This post features a recipe for sweet potato breakfast bowls. This delicious breakfast is Paleo and Whole30 friendly and also gluten-free. Sweet potato breakfast bowls are a great grain-free alternative to oatmeal.
Embarking on a Whole30 when a big plate of eggs and vegetables isn’t quite your cup of tea first thing in the morning can be challenging. While I did learn to enjoy plain scrambled eggs for breakfast during Whole30, I also made some new breakfast discoveries that have become new staples in our house along with our old favorites of smoothies, oatmeal and overnight oats.
First up was chia pudding. Chia fever has definitely calmed down a little over here but we’re still eating it once or twice a week. It’s especially great for a make ahead, pack it and take it breakfast on the go.
Our new favorite is sweet potato breakfast bowls with a side of scrambled eggs. It’s become an awesome replacement for oatmeal on those cold mornings when you want something warm and comforting. One thing we really love about this breakfast is that it’s extremely filling but doesn’t sit heavy like oatmeal sometimes can and powers us through to lunch with no problem.
I first came up with this meal idea when I came home mid-afternoon from traveling to find the fridge pretty bare. There were some leftover baked sweet potatoes so I decided to make a meal/snack out of them. I had long seen people top baked sweet potatoes with almond butter in blog and Instagram land so I decided to take it a step further and doctor it up some more. I mashed the potatoes with some banana, cinnamon and ghee and then topped it with almond butter. The result was delicious and I instantly thought to myself it would be a great breakfast option.
And this is how mashed sweet potato breakfast bowls were born. Many of you have asked how I make them so I wanted to post a quick overview.
I usually bake my sweet potatoes at night while the oven is on for whatever I’m cooking for dinner. My secret to soft, “steamed” sweet potatoes is to wash them in water, lightly dry but leave them damp, poke some holes and wrap them with foil. Since they’re damp and wrapped in foil you get a nice steaming effect that yields awesome potatoes with the perfect texture. I usually bake them at 400 on convection bake for about 45-60 minutes. Baking time totally depends on the size of the potato.
The next morning you can get creative! I usually do straight up sweet potato and banana but sometimes add mashed or pureed winter squash or pumpkin if I happened to have baked one of those too. I’ve tried it mixed with acorn squash, a pie pumpkin and kabocha squash. I also tried canned pumpkin once but it wasn’t my favorite. I also always add kosher salt and cinnamon or pumpkin pie spice and sometimes add raisins, chia seeds and groud flax. Depends on my mood! 🙂
I want to take a second to share one key thing. I highly, highly recommend mashing your banana and sweet potatoes with a fork rather than pureeing them. It’s nice to have some texture. It’s a little too baby food-esque to puree.
As far as toppings for your sweet potato breakfast bowl go, you can keep it as simple as the nut butter of your choice (I’m an almond butter fan for this combo) or add things like raisins, unsweetened shredded coconut and cacao nibs.
You have to trust me that this is a really good breakfast (or snack). I’m super serious about us choosing to eat it after Whole30. My fiance asks for it with some eggs almost every morning and we get really bummed when we run out of sweet potatoes. We have been going through them so quickly!
Here’s my general recipe. Remember you can get as creative as you want with it!
Sweet Potato Breakfast Bowls
I’d love to hear about your favorite non-egg and/or unconventional breakfast ideas!
