Breakfast is crucial to maintaining a healthy lifestyle. It is the most important meal of the day because it replenishes your blood glucose level and supplies the necessary nutrients for cell growth and development. Skipping breakfast, when you’re not on an intermittent fast, can deprive you of the energy you need for the day.
Breakfast meals that are high in fiber, protein, healthy fats, vitamins, and minerals are the best. Some popular scrumptious and budget-friendly breakfast meals are:
1. Pap and Akara
Akara, also known as bean cake, is a bean-based Nigerian delicacy. To prepare, soak one cup of beans. Peel the skin once it softens. Dice 1 medium-sized onion and set aside. Pour peeled beans into a blender, add the diced onions, and add 2 pieces of pepper. Blend until it becomes a paste.
You can watch how to prepare Akara HERE, or see procedures below:
- Add a pinch of salt, seasoning, and spices (curry, thyme, and so on) to the paste. Heat your frying pan and add vegetable oil. Whisk the bean mixture and place in frying oil in bits. Turn the Akara balls when they’re golden brown.
- To make pap, get ready-made maize paste (soaked and blended maize) and add a little water. Mix the paste until it’s completely smooth. For a half cup of maize paste, boil one and a half cups of water. After boiling, carefully add the maize paste and stir. Once it thickens, remove the pot from the fire. Your pap is ready.
N.B: The amount of water you’ll boil depends on the texture of the maize paste. The above measurement is for a thick maize paste. If your maize paste is watery, reduce the amount of water.
2. Bread and Akara
Follow the process above to make your Akara. Get whole-wheat bread and you can either sandwich the Akara between your bread, or eat them in turns. Whole wheat bread is a good source of complex carbohydrates while beans are a good source of protein.
3. White Rice and Pepper Sauce
To prepare white rice, rinse the quantity of rice you’d like to boil and pour it into boiling water. Add salt to taste and continually check the boiling rice until it’s soft. Continually add water as needed. Once desired softness is achieved, drain the rice.
You can watch how to prepare Akara HERE, or see procedures below:
- To prepare pepper sauce, get a pepper mix by blending bonnet scotch (popularly called pepper), tomatoes, and onion. You can also add red bell pepper. Heat a frying pan and add vegetable oil. Dice 1 small-sized onion and add to the oil once it’s hot. Stir and add pepper mix after 1 minute. Add beef or chicken stock, seasoning, salt, and spices.
- You can also add fried meat, dried fish, fresh fish, ponmo, and boiled eggs. Let the sauce boil for about ten minutes. This is one of the most popular budget-friendly meals in Nigeria.
4. Jollof Rice
Apart from being delicious and budget-friendly, it has several variations in various West African countries. One common way to cook Jollof Rice is to prepare your pepper mix by blending tomatoes, red bell peppers, scotch bonnet, and onion. Heat oil in a medium-sized pot and add diced onion. Add tomato paste after a few minutes. Add pepper mix, stir, and let it fry. Add chicken or beef stock, seasoning, and spices.
You can watch how to prepare Akara HERE, or see procedures below:
- After letting the mixture boil, add your parboiled rice and bay leaves. When the water is almost dried and the rice is no longer hard, cover the pot with aluminum foil or plastic cover. Reduce heat and let the steam soften the rice. You can add butter once the rice is almost softened and stir.
This budget-friendly meal is the favorite of many Nigerians.
N.B: You can also add diced vegetables like carrots and green beans. You can also add diced liver.
5. Fried Rice
Boil the rice without salt and remove it from heat while it’s still hard. Dice beef liver, scallions, and carrots. Get vegetables like sweet peas, sweet corn, and green beans.
You can watch how to prepare Akara HERE, or see procedures below:
Add the boiled rice to your meat or chicken stock and let it boil. Preheat vegetable oil in a pan and add onions. Gradually add diced scallions, carrots, beef liver, and your vegetables. Add rice to the mixture and stir-fry for about five minutes. Your rice is ready to be served.
6. Bread and Beans
To prepare your beans, remove the dirt (if it has not been picked), wash, and set aside. Boil water and add the washed beans. Add diced onions and let it boil. Once it has softened, add salt, pepper mix, palm oil, and/or seasoning. Once desired softness is achieved, remove from fire.
This healthy and budget-friendly meal is an ideal breakfast, especially on busy days. This meal reduces hunger pangs as it takes a longer time to digest than simple carbohydrates.
7. Beans and Plantain
You can follow this method or the method above to cook beans. When cooking beans, add only salt, and Don’t remove from heat until the peas burst. Make pepper sauce and set aside.
- Dice your plantains and add a pinch of salt (optional). Preheat vegetable oil and add the diced plantains. Stir the plantains until they’re golden brown. Dish the beans and add the pepper sauce and fried plantains. Enjoy!
8. Beans and Maize Grit
Follow the steps above to prepare beans. To prepare maize grit, also known as Egbo, boil water and add the maize grits. Let the maize grits boil until they soften and add salt to taste.
Dish beans and maize grits and add pepper sauce. This budget-friendly meal is bound to keep you full for hours.
8. Bread and Egg Sauce
To prepare egg sauce, fry your pepper mix and add spices and seasonings. Whisk your eggs and add to the sauce. Stir until desired thickness is achieved.
This is a delicious meal that provides some of the nutrients you need for the day. It is also the go-to meal for several families.
8. Instant Noodles and Egg
This is a low-effort, budget-friendly meal. To prepare, boil water and add noodles. Add seasoning and spices (optional). Add a few drops of vegetable oil (optional). You can either eat it with a boiled or fried egg.
N.B: You can elaborately cook your noodles by preparing pepper sauce and adding a little water or chicken or meat stock to it. Break your noodles into the mixture and let it boil. Dice carrots, onion, beef liver, and cabbage and add them to the noodles. You can also add vegetables like green peas and green beans. This process works well for Jollof Spaghetti.
Other scrumptious and budget-friendly breakfast meals are:
- Fried Plantain and Egg
- Bread and Chocolate Drink
- Custard and Moi-Moi
- Yam and Egg Sauce
- Coconut rice
- Potato and Egg Sauce
- Pancake
- Fried Potatoes and Plantain
- Cereal
- Jollof Spaghetti
- Spaghetti and Pepper Sauce
- Boiled Plantain and Pepper Sauce
- Yam Porridge
- Potato Porridge
- Plantain Porridge
Conclusion
Eating is an activity we all enjoy, but it can be a burden when cash is low. Fortunately, these budget-friendly meals satisfy your taste buds while also providing you with the nutrients you require. These breakfast ideas have been around for quite some time. Try them out, and don’t forget to tell your friends and family about them. It is the perfect gift for a woman who has run out of breakfast ideas.
