Easy to make breakfast high in protein

dvis334
dvis334 Posts: 125 Member
edited November 28 in Food and Nutrition
Hey, everyone! I just started tracking macros yesterday and I discovered that my protein intake is well below what it should be. Being a guy in my mid-20s, I'm not exactly a master chef. In fact, I'm pretty awful in the kitchen. I would love to hear from you if you have any "[high protein] Breakfast for Dummies" advice/recipes/ideas for me. Thank you!
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Replies

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  • akern1987
    akern1987 Posts: 288 Member
    hard boiled eggs! easy and you can make them the night before, as long as you can boil water (I hope your culinary skills go at least that far, lol) you will always have a good breakfast!
    Also, try overnight oats, there are lots of recipes online, and it's very little actual cooking/prep involved.
    Good luck!
  • eep223
    eep223 Posts: 624 Member
    I second the hard boiled eggs! I like to keep a bowl in the fridge to grab and go. I eat a lot of yogurt too. I buy plain and dress is up with nuts, dried fruit, and honey.
  • jemhh
    jemhh Posts: 14,261 Member
    edited January 2016
    I'm not sure how high of a protein count you want but this is what I've been making this week:

    Overnight Oats
    40 g rolled oats
    70 g frozen raspberries
    70 g frozen blueberries
    .5 cup Fairlife 2% milk
    - Put the oats in a bowl. Put the berries on top. Pour the milk over top. The milk should be covering the dry oats. Stick it in the fridge overnight. In the morning take it out and eat it cold. You can use no fruit or other fruit (there are a bunch of recipe variations for this online) or add protein powder or a bit of sweetener if you'd like.
    - The recipe above is 280 cals / 14 g protein and takes about 3 minutes to put together.

    I eat that plus 2 boiled eggs (140 cals / 12 g protein) plus another .75 cups of the same milk (90 cals / 9 g protein) in with my coffee. You can boil several eggs ahead of time and put them in the fridge to eat for a few days. (I suggest putting them in a sealed container so they don't stink up the fridge.)

    Total = 510 cals / 35 g protein
  • eganita
    eganita Posts: 501 Member
    I'm a big fan of the website SkinnyTaste in general. These are two of my go-to breakfast recipes. You can make it over the weekend, and it could last you all/most of the week. It's also easy to substitute any other ingredients that you'd want. You could add some sausage/bacon to get even more protein.

    http://www.skinnytaste.com/2009/03/broccoli-and-cheese-mini-egg-omelets-2.html
    http://www.skinnytaste.com/2009/02/caramelized-onion-red-pepper-and.html
  • dvis334
    dvis334 Posts: 125 Member
    _Mistah_J wrote: »
    Eggs and bacon. Even I can't screw that up.

    Thanks, mistah! It seems like the unanimous decision for food high in protein is eggs. I'm going to be adding them as a staple to my breakfasts.
  • dvis334
    dvis334 Posts: 125 Member
    Boiled eggs are easy, just cook a dozen the night before! An egg is about 6g of protein and 80 calories. Scrambeled eggs on toast is easy and high protein as well!

    What about Greek yogurt? I really enjoy the Chobani Flips, which are about 200 calories and 12 grams of protein. A yogurt and 2 eggs would be ~350 calories and 24 grams of protein. If you are tracking calories be sure to include any butter/oil if you fry or scramble the eggs :)

    Thanks for the detailed response! I'm working with a caloric surplus to help me gain some lean muscle after cardio and strength training so im not too concerned about calories (as long as they fit my macros lol)

    I'm definitely going to go with eggs as it seems everyone agreed its one of the easiest most protein packed food to make. Boiled eggs actually sound perfect. Greek yogurt is on my grocery list too now lol thanks =]
  • Blueseraphchaos
    Blueseraphchaos Posts: 843 Member
    Eggs and Greek yogurt here.

    When I'm in college for the semester and working, i stay at my friend's house...can't use the microwave before i go to work, so i boil eggs, then grab 2 and a container of Greek yogurt and i am usually good for awhile.

    I also eat leftovers for breakfast...I've been known to eat egg salad sandwiches on my way to work at 330 am....
  • dvis334
    dvis334 Posts: 125 Member
    akern1987 wrote: »
    hard boiled eggs! easy and you can make them the night before, as long as you can boil water (I hope your culinary skills go at least that far, lol) you will always have a good breakfast!
    Also, try overnight oats, there are lots of recipes online, and it's very little actual cooking/prep involved.
    Good luck!

    I can, in fact, boil water...I think :p oats are always a part of my breakfast, but ill definitely have to look into different recipes that incorporate them into a meal. Thanks for the good luck wishes!
  • dvis334
    dvis334 Posts: 125 Member
    eep223 wrote: »
    I second the hard boiled eggs! I like to keep a bowl in the fridge to grab and go. I eat a lot of yogurt too. I buy plain and dress is up with nuts, dried fruit, and honey.

    I never knew yogurt was such a great source of protein. And your idea of buying plain and adding fruits, nuts, and honey is something I'm definitely going to use. Thanks!
  • jemhh
    jemhh Posts: 14,261 Member
    dvis334 wrote: »
    eep223 wrote: »
    I second the hard boiled eggs! I like to keep a bowl in the fridge to grab and go. I eat a lot of yogurt too. I buy plain and dress is up with nuts, dried fruit, and honey.

    I never knew yogurt was such a great source of protein. And your idea of buying plain and adding fruits, nuts, and honey is something I'm definitely going to use. Thanks!

    You can also mix protein powder in with your yogurt. It makes kind of a chocolate pudding. (I usually use either coconut or coffee flavored yogurt for this.)
  • dvis334
    dvis334 Posts: 125 Member
    jemhh wrote: »
    I'm not sure how high of a protein count you want but this is what I've been making this week:

    Overnight Oats
    40 g rolled oats
    70 g frozen raspberries
    70 g frozen blueberries
    .5 cup Fairlife 2% milk
    - Put the oats in a bowl. Put the berries on top. Pour the milk over top. The milk should be covering the dry oats. Stick it in the fridge overnight. In the morning take it out and eat it cold. You can use no fruit or other fruit (there are a bunch of recipe variations for this online) or add protein powder or a bit of sweetener if you'd like.
    - The recipe above is 280 cals / 14 g protein and takes about 3 minutes to put together.

    I eat that plus 2 boiled eggs (140 cals / 12 g protein) plus another .75 cups of the same milk (90 cals / 9 g protein) in with my coffee. You can boil several eggs ahead of time and put them in the fridge to eat for a few days. (I suggest putting them in a sealed container so they don't stink up the fridge.)

    Total = 510 cals / 35 g protein

    Wow! This is perfect! Not only does that sound delicious but your instructions are easy to follow. There just may be hope for me yet lol ideal protein count would be around 300g/day. And ill definitely be using this to help me get there. Thank you! Can't wait to try this out
  • dvis334
    dvis334 Posts: 125 Member
    eganita wrote: »
    I'm a big fan of the website SkinnyTaste in general. These are two of my go-to breakfast recipes. You can make it over the weekend, and it could last you all/most of the week. It's also easy to substitute any other ingredients that you'd want. You could add some sausage/bacon to get even more protein.

    http://www.skinnytaste.com/2009/03/broccoli-and-cheese-mini-egg-omelets-2.html
    http://www.skinnytaste.com/2009/02/caramelized-onion-red-pepper-and.html

    Nice! I'm going to bookmark these recipes. The mini omelettes sound delicious :}
  • dvis334
    dvis334 Posts: 125 Member
    Eggs and Greek yogurt here.

    When I'm in college for the semester and working, i stay at my friend's house...can't use the microwave before i go to work, so i boil eggs, then grab 2 and a container of Greek yogurt and i am usually good for awhile.

    I also eat leftovers for breakfast...I've been known to eat egg salad sandwiches on my way to work at 330 am....

    Haha! I like your style. Not too sure about 3AM Egg salad sandwhiches. Maybe ill try them at 7AM :p lol
  • dvis334
    dvis334 Posts: 125 Member
    jemhh wrote: »
    dvis334 wrote: »
    eep223 wrote: »
    I second the hard boiled eggs! I like to keep a bowl in the fridge to grab and go. I eat a lot of yogurt too. I buy plain and dress is up with nuts, dried fruit, and honey.

    I never knew yogurt was such a great source of protein. And your idea of buying plain and adding fruits, nuts, and honey is something I'm definitely going to use. Thanks!

    You can also mix protein powder in with your yogurt. It makes kind of a chocolate pudding. (I usually use either coconut or coffee flavored yogurt for this.)

    Another great idea. I have strawberry flavored protein shake that i use now. That would probably taste great with some coconut flavored yogurt.
  • eganita
    eganita Posts: 501 Member
    dvis334 wrote: »
    eganita wrote: »
    I'm a big fan of the website SkinnyTaste in general. These are two of my go-to breakfast recipes. You can make it over the weekend, and it could last you all/most of the week. It's also easy to substitute any other ingredients that you'd want. You could add some sausage/bacon to get even more protein.

    http://www.skinnytaste.com/2009/03/broccoli-and-cheese-mini-egg-omelets-2.html
    http://www.skinnytaste.com/2009/02/caramelized-onion-red-pepper-and.html

    Nice! I'm going to bookmark these recipes. The mini omelettes sound delicious :}

    Cool!! I hope you'll enjoy it :) I've made both many times and find them pretty easy and tasty! Good luck with trying out some new recipes!
  • lilawolf
    lilawolf Posts: 1,690 Member
    Eggs are pretty decent for protein but much higher in fat (63%F/2%C/34%P), bacon is even more skewed toward fat. Now, fat is a good thing, but it depends on what the rest of your diet looks like. If you are generally low in fat then go for it. If not, I suggest adding some lean meat like chicken, salmon, tuna etc to your scramble to keep it toward protein. You can also make casserole pans or cupcake tins full of these ahead of time and freeze them in single serving packs to save time. Greek yogurt, as mentioned is also a good option, but check the nutrition facts. There are some that are greek "style" and/or have a ton of added sugars and have twice as many carbs as protein.

    Mostly I just don't eat a traditional breakfast. I either have a protein shake if I'm in a hurry, a sandwich, or leftovers.

    Lastly, I wouldn't worry about one meal. If you like your oats for breakfast, thats fine! Add the protein to lunch, snacks, and dinner instead.

    Good luck!
  • jgnatca
    jgnatca Posts: 14,464 Member
    Even if you aren't a master chef, it's not a big deal to make a muffin tray of mini-omelettes on a lazy Sunday afternoon, then bag them for the freezer to use throughout the week. Boiling eggs, as you've noted, is super easy too.
  • Blueseraphchaos
    Blueseraphchaos Posts: 843 Member
    dvis334 wrote: »
    Eggs and Greek yogurt here.

    When I'm in college for the semester and working, i stay at my friend's house...can't use the microwave before i go to work, so i boil eggs, then grab 2 and a container of Greek yogurt and i am usually good for awhile.

    I also eat leftovers for breakfast...I've been known to eat egg salad sandwiches on my way to work at 330 am....

    Haha! I like your style. Not too sure about 3AM Egg salad sandwhiches. Maybe ill try them at 7AM :p lol

    I'm a weird one, i freely grant that. My hair in my profile pic probably says it all :p
  • dvis334
    dvis334 Posts: 125 Member
    edited January 2016
    lilawolf wrote: »
    Eggs are pretty decent for protein but much higher in fat (63%F/2%C/34%P), bacon is even more skewed toward fat. Now, fat is a good thing, but it depends on what the rest of your diet looks like. If you are generally low in fat then go for it. If not, I suggest adding some lean meat like chicken, salmon, tuna etc to your scramble to keep it toward protein. You can also make casserole pans or cupcake tins full of these ahead of time and freeze them in single serving packs to save time. Greek yogurt, as mentioned is also a good option, but check the nutrition facts. There are some that are greek "style" and/or have a ton of added sugars and have twice as many carbs as protein.

    Mostly I just don't eat a traditional breakfast. I either have a protein shake if I'm in a hurry, a sandwich, or leftovers.

    Lastly, I wouldn't worry about one meal. If you like your oats for breakfast, thats fine! Add the protein to lunch, snacks, and dinner instead.

    Good luck!

    Thanks for the tips! Glad you mentioned fats because my intake was way above what it should be. My next post will be a question about how to prepare healthy sources of fats like salmon and tuna as you mentioned. Lol
  • I don't cook much-this morning I ate two whole wheat waffles with peanut butter. I can take them in the car and it only takes a few minutes to toast a waffle. The peanut butter had 8g of protein, the waffles had 4.5g. Total calories 358, if you're also watching calories.
  • rainbowbow
    rainbowbow Posts: 7,490 Member
    edited January 2016
    I agree with the others, but my preferred choice in the morning is Fage Greek Yogurt with a little bit of honey or fruit.

    dai_total_0_plain_01_z.jpg

    I am positive you can find this brand in store. This little cups like above are 100 calories for 18g protein! To put that in perspective, it's like 3 eggs worth of protein. :) I add 2-3 sliced strawberries and a tablespoon of honey for a filling treat thats high in protein but also low in cals.

    It's also awesome to add to smoothies, shakes, etc. Where you literally just throw stuff in a blender and press a button. Fool proof, i think.

    I love eggs, but aint no body got time to be cooking first thing in the morning.
  • juggernaut1974
    juggernaut1974 Posts: 6,212 Member
    No need to stick to traditional breakfast foods either...it's ok to think outside the box

    You said you're bulking - how about a nice juicy hamburger for breakfast?
  • nadler64
    nadler64 Posts: 124 Member
    Good suggestions above; I'm adding another vote for eggs and Greek yogurt - although I use egg whites too, for extra protein without too much fat. I get them by the quart carton in the egg section of the supermarket. Some breads are higher protein as well. Husband does a cup of 2% cottage cheese for 20 grams of breakfast protein (I can't choke it down, myself).

    I alternate MWF and TThSat breakfasts so I don't have to think about them. I'm limited to 1200 to 1400 calories a day, so you probably need more than what I list below, but here's what I do:

    MWF is Chobani Simply 100 Greek yogurt, a Fiber One English muffin, a tablespoon of almond butter, and half a fruit serving. That's 344 cals/53g carbs/9g fat/22g protein.

    TTHSat is Fiber One 100 toast, 2 tsp whipped canola/butter spread, half a fruit serving, and a cheese omelette: 1 egg, 1/4 cup egg white, 1/4 cup shredded cheddar. Olive oil spray in the pan. Sometimes I'll throw in some chopped peppers, mushrooms, onions, spinach, leftover bacon or ham - whatever I have handy. That's about 350 cals/32g carbs/17g fat/ 23g protein.

    I've done the breakfast cups in the past too. Hubby won't eat those (prefers the omelette) so I stopped making them.

    Good luck!
  • itsthehumidity
    itsthehumidity Posts: 351 Member
    Copying from a previous post of mine:

    For breakfast, get some cartons of egg whites at the store, mix them with an egg or two (in my case, 6 servings of egg whites and 2 large eggs), and scramble them. You can then add whatever you want and keep the variety going forever. In my case, this morning I heated some oil in a pan and threw in some chopped veggies (mushroom, onion, bell pepper) and a handful of spinach. Once the veggies were soft/cooked down, I added some Sriracha, and then the egg mixture and black pepper. A few minutes later I had a huge amount of filling and tasty egg scramble that amounted to ~400 calories.

    My diary is public and you can see this breakfast today.
  • dvis334
    dvis334 Posts: 125 Member
    I don't cook much-this morning I ate two whole wheat waffles with peanut butter. I can take them in the car and it only takes a few minutes to toast a waffle. The peanut butter had 8g of protein, the waffles had 4.5g. Total calories 358, if you're also watching calories.

    Now this is the definition of easy. Will be trying this tomorrow morning. Thanks!
  • dvis334
    dvis334 Posts: 125 Member
    rainbowbow wrote: »
    I agree with the others, but my preferred choice in the morning is Fage Greek Yogurt with a little bit of honey or fruit.

    dai_total_0_plain_01_z.jpg

    I am positive you can find this brand in store. This little cups like above are 100 calories for 18g protein! To put that in perspective, it's like 3 eggs worth of protein. :) I add 2-3 sliced strawberries and a tablespoon of honey for a filling treat thats high in protein but also low in cals.

    It's also awesome to add to smoothies, shakes, etc. Where you literally just throw stuff in a blender and press a button. Fool proof, i think.

    I love eggs, but aint no body got time to be cooking first thing in the morning.

    Haha! Eggs: Ain't nobody got time for that! Lol tell me more about this cutting edge blending technology lol jk thanks for the image. Now i know exactly what to look for at the grocery store :]
  • dvis334
    dvis334 Posts: 125 Member
    No need to stick to traditional breakfast foods either...it's ok to think outside the box

    You said you're bulking - how about a nice juicy hamburger for breakfast?

    That's what im talking about!
  • dvis334
    dvis334 Posts: 125 Member
    nadler64 wrote: »
    Good suggestions above; I'm adding another vote for eggs and Greek yogurt - although I use egg whites too, for extra protein without too much fat. I get them by the quart carton in the egg section of the supermarket. Some breads are higher protein as well. Husband does a cup of 2% cottage cheese for 20 grams of breakfast protein (I can't choke it down, myself).

    I alternate MWF and TThSat breakfasts so I don't have to think about them. I'm limited to 1200 to 1400 calories a day, so you probably need more than what I list below, but here's what I do:

    MWF is Chobani Simply 100 Greek yogurt, a Fiber One English muffin, a tablespoon of almond butter, and half a fruit serving. That's 344 cals/53g carbs/9g fat/22g protein.

    TTHSat is Fiber One 100 toast, 2 tsp whipped canola/butter spread, half a fruit serving, and a cheese omelette: 1 egg, 1/4 cup egg white, 1/4 cup shredded cheddar. Olive oil spray in the pan. Sometimes I'll throw in some chopped peppers, mushrooms, onions, spinach, leftover bacon or ham - whatever I have handy. That's about 350 cals/32g carbs/17g fat/ 23g protein.

    I've done the breakfast cups in the past too. Hubby won't eat those (prefers the omelette) so I stopped making them.

    Good luck!

    Wow this is great info. Thanks for being so detailed. Can't wait to try all this out.
  • jemhh
    jemhh Posts: 14,261 Member
    No need to stick to traditional breakfast foods either...it's ok to think outside the box

    You said you're bulking - how about a nice juicy hamburger for breakfast?

    True. We eat rotisserie chicken once a week. I usually eat some of the leftovers cold the next day, often for breakfast.
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