High Calorie Breakfast

Quick answer: The best high calorie breakfasts are dense rather than big, giving 500 to 1,000 calories against the roughly 400 that Public Health England suggests for an adult's breakfast. The quickest is a Phoenix Bar, with up to 557 calories in a compact, 120g bar, eaten as it is or mixed with water or milk as porridge. Porridge made with 80g oats, whole milk, peanut butter and honey comes to about 640 calories, and three eggs scrambled in butter with cheese on buttered toast to about 640.

Written by James Frost, founder of Flaming Phoenix. Updated October 2026.

Every calorie figure on this page is worked out from McCance and Widdowson's Composition of Foods Integrated Dataset (CoFID 2021, the UK government's food composition tables) for the gram weights given, rounded to the nearest 10. Brands vary, so if you track closely, go by your own labels. I started Flaming Phoenix in 2024 after about 150 conversations with ultra-endurance athletes, expedition people and people who struggle to eat enough, and this page is the breakfast end of the same problem: more calories from less food.

How many calories is a high calorie breakfast?

A high calorie breakfast is anything from about 500 calories upwards, a quarter more than the 400 calories Public Health England uses as its everyday guide for an adult's breakfast. Most of the ideas on this page land between 500 and 800.

If you are eating more to gain weight, the NHS suggests adding around 300 to 500 calories a day. Put all of that into breakfast and the target becomes 400 plus 300 to 500, so 700 to 900 calories. You do not have to load the whole surplus onto one meal, but breakfast is the one most people control: it is eaten at home, before work, training or a busy day get in the way. For a long race or training day, or a day of 3,500 calories or more, 1,000 is reasonable, and there is a worked example further down.

Why is breakfast the easiest meal to add calories to?

Skipping breakfast leaves a gap that is hard to close later. People who undereat rarely find a big appetite at lunch; the shortfall carries on, day after day. If you want to gain weight, the arithmetic is simple: an extra 300 to 500 calories every morning is 2,100 to 3,500 a week from one change to one meal.

For endurance athletes the reason is different. Breakfast before a long session or race is the first fuel of the day, and starting short makes it more likely you will hit the wall later. A dense breakfast that sits well lets you start fuelled without a heavy stomach.

How to make breakfast high calorie without making it bigger

Swap in foods with more calories per gram, so the same bowl or plate carries more. A bowl of porridge can hold 190 calories or nearly 500 and look almost the same. Here is the working for 50g of porridge oats:

• Made with 250ml water: 50g of oats at 381 calories per 100g is 190 calories.
• Made with 250ml whole milk instead: 190 plus 160 from the milk is about 350.
• With 15g peanut butter (a level tablespoon, 90 calories) and 20g honey (60) stirred in: about 500.

That is 2.6 times the calories for an extra 35g of food. Every idea below uses the same trick: full-fat milk and yoghurt, butter, nut butter, cheese, nuts and eggs, rather than a bigger plate. My guide to calorie-dense foods ranks the densest everyday foods if you want to build your own.

High calorie breakfast ideas, with calories per portion

Calories and protein are per portion as listed. For the weights: a medium slice of bread is about 40g, a medium egg about 50g out of the shell, a medium banana about 100g peeled and a level tablespoon of peanut butter about 15g.

Quick and easy (under 5 minutes)

Peanut butter and banana bagel. A plain bagel (85g) spread with 30g of peanut butter, about two level tablespoons, and topped with a sliced banana comes to roughly 500 calories and 17g of protein. It takes two minutes and travels well wrapped in foil.

Toast with butter and peanut butter. Two medium slices of wholemeal toast (80g of bread) with 10g of butter and 30g of peanut butter is about 430 calories. Swap the peanut butter for half a Hass avocado (70g of flesh) and a teaspoon of olive oil and it lands at about 410. Full-fat spreads are the point here; a low-fat spread undoes most of the gain.

Greek yoghurt jar. Layer 150g of full-fat Greek-style yoghurt, 40g of granola and 30g of mixed nuts in a jar with a lid. That is around 550 calories and 19g of protein, ready to grab from the fridge, and it works as a second breakfast an hour or two after something small.

Whole milk smoothie. Blend 300ml whole milk, a banana, 30g peanut butter and 30g oats for about 570 calories and 22g of protein. Plenty of people who cannot face food first thing can drink this; there are more recipes in my guide to high-calorie drinks, smoothies and milkshakes.

A bar made into porridge. Phoenix Bars have up to 557 calories in only 120g, and one crumbled into a bowl with water or milk softens into a porridge with no pan and no cooking; 200ml of whole milk adds about 130 calories. It needs little chewing, which helps if you feel full after a few bites, and the method is in how to use Phoenix Bars.

Cooked (5 to 15 minutes)

Porridge with whole milk, peanut butter and honey. Cook 80g porridge oats in 250ml whole milk, then stir in 20g peanut butter and 20g honey: about 640 calories and 22g of protein. Porridge made with water is the classic low-calorie breakfast, so the milk and the add-ins do all the work. My high calorie porridge guide has the calories in a bowl made with water, semi-skimmed or whole milk, and the add-ins ranked.

Scrambled eggs and cheese on toast. Three medium eggs (150g) scrambled in 10g of butter with 30g of grated Cheddar, on two medium slices of wholemeal toast with another 10g of butter, comes to about 640 calories and 34g of protein. The butter and cheese add 270 calories between them without making the plate look any bigger.

Breakfast wrap. A large flour tortilla (60g) filled with two eggs scrambled in 10g of butter, 30g of Cheddar and half an avocado (70g) is about 620 calories. A wrap folds a lot of food into something you can eat with one hand, and many people find it easier to finish than a loaded plate.

A cooked breakfast. Two grilled pork sausages (about 90g cooked), two grilled rashers of back bacon (50g), a fried egg, half a 415g tin of baked beans and a slice of buttered wholemeal toast come to about 810 calories and 47g of protein. It is the most filling plate here and the saltiest, so I would keep it for weekends and big days rather than every morning.

Make-ahead and on the go

Overnight oats. The night before, stir 80g oats into 200ml whole milk and 100g Greek-style yoghurt with 20g peanut butter, then slice a banana on top in the morning. About 770 calories and 27g of protein, with three minutes of work done the evening before. The high-calorie overnight oats guide has the full recipe and variations.

Trail mix and a milky coffee. 30g of mixed nuts and 20g of raisins in a pocket, plus a 300ml whole-milk latte, add up to about 410 calories with no plate at all.

How to make a 1,000 calorie breakfast

A 1,000 calorie breakfast is easiest as one big cooked plate or as two smaller meals a couple of hours apart. Both routes, with the working:

One plate, about 1,060 calories: two grilled pork sausages (265), two grilled rashers of back bacon (145), two fried eggs (240), half a tin of baked beans (160) and two slices of wholemeal toast with 10g of butter (250).

Split, about 1,000 calories: the porridge above when you wake up (640), then 30g of mixed nuts (170) and a 300ml whole-milk latte (190) mid-morning.

The split version suits most people better, because neither part is a struggle to finish. My 1,000 calorie meals guide has lunches and dinners at the same size. For healthy adults who need the calories, a breakfast this big is fine; if your appetite is small, build up to it gradually rather than starting here.

What should I add to breakfast to gain weight?

Add one or two dense extras to the breakfast you already eat, such as peanut butter, nuts, cheese, butter, whole milk or a spoon of cream, rather than eating a second meal. These are the high calorie breakfast foods that do the most per spoonful, per typical portion:

• Peanut butter, a level 15g tablespoon: about 90 calories and 3g of protein. Stir into porridge, yoghurt or a smoothie.
• Mixed nuts, a 30g handful: about 175 calories and 7g of protein.
• Cheddar, 30g grated: about 125 calories and 8g of protein, on eggs or toast.
• Olive oil, a 14g tablespoon: about 125 calories, best in savoury breakfasts.
• Butter, 10g (enough for two slices of toast): about 75 calories.
• Double cream, a 15g tablespoon: about 75 calories stirred into porridge.
• Half a Hass avocado, 70g of flesh: about 120 calories.
• Whole milk, 250ml: about 160 calories more than water, and about 40 more than semi-skimmed.
• Honey, 20g: about 60 calories.
• Raisins, 30g: about 75 calories.

What is a high calorie, high protein breakfast?

The breakfasts that give the most protein alongside the calories are built on eggs, cheese, fish or meat rather than oats alone. From the ideas above, plus one more:

• Cooked breakfast: about 810 calories and 47g of protein.
• Scrambled eggs and cheese on toast: about 640 calories and 34g of protein.
• Smoked salmon and egg bagel: a plain bagel, two eggs scrambled in 10g of butter and 50g of smoked salmon, about 530 calories and 33g of protein.
• Overnight oats with Greek-style yoghurt and peanut butter: about 770 calories and 27g of protein.
• Whole milk smoothie with peanut butter and oats: about 570 calories and 22g of protein.

An oat breakfast gets much of its protein from the milk and yoghurt, so making porridge with water costs you protein as well as calories: 250ml of whole milk adds about 8.5g. There are more options in my guide to foods that are high in both calories and protein.

What is a healthy high calorie breakfast?

A healthy high calorie breakfast gets its extra calories from foods that bring something else with them: oats and wholemeal bread for fibre, milk, yoghurt and eggs for protein, and nuts, seeds and nut butter for unsaturated fat. That matches the NHS advice on gaining weight, which suggests adding foods such as cheese, nuts, seeds and eggs to meals, and to go easy on chocolate, cakes and sugary drinks.

Pastries are where breakfast goes high calorie in the less useful way. A 60g croissant is about 220 calories and 5g of protein (CoFID gives 373 calories per 100g); the peanut butter and banana bagel above is 500 calories with 17g of protein, plus the fibre from the banana.

What can I eat for breakfast with a small appetite?

When mornings are hard, start small and soft, and spread breakfast out: the NHS suggests eating smaller meals more often when you are trying to eat more. A few spoonfuls of porridge (a Phoenix Bar mixed with water or milk makes a soft one with no pan), a yoghurt, or a smoothie sipped over half an hour all count, and a second small breakfast an hour or two later is often easier than one big one.

Use richer versions of what you already have. Whole milk has about 17 more calories per 100ml than semi-skimmed. That is only about 5 calories in a splash of tea, but about 50 in a 300ml latte and 40 in a bowl of cereal with 250ml of milk.

Stir in rather than add on. A tablespoon of olive oil adds about 125 calories to scrambled eggs or beans, and a level tablespoon of nut butter about 90 to yoghurt or a smoothie, without making the portion noticeably bigger.

Keep something within reach. For people who struggle to eat enough, deciding what to eat and making it can be a bigger hurdle than the eating, so a yoghurt in the fridge door or a banana by the kettle removes a step.

If you are losing weight without trying, or your appetite has changed suddenly, it is worth seeing your GP; the NHS lists weight loss without a change in diet or exercise as a reason to book an appointment.

Common mistakes with high calorie breakfasts

Choosing "light" versions. Skimmed milk has 34 calories per 100ml against 63 for whole, so a bowl of cereal with 250ml of skimmed milk is about 70 calories short before you have started. If you need more calories, choose full-fat milk, yoghurt and cheese.

Making breakfast too big to finish. A 400-calorie breakfast that gets eaten beats a 700-calorie one that goes in the bin. Start with an amount you know you can finish and add one extra at a time.

Filling up on drinks first. A pint of water or a big mug of tea before eating takes up room the food needed, and the NHS advice on gaining weight says to avoid filling up on drinks before meals. Have them afterwards, or between meals.

Thinking it has to look like a proper breakfast. Peanut butter toast counts, a smoothie counts, and so does one of our high calorie bars for weight gain with a 250ml glass of whole milk, which adds about 160 calories on its own.

What if breakfast is not enough?

If a bigger breakfast still leaves you short of your daily target, the rest of the day usually needs the same treatment. My guide to getting more calories without eating more food covers lunch, dinner and snacks, and the high-calorie snack options guide lists what to keep in the cupboard.

On busy days, a Phoenix Bar gives up to 557 calories in a compact, 120g bar, eaten as it is or mixed with water as porridge. For the wider picture, I have compared the best meal replacement bars in the UK on calories and protein, and ranked the best energy bars for weight gain by calories. The highest-calorie bars in the UK are side by side on a separate page.

Frequently asked questions

What breakfast has the highest calories?

A full cooked breakfast is usually the highest-calorie everyday UK breakfast: two sausages, two rashers of bacon, two fried eggs, half a tin of beans and two slices of buttered toast come to about 1,060 calories. With no cooking at all, a Phoenix Bar gives up to 557 calories in a compact, 120g bar. Per 100g, the densest breakfast foods are peanut butter (607 calories), mixed nuts (581) and nutty, granola-style cereal (450).

How many eggs make 500 calories?

Nearly eight medium eggs. CoFID puts egg at 131 calories per 100g, so a medium egg of about 50g out of the shell is roughly 65 calories. It is far easier to reach 500 with three eggs scrambled in butter, a little Cheddar and two slices of buttered toast, which comes to about 640.

Is the best breakfast for weight gain different for women?

The foods are the same; the amounts usually differ. The NHS puts an average woman's needs at about 2,000 calories a day against 2,500 for an average man, so a 500 to 600 calorie breakfast such as the Greek yoghurt jar or the peanut butter bagel is a sensible place to start, building up as the extra 300 to 500 calories a day becomes routine.

Are there vegan high calorie breakfast ideas?

Yes. A Phoenix Bar, vegan in every flavour, gives up to 557 calories eaten as it is or mixed with water as porridge. Porridge made with 80g oats and 250ml sweetened soya drink, with 20g peanut butter and a sliced banana, is about 620 calories and 22g of protein. Peanut butter on toast, a smoothie with soya drink, oats and nut butter, or the bagel above (check the label for milk) all work. Soya drink has about 3g of protein per 100ml, close to cow's milk.

Is it okay to eat a high calorie breakfast every day?

Yes, if you need the calories. For someone gaining weight, training hard or working a physical job, a 600 to 900 calorie breakfast every day is ordinary. If you are not trying to gain weight, Public Health England's 400 calorie guide is the better everyday target, and a big breakfast becomes an occasional long-day meal.

If you have a question about any of this, email me directly; I answer every email myself.

Sources: McCance and Widdowson's Composition of Foods Integrated Dataset (CoFID 2021), GOV.UK; NHS, Healthy ways to gain weight; NHS, Understanding calories; Public Health England, Plans to cut excess calorie consumption unveiled (400-600-600), GOV.UK, March 2018.