One of my top priorities each day is to be intentional with my nutrient intake. With my focus on getting a solid serving of protein at each meal, I like to have some creative options for breakfast that also support a healthy gut and lasting energy to set me up for a great start to my day.
This protein-rich breakfast salad with turkey (or tempeh) sliders is a nourishing meal that’s easy to make and full of gut-friendly ingredients to start your day.
This breakfast falls in line with my “dinner for breakfast” theme, where we do a spin on something you’d typically have for dinner or lunch, and make it for breakfast. Eggs are a wonderful food, but it’s good to mix things up, and this lovely meal can be customized in so many ways to suit your tastes.
Keys to include in this dish are:
- protein source that accounts for 25-35% of the total meal
- fiber-rich mixed greens
- probiotic-containing fermented red cabbage, beets or sauerkraut
- antioxidant-rich berries, like blueberries, pomegranate seeds, blackberries, etc
- healthy fat from avocado and extra virgin olive oil
- vitamin C from fresh lemon
The probiotic element supports the diversity of your gut microbiome, making this dish one that’s super supportive to your overall health(1). A healthy and diverse gut microbiome helps support the balance of our hormones, a robust immune system and impacts how efficiently we absorb the nutrients in the food we eat (2).
Eating more fruits and vegetables – and eating a VARIETY of them can support your immune system and protect against heart disease, osteoporosis, cancer, diabetes and much more (3). This recipe contains several servings to help boost your daily intake.
Once you’ve batch prepped the sliders (or tempeh, recipe below) you can quickly assemble this salad anytime for a nourishing breakfast. If you’re having the turkey version, enjoy this with an addition of a side of buckwheat bread or sprouted grain bread on the side, toasted, or top with the addition on roasted sweet potatoes. For the tempeh version, cut the carb side in half, since your vegetarian protein source is already a great source of carbohydrates as well.
Want some more egg alternatives in my “dinner for breakfast” theme? Try these:
Breakfast Salad with Turkey Sliders
Yield: 4 servings
You will need: measuring cups and spoons, mixing bowls, mixing spoon, large skillet, spatula, knife, cutting board
Key: T = Tablespoon; tsp = teaspoon
Ingredients
For the Sliders:
- 1.25 lbs ground turkey (or ground meat of your choice) see below for vegetarian version
- 1 T coconut aminos
- 1/2 cup chopped fresh basil (or 2 T dried)
- 1/4 tsp pepper
- olive oil or ghee (for cooking)
For the Salad:
- 4 cups mixed greens
- 2 T extra virgin olive oil
- 1 T freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 1 tsp sea salt
- 1 avocado, sliced
- 2 cups pickled cabbage, beets, or fermented sauerkraut
- 1 cup fresh fruit (like pomegranate seeds, apple slices, fresh blueberries)
Directions:
- Start by making your sliders. In a medium bowl, mix the meat, coconut aminos and fresh basil. Season with pepper.
- Form the mixture into 16 even sized small patties. Heat a skillet to medium, add ghee or olive oil and cook sliders evenly on both sides until desired doneness. Cook in batches as needed.
- Transfer the cooked sliders to a plate.
- Make the salad. Toss greens in a large bowl with olive oil, lemon and sea salt.
- Add 1/4 of the greens mixture to your plate. Layer 1/4 of the avocado, cabbage or sauerkraut and fruit on top.
- Add 4 sliders to complete the salad. Enjoy!
Nutrition Facts
Breakfast Salad with Tempeh Sliders
Click to expand and see the full recipeYield: 4 servings
You will need: measuring cups and spoons, mixing bowls, mixing spoon, large skillet, spatula, knife, cutting board
Key: T = Tablespoon; tsp = teaspoon
Ingredients
For the Herbed Tempeh:
- 1 lb tempeh, sliced
- 2 tsp olive oil
- 2 T parsley, chopped
- 2 tsp thyme, fresh or dried
- 2 tsp basil, fresh or dried
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- tsp smoked paprika
- 1 lemon, juice of
- 1/2 tsp sea salt
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
For the Salad:
- 4 cups mixed greens
- 2 T extra virgin olive oil
- 1 T freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 1 tsp sea salt
- 1 avocado, sliced
- 2 cups pickled cabbage, beets or fermented sauerkraut
- 1 cup fresh fruit (like pomegranate seeds, apple slices, fresh blueberries)
Directions:
- Start by making the herbed tempeh slices. In a small bowl, mix together 2 tsp olive oil, parsley, thyme, basil, oregano, smoked paprika, juice of 1 lemon, salt and pepper.
- Slice the tempeh into 16 pieces and coat with herb mixture.
- Heat a skillet to medium, add ghee or olive oil and cook tempeh slices evenly on both sides until desired doneness. Cook in batches as needed.
- Transfer the cooked tempeh to a plate.
- Make the salad. Toss greens in a large bowl with olive oil, lemon and sea salt.
- Add 1/4 of the greens mixture to your plate. Layer 1/4 of the avocado, cabbage or sauerkraut and fruit on top. Add 4 tempeh slices to complete the salad.
Nutrition Facts
I hope you enjoy this recipe! Let me know in the comments below if you make it and how it turns out.
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- Parker, Elizabeth A et al. “Probiotics and gastrointestinal conditions: An overview of evidence from the Cochrane Collaboration.” Nutrition (Burbank, Los Angeles County, Calif.) vol. 45 (2018): 125-134.e11. doi:10.1016/j.nut.2017.06.024. Web. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5683921/
- King, Sarah et al. “Effectiveness of probiotics on the duration of illness in healthy children and adults who develop common acute respiratory infectious conditions: a systematic review and meta-analysis.” The British journal of nutrition vol. 112,1 (2014): 41-54. doi:10.1017/S0007114514000075. Web. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4054664/
- Liu, Rui Hai. “Health-promoting components of fruits and vegetables in the diet.” Advances in nutrition (Bethesda, Md.) vol. 4,3 384S-92S. 1 May. 2013, doi:10.3945/an.112.003517. Web. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3650511/