Use these 5 High Protein Breakfast Ideas to help start your day in fat burning mode.

 Why not just a bagel…..or a Fiber One Bar?  If you want your body to BURN fat instead of STORE fat – take a look at these reasons below:

• High Protein breakfasts help curb appetite throughout the day.

Think of it this way….

1 egg = 70 calories

1 slice of bread = about 100 calories

Have you ever tried to eat 8 hard-boiled eggs?  If you have….you know that your stomach can only take so much.  Eight eggs are A LOT of food.

But it’s possible to eat 8 slices of bread!!  We have all done it at some point in our lives.  It’s not nearly as uncomfortable in the stomach as eggs!!

• Full servings of protein at each meal helps to maintain and increase muscle density.

The typical pattern of protein consumption for the majority of people is to have little to no protein for breakfast, then to have a small amount during lunch and a large serving or protein for dinner. 

Studies show that frequent “doses” of protein throughout the day improves muscle density which helps prevent age related issues such as osteoporosis (bone weakening) and sarcopenia (muscle wasting).

I use this analogy a lot…..

You have a plant …. And you water it. 

It does OK.

It survives.

You add Miracle Grow to your plant….

And it THRIVES.

It grows STRONG.

This is what protein is like in your body.

You need protein to help protect your muscles and help them grow – which in turn help prevent your muscles from wasting away which prevents osteoporosis. Having a high protein breakfast prevents this from occurring.
Lastly,

• High Protein breakfasts are shown to improve glucose control in women and therefore help prevent developing pre-diabetes or diabetes.

So is that enough reason to add adequate amounts of protein to your diet?

But if you are like most people you may not have many protein breakfast ideas and you may miss a prime PROTEIN opportunity during breakfast……unless you learn how to make these high protein breakfast recipes.

 Protein Breakfast Ideas You Can Use Every Morning

Some of these high protein breakfast ideas can be made in advance so you know that you are ready for breakfast in the morning – so you have NO EXCUSE to miss your dose of protein.

BASIC HEALTHY QUICHE

You know how the traditional quiche is – FATTENING and CALORIE DENSE.

Instead this is a basic low calorie version that you can make and then learn ways you can switch it up depending on what you have available in your kitchen.  This is where the fun begins!!

INGREDIENTS:

Nonstick Cooking Spray

2 Whole Eggs plus 3 Egg Whites

3/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup 2 % milk

1/2 cup part skim riccotta cheese OR you can use cottage cheese OR you can use low fat mozzerella cheese. 

** Personally I would use cottage cheese – be sure to drain it before you use it.  Cottage Cheese will provide even more protein per serving.

These ingredients above are for a BASIC QUICHE.

You can always add other ingredients which you may have in your kitchen. 

If you know how to make a BASIC QUICHE you can switch it up anyway you want to make a UNIQUE QUICHE by using some FLAVOR COMBOS for eggs 🙂

SUGGESTED ADDITIONAL INGREDIENTS:

Maybe you want to make it a veggie quiche?

Just add some sautéed zucchini…or onions….or broccoli, kale, spinach, tomatoes, potatoes….the list is endless!!

Be sure to saute those veggies that are crunchy when raw because they will not cook thoroughly when the quiche is baking.

Or maybe you want a “meat quiche”?

You can add ground turkey or chicken or beef, low fat sausage or bacon.  Sometimes I add leftover diced chicken or whatever left over meat I have in the kitchen.

Or I add a CRUST – but a healthy version … of course.

HOW TO MAKE ALMOND CRUST:

If you have a Nutri-Bullet, Magic Bullet or Vitamix (I don’t have a Vitamix…..I have a 2 year old Nutri Bullet that works just fine)

INGREDIENTS:

1 cup of ground almonds (to make ground almonds use 1 cup of almonds and grind into a meal using a nutribullet or magic bullet)

1 TBSP. Coconut Flour or Whole Wheat Flour or White-Wheat Flour

1 TBSP. Coconut Oil

1 Egg

Blend all the ingredients of the Basic Crust in a blender.

Then coat a pie pan with some non-stick spray or a little bit of butter. 

Press the crust meal into the pan and up the sides of the pie dish.

I like to pre-bake the crust a bit at 350 degrees for about 10 minutes.

When lightly brown take the crust out of the oven and let it cook a bit before adding your quiche mixture.

The high protein breakfast version I made in the picture has summer squash, zucchini and kale in it. 

I used about 1/2 cup of each veggie and then sauteed the veggies in about 2 TBSP. of olive oil.

I also added about 1/2 onion minced and about 2 garlic cloves, minced

Then I added some other seasonings like garlic powder, pepper, basil and onion.

I folded the veggie mixture into the egg mixture and poured it over my crust.

Then baked it at 350 degrees for about 30-35 minutes or until the eggs were done.

This was my high protein breakfast for about 3 mornings. 

Sometimes we would have a side of fruit with it or an english muffin or toast.

It was DELICIOUS!!!

EGG MUFFINS for an EASY ” FAST FOOD” BREAKFAST

Protein breakfast ideas are hard to come by and egg muffins make it easy to solve that problem.

My 10 year old daughter LOVES them because they are “cute”. 

They are little….like she is.

And they are a great “to go” type food so when you are running out the door and you realized you haven’t had time for breakfast you can grab a few of these little muffins and at least get something in you!!

And…they are SO EASY TO MAKE.

They are similar to the quiche above….but in little muffin pans.

INGREDIENTS: 

• 2 1/2 cups of egg whites
• 3 eggs
• 3/4 tsp salt

OPTIONAL:

• 3/4 cup reduced fat cheese – any kind will do.
• 2 TBSP. low fat milk or yogurt or cottage cheese – again not necessary but it just makes the muffins fluffy 🙂

ADDED OPTIONAL INGREDIENTS:

Veggies – any really will do.  Fresh or frozen.

Ground chicken, beef, pork, turkey or a diced version of those meats. If you use any meats – be sure to cook it thoroughly before using it in the egg mixture.

You can use ANY of the egg flavor combos.

I like to season mine with some onion and garlic powder, salt and pepper – but any seasoning you enjoy works!! You can use basil, oregano, parmesan cheese — really almost anything works.  Salsa too is a great addition!!

I often add any veggie or meat I have left over. If I have leftover chicken I dice it up real small and add it to the egg mixture.

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Spray muffin tin with nonstick cooking spray or line the pan with muffin tins.
2. Fill each muffin tin about 1/4-1/3 of the way with your veggie mixture (if you choose to add one)
3. Mix in a bowl the eggs, egg whites and milk or yogurt or cottage cheese.  Pour the egg mixture into each tin with a little room left at the top since they puff up when they cook.
4. Bake for 20-30 minutes or until done.
5. Let cool before removing from tin.

The version I made in this picture used some sautéed collard greens I had leftover and cooked ground turkey.  Now I have 12 egg muffins – about 2 is enough for me and maybe 3 for my husband. 

My daughter doesn’t like them with “stuff in them” – I should have remembered to make some plain ones for her.  Oooops!! Next time!!

BASIC PROTEIN PANCAKE RECIPE

There are SOOOO many versions of protein pancakes and they are great protein breakfast ideas.  I’ve seen them made a variety of ways -some super low carb with basically just egg whites and oatmeal and others with flour and bit more fluffy. 

Personally….I like for them to feel like real pancakes but with the benefit of protein. 

This is an easy, simple, high protein breakfast recipe to make 1 large pancake or 2 small.  For the picture I made 2 pancakes and added berries to one and sliced banana to another – and they were SOOOO yummy.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup quick oats, dry – 150 calories
• 1/2 cup low-fat cottage cheese – 70 calories
• 3 egg whites – 75 calories
• 1 tablespoon protein powder, vanilla – 25 calories
• TOTAL 320 calories

DIRECTIONS:

1. Combine all ingredients in a blender until it resembles a pancake batter.
2. Heat a skillet and spray with non-stick cooking spray.
3. Add a portion of the pancake batter (I usually add the amount I feel safe flipping!!)
4. Heat it until you see little air holes bubble up – then flip it and cook through on the other side.

Now this is a basic recipe and you can have it just like this above….or you can add:

Fruit – such as some blueberries or strawberries or even banana.  Any fruit you like will be fine.

Nuts – Sometimes I like to add some walnut pieces.  Or you can add pecans or whatever nut you like.

I have even added avocado to my pancakes!!! They came out a pale shade of green – but they were good and they had healthy fat!!

I have also made a savory pancake by taking out the vanilla protein powder (since it has a sweet flavor) and adding some veggies to it instead – such as shredded carrots, zucchini, etc. 

Pancakes are so versatile.  Almost anything goes!!

Sometimes I make about 5 at a time so I can refrigerate or even freeze them so they are ready in the morning.  Just pop them in the microwave for 30 seconds to heat and then EAT!

These are way better protein breakfast ideas than some pre-packed brand that has who knows what in it!!!

HOT RICE PROTEIN CEREAL

I went on a whole foods detox and that’s when I discovered brown rice hot cereal.  First thing, the detox was GREAT.  I really felt terrific on it and lost about 5 lbs. in a week.  I use this detox a lot with my clients because it is THAT effective.

So instead of buying a hot rice cereal mix – because they charge so much just to grind it – I made my own.  A bag of brown rice can be less than $1.00 and a packaged brown rice cereal was about $6.00 – ridiculous – for grinding!!

If you have a Nutri-bullet or some type of high speed blender you can make your own cereal.

Just take the amount of rice you need….toast it in a saute pan (it helps release the nutty flavor of rice) and then put it in your Nutri-bullet or Vitamix and grind until coarse – NOT fine.

INGREDIENTS for a single serving:

• 1/3 cup of brown rice
• 1/2 cup of water
• 1/2 cup of unsweetened almond milk (if you don’t have almond milk you can use just 1 cup of water total)
• 1 TBSP. – 2 TBSP.  of your favorite vanilla protein powder (depending on the consistency.  Protein powder will thicken it.)
• Pinch of salt

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Add the rice to 1 cup of boiling water along with a pinch of salt and stir to break up any lumps.
2. Lower the heat and cover – cooking for about 10 minutes until cereal is tender.
3. If you prefer a thinner consistency – just add some more water – or some unsweetened almond milk.

ADDITIONAL INGREDIENTS:

• Berries
• Fruit
• Nuts
• Peanut Butter or Almond Butter
• Flax Seed Oil

Brown Rice Cereals are great protein breakfast ideas for people who have food sensitivities.  It is one of the safest foods to eat if you have issues with bloating, stomach problems, constipation, diarrhea, etc.

Plus….it is CHEAP!!

High Protein Cereal with “Protein Milk”

This is the simplest trick in the book and I cannot have my cereal any other way anymore and it’s the easiest of the protein breakfast ideas…..so simple!!

Be careful though – a lot of cereals that advertise “high in protein” may also be high in sugar….so be sure to read labels.

Choose a cereal that is healthy – and my standard is it cannot have more than 5 grams of sugar per serving.  The issue with most cereals is the amount of sugar!!! I mean it’s CRAZY!!

Even the cereals that “LOOK” Healthy have an insane amount of sugar per serving.  So be careful and READ LABELS.

Also look at the serving size – is a serving a 1/2 cup or 1 cup?  I try to make sure I get the most bang for my buck in terms of calories.

Sometimes a cereal is 120 calories for 1/2 cup and that’s just too little food for me…..I need to feel like I ate enough.

My personal favorites are All Bran, Fiber One and a Crispy Rice Cereal (now this is different from Rice Crispies…..because that brand has A LOT of sugar).

Then I make a Protein Milk -I simply add a scoop of vanilla protein powder to my favorite milk (it may be 1% milk or unsweetened almond milk) and use it for my milk for my cereal.

So now your cereal is “fortified” with more protein.

It will help keep you fuller…..longer.

It is EASY and FAST.

It will help keep your blood sugar balanced.

And did I say it was EASY.

So with these high protein breakfast ideas you have absolutely NO REASON as to why you cannot start your day with a quality breakfast.  I use all these breakfasts frequently.  Preparation is key to weight loss – without a plan you can plan to fail!!!

So take a bit of time on a Sunday evening and make 1 or 2 of these meals – stick them in the refrigerator and have breakfast ready for you Monday morning.

Sources:

University of Missouri-Columbia. (2013, November 14). Protein-rich breakfast helps curb appetite throughout the morning.

University of Missouri-Columbia. (2014, April 29). Consuming high-protein breakfasts helps women maintain glucose control, study finds.