The paleo diet plan certainly has no shortage of healthy, delicious food options. Sometimes, it is easy to know what to eat for lunch and dinner, but what about breakfast? Here, we shed some light on 10 unique and easy paleo breakfast ideas.
When committing to a paleo diet, it is important that you know how to cook your own meals. Homemade cooking is a skill, and the paleo diet almost forces you to hone and refine that skill. These recipes are very beginner-friendly, so that you can experiment with them and understand them easily.
What is the paleo diet?
The paleo diet is one of the most common alternative diet types, along with keto, vegan, whole30, intermittent fasting, and mediterranean. This diet type aims to match our diet with the diets of our ancestors. We can assume that hunter-gatherers thousands of years ago ate primarily meat, fruits, vegetables, and nuts, since these foods were usually the most accessible to them.
There was, of course, no such thing as processed foods back then, so the paleo diet has the advantage of enabling single-ingredient foods into your diet. Single-ingredient foods like chicken breast, unsalted nuts, and raw veggies tend to be nutrient-dense and low in calories. This combo is great for building muscle and losing fat.
What should you not eat when on a paleo diet? There are two food categories you should avoid at all costs, which are refined carbs and processed foods. Sugary foods like desserts, chips, and soft drinks are not healthy and don’t count as paleo foods.
Processed foods are found in every grocery store and typically involve meals that are pre-packaged and need to be thawed. So, this would include meals like chicken breast in gravy with a side of mashed potatoes served in a single box that needs to be thawed.
The Main Paleo Diet Food Sources
Technically speaking, good paleo breakfast ideas should have a healthy mix of naturally-derived carbs and protein.
Remember, the paleo diet attempts to mimic an ancestral diet where older humans simply ate whatever they could find in their surroundings, which included meat, veggies, and nuts. Therefore, unprocessed single-ingredient foods are your best bet when committing to a paleo diet. As shown in the pyramid diagram above, meat-based protein should be your primary calorie source, with veggies being a close second. It shouldn’t be too complicated to understand.
A great advantage of the paleo diet is that most of these food sources are quite cheap. Salmon, steaks, and nuts like almonds may be expensive, but that’s about it. You can easily buy high-protein food sources like ground beef, peanuts, oats, and shrimp for very low prices. Paleo is becoming very popular and this is one of the main reasons why.
In summary, the paleo diet helps us eat in a way that benefits our body, both health-wise and evolutionarily. That is the crux of the paleo diet. It is a helpful, low-cost diet for many people looking to manage their weight, build muscle, and increase their energy levels. The paleo diet is exclusive from veganism and vegetarianism, although the two diets can be combined together.
1) Paleo Overnight Oats
Well, they aren’t actually oats per say, but rather a mix of ground flaxseed meal and spices like vanilla and cinnamon. You can make this no oats recipe with chia seeds, but flaxseeds have more protein and nutritional value. Regular overnight oats are fine, too, if you use mix-ins like nuts and berries
Non-dairy milk like coconut milk is great to use, but you can also use any dairy milk just fine. Coconut milk should be your go-to choice for the liquid because it helps the flaxseeds soak better and gives a creamier taste. Adding in fruits like apple slices and blueberries makes the breakfast even better when it comes out of the fridge.
To make this oatmeal, simply buy the necessary ingredients, and pour the coconut milk and flaxseeds in a bowl and chill them overnight. After about 8 hours, take out the bowl and add the necessary mix-ins and spices. You can heat it up in a microwave if you prefer a warm, Goldilocks-style oatmeal, which is perfect for those colder days.
2) Broccoli Cauliflower Salad
Salads aren’t usually that filling, but this delicious, simple salad breaks the mold. Broccoli and cauliflower are excellent breakfast options since they are high in fiber and nutritionally dense. If you hate the taste of raw vegetables, you can boil or steam the veggies to make it chewier and more palatable. You are free to add in as much broccoli or cauliflower as you need.
What else can you add to your paleo salad? You can make the broccoli and cauliflower taste better by adding salt, pepper, and/or vinaigrette, and in most cases, this would be enough for your salad. But if you want more flavor, you can add foods like toasted nuts, sliced fruit, feta cheese, and steamed mushrooms.
One thing I like to do is add more protein to my salads to help make it more filling. It also makes it easier for me to get my protein intake for the day. Boiled eggs, cut chicken breast slices, seafood like canned tuna and crab meat, tofu, red lentils, tempeh, and chickpeas are all examples of high protein salad toppings. Mix a lot of these into your meal to make a killer salad.
3) Grilled Salmon with Cooked Zucchini
Salmon is an all-around awesome food because it has plenty of healthy fats and protein. Fats like oils and omega-3s provide long-term sustainable energy, which works great for warding off food cravings. Zucchini is rich in almost every vitamin and antioxidant you can think of, as well as fiber and water, which helps you digest food much easier. Together, they make for a premier paleo pairing.
Top your salmon and zucchini with some lemon sauce or honey mustard, and add some salt to really make the taste shine through. This dish is very filling on its own, so you don’t necessarily need to add more food. As for the zucchini, you can either boil it or pan-fry it with the salmon. The fat from the salmon will naturally seep into the zucchini during cooking, which makes it even better to eat.
4) Egg and Potato Salad (Many Variations)
Egg salad and potato salad have long been staple brunch foods, and they work especially well in the paleo diet. They’re highly customizable and contain a nice mix of protein, minerals, and fiber.
To make egg salad, all you need to do is hard-boil 3-5 eggs, peel off their shells, and mash them into a dish. Then, you add mayonnaise and brown mustard, and mix them with seasonings like salt, pepper, and paprika. Once the egg salad is done, you can add extra ingredients like chopped potatoes, avocado, and even nuts. Egg potato salad never fails to disappoint as a healthy, delicious paleo breakfast idea.
All egg salad variations are easy to store in any container, covered in a lid or plastic wrap. This makes it particularly good to bring with you in any commute.
5) Breakfast Tacos
What makes breakfast tacos different from dinner tacos is the inclusion of scrambled eggs or tofu. The combination of ground beef and eggs in this food makes it easy for you to get an early head start on your protein intake for the day.
As for mix-ins, pico de gallo, cheddar cheese, and avocado are among the best to use. Vegetable mix-ins like spinach, mushrooms, and asparagus also work great. Better yet, you can always serve your extra tacos to your family, and they’ll love you for it.
6) Super Nutritious Protein Smoothie
There’s plenty of ways to make a smoothie, but finding the right mix of ingredients to put in it can be hard. If you want to have a nice balance of protein, sugar and fat, this superfood smoothie has got you covered.
The most important ingredients are avocado, whey protein, and banana. These alone will make your smoothie thick and nutrient-dense. You can then add natural flavor enhancers like mango, strawberry, oats, and peanut butter. As a paleo breakfast idea, it can act as a full breakfast meal when paired with foods like Greek yogurt or oatmeal.
Smoothies come in many variations, so it’s hard to be bored when you can try out a new smoothie every once in a while. If you need some inspiration, this post covering a unique protein smoothie idea is a nice place to start.
7) Homemade Energy Bars
Are you tired of the constant push for eggs and fruit in the paleo diet? Then why not make some homemade energy bars for a change? They naturally come out very nutty and flavorful, and they’re perfect for on-the-go snacking. Nuts are a primary food in the paleo diet, so this paleo breakfast idea can be very favorable.
8) Cassava flour Pancakes
Cassava flour is good to have for multiple reasons. It is the only flour that’s high in potassium and vitamin C, as well as being a good source of fiber. It tends to taste a little sweet, which is fine if you don’t plan on using too much sugar.
So why not make pancakes with it? Regular pancakes are calorie-dense and low in nutrients, so bringing a flour that solves both these problems directly is a huge bonus. It’s a great paleo option because you can pair it with sides like fruit juice and yogurt. Cassava flour isn’t the only flour that’s good to use for pancakes-check out this recipe on how to make your own buckwheat pancakes from scratch.
9) Egg Muffins
Egg muffins are great if you need a quick and simple grab-and-go protein option. They require very little time to make, giving them a great niche in speedy overnight food-prep foods.
In as little as 20 minutes, you can go from raw eggs to fully cooked egg muffin cups, assuming you have a non-stick muffin pan. Simply throw together your egg mixture in a bowl with your favorite spices, then pour the mixture in your muffin holes. Bake for 15-20 minutes at 350°F (176°C), and you’re good to go. At that point, you can do whatever you want with them. I personally prefer to put them in a lunchbox, sealed tightly in a ziplock bag.
If you want to go the extra mile, try mixing chopped spinach, diced onions, or chopped butternut squash in your egg mixture. They really amp up the taste while also providing healthy fibers that will fill you up more.
10) Ground Turkey Bowl with Steamed Veggies
Out of all the paleo breakfast ideas on this list, this one has the highest protein count. Ground turkey can provide upwards of 120g of protein with just 2 or 3 servings. As such, it is a fantastic zero-carb option for bodybuilders.
Not only that, it’s also quite simple to make. Cook the ground turkey in a pan or wok and add seasonings of choice when it’s done. Make sure to stir regularly, and keep the turkey somewhat moist so it doesn’t get too sticky. As for your veggies, try steaming or boiling them with salt, separate from the ground turkey. The savoriness of the turkey, combined with the salt and aroma of cooked veggies, gives this dish a killer taste. It is a fantastic meal to have during all times of the day.
Cooking a large quantity of ground turkey isn’t difficult, so it can be a great food to feed a family. You can choose to buy tortillas if you’re interested in making ground turkey tacos.
Paleo Breakfast Ideas-Summary
There are lots of different paleo breakfast ideas, and this post only scratches the surface of how many variations you can make. Get creative and see which paleo foods work well together. Be sure that you are giving yourself plenty of protein, carbs, and fats to work with. Carbohydrates in particular are difficult to have in paleo, so try incorporating oats and veggies in your diet as much as you can.
