Healthy breakfast ideas

What are the best ingredients for kicking off the day with a clear conscience and saying goodbye to the bad habit of just a quick coffee and nothing else for breakfast?

Of course, making a quality espresso is an art form, and a genuine ritual for some, but on its own it does not provide our bodies with the energy we need to get on with our day after a good night’s sleep.

Preparing a rich and varied breakfast has many benefits and is well worth the short time it will take you.

Cookies dunked in cappuccino, bread and jam, and yogurt are the basis of the quintessential Italian breakfast but starting the day with savory foods is both a tempting and a preferable alternative, and not just when you get up late and are unsure whether you should still have breakfast or go straight onto lunch.

The English breakfast has long since arrived in Italy too with scrambled eggs and bacon, a popular Sunday brunch menu item in the trendiest eateries. But not just scrambled: whether fried, baked, hard-boiled, poached, soft-boiled or in the form of omelets, eggs have become the stars of breakfast time.

However, aside from eggs there are also plenty of other options for a savory breakfast. Here are a few more healthy breakfast ideas!

Quick ideas for a savory breakfast

With grains, fruits and vegetables forming the base of the food pyramid, savory items seem preferable to sweet elements because they tend to have a better balance of fats, carbohydrates and proteins, making us feel fuller than simple sugars.

So let's see how to prepare a healthy breakfast using savory foods:

Yogurt tigelle

Ingredients for 2 people: 8 oz flour, 4.5 oz plain yogurt, half teaspoon of salt, half a packet of baking powder for quiches, ham to taste.

Combine the flour with the yogurt, salt and baking powder, then add 0.7 oz of water a little at a time, continuing to mix and knead with your hands until you have a uniform dough. Roll out with a rolling pin to a thickness of about 1 cm. Cut out the tigelle with a glass and cook in a hot nonstick skillet (or using a specific tigelle pan) on both sides. Fill them with ham and... enjoy your breakfast!

Toasted sandwich

Fill with a thin slice of fresh cheese and tomatoes dressed with our Extra Virgin Olive Oil Fruttato and our delicious Pitted Olives. One thing is certain, you won’t want to stop at just one!

Zucchini for breakfast? A recipe ready in just 10 minutes

Prepare the ingredients: one zucchini, one egg, 1 oz flour, 0.1 oz baking powder, low-fat cheese of your choice.

Chop the zucchini, then add the egg, flour and baking powder and mix, blending all the ingredients together. Add the low-fat cheese at the center and then microwave on maximum power for 3 minutes. Top with whatever you fancy!

Sweet breakfast idea

For this recipe, which revolves around dried fruit, a classic end-of-meal staple, we recommend starting the night before, perhaps even taking advantage of the weekend.

Dried fruitcake

Prepare the ingredients for a fruitcake: 4 eggs, 5.3 oz of our Pure Olive Oil, 3.5 oz fresh cream, 1.7 oz plain yogurt, 8.8 oz flour + 2 tablespoons for dusting, 1 packet of baking powder for quiches, 5.3 oz dried fruit (raisins, plums, figs), 2.8 oz pistachios, 1 teaspoon of salt, pepper.

Break the eggs and beat, then add the oil, cream, yogurt, salt and a pinch of pepper. Add the flour and baking powder, combining everything together. Dust the dried fruit and pistachios with flour and add to the mixture.

Line a cake tine with parchment paper and transfer in the dough. Bake in the oven at 350°F for 30-40 minutes. A sight for sore eyes too!

Tips for a light breakfast

We've learned about the key ingredients you need to make a breakfast of champions that will leave your loved ones speechless, but if you don’t have much of an appetite in the morning you can always enjoy one of these savory suggestions as a mid-morning snack.

And if flavor and simplicity is your thing, you can simply enjoy just a cup of tea with our Corn Cookies in the morning, perfect for dunking!

Finally, it is always a good idea to combine these healthy breakfast ideas with milk and fresh fruit, a guaranteed source of vitamins, minerals, fiber and calcium.

You'll see that our tips for a tasty breakfast will have the whole family singing from the same hymn sheet without disrupting your morning routine too much.