8 Breakfasts That Are Healthier Than Cereal

Breakfast doesn’t have to be healthy. But if you’re looking to frontload your day with nutrients, choosing the best option can be daunting. This week, nutritionist Chelsey Amer told The Daily Meal that pizza can be a healthier breakfast than cereal. While Amer said a bowl of cereal with whole milk and a plain slice may have similar calorie contents, “pizza packs a much larger protein punch, which will keep you full and boost satiety throughout the morning.”

So go ahead, reheat last night’s pizza on your way out the door in the morning. If you’re not quite interested in a morning slice, here are a few other breakfasts that carry more nutritional weight, which will likely fill you with the energy you need to finish the day. Or at least make it to lunchtime without the 11am stomach-grumbles.

Avocado Toast. You might be sick of it, but there’s no denying avocado toast has tons of good fat and barely any added sugar. Plus, if you pick a seedy whole grain bread, you’ll load up on complex carbs that will keep you full for hours.

Bacon and Eggs. Whether you like them scrambled, poached, fried, or boiled, a breakfast of eggs with a couple slices of bacon (or a link of sausage, or even vegetarian breakfast meat) are going to supply you with more protein than the average bowl of cereal.

A Breakfast Salad. You could probably guess that a salad would be more nutritious than cereal, but it doesn’t have to be a sad pile of romaine lettuce. Zhoosh up a breakfast salad with more flavorful greens, like arugula and kale, sprinkle on chopped toasted nuts or seeds, and make your own vinaigrette by 1 part oil with 2 parts acid (vinegar, citrus juice) and ½ part something thick and tasty, like honey, mustard, tahini, or miso paste.

Oatmeal (and Other Porridges). As long as you don’t cover the bowl with half a cup of brown sugar, a bowl of oatmeal or porridge is hearty and satisfying. Dress up a bowl with fresh fruit or nut butter, or go savory with hot sauce and a fried egg.

Pasta. Like pizza, a bowl of breakfast pasta is bound to be less processed than a bowl of cereal, which ultimately makes it a more nutritious breakfast option. As for whether you’d opt for Cocoa Puffs carbonara in the morning, that’s a whole other thing.

Grain Bowls. Pack a bowl with cooked whole grains (like farro, quinoa, rice, barley), roasted vegetables, greens, legumes. Top the grain bowl with an egg or some shredded chicken if you want and you’re good to go.

Yogurt. Plain, full-fat yogurts drizzled with tahini, fruit, and honey taste just as sweet as a bowl of cereal but without all the processed crap that often comes in the box. Like oatmeal, yogurt also slants savory: serve a bowl with roasted vegetables, marinated beans, and avocado.

Sweet Potatoes. Roasted, toasted, hasselback-ed, or hashed, sweet potatoes are a killer option in both the flavor and nutrition departments.