.
All you'll need is some fresh vegetables, a food processor and a few minutes of your kitchen time to put this Turkish dip together.
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What's So Great About the Recipe?
Acılı Ezme has quickly become a favorite in my household. We love our salsas, and entertain a lot too, which means we need to make salsas quite frequently.
I love experimenting and playing around with different ingredients, and that's exactly why I have this spicy dip recipe a try.
The recipe is incredibly simple- it barely takes 10 minutes to put together, which is great for me.
Plus, I can serve it in tons of different ways thanks to how versatile it is!
I also love the fact that this spicy Turkish Ezme can be prepped up to a week in advance and stored for later too!
Ingredients
Tomatoes: I used ripe, firm and juicy tomatoes for this recipe. You can choose to blanch and peel them too if you want to.
Garlic: Garlic lends that incredibly savory and pungent flavor to this Turkish salad. This one's an absolute must.
Bell pepper: I used a mix of green and red bell peppers. You can stick to using just what you have at hand.
Onion: You can use any kind of onion that you can find- yellow onion, red onion or even shallots. They just tie all the flavors wonderfully and complement the taste of tomatoes.
Cilantro: The bright green from the chopped cilantro is an absolute must in most salsas, and so it is for this Ezme recipe too.
Mint: Chopped mint leaves just add that extra touch of freshness to this recipe. If you don't have fresh mint, you can also settle for dried mint.
Tomato paste: I also like to add a little bit of tomato paste to add some extra flavor and color to the salsa.
Sumac: Sumac seasoning helps add to the flavor. If you don't have it, you can add a bit of pomegranate molasses.
Black pepper: Freshly crushed black pepper brings that earthy heat to the salad.
Red pepper flakes: Traditionally, Acılı Ezme uses Pul Biber for the heat. These are nothing but Aleppo peppers that are dried, de-seeded and coarsely ground. You can settle for regular chili flakes too.
Lemon juice: Lemon juice helps bring some tanginess and an extra punch of flavor to the spicy Turkish tomato salad.
Olive oil: I used extra virgin olive oil to bring that extra punch of healthy fats to the Ezme.
See recipe card for quantities.
How to Make the Acili Ezme
Start by finely chopping the tomatoes, bell peppers, cilantro, mint and onions using a sharp knife.
In a small bowl, combine tomato paste, olive oil, red pepper flakes, black pepper, minced garlic, salt, sumac and lemon juice.
Whisk everything together until you get a uniform mixture.
Add all the chopped veggies and herbs to a large bowl.
Add the seasoning paste to the chopped veggies.
Mix well to combine and top with some more olive oil.
Substitutions & Variations
- If you don't have the cilantro that the recipe calls for, you could just use parsley, ideally flat leaf parsley to bring in that freshness.
- To make this Turkish Ezme salad extra spicy, you can also finely chop some chilli peppers of your choice and add them into the mix.
- If you don't have fresh bell peppers needed for this recipe, you can just use a bit of Biber Salçası, which is a red pepper paste instead.
💭Top Tip
Remember that the mixture should come to a rolling boil- it should keep boiling even when you're stirring it. This will ensure that the peppers cook well, and the jelly reaches the right consistency.
Equipment
How to Store the Leftover Acili Ezme
Just like most salsa recipes, it is best to finish up and serve this Acili Ezme within 2-3 days of preparing it.
If you do have any leftovers, you can move them to a food safe container, ideally one that's airtight, and then refrigerate them.
This of course, doesn't do too well when frozen, just like Pico de Gallo.
That said, if you still really want to extend its shelf life, here are a few tips that helped me with my batch of Pico de Gallo, and they might just work for this Turkish salsa too.
Tips & Tricks to Nail the Recipe
- In addition to the ingredients, you can also try and add in your choice of other ingredients and bring in a bit of difference to the Turkish style Ezme.
- Chopped green peppers and cucumbers are great, because they have versatile and simple flavors that work well along with the other ingredients.
- Remember to de-seed the tomatoes before you use them for the recipe. This will help keep the Ezme from getting watery, and you'll have the perfect texture you're looking for.
- The key to getting the perfect balance of flavors and textures is to keep tasting and adjusting. Based on your personal preference, you can add more or less of the spices and seasonings of your choice.
How to Serve the Acili Ezme
Call it a salsa or a salad- you'll mostly find Acılı Ezme commonly served at a Turkish restaurant along with some warm, fresh bread to mop up all the delicious juiciness- much like breadsticks and marinara sauce or garlic bread with a nice bowl of pasta.
But there's actually so many other ways you can serve this spicy Turkish salad.
As a Dip
The easiest way to serve Acili Ezme is to pour it into a large bowl and team it up with your nachos, tortilla chips or any other chips or your choice.
This Turkish salsa can be a great teammate to your tacos, enchiladas and tortillas too!
With Kebabs
You'll find most Turkish Kebab restaurants serving this spicy tomato dish as an appetizer, alongside grilled meats and kebabs. The fresh taste and flavor of Ezme complement the smokiness of the meat perfectly.
As a Side Salad
You can also choose to serve Ezme as a salad or Meze. Since it is essentially made of mildly seasoned chopped vegetables, it can be a great way to get more more veggies on your plate, if you're not that traditional salad kind of a person.
With BBQ Foods
This staple of Turkish cuisine can also be a great dish to serve along with your grilled meats and other summer BBQ favorites.
You can drizzle a bit of olive oil over it and sprinkle some hot red pepper flakes over it right before you serve.
As a Meze
You can also make Ezme a part of your Meze platter by teaming it up with some Baba Ghanoush, Sumac onions, Muhammara, Haydari and other Turkish and Mediterranean dips of your choice.
As a Filling
You can also go beyond serving this salsa just the way most Turkish recipes call for, and slather it onto your favorite homemade sandwiches, or use it inside your wraps to get some of that juiciness and flavor.
FAQs
You sure can! If you don't want to do all the chopping, you can go the easy way and just use a food processor. Just remember to run the food processor in smaller, shorter pulses, just until everything is well combined. Overdoing this will cause the Turkish Ezme to become super mushy.
The authentic version of the recipe calls for the use of fresh tomatoes to get the maximum flavor, but if you don't have those at hand, you can go ahead and use canned tomatoes too.
Related Recipes
Looking for other recipes like this? Try these:
Acili Ezme
Ingredients
- 2 tomatoes large
- 1 white onion
- 2-3 garlic cloves
- 1 green bell pepper
- 1 red bell pepper
- 2 tablespoon cilantro finely chopped
- 1 tsbp lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon mint finely chopped
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- 1 tsbp extra virgin olive oil
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- 1 teaspoon sumac
- ½ teaspoon red chili flakes
Instructions
- Start by finely chopping the tomatoes, bell peppers, cilantro, mint and onions using a sharp knife.
- In a small bowl, combine tomato paste, olive oil, red pepper flakes, black pepper, minced garlic, salt, sumac and lemon juice.
- Whisk everything together until you get a uniform mixture.
- Add all the chopped veggies and herbs to a large bowl.
- Add the seasoning paste to the chopped veggies.
- Mix well to combine and top with some more olive oil.
Nutrition
Food Safety
- Cook to a minimum temperature of 165 °F (74 °C)
- Don't leave food sitting out at room temperature for extended periods
- Never leave cooking food unattended
- Use oils with high smoking point to avoid harmful compounds
- Always have good ventilation when using a gas stove