Macro-friendly breakfast ideas to start your day on target

When you start getting serious about macro-tracking, you might start seeing your usual meals a bit more critically. But, if you realize you need to pick up some more macro-friendly breakfast ideas, you’re in luck: As an easily manipulated meal, you can still satisfy your breakfast cravings while hitting those morning PFC targets.

Remember, any recipe can be macro-friendly for you if you can change it slightly without compromising the whole dish. For example, if you are in the mood for pancakes and want to add more protein, you can tweak a recipe to include more eggs or even sub protein powder for some flour. 

In general, most macro-trackers want to emphasize high protein, moderate calorie meals—so here are some of my favorite breakfast recipes and suggested tweaks to start your day off right. 

This egg-based breakfast muffin from Julie, The Gourmet RD, packs a protein punch—which might be one of your biggest trouble spots as a macro-counting newbie. No one likes to play “catch up” on macros, so by front-loading your day with a significant portion of protein in your breakfast meal, you’ll be better set up to hit your macro goals by the end of the day. 

Tweak this recipe to fit your macro goals by:

  • Adding egg whites to increase the protein content
  • Holding back some whole eggs to less fat
  • Adding more or less cheese to manipulate the fat 
  • Opt for Greek yogurt over fluid milk for more protein (recipe gives the choice for either) 

Because you’re in control of the ingredients and the portions, smoothies are one of the easiest ways to make macro-friendly meals. Peep this berry-packed recipe from Registered Dietitian, Tara Rochford. Since you can mix and match protein, fat and carbohydrate rich foods, you’re bound to find a combination that tastes great and keeps you on track with your daily macro goals. 

Tweak this recipe to fit your macro goals by:

  • Adding more or less berries to manipulate the carbohydrate count
  • Adding more or less dried fruit (dates) to manipulate the carbohydrate count
  • Opting for full-fat coconut milk instead of other low-fat plant-based alternatives to bump up the fat content
  • Adding nuts, seeds or nut or seed butters for more fat content
  • Adding more protein powder or throwing in a dollop of Greek yogurt for more protein

Overnight oats can be extremely macro-friendly—especially if you keep the protein element in mind. The Sassy Dietitian, Laura Ligos created this recipe for pumpkin spice overnight oats and it can absolutely fit your macro needs as-is or can be altered to provide more or less protein, fat and carbohydrate macros. 

Tweak this recipe to fit your macro goals by:

  • Using more Greek yogurt for more protein 
  • Swapping a ready-to-drink vanilla protein drink for full-fat milk to up the protein content 
  • Adding more or less chia seeds to manipulate the fat count 
  • Using full-fat or fat-free Greek yogurt to dial up and down the fat content

It doesn’t get any more macro-friendly than this one-pan breakfast dish from Paleo Running Momma! Between meat, eggs, vegetables and cooking oils, this breakfast is abouts as macro-balanced as they come. Eating high-protein meals means you’ll stay fuller for longer, prevent mid-morning cravings and better stay on track with meeting your macro for the whole day. 

Tweak this recipe to fit your macro goals by:

  • Using Canadian bacon instead of or in addition to pork bacon to increase protein content
  • Adding more or less avocado oil to manipulate the fat content
  • Adding diced red or sweet potatoes to the mix for more carbohydrates
  • Opting for turkey bacon or turkey sausage instead of pork bacon to decrease fat macros

Make-ahead, macro-friendly breakfast bowls? Yes, please! Because this recipe from SkinnyTaste puts you in control of the ingredients and their portion sizes, you can ensure it fits your needs and your preferences. 

Tweak this recipe to fit your macro goals by:

  • Increasing calories and protein by adding more whole eggs
  • Padding the dish with more protein by adding turkey bacon, turkey sausage, Canadian bacon or egg whites
  • Opting for a fattier percent ground turkey or ground beef for fat macros
  • Adding diced potatoes for more carbohydrates
  • Adding more or less cheese to manipulate the fat 

need to get your hands on best-fit macro targets?