5-day Healthy Breakfast Meal Plan (+ shopping list)

I’ve noticed over the years in my work as a dietitian that people have a lot of questions about breakfast. Things like, should I or shouldn’t I eat breakfast? Is it really the most important meal of the day? Is it true that eating breakfast jumpstarts your metabolism? Do eggs have too much cholesterol?

Also, some people absolutely love breakfast and begin thinking about what they’ll eat the moment they open their eyes in the morning, if not the evening before. I am one of these all-things-breakfast lovers.

Other people don’t feel hungry or feel too rushed to eat in the mornings. And lots of folks get stuck thinking about what they “should” eat for breakfast or just plain feel like they’re in a rut with their morning noshing.

No matter which of these scenarios you most identify with, this post is for you! I’ve pulled together a 5-day, nutrient-dense breakfast meal plan (along with a printable shopping list) that will give you some fresh, easy, and pretty quick ideas for breakfast. All these options I suggest can be prepared in less than 10 minutes. Plus, I’m going to answer some those most frequently asked questions above to help you separate the diet culture myths from the nutrition science.

So, be sure to stick around after you check out the meal plan for additional tips and thoughts on how to pull together a healthful breakfast—because suggested meal plans are awesome, but ultimately, I want you to feel confident that you have the tools you need to pull together a breakfast you can feel good about eating anytime, anywhere.

5-Day Healthy Breakfast Meal Plan

Day 1: Peanut butter yogurt with chopped apples and granola

In a cereal bowl, mix 1 tablespoon of peanut butter and ¾ teaspoon of honey with about ½ cup or so of yogurt (I often just use the 5.3-ounce single-serve Greek yogurt cups). Chop an apple into bite-sized chunks and stir them into the yogurt. Top with your favorite granola.

You’ve got a yummy, filling, protein- and fiber-rich breakfast in about 5 minutes.

I like Fage 2% Greek yogurt (to give it a little staying power in your belly!) and Purely Elizabeth granola—although sometimes when I’m feeling “extra,” I make granola using this recipe.

Bonus: if you want to make it even easier, just mix your favorite flavored yogurt (I like Siggi’s Icelandic or Chobani low-sugar yogurt) with the apples and top with granola.

Day 2: Avocado toast piled with veggies and an over-easy egg

While you’re toasting your bread, cook an egg over-easy. If you don’t like the runny yolks, go with over medium or even scrambled. I like Dave’s Killer Bread because it’s full of grains, seeds, and fiber.

Spread the toasted bread with about half an avocado, pile on some arugula or spinach, add a few chopped cherry tomatoes or a couple of slices of tomato, top with the egg, and sprinkle with feta or goat cheese. For extra yum, sprinkle with everything bagel seasoning or drizzle with Balsamic vinegar.

Creative version: I like to think of avocado toast as a blank canvas for deliciousness. Get creative with your veggies or protein. If you feel like it or have extra time, sauté some shiitake mushrooms, slice some cucumbers or radishes, or pile your toast with leftover grilled or roasted veggies instead of the greens and tomatoes. Not a fan or fried of eggs? Try sliced turkey or some leftover chicken for protein instead.

Yum!

Day 3: BLT with a twist

Since you’ve already got the avocado and bread, let’s make BLTs with a nutrient-dense twist by swapping in turkey bacon and adding some avocado!

I like the Willshire Farms brand of turkey bacon, either classic or peppered. You can cook 2 or 3 slices quickly in a small fry pan or pop them in between two paper towels and cook it in the microwave. Dealer’s choice.

Toast your bread, spread with a bit of mayo, add the turkey bacon, lettuce (you can go with arugula or spinach for extra dark leafy greens or just use romaine or butter lettuce), top with sliced tomatoes, and avocado slices.

Throw in some berries on the side for extra color and fiber.

Day 4: Overnight Oats with all the fixings!

Combine ½ cup of regular rolled oats, somewhere between ¾ and 1 cup of milk, and a pinch of cinnamon in a bowl or jar. Refrigerate overnight.

In the morning, you can heat it in the microwave if you want it warm or just eat it cold. Before eating, top it with fruit (such as pomegranate seeds, blueberries, raspberries, sliced strawberries, kiwi or mango chunks, bananas, or any others that sound good to you), sprinkle with slivered almonds or chopped walnuts. If you really want to be fancy, throw in a few cacao nibs.

Forgot to make it the night before? Check out my method for even easier, not-quite “overnight” oats here!

Day 5: Peachy Oats Breakfast Smoothie

Mix the following in a blender with a handful of ice until smooth (add extra ice if you prefer a thicker consistency):

1 banana

1 peach (or a generous ½ cup of frozen peach or mango)

Scant ½ cup of regular rolled oats

½ tablespoon of hemp seeds

½ teaspoon of ground turmeric

1 tablespoon of almond or peanut butter

½ teaspoon of honey

A few notes: this is full of fiber, heart-healthy omega 3s (thanks to the hemp seeds), and protein so it can be rather filling. But experiment with this breakfast—maybe you’ll feel more satisfied if you add a slice of whole grain toast or a whole wheat English muffin on the side.

Plus, your burning breakfast questions answered + some helpful tips on balancing your breakfasts!

Is breakfast the most important meal of the day?

All food is essential energy and nourishment for your body. So, when you look at it that way, all meals are equally important.

Breakfast does help you break the overnight fast, which means it can stabilize blood sugar levels and give your brain and body a much-needed energy boost.

Often, people who are dieting or “trying to cut back” skip breakfast in the name of weight loss. Our bodies are adept at getting the fuel they need, however, so this strategy often backfires.

Skipping breakfast may set you up to graze later in the day, overeat at meals, struggle with sweet cravings in the later hours, or have you eating at night in ways that may not feel good. If you’re struggling with any of these things, I encourage you to look at your eating patterns earlier in the day as a starting point.

Does eating breakfast speed up your metabolism?

The short answer is, no, the evidence does not seem to support this claim. Studies have been conducted to measure resting metabolic rate (essentially, how many calories or units of energy your body burns each day just by being alive) over sustained periods of eating breakfast versus skipping breakfast and no difference was found in resting metabolic rate. (1)

Do eggs have too much cholesterol?

Cholesterol can be a bit confusing, so let’s break this one down a tiny bit. Your liver makes cholesterol, and it has important jobs in your body including forming bile which we need to digest fat and making vitamin D from sunlight.

We also get cholesterol from foods we eat, like eggs. In most individuals, the body will produce less cholesterol (or make more bile so the cholesterol can be excreted) when food intake of cholesterol increases. For these people, dietary cholesterol has little to no impact the overall amount of LDL cholesterol (the one we think of as the “bad” type of cholesterol). (2)

There is a small subset of the population for whom the body does not compensate as efficiently when cholesterol is ingested from food. However, this has only been shown to have a very slight impact on LDL cholesterol levels, while also increasing HDL (the “good” cholesterol), and thus is not considered a major concern for heart disease risk. (3)

In other words, the evidence does not support avoiding eggs because of their cholesterol content. Eggs are a great source of protein, vitamins D and B12, other minerals, and phytonutrients that are particularly important for eye health.

When it comes to promoting heart health, it’s far more important to be mindful of your saturated and trans-fat intake, to eat lots of fruits and vegetables, and to manage stress—exactly the emphasis on health-promoting behaviors we emphasize and focus on with an Intuitive Eating approach to health!

What should I eat for breakfast or what makes a balanced breakfast?

 I’m not a fan of the word should when it comes to nutrition… it tends to invoke a lot of food policing, guilt, or stress and doesn’t necessarily emphasize that pleasurable eating matters too. Truth be told, I don’t typically use the word “healthy” either… because the truth is ALL foods can fit in a health-promoting diet and putting good versus bad labels on foods can cause a lot of eating guilt and stress.

That said, my job as a dietitian is to meet you where you’re at, and I fully realize that you may still think of food as healthy or unhealthy. Hence, the title of this blog post!

Anyhoo… here’s my approach to building a healthful breakfast (or any meal, really).

Start out by asking yourself what sounds good—what are you in the mood for? Then, think about how you can round out that meal to include protein, carbs, and fat (or at least two of the three). This will help balance your blood sugar and make your meal a bit more satisfying while giving it some staying power in your belly. Ideally, a meal will energize and hold you over for at least a few hours.

Next, consider whether you can ADD some colorful fruits and veggies to that meal. Swapping in some whole grains (like whole grain bread, cereals, English muffins, etc.) or leaner proteins such as turkey bacon, eggs, or beans is another way to practice gentle nutrition.

As always, these suggestions and considerations are tools not hard-and-fast rules. “For the most part” or “most of the time” are phrases that go a long, long way in the world of sustainable nutrition. Not every breakfast can or will align with these suggestions—and that’s ok!

Enjoy your 5-day healthy breakfast plan and bon appetít!

References:

(1)   Betts, J., Chowdhury, E., Gonzales, J., Richardson, J., Tsintzas, K., & Thompson, D. (2016). Is breakfast the most important meal of the day? Proceedings of the Nutrition Society, 75 (4), 464-474. doi: 10.1017/S0029665116000318

(2)   Blesso CN, Fernandez ML. Dietary Cholesterol, Serum Lipids, and Heart Disease: Are Eggs Working for or Against You? Nutrients. 2018; 10(4):426. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu10040426

(3)   Kristin L Herron, Ingrid E Lofgren, Matthew Sharman, Jeff S Volek, Maria Luz Fernandez, High intake of cholesterol results in less atherogenic low-density lipoprotein particles in men and women independent of response classification, Metabolism, Volume 53, Issue 6, 2004, Pages 823-830, ISSN 0026-0495, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.metabol.2003.12.030