5 Simple Mediterranean Diet Breakfast Ideas
I’m sharing 5 healthy breakfast recipes for Mediterranean Diet meal plans, and beyond, to inspire nourishing eats that support your busy weeks.
Breakfast on the Mediterranean Diet isn’t all that different from typical breakfasts. Eggs and grains fit in well, but it helps to be mindful about it and ensure there’s good balance and enough protein to stabilize energize for the day.
I like the Mediterranean Diet for its consistently high health ratings and food flexibility. It isn’t restrictive like other diets. It’s a low saturated fat, low cholesterol, high fiber diet. It discourages processed and low quality foods and encourages lots of whole plant based foods. One potential disadvantage might is that it can be low in protein dense foods like dairy, eggs and meats. So if your protein needs are higher, you’d want to be mindful about that when choosing meals. No main food group is banned though, so eggs and meats can be included, but less so than the typical American diet.
There’s a variety of simple and satisfying options to choose from and you can rotate through various breakfasts week to week to get the benefits of different foods. I personally like to plan one breakfast each week to make life simpler. When planning Mediterranean Diet recipes for breakfast, it helps to plan around ingredients like beans, vegetables, berries, and whole grains and switch up the protein. Mediterranean Diet protein foods can include pastured eggs and egg whites, smoked salmon, canned fish, Greek yogurt, cottage cheese, chicken sausage and cheeses like feta and halloumi.
Mediterranean Diet Breakfast Foods
Eggs/egg whites
Greek yogurt and cottage cheese
Chicken or turkey breakfast sausage
Smoked salmon
Feta
Lentils
Oats
Whole grain breads
Whole grain and nut based granola
Fruits like berries, figs, citrus, seasonally ripe fruits
Roasted root vegetables
Nuts
Tomatoes
Greens like sprouts, arugula, spinach
Fresh herbs
With so many foods to choose from, it can be hard to narrow it down. This list includes easy foods that fit with the Mediterranean Diet and are great to incorporate into breakfast. Breakfast recipes on Mediterranean Diet plans might include more ingredients than listed here, and that’s perfectly fine since the diet includes many more plant based foods.
Mediterranean Diet Breakfast Options
There’s a lot that you can make with the ingredients recommended on the diet. To narrow it down and simplify, here are five easy breakfasts on Mediterranean Diet to choose from. I’ve included a recipe for each idea below!
Frittatas/eggs
Avocado (or hummus) toast
Protein Oats
Protein Smoothie
Greek yogurt bowl
Mediterranean Diet Breakfast Recipes
Frittata With Leeks and Herbs
The Mediterranean Diet is all about the fresh herbs and spices. A frittata is a great way to incorporate these nourishing herbs, and to prep ahead for easy weekday reheating.
Zucchini Feta Egg Cups
I came across this recipe and couldn’t help adding it to the list. I love that this recipe portions the frittata, which makes it great for kids (who like zucchini and feta!) and for grabbing on the go. This would even be great for an easy lunch. You can always replace one whole egg with 2 egg whites for the same protein but less saturated fat and cholesterol (pasture raised egg yolks contain over 20 nutrients in addition to the fat!).
Avocado Toast with smoked Salmon
For weeks when you don’t have the time or energy to make a breakfast, using already made, short cut ingredients can help give you balanced and nourishing meals without the effort. This toast is so simple and flexible, it doesn’t need a formal recipe.
Layer whole grain bread with some mashed avocado. Top with your favorite smoked salmon (wild is most nourishing), you can add an egg and/or feta too for a little extra protein. Top with a seasoning of choice like dill or everything but the bagel, and veggies like sliced tomato, cucumber, onion and radish.
Protein Overnight Oats
Whole grains are an important part of breakfast recipes on Mediterranean Diet plans, and oats are an easy, fiber rich choice. This is a really good basic recipe, that you can build on. The recipe calls for protein powder but you can use Greek or high protein yogurt instead. You can add frozen blueberries to the mixture or top with fresh berries and other in-season fruit.
Vanilla Chai Collagen Smoothie
This is a fun smoothie that’s different from typical recipes, because it’s a smoothie with no fruit. Instead, she uses cooked sweet potato instead of something like banana, mixed with warming chai spices and nourishing bone broth protein powder. Sweet potato is a high fiber food and offers sweetness without being high in sugar. The warm spices and fresh ginger add lots of flavor and a nice health boost. The recipe calls for coconut milk, but I’d substitute this for almond or oat milk to be more aligned with the Med Diet.
Greek Yogurt with Nut and Seed Granola
This granola recipe is a great meal prep option for an easy workweek breakfast (or even lunch). You can use either unrefined coconut oil or, to make it more Mediterranean Diet aligned, extra virgin olive oil. Build your yogurt parfait by layering your favorite low sugar-high protein yogurt, top with some berries (fresh or thawed frozen), and then sprinkle on some of this nourishing granola.
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Let me know in the comments if you’ve tried one of these Med Diet breakfast ideas, or if you have any favorites to share!