Healthy Breakfast Choices

These instructions guide Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) families in choosing a healthy and balanced breakfast for their children.

Important information:

Eating breakfast is the best way to start the day. It improves school performance, mood and behavior. It also guides better food choices the whole day. Consider the tips below to create great breakfast habits.

Tips for choosing a healthy breakfast:

• Plan breakfast for the week. Decide on a few options.

• Be prepared for breakfast by shopping for items each week. Prepare breakfast the night before. Try oatmeal, eggs, diced fruit or yogurt parfait.

• Set an alarm. Allow enough time in the morning to eat breakfast. This may mean going to bed and waking up earlier.

• To wake up hungry, avoid eating late at night.

• Choose breakfast before screen time. Fitting breakfast in is hard with a busy morning routine. Have breakfast before turning on the TV, phone or tablet to make sure it doesn't get skipped.

• Try to sit at a table for breakfast and enjoy without feeling rushed.

Choose breakfast items that are:

• Low in added sugar (8 grams or less of sugar)

• Whole wheat or whole grain and high in fiber (3 grams or more of fiber)

• Low in total fat (4 grams or less of fat)

• Low in saturated fat (2 grams or less of saturated fat)

• Free of trans fat

Choose these breakfast favorites less often and enjoy them on a special occasion:

• Sausage, bacon, scrapple

• Fried potatoes or hash browns

• French toast, Danishes, croissants, donuts, pop tarts or pastry strudels

Non-traditional breakfast ideas:

• Breakfast bowl with black beans, egg, quinoa, cheese, peppers and onions.

• Farro with cinnamon, yogurt and blueberries.

• Scrambled eggs with kale and salmon.

• Chicken sausage, sautéed pepper on a whole wheat roll.

• Black bean, cheese and pepper burrito.

• Egg white baked in a muffin tin with vegetables and cheese.

• Overnight oats. Try mixing oats, cinnamon, milk and fruit. Refrigerate overnight to eat cold or heated up in the morning.

• Soup (vegetable, chicken and rice, chili, chicken stew).

• Egg or chicken salad sandwich on whole-wheat bread.

• Rice and beans.

• Nut butter and fruit tortilla wrap. Spread nut butter on a tortilla, add sliced banana and strawberries, then fold.

• English muffin breakfast pizza. Try topping English muffin with scrambled eggs, then shredded cheese and vegetables of your choice. Toast until cheese is melted in the oven.

• Breakfast trail mix. Try dry cereal, dried fruit and nuts.

• Cottage cheese and fruit alone or on top of a whole-wheat English muffin.

• Leftovers from lunch or dinner. Eating something is better than skipping breakfast altogether.

Grab and go breakfast ideas when time is limited:

• Yogurt and fruit

• Granola bar and a glass of milk

• String cheese and whole-wheat crackers

• Whole-grain waffle and a cup of milk

• A handful of nuts and yogurt

• Hardboiled egg and fruit

• Overnight oats (oats soaked in milk overnight)

• Yogurt and fruit smoothie

• Dried fruit and nut mix with a cup of milk

• Whole-wheat bagel and low-fat cream cheese

• Whole-grain muffin and a cup of milk

• Nut butter on bread or toast and fruit

Mix and match breakfast ideas:

Choose 1 item from at least 3 food groups.

Whole Grains/Starch/Carb

• Bread

• Bagel

• English muffin

• Tortilla

• Oats

• Quinoa

• Farro

• Cracker or crispbread

• Dry cereal

• Granola bar

• Buckwheat

Meat/Protein

• Egg, egg white

• Yogurt

• Milk or high-protein milk alternative

• Cheese

• Cottage cheese

• Beans or lentils

• Nuts or nut butter

• Seeds (sunflower)

• Vegetarian meat, tofu

• Salmon or lox

• Canadian Bacon

Vegetable

• Broccoli

• Spinach

• Carrots

• Kale

• Collard greens

• Mushrooms

• Tomato

• Sweet Potato

• Peppers

• Celery

Fruit

• Banana

• Apple

• Strawberry

• Blueberry

• Blackberry

• Raspberry

• Cantaloupe

• Melon

• Peach

• Pear

• Plum

Dairy/ Dairy Alternative

Some non-dairy milk alternatives are very low in protein such as almond, coconut and oat milk. Choose milk alternatives that have a similar amount of protein to cow's milk. Examples of higher-protein plant-based milks include pea protein milk or protein-added nut milk and soy milk.

• Milk

• Yogurt

• Kefir

• Cottage cheese

• Cheese

• Plant-based milk

• Soy milk

• Cream cheese

Other

• Chia seeds

• Wheat germ

• Slivered nuts

• Avocado

• Hemp seeds

• Ground flaxseed

Reviewed on July 1, 2022, by Rebecca Rogers, RD