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Not all egg dishes are created nutritionally equal, but with a few simple tweaks you can enjoy cafe-style indulgence – without blowing your health goals.
When it comes to nutritious breakfast options, it’s difficult to beat eggs. Packed with no fewer than 17 key nutrients, eggs become one of the most satisfying meals you can enjoy – especially when paired with wholegrain carbohydrates.
Not all egg orders are created equal. However, whether you prefer yours hard-boiled, over-easy, or in a more indulgent style, it’s easy to give your favourite style of eggs a healthy upgrade. Here’s how.
Poached eggs
As one of the healthiest ways to prepare eggs – especially when cooked in water, a non-stick pan or a splash of extra virgin olive oil – the real benefit of poaching is versatility. They can be easily teamed with extra vegetables and wholegrain toast to create a filling, nutritionally balanced breakfast. For an added healthy veg hit, try Danielle Alvarez’ tomato and basil poached eggs (pictured above), .
Supercharge the nutrition: Serve with a side of cottage cheese to help this breakfast reach 30 grams of protein.
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Omelette
The best thing about omelettes is that you can easily add a range of different ingredients that supercharge your eggs into delicious meals packed full of nutrients. By adding feta, ricotta, cottage cheese or cheddar (preferably not all at once!) you are adding extra calcium to your breakfast.
Smoked salmon (like in Jill Dupleix’s recipe, pictured above) adds omega-3 fatty acids, protein and vitamins. Loading it up further with a variety of vegies – think spinach, kale, calcium, mushrooms and tomato – and you have a fibre- and protein-rich meal that is ready in minutes.
Supercharge your nutrition: Adding milk and lighter varieties of cheese, such as ricotta and goat’s cheese, will increase the calcium content of your egg-based breakfast.
Baked eggs
Baking eggs with lycopene-rich tomatoes and herbs and spices (as in Neil Perry’s recipe, above) is an easy way to boost your antioxidant intake, with a cooking method that retains most of the natural nutrients present in any vegetables served. Even better, adding in legumes such as chickpeas or cannellini beans will boost the fibre content of this increasingly popular breakfast option.
Supercharge your nutrition: Skip the heavy Turkish bread that baked eggs are often served with when you can.
Hard-boiled eggs
Easy to prepare and convenient to transport, boiled eggs may be the perfect nutrition hit that still feels like a bit of a treat. Eating them hard-boiled means that you are not adding any extra fats to the mix, although be aware that by boiling them, the potency of the heat-sensitive nutrients, including that of the carotenoid antioxidants, may be affected.
Two hard-boiled eggs offer 12 to 14 grams of protein, which means they are better served as a filling snack than a substantial meal. Simply enjoying your eggs with nutrient-rich smoked salmon, or wholegrain crackers or toast will help, as will serving them with cottage cheese if you are aiming for 20 to 30 grams of protein as part of a main meal.
Supercharge the nutrition: Use hard-boiled eggs as a protein-rich snack with fresh fruits and vegetables.
Scrambled eggs
If you make scrambled eggs at home and combine eggs with a little milk in a cast-iron pan cooked with extra virgin olive oil, they are relatively healthy. But beware the cafe version that tends to be much higher in calories, thanks to the addition of tasty extras like butter, cream and cheese.
If you make scrambled eggs at home, stick to low-fat milk and add extra vegetables. If you are ordering out, healthier options include omelettes, baked eggs or plain poached eggs with vegies on the side.
Supercharge the nutrition: Avoid high-fat extras such as cream, add extra egg whites to bump up the protein, and serve with vegies for a nutritionally balanced breakfast.
Eggs Benedict
Delicious and indulgent, yes. Healthy? Not so much. A single serve of eggs Benedict at a typical cafe can contain upwards of 60 grams of fat thanks to the heavy hollandaise sauce made from butter and egg yolk that bring it in at 500-600 calories per serve. While you can make healthier versions using Greek yoghurt as base, the key to making eggs Benny healthy is to ask for the sauce on the side and use very little of it, which kind of defeats the purpose of ordering it.
Supercharge the nutrition: Make your own lighter version at home using Greek yoghurt, lemon juice, cottage cheese and olive oil as a base and serve any indulgent breakfast with sauce on the side and loads of vegies (like in Jill Dupleix’s version, above).
