You have bread and tea at 7am, and by 10am you are at the snack seller again, wondering why breakfast never lasts.
The typical Nigerian breakfasts are bread and tea, akara and pap, yam and egg sauce, and plantain and egg. The ones that keep you full till lunch have protein sitting beside the carb. Two slices of white bread (50 g) with two boiled eggs comes to about 288 calories and gives you 17 g of protein.
I’m Odunayo, a pharmacist and nutrition coach. You don’t need new foods for this: every one of these Nigerian breakfast ideas is one you already buy or cook, with the swap that makes it lighter. I built each plate from USDA FoodData Central ingredient records, so the figures show the food before your pepper and seasoning.
If you would rather have your portions worked out for you, our customised meal plan does that.
What makes a Nigerian breakfast filling
Protein and fibre are what hold a breakfast in your belle. In a study of 30 women with overweight, an egg breakfast gave more fullness than a bagel breakfast with the same calories and weight. The women ate about 164 calories less at lunch, and their intake stayed lower for 36 hours.
It was a small study of one meal, so I take it as a useful sign for eggs and wait for bigger trials before calling it proof.
Adding breakfast on its own is unlikely to help you lose weight. In a review of 13 trials in adults, people who ate breakfast weighed 0.44 kg more and ate about 260 calories a day more than people who skipped it. The trials were short and mostly of low quality, and I read them as saying breakfast is optional, with the plate you choose deciding what it does for your weight.
Fibre comes from carbs we already eat. 150 g of boiled yam gives 5.8 g of fibre, and 200 g of boiled beans gives 13 g. Plantain and oats add more.
Eggs are the easiest protein to add, and my guide to high protein foods in Nigeria lists the others you can put beside your breakfast carb.
1. Bread and egg breakfast
50 g of white bread, about 2 slices, is about 133 calories. With two boiled eggs, the plate comes to about 288 calories, with 17 g of protein and 1.4 g of fibre.
There is no separate record for agege bread, so I’ve used the white bread record for it.
Swap to whole-wheat bread and the same plate is about 281 calories, with 18.8 g of protein. The fibre goes from 1.4 g to 3 g.
Fry the eggs instead of boiling them and the white bread plate goes up to about 329 calories.
When you scramble or fry, chop tomato and onion into the eggs. 60 g of tomato is about 11 calories and 30 g of onion about 12, and they make the plate bigger for little extra.
2. Yam and egg sauce
150 g of boiled yam with two eggs, 60 g of tomato and 30 g of onion, cooked in 1 tablespoon of oil, comes to about 472 calories.
Cook the same sauce in 1 teaspoon of oil and it is about 392. The plate still gives 15.7 g of protein and 7.1 g of fibre.
A tablespoon of vegetable oil is about 120 calories and a teaspoon about 40. Measure the oil with a spoon instead of pouring from the bottle, use a non-stick pan, and let the tomatoes cook down in their own water.
3. Plantain and egg breakfast
Plantain is one of the foods my clients worry about most, and you can keep it.
150 g of boiled unripe plantain is about 182 calories. With two boiled eggs, the plate comes to about 337 calories, with 14.2 g of protein and 3.9 g of fibre.
Fry ripe plantain into dodo and 150 g alone is about 354 calories. With two fried eggs, the plate is about 550 calories for 15.7 g of protein.
On dodo days, keep the plantain to 150 g and boil the eggs. I go through plantain cooked every way in is plantain good for weight loss.
4. Akara and moi moi for breakfast
Akara and pap is the breakfast many of us buy on the way to work. Moi moi with pap or custard, and ewa agoyin with bread, come from the same family, because they are all beans.
I won’t give you one figure for akara, moi moi or pap. Akara is deep fried, so the oil it soaks up changes from one seller to the next, and moi moi is steamed with oil, egg and fish that differ in every kitchen. Pap is mostly starch, which is why it needs the akara or moi moi beside it.
Plain beans I can give you. 200 g of boiled beans is about 232 calories, with 15.5 g of protein and 13 g of fibre.
Ewa agoyin and bread made with 200 g of beans, 50 g of bread and 1 tablespoon of palm oil comes to about 485 calories. With 1 teaspoon of palm oil it is about 405, and the protein stays at 19.9 g.
When you buy agoyin, ask for the sauce on the side and spoon it on yourself. My article on whether beans is good for weight loss goes further into beans, oil and portions.
5. Oats for a Nigerian breakfast
250 g of oats cooked in water, with a 118 g banana and 15 g of groundnuts, comes to about 368 calories, with 11.5 g of protein and 8.6 g of fibre.
Add a boiled egg on the side and it is about 445 calories with 17.8 g of protein.
Measure the groundnuts. 15 g is a small palmful at about 85 calories, and a pour straight from the bottle can be far more than that.
6. Noodles and egg for breakfast
Noodles and egg is a weekday favourite, especially in student hostels. There is no USDA record for Indomie, so I’ve used a similar US instant noodle record, which means you should check your own pack.
70 g of those dry noodles with two boiled eggs comes to about 462 calories, with 19.7 g of protein and 2 g of fibre.
Cook carrots, cabbage or spinach into the pot to make the bowl bigger and add some fibre. I answer the Indomie question in full in is Indomie healthy.
7. Boli and groundnut breakfast
There is no record for roasted plantain, so I’ve used the database’s baked yellow plantain record, the closest one it has.
150 g of boli with a 30 g handful of groundnuts comes to about 403 calories, with 10 g of protein.
Eat 99 g of groundnuts with the same boli and it is about 794 calories.
Count a small handful of groundnuts into your palm before you start eating, and put the rest of the pack away.
8. Sweet potato and egg breakfast
Boiled sweet potato and eggs is a simple swap for bread when you want something different. 200 g of boiled sweet potato with two boiled eggs comes to about 307 calories, with 15.3 g of protein and 5 g of fibre.
Leftover dinner warmed up counts as breakfast too. Last night’s beans, yam or rice works in the morning, as long as you serve yourself a breakfast portion and leave the rest in the pot.
Tea and breakfast drinks
Tea with 30 g of evaporated milk and 2 teaspoons of sugar is about 73 calories. Each teaspoon of sugar is about 16 calories.
Milo, Bournvita and Golden Morn are in many Nigerian homes. I haven’t given figures for them here, so read the nutrition panel on your pack and check the serving size it uses.
Whatever you drink, have it beside a protein breakfast.
Preparing breakfast the night before
Most of us skip a good breakfast because mornings are rushed, so do some of the work the evening before:
- Boil a batch of eggs and keep them in the fridge.
- Steam moi moi in bulk at the weekend and freeze it in portions.
- Chop tomatoes, onions and peppers for the egg sauce.
- Soak oats overnight so they need only a few minutes in the morning.
Rotate the dishes across the week so you don’t get tired of one breakfast. Our Nigerian food time table does the same for lunch and dinner.
A customised Nigerian meal plan
Each of these Nigerian breakfast ideas works when the portion fits the rest of your day. Our customised meal plan for everyone tells you what to eat and how much, planned around the Nigerian foods you enjoy, your goals and your daily schedule.
