Breakfast? Five Medieval Breakfast Dishes Worth Waking Up For

Looking to add a little late Medieval flair to your morning routine? These five hearty, historical dishes—from hand pies to fairy-pink porridge—are drawn directly from period sources and reimagined for your modern kitchen. Each one links to the full recipe. Bon appétit, or as they might have said: “God spede the plough!”

  A Fryed Meate (Pancakes) in Haste for the Second Course (The Whole Body of Cookery Dissected, 1682) - cottage cheese and apples combined with warm and sweet spices create a delicate pancake. Traditionally served in the second course, this dish would make a lovely camp breakfast. A bit late for Medieval, yes, delicious and to be tried all the same. 

Gammon of Bacon (A Book of Cookrye, 1591) - This is a delicious savory tidbit that creates a lovely hand pie which tastes like a holiday in a pie crust. Gammon, like ham, comes from the hind leg of a pig. Unlike ham, gammon is cured like bacon and sold raw. For this recipe I used a heritage cured ham, seasoned with pepper, cloves and mace, cut into thin slices and stuffed with parsley, sage and hardboiled egg yolks, cut to fit into the pie crust, dotted with butter and baked. A wonderful interpretation of our past, a must try for any foodie, food historian or hungry cook!

Egges yn Brewte - Poached eggs with Cheese - Gentyll Manly Cokere, MS Pepys 1047, C. 1490 - A beautifully simple dish of eggs, poached in milk and water flavored with pepper, ginger and colored with saffron, topped with cheese. Served over toast this would be a lovely perfectly period meal.

Soupes dorye - Almond Milk Toast -an absolutely decadent spin on milk toast.  Lightly toasted bread, served with a wine sweetened almond milk and warmed spices.  Comforting, delicious and fit for a king. 

Gaylede - Rice Porridge with figs and honey -Ginger and galingale are the perfect compliment to the figs and honey that accompany this simply sweetened porridge made of rice flour and almond milk.  Pretty and pink, a perfect "fairy breakfast" for that special someone if you use saunders to color as specified.  

🍽️ Bonus Breakfast Dishes from the Archives

Looking to expand your medieval breakfast repertoire? Here are a few more period-perfect options worth exploring:

• Crème Boylede – A spiced almond custard thickened with egg yolks, perfect served warm on cold mornings.
• Drawyn Grwel – A savory grain-based gruel enriched with meat broth, spices, and sometimes marrow or blood for depth and nourishment.
• Rede Rose – A honeyed almond pudding flavored with rosewater and colored pink with saunders—elegant, delicate, and deeply comforting.

These dishes offer a broader glimpse into how people in the medieval and early modern worlds began their day—with warmth, spice, and a touch of ceremony.