Why Alton Brown Says Breakfast Really Is The Most Important Meal

Your alarm clock may signal the start of the day, but what is the best way to ring in the morning? According to many, it's breakfast. Some people swear by their morning fare, while others don't eat until midday. Yet while breakfast rituals — not to mention breakfast recipes — run the gamut, from grab-and-go granola bars to egg iterations, Alton Brown sees a well-rounded breakfast as absolutely essential.

"I do believe it's the most important meal of the day," Brown told Tasting Table. "I think [breakfast is] worth getting out of bed for." His rationale exceeds merely satiating morning hunger; Brown sees breakfast as an opportunity to start his day off on the right foot — or, rather, with the right bite. As part of his ongoing partnership with brain health supplement brand Neuriva, Brown suggests you make the most of breakfast, eating an all-encompassing meal full of nutrients that primes you for a successful day ... or saves you, if your morning turns to chaos the moment you step out the door.

When it comes to breakfast, Brown isn't content with a granola bar or lonely fried egg; the chef's breakfasts are all about doing it all. Brown says, "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. And I'd like to think that I don't have to worry come 7:00 at night, 'Oh geez, I didn't get enough fish [or] nuts in today.'"

As for what this means on a day-to-day basis, Brown incorporates as many nutritious ingredients as possible into just one meal. Rather than choose between, say, eggs and oats, his breakfasts employ a little bit of everything. One example, which puts this mentality into practice, is the breakfast Brown taught Mashed to make during a cooking class: a chickpea and smoked trout frittata, coconut overnight oats, and toasted walnut parsley salad. This combination of foods and ingredients sets Brown up for an ideal day. "In case everything else goes bad," said Brown, "I'm still like: 'You know what ... I worked out this morning, and I got in my chickpeas.'"

Static Media owns and operates Tasting Table and Mashed.