Do you bang your head against the wall trying to figure out the best ways to squeeze in a muscle building breakfast without having a significant amount of time? It’s tough to find ways to support recovery from your brutal workouts with little-to-no time on the mornings for lengthy prepping, cooking and cleaning.
Crappy, so called convenience health foods have flooded the market promising you endless energy and high amounts of protein. In reality, these foods rarely provide a protein count in the double digits and leave you feeling hungry. If you aren’t careful you’ll find yourself hitting the vending machine or choosing other unhealthy options which will wreak havoc on your physique.
Related: Best Protein Supplements (Protein Powder & Bars)
Best Easy Muscle Building Breakfasts
Below are 5 fast high protein breakfast options to help you build muscle, feel fuller, longer and are easy to prep, eat and enjoy. These recipes are were chosen because they have high protein content, taste good, can be prepared quickly and are good for muscle gain.
If you have any muscle building breakfast favorites please drop them in the comments below!
1. Greek Yogurt Combo
- Protein: 48g
- Carbs: 40g
- Fats: 2g
- Calories: 390
As Greek yogurt only increases in popularity due to its high protein content so do the creative ways to combine it with other healthy, muscle-friendly fare. As a great high protein morning meal, this will require you to do a little prep the night before. Here you will want to use plain Greek yogurt to keep the sugar count down and either steel-cut or regular whole oats. Combine one cup of the yogurt, ½ cup of oats and a dash of vanilla extract. Let it sit in the refrigerator overnight. In the morning add in your choice of fruit and 1 scoop of vanilla whey protein. Stir and enjoy.
2. Hard Boiled Eggs and Ezekiel Bread
- Protein: 31g
- Carbs: 30g
- Fats: 17g
- Calories: 400
You can’t deny the power of the egg. Oftentimes thought of as the gold standard for protein ratings, the egg is not only one of the most complete proteins around it’s also convenient as it gets. Hard boiled is the way to go when it comes to portability and ease of eating. And contrary to what many would call a big no-no, yes, you can eat yolks in moderation for a myriad of benefits one of which being regulating key anabolic hormones. 3 extra-large eggs and two slices of Ezekiel bread with low-sugar jelly will make one high-powered breakfast!
Related: 10 Homemade Mass Gain Shakes With 800+ Calories
3. Cottage Cheese and Fruit
- Protein: 30g
- Carbs: 50g
- Fats: 3g
- Calories: ~200
With a ton of press surrounding Greek yogurt these days it’s easy for a power food such as cottage cheese to get lost in the commotion. This simple yet versatile high protein convenience food needs to reclaim its rightful spot as a top muscle-building contender once again. Simply combine 1 cup of low-fat cottage cheese with your favorite fruit such as peaches, strawberries or apple slices and you’ll have one instant protein source along with fibrous carbs. Of course you can always combine another carb source along with this such as a slice or two of Ezekiel bread, 100% whole wheat bread or a small bowl of oats.
4. Veggie and Egg Scramble
- Protein: 26g
- Carbs: ~12g
- Fats: 16g
- Calories: 290
If you have just a few more minutes to spare and can whip-up some scrambled eggs then you can create a great tasting breakfast option with a host of flavor and health benefits. This one is for the lower carb dieters out there looking to feel full without the added calories. Scramble 3 extra-large eggs and add in ¼ cup of low-fat shredded cheese and some of your favorite vegetables such as spinach, sliced tomatoes, peppers, mushrooms and/or onions. Add some salt, pepper and maybe a little salsa for a bit of a kick. Voila, instant muscle food!
5. Protein Oatmeal
- Protein: 32g
- Carbs: 35g
- Fats: 12g
- Calories: 300
If you are the “anti-overthinker” type who just wants to pour everything into the same bowl for convenience and ease this one was catered to you. Packed with long-lasting complex carbs, whey protein and healthy fats this quick meal covers all your bases. Combine ½ cup of one minute quick oats (not the packaged kind) with 1 tablespoon of peanut butter, 1 teaspoon of natural sweetener, 1 teaspoon a cinnamon and ½ cup of low-fat or non-fat milk. After microwaving for 1 minute add in 1 scoop of vanilla whey protein powder. Mix and add water for desired thickness.
Have any suggestions for this list?
If you have your own muscle building breakfast favorites post them in the comments below. If they're good, we might add them to the list.
22 Comments
Some really good recipes. The best part is these can be prepared in no time.
The best break fast is oats and some incredients 50 g oats ,2/ TSP honey ,3 TSP peanut butter ,2bananas of 40g , 4 almonds , 4 cashew nuts chopped 125 ml , milk
Power Packed Breakfast
Meal prep night before
2 large brown eggs
1/2 cup egg whites
1/2 cup shredded potato
4 ounces ground turkey
1 ounce onion
2 ounces green pepper
1 Roma tomato
47 grams protein
18 grams fat
22 grams carbohydrate
442 calories
Does it have to be vanilla flavoured whey protein for the Greek Yogurt combo or can I use chocolate mint or strawberry?
I use MyProtein Decedent chocoate flavour and its fireee
Use any protein flavor you enjoy.
I used to eat cottage cheese all the time until a trainer told me to cut out the dairy if I wanted to lose weight and lower my body fat percentage... What's your take on this advice?
Hi Davey,
Unless you have an allergen or intolerance to dairy, you'll be fine eating it. Losing weight and lowering your bodyfat won't happen by simply avoiding a food group. Sure, it might help aid in calorie restriction if you eat a lot of it and don't replace those calories with something else, but simply not eating dairy wont equate to fat loss all things equal.
If you want to lose weight and alter you're body fat you have to eat in a calorie deficit over an extended period of time. Find your calorie needs here: https://www.muscleandstrength.com/tools/bmr-calculator
Once you have that number, subtract ~250-500 calories from it. This will equate to about 0.5-1lb of weight loss a week. Track your progress, if you stall subtract another ~100 calories and test that amount out for a couple of weeks.
It takes time, but you'll get there.
Hope this helps!
I've found that only one cup of greek yogurt is not enough to absorb a full scoop of protein. Even after stirring endlessly, I still had residual protein at the bottom of my container. I would recommend doing half a scoop and getting your 15 grams of lost protein elsewhere.
Is it uncommon for men to not know how to prep and convince their woman to do so for them?
Should the veggies be raw or cooked when added to the eggs? I can't imagine something like mushrooms getting enough heat to fully cook.
Hi Hank, veggies can be raw such as spinach and mushrooms. But if you prefer cooked, give them a try.
This may be a dumb question but for #1 are the oats prepared first or raw?
I use raw oats and they absorb the moisture from the yogurt overnight.
Raw
I too was wondering if their to be raw or cooked.
Yes, raw...
Number 5 is definitely my favorite, quick and tasty!
Mine too, love oatmeal!
greek yogurt and blue berries all day everyday
Some good and easy ideas here. There really is no reason to be eating sh*t from fast food joints for breakfast...these things take almost no time to prepare. No excuses people!
Thanks, John!