Pumpkin doesn’t need to wait until lunchtime or dinner. In fact, roasted butternut pumpkin makes a surprisingly good breakfast base — particularly when you pair its natural sweetness with savoury, salty and spicy flavours.
For this Lazy Healthy recipe, a thick piece of roasted butternut pumpkin becomes the centre of the plate. It’s topped with creamy goat cheese, soft scrambled eggs, toasted pepitas and sautéed baby spinach, then finished with a spoonful of pesto, tangy kraut and chilli flakes.
Nutritionally, I love this combination because it brings together several elements I look for when building a balanced meal. Pumpkin provides fibre and is particularly rich in carotenoids, the plant pigments responsible for its beautiful orange colour. The eggs and goat cheese contribute protein, while pepitas add a combination of healthy fats, protein and minerals, as well as plenty of texture.
The spinach adds another vegetable to the mix, while the kraut brings acidity and a fermented element that works beautifully against the sweetness of the pumpkin. Pesto adds herbs, extra virgin olive oil and plenty of flavour, meaning you don’t need a complicated sauce or dressing to bring the whole plate together.
It’s also a good example of why I like thinking beyond traditional breakfast foods. There’s no rule saying your first meal of the day needs to look a certain way. If savoury foods are more your thing, vegetables can absolutely take centre stage.
This is the kind of breakfast that feels a little different but is incredibly simple: a handful of everyday ingredients, plenty of colour and texture, and a balance of protein, fibre, vegetables and healthy fats.
And if you happen to have leftover roasted pumpkin in the fridge, even better — breakfast is basically sorted.
Roasted Butternut Pumpkin with Eggs, Goat Cheese & Kraut
Serves 1
150g piece baked butternut pumpkin (approx 180-200g raw)*
1 tbsp pepitas (pumpkin seeds)
Extra virgin olive oil
30g baby spinach
3 eggs, whisked
1 tbsp whipped or soft goat cheese (chevre)
1 tsp good quality pesto
To serve: pinch chilli flakes, sauerkraut
Bake the pumpkin on 200C with a spritz of extra virgin olive oil and salt for 20-30 minutes. Heat a frypan on medium heat and toast the pepitas for a few minutes so they become lightly golden, then, transfer to a plate and set aside. Add a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil to the pan and saute the baby spinach for 1-2 minutes, tossing throughout, then transfer to a plate. Add another spritz of evoo if needed to the pan, then pour in the whisked eggs and cook 1-2 minutes, moving gently around the pan to scramble them, remove from heat when there is still a little bit of uncooked egg around the folds of the scramble (egg will continue to cook once removed from the heat, so this is a great way to ensure you’re not overcooking your eggs. Place 1 piece pumpkin on a plate, spread with goat cheese, sprinkle with pepitas and top with the scrambled eggs. Serve the spinach onto the plate and drizzle pesto over the top of the eggs. Sprinkle with chilli flakes, season with salt and pepper and serve with sauerkraut for a beautifually balanced breakfast or brunch.
*I cook a few of these in advance to create a really easy and healthy base for a few dishes throughout the week.
