The Favorite Breakfasts Of 14 Celebrity Chefs

Breakfast is the ultimate equalizer. Whether you're a home cook or a world-renowned celebrity chef, everyone needs something to start the day off right. But do culinary geniuses have a different take on the first meal of the day? Do they whip up decadent restaurant-quality breakfast dishes like you see them making on popular cooking shows, or do they opt for something a little more pedestrian like toast or oatmeal? Well, that really depends on the chef. Some celebrity chefs keep it minimal, while others take breakfast as seriously as their dinner menus.

You might be surprised to learn that several star chefs are quite sensible when it comes to their breakfast choices. Many stick to easy-to-make meals or healthy eats like fruit with yogurt and nutrient-packed juices. Some chefs opt for classic dishes that transport them back to their childhood, and others love to start the day off with hearty and indulgent meals. The truth is that culinary stars' breakfast choices are as diverse as the shows they host. If you're curious to know what food experts love to eat when they wake up, these are 14 celebrity chefs' favorite breakfasts.

It's no secret that Chrissy Teigen is a huge foodie. She's written several cookbooks and often posts pics of her meals on her social media accounts. When it comes to breakfast, she's all about comfort and flavor. She's mentioned to several media outlets that she loves to start the day with eggs either fried or over easy on avocado toast. Sometimes she adds embellishments like tomato slices or turkey bacon. She also likes to season simply with salt and pepper, and sometimes a splash of hot sauce.

To give fans an idea of what her ideal breakfast looks like, Teigan shared an Instagram post depicting what she called her "Favorite easy breakfast." She described the dish as "Fried egg on avocado mashed with chili flakes, prosciutto, tomatoes, and that heavy ass sprouted Ezekiel bread to hold it all together on its way to my face." In another post, she shared a tip from her husband John Legend for an ultra-flavorful avocado mash. He simply adds a clove of minced garlic and salt to the avocado and mashes it with a fork before spreading it on the toast.

If you follow "Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives," you might assume that Guy Fieri is a big fan of over-the-top greasy diner breakfasts. However, nothing could be further from the truth. Fieri absolutely hates eggs, which he's been pretty vocal about. In a YouTube video, he called them both visually and texturally unappealing and referred to them as "liquid chicken." In addition, the chef told Business Insider that he's not much of a breakfast guy at all. But when he does sit down to a morning meal, his favorite dish is a Southern classic.

In the interview, Fieri said he grew up eating grits with ham and red-eye gravy thanks to his mother's North Carolina roots. For those not familiar with the dish, grits consist of ground corn that is typically cooked with butter and milk to create a thick porridge. The red eye gravy is made by frying country ham in a pan, then simmering the ham drippings with strong black coffee. When you add the gravy to the grits along with the ham, you get an indulgent dish that's savory, salty, and creamy. 

Sunny Anderson loves creating dishes that are wholesome and flavorful. Part of the reason she leans towards cleaner foods is because she has ulcerative colitis, which is an inflammatory bowel disease. Certain foods and cooking techniques can cause symptoms to flare up, so she's very aware of what she puts in her body. With that in mind, it makes sense that her go-to breakfast is a smoothie. She told EatingWell that she loves how smoothies are a healthy and convenient way to start the day.

Anderson revealed how she concocts her smoothies in a Facebook post outlining what she calls the 1-2-3 Smoothie. First, she said a good blender is a must and insinuated that her favorite brand is Vitamix. Her recipe includes one cup of yogurt, two cups of juice, and three cups of frozen fruit. Her top choices are vanilla yogurt and apple juice. In terms of fruit, she said, "I prefer that berry blend, but not mad at peaches." Anderson has also been known to make smoothie bowls with ingredients like granola, toasted coconut, banana, chia seeds, and dragon fruit blended with almond milk and almond butter.

Many chefs gravitate toward the foods they grew up with, especially when it comes to breakfast. For David Chang, that means fried rice. In a YouTube video where he demonstrates how to make fried rice, he said, "Fried rice is made in my house almost every day. We almost always take the rice cooked from the day before and roll it into breakfast of some sort." The chef went on to explain that his breakfast fried rice consists of anything that's leftover in the fridge. Shrimp, steak, bacon, and chiles are all fair game.

Chang's favorite breakfast dish is pretty simple to whip up, but there are a few tricks to making the ultimate bowl of fried rice. For one, leftover rice is essential because it's typically drier than freshly cooked rice, so it will crisp up more. You also want to make sure the oil is sizzling hot so the rice doesn't stick to the pan. Chang seasons his rice with salt, soy sauce, and agave syrup. He also likes to add a runny fried egg on top of his fried rice and a decent drizzle of chili crunch.

Padma Lakshmi loves to start the day with something easy to make and healthy to boot. In an episode of "Food Diaries" for Harper's Bazaar, she said she usually starts the day with a cup of masala chai tea and a bowl of vanilla yogurt with cinnamon and sliced banana. Sometimes she swaps out the yogurt for cottage cheese or experiments with different fruits like blackberries, papaya, or pomegranate. She also loves a drizzle of maple syrup on her fruit and yogurt and sometimes adds toasted nuts.

While Lakshmi often opts for a light fruit-forward breakfast, she's not opposed to more carb-heavy dishes. She also revealed that she's a fan of avocado toast with slices of cheese and a dish called egg-in-a-hole She described this as, "a big slice of sourdough bread fried in a pan with a circle cut out of it and then an egg cracked into it." She said she likes the egg white to be crispy and the yolk to be jammy. In addition, she likes to top her egg-in-a-hole with a drizzle of olive oil, flaky salt, and lashings of hot sauce.

Despite being rooted in Oklahoma ranch life, Ree Drummond's breakfast of choice is Mexican-inspired. On her website, she revealed that she's head over heels for migas. She stated that she first tried the dish on a trip to Austin, Texas, and was instantly blown away. "Migas, in a word, is heavenly," she said. "In another word, divine. In another word, dadgum delicious!" After months of trying to perfect her own version of the dish, she landed on a recipe featuring scrambled eggs with chopped tomatoes, bell peppers, jalapeños, onions, cheese, cilantro, and tortillas that are chopped and fried.

Migas can be traced back to the Iberian peninsula where it was a peasant dish made with leftover bread and heartier ingredients like chorizo and eggs. It might sound similar to chilaquiles, but there are some differences between the popular Mexican breakfast dishes. Chilaquiles are tortilla chips tossed in sauce and topped with ingredients like eggs, cheese, avocados, and sliced onions. Migas are more like a breakfast scramble where fried tortilla strips are mixed into scrambled eggs along with cheese and veggies.

Just like many of us, Ainsley Harriott doesn't always have time to cook an elaborate breakfast every day of the week. However, weekends are a different story. On his website, he revealed that his favorite brunch dish to cook for family and friends is sweetcorn fritters with a poached egg and avocado and black bean salsa. He explained that the heartiness of the egg is complemented by the fresh and spicy additions, creating a well-rounded meal.

Although Harriott's favorite brunch dish has a pretty lengthy ingredient list, it's not that difficult to make. The fritter mix consists of basic pantry staples like flour, baking powder, and cornflour mixed with canned and creamed sweetcorn. All you need to do is add the batter to a hot pan with oil and cook until golden and crispy. As for the black bean salsa, it's just fresh ingredients tossed together with no cooking required. While Harriott enjoys his sweetcorn fritters with poached eggs and salsa, you can also top them with bacon, smoked salmon, or even a dollop of sour cream.

When we did a deep dive into Gordon Ramsay's favorite foods, we discovered that the chef loves a diverse range of iconic dishes, some of which are truly decadent. But when it comes to his go-to morning meal, he keeps things surprisingly simple. When asked on a Reddit AMA thread about what he eats for breakfast, he said, "Everyone thinks I have a glamorous breakfast like a full English or eggs Benedict. I keep it simple because it reminds me of my mum ... porridge, which is oatmeal." He explained that the standard breakfast at his childhood home in Stratford-Upon-Avon was oatmeal with just water and salt.

Although the oatmeal of Ramsay's youth was a pretty basic affair, he revealed that he now likes to add some extra flair with fruit. He recommended starting the prep the night before by placing bananas in the oven with just the pilot light on. He said, "The next day, squeeze the bananas into almond milk, bring it to a boil, then add the oatmeal and dried cranberries, and you'll have the most amazing oatmeal for breakfast." He's also been known to add apples, dates, and cinnamon to his oatmeal. 

It's not always easy for busy celebrity chefs to squeeze breakfast into their hectic schedules. For Nigella Lawson though, it's worth the effort. On her website, she explained that she sees breakfast as a meal to celebrate each new day. On hectic days, she suggests turning to something easy like granola or breakfast bars. On less stressful days and weekends, she's a huge fan of lingering over a morning meal like good old American pancakes.

Pancakes may seem simple, but plenty can go wrong in the cooking process. Common mistakes that can ruin your pancakes include over-mixing the batter and using the wrong heat. Fortunately, Lawson has a few key tips to ensure your pancakes turn out perfectly every time. For one, she recommends using a smooth griddle or heavy-based pan to cook the pancakes evenly. She also suggests using a jug to pour the batter into the pan. Once the pancakes are bubbling on top, you know it's time to flip. Lawson loves her pancakes with warm maple syrup and sometimes crispy streaky bacon.

The breakfast dish that Andrew Zimmern eats more often than not is one that takes him back to his childhood growing up in New York City. He told Lifehacker, "At least every other day, I have a bagel with smoked fish and cream cheese or whitefish salad or something on it." However, he's not content with any old bagel, cream cheese, and smoked fish combo. Zimmern prefers lox bagels from two particular delis in New York City, even going so far as to order them to his home in Minneapolis. 

In a TikTok video where Zimmern responded to a question a fan asked about where to find the best lox and cream cheese bagel, he emphatically recommended Russ & Daughters on the Lower East Side of Manhattan. He explained that his family had been going there for five generations. "I order from there almost monthly," he said. "I'm addicted." He added that his second choice was Barney Greengrass on the Upper West Side, a spot that he's been going to since he was a kid and loves for its great vibe.

Giada de Laurentiis is all about good food that's also beneficial for the body and mind. In her cookbook "Giada's Feel Good Food," she said she's developed a balanced way of cooking, eating, and living by "tuning in to my body and what makes me run the smoothest and tuning out what doesn't." For breakfast, she forgoes protein and sweet treats in favor of fiber. One of her favorite ways to start the morning is with a healthy grain like brown rice.

Brown rice can be pretty boring on its own, so de Laurentiis likes to add olive oil to amp up the flavor. She said on Giadzy, "I love the fat and decadence of the olive oil." She also likes to toss a bay leaf into the rice while it's cooking and sprinkle flake salt onto the rice before serving. Another of the chef's favorite fast and easy breakfast dishes is oatmeal served simply with a drizzle of olive oil and a of sprinkle sea salt. If she has time, she might add fruit, nuts, or fresh herbs.

With a career that spans media, cooking, and business, Martha Stewart understands the importance of starting the day off right. For her, that means skipping a heavy breakfast and opting for nutrient-packed green juice instead. On an episode of "Food Diaries" for Harper's Bazaar, she said, "My green juice is very special to me. I think it's really the secret of good skin. I think it's the secret of good healthy hair. And I've been juicing for many years." Her preferred juicer is the Breville Bluicer.

Stewart's green juice consists of organic vegetables that come mostly from her greenhouse and garden. She likes to add cucumbers, parsley, mint, celery with the leaves on, ginger, pineapple, and half an orange with the peel on. She adds that she doesn't include a lot of fruit and never adds cabbage or kale. She said, "Kale makes you burp. It gives you a stomach ache. Just doesn't taste good in the juice." Stewart also told Vogue that she adds a packet of collagen to her daily green juice and follows her juice with a cappuccino or sometimes skim milk with wheat germ.

While some celebrity chefs are restrained when it comes to their breakfast choices, Alton Brown likes to go all out. In an interview with Tasting Table, he said that he packs as much as he can into his morning meal so that he covers all his bases. He said, "Most of the nutrition that I know that I need to get in every day, I try to get in at breakfast because the day could go haywire." The chef explained that he doesn't want to have to worry at night whether he got enough healthy items like fish or nuts in for the day.

So what does a typical breakfast look like for Brown? Well, it could include anything from proteins like eggs and fish to legumes, grains, fruit, vegetables, and even pasta. In a Facebook reel, the chef demonstrated how he makes a hearty breakfast pasta by tossing noodles in a mixture of egg, anchovies, cheese, chili crisp, and coffee. In a breakfast cooking class with Mashed, he made a range of dishes including overnight coconut oats, a chickpea and smoked trout frittata, and a parsley salad with toasted walnuts. So it's clear that for Brown, pretty much anything goes.

Kristen Kish has cooked all over the world, but some of her most meaningful food experiences come from reconnecting with her Korean roots. When she partnered with Jongga Kimchi, she began exploring creative ways to incorporate the condiment into comfort food dishes that she grew up eating in Michigan like burgers and ham and cheese puff pastries. During a trip to South Korea, she fell in love with a traditional kimchi stew breakfast dish. She told EatingWell that the dish was heaven and that she now makes her own version whenever she has the chance.

The stew that Kish became enamored with is called kimchi jjigae and it's a hearty and comforting dish that typically consists of pork, tofu, and kimchi in a vibrant red broth seasoned with gochujang (Korean chili paste). Kish said she likes to play around with the ingredients, adding whatever she has on hand like chicken, beef, tofu, kimchi, and veggies. She loves how easy it is to pull together, as all you need to do is throw it in a pot and let it simmer so that all the flavors come together.