So here’s an unexpected consequence of switching to paleo: Breakfast might get confusing.

Once you stop thinking of breakfast as toast and oatmeal or a muffin and a glass of milk, you might be stymied by how to start your day. Let me make it a little easier for you. Instead of thinking about breakfast as a time when you eat foods that you only eat in the morning, think of it as a time when you can eat whatever you want from the “Yes” list!

Grilled chicken and vegetables make an excellent breakfast, and eggs with zucchini can be a comforting dinner. Why deny yourself certain foods just to adhere to the conventional notions of breakfast, lunch, and dinner?

Rather than retrofitting old meal ideas into your new paleo life, just eat whatever combo of protein, vegetables, and fat pleases you at the time. Wake up hungry for steak and sweet potatoes in the morning? Crank up the heat under your cast-iron skillet! Craving the comfort of an omelet after a long day? Scramble it up!

My typical breakfast is usually something like this:

• A small bowl of Silky Gingered Zucchini Soup (sometimes eaten while making the rest of my breakfast!)

• A sauté made from grilled chicken thigh cut into cubes, a cup of chopped collard greens (usually frozen greens that have been defrosted in the fridge), and a 1/2 cup of roasted sweet potatoes (roasted in advance and cut into cubes), and a dollop of ghee (We always have a jar of homemade ghee in the cabinet.)

Sometimes I replace the chicken with browned ground beef or leftover meatballs cut into quarters, or bits of pulled pork. Instead of collard greens, I might eat steamed broccoli or cabbage or green beans, but my weekday breakfast looks a lot like my lunches and dinners.

It might seem unusual to eat piles of vegetables for breakfast, but millions of people are doing it all over the world! Here are a few more suggestions to get you started.

Leftovers

Why not eat leftover stew or chili for breakfast?! You can make just about any casserole or curry take on a decidedly breakfast-y vibe when you top it with a fried or poached egg. Or just enjoy it again, as is.

Soup

Warm and comforting, a mug of soup is a gentle way to start the day — and it’s especially nice in colder months. A simple slurp of beef or chicken broth can take the place of coffee, and a smooth, veggie based soup — like Golden Cauliflower Soup, or Sweet Potato Soup — is a sneaky way to get more veggies into your day. You can make it a full meal by adding cooked protein or poached/fried eggs.

Veggies

I understand that it might be challenging to stare down a plate of Brussels sprouts at 7:00 am, but milder veggies like broccoli, zucchini, asparagus, green beans, and spinach are benign enough to face in the morning, and they all pair beautifully with eggs in a scramble or an omelet.

Fry Up!

Let’s all thank the Brits right now for a proper “cuppa” tea and the traditional British fry up, which includes grilled tomatoes and mushrooms with fried eggs, sausage, and bacon. It’s a protein-packed way to start (or end!) the day, and it comes with built-in veggies.

Salad

I admit that this might be advanced paleo eating, but one of my favorite breakfasts is a brunch-inspired salad plate: cold smoked salmon, a few hard-boiled eggs, a cucumber cut into thin slices, all drizzled with a little extra-virgin olive oil and a handful of grapes or berries on the side.

Excerpted and adapted with permission from Well Fed 2: More Paleo Recipes for People Who Love to Eat.

Want more? You might also like:

9 Paleo-Friendly Foods I Always Have in My Kitchen

I Hated My Body from a Young Age, But the Paleo Lifestyle Changed (and Saved) Me

30 Reasons Everyone Should Whole30

Finding Relief from Multiple Sclerosis (MS) with a Paleo Diet

Want to see more quick & easy paleo meals? Check out Melissa’s book Well Fed Weeknights: Complete Paleo Meals in 45 Minutes or Less for delicious recipes!
Can’t wait for it to ship?! Try out 18 more recipes from Melissa’s new book in the meantime. 

Note: PLEASE consult with  your doctor before making any changes to your diet or medications. The material on this site is provided for educational purposes only, and is not to be used for medical advice, diagnosis or treatment.