What Did People Eat for Breakfast in the Middle Ages?

🍳 What Did People Eat for Breakfast in the Middle Ages?

Van Coeck te Backen (Nyeuwen Coock Boeck, 16th c.): A yeasted bread enriched with smoky bacon and aromatic fennel seed, folded directly into the dough.

While the word "breakfast" existed in medieval English, it didn’t mean what it does today. Most people in the Middle Ages ate one or two meals per day, and early meals were typically reserved for laborers, the sick, or the very wealthy. However, there were still foods enjoyed in the morning to break the night’s fast—especially during feast days, travel, or before demanding work.

This post gathers ten historically inspired dishes from primary sources like Harleian MS 279 and Renaissance German cookbooks that could have graced a medieval table in the morning hours.

⚠️ Historical Note: The term "breakfast" in the medieval world referred to the act of breaking one's fast after sleep, not a structured meal like today. Our use here reflects the modern definition: the first meal of the day.

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1. Rastons

Rastons (Harleian MS 279): A rich, egg- and ale-enriched pastry loaf once mistaken for bread. Served sliced into “sops” — thick pieces of bread meant to soak up broth or milk — Rastons were an early morning or supper dish that blurred the line between bread and indulgent pastry. Perfect warm from the oven or reheated with broth poured over top.

2. Soupes Dorye

Soupes Dorye (Harleian MS 279): Toasted bread sops soaked in almond milk, saffron, and warming spices. A gentle, nourishing dish, especially favored on fast days or during illness recovery—delicate, comforting, and easy to digest.

3. Lyode Soppes

Lyode Soppes (Harleian MS 279): A custardy bread pudding made with milk, egg, and warm spices. Served hot and soft, it’s one of the earliest surviving recipes for a sweet breakfast pudding—perfect for breaking a medieval fast.

4. Soupes Jamberlayne

Soupes Jamberlayne (Harleian MS 279): Toasted bread soaked in spiced, sweetened wine and served warm. This elegant dish reflects the medieval love of richly flavored comfort foods, especially in noble households or for special occasions.

5. Egges yn Brewte

Egges yn Brewte (Gentyll Manly Cokere, MS Pepys 1047): Poached eggs served in a saffron-colored broth with cheese and warming spices. A refined dish likely served to the wealthy or clerics, offering protein and elegance in equal measure.

6. Eyron en Poche

Eyron en Poche (Harleian MS 279): Poached eggs served with herbs in broth or sauce—simple, nourishing, and elegant. This early morning dish reflects a refined yet accessible preparation for those with access to fresh eggs and kitchen skill.

7. Pressmetzen zu Ostern

Pressmetzen zu Ostern (Renaissance Germany): Soft Lenten rolls flavored with subtle spice and meant for Easter vigil meals. While tied to liturgical feasting, they make a fitting morning bread—especially for fast-day observance or travel.

8. Spiced Apples and Pears

Spiced Apples and Pears (Chiquart’s 'On Cookery', 1420): Fruit stewed in wine, honey, and spices—a luxurious dish found in both monastic and elite kitchens. Served warm and fragrant, it made a welcome break to the morning fast in colder months.

9. Fennel and Bacon Bread

Van Coeck te Backen (Nyeuwen Coock Boeck, 16th c.): A rustic yeasted bread enriched with smoky bacon and aromatic fennel seed. This hearty loaf was likely eaten fresh in the morning or packed for travel—savory, sustaining, and deeply flavorful.

10. Frumenty and Venyson in Broth

Venyson in Broth with Frumenty (Harleian MS 279): Tender game meat in spiced broth, served with a cracked wheat porridge. Though rich by modern standards, this would have been an energizing dish for hunters or noble households before a day of labor or travel.

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These dishes reveal the breadth and nuance of medieval morning meals—even if they weren't always called "breakfast" by name. Whether you’re prepping for an SCA feast, building a persona menu, or just want to try something historically inspired, these options offer a window into what it meant to break the fast in centuries past.

Want more? Explore these tags to expand your medieval breakfast table:

• Medieval Breakfast
• Pottage
• Bread

An Apple a Day – Five Medieval Apple Recipes (Candy, Pottages & Purées)

An Apple a Day – The Use of Apples in Medieval Cooking

Apples belong to the Rosaceae family alongside pears, quinces, loquats and even roses. Ancient records show cultivated apples in Jericho (c. 6500 BCE), while Theophrastus (323 BCE) detailed budding and grafting techniques for at least six varieties. Medieval cooks embraced apples in preserves, pottages and sauces. Below you’ll find five period recipes that showcase the fruit’s versatility.

• To Candy Any Root, Fruit or Flower
• Apple Muse
• Apple Moyle
• Applade Ryalle
• A Potage of Roysons

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🍎 Featured Collection:
This roundup explores five medieval apple recipes from Harleian MS. 279 and beyond. Whether you’re preparing a feast, looking for historical comfort food, or experimenting with humoral theory, these dishes showcase the incredible range of apple-based cookery in the Middle Ages.

To Candy Any Root, Fruit or Flower ↩︎

Sugared plums; apples work just as well.

To Candy Any Root, Fruit or Flower — a simple syrup‑based method for preserving everything from apples to carrots. Perfect for feast subtleties or everyday treats.

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Apple Muse – Warm Apple Purée in Almond Milk ↩︎

Apple Muse, delicately pink from sandalwood.

lxxix. Apple Muse — apples simmered with honey in almond milk, tinted with sandalwood, lightly spiced with saffron. Served warm as pottage, sauce or appetizer.

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Apple Moyle – Sweet Apple Porridge ↩︎

Sweet, spiced apple comfort food.

cxxxiiij. Apple Moyle — a warming apple porridge, sweetened with sugar and seasoned with Good Powder (ginger, cinnamon, mace, clove, pepper). Perfect for chilly mornings.

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Applade Ryalle – Three Medieval Apple Soups ↩︎

Wine, almond milk, or beef broth base—your choice.

cxxxv. Applade Ryalle — three variations of apple soup: For Nede (wine + honey), Fyshe Day (almond milk) and Fleshe Day (beef broth). Velvet‑smooth and surprisingly elegant.

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A Potage of Roysons – Rice, Apples & Raisins ↩︎

Medieval comfort in a bowl.

cxxxvj. A Potage of Roysons — rice porridge simmered with apples, raisins and honey. A cozy camp breakfast or sweet feast finale.

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A Potage of Roysons – Medieval Apple and Raisin Rice Porridge (Harleian MS. 279, c.1430)

Harleian MS. 279 (ab 1430) – Cxxxvj. A potage of Roysons – Rice Porridge with Apples and Raisins

🥕 Includes Dietary Notes!

Today's recipe adventure from the Two Fifteenth-Century Cookery Books (Harleian MS. 279, ab 1430) explores Cxxxvj. A potage of Roysons, a gentle almond-milk-based pottage thickened with rice flour and dotted with apples and raisins.

This dish would likely have appeared during the pottage course of a medieval meal — possibly served warm with bread during Lent or in the infirmary for the ailing. Its flavor is mild, lightly sweetened with fruit, and comforting. I served this version at an SCA breakfast event, and it went over well, though some testers called it “tasty, but not delicious.” And honestly? Same. I’ve made similar recipes that were more complex — perhaps I’m just still not a fan of raisins.

Original Recipe and Modern Translation

Original Middle English (Harleian MS. 279, c.1430)	Modern English Translation
Cxxxvj. A potage of Roysons.—Take Raysonys, & do a-way þe kyrnellys; & take a part of Applys, & do a-way þe corys, & þe pare, & bray hem in a mortere, & temper hem with Almande Mylke, & melle hem with flowre of Rys, þat it be clene chargeaunt, & straw vppe-on pouder of Galyngale & of Gyngere, & serue it forth.	Take raisins and remove the seeds. Take some apples, remove the cores and peel them. Mash them in a mortar, and mix them with almond milk. Stir in rice flour until the mixture is thick. Sprinkle with powdered galangal and ginger, and serve.

Interpreted Recipe (Serves 8)

Ingredients

• 4 apples, peeled, cored, and diced
• 1 cup raisins
• 8 cups almond milk
• 1/2 cup honey (optional, to taste)
• 1 cup rice flour
• 2 tsp ginger (or period Good Powder blend)
• 1/2 tsp salt

Instructions

1. Warm almond milk with honey and ginger in a large pot.
2. Add apples and raisins. Simmer gently until the fruit softens, about 10–15 minutes.
3. Whisk in rice flour and stir continuously until it thickens like porridge.
4. Stir in salt. Garnish with ginger or galangal powder if desired. Serve warm.

The Role of Raisins in Medieval Cooking

Raisins were frequently used in medieval recipes—not just for desserts, but to enrich and sweeten savory dishes as well. They appear in pottages, sauces, pies, and even stews, often alongside almond milk and rice flour. Their inclusion helped balance humors and added perceived nourishment to lean or fast-day meals.

Cooking Method: What “Temper” Might Mean

The original recipe uses the term “temper hem with Almande Mylke,” which may imply either blending or gradual heating. I chose to warm the almond milk with honey and ginger, then cook the fruit in it gently before adding the rice flour to thicken. This method draws out more flavor from the raisins and apple while creating a smooth, creamy texture.

🥕 Dietary Suggestions:
This dish is naturally vegan and gluten-free if prepared with certified rice flour and almond milk.

• For a vegan version: Use maple or date syrup in place of honey.
• Nut-free option: Substitute oat or rice milk for almond milk.
• Camp cooking tip: Premix powdered almond milk, rice flour, and ginger. Add dried apples and raisins on-site with water and heat to serve.
• Texture tweak: Blend the apple and raisins before cooking for a smoother porridge.

🔎 Looking for Similar Recipes?
If you enjoyed A Potage of Roysons, you might also like these other fruit- and almond-based dishes from the same manuscript:

• .lxxix. Apple Muse – Smooth apple and almond milk porridge, no raisins.
• .Cxxxiiij. Apple Moyle – Sweeter version with honey and wine, thickened with rice flour.
• .lxxxv. Gaylede – Almond milk and rice dish with floral notes, suited to fast days.
• .lxviij. Bruet of Almaynne in Lente – Lent-friendly almond milk and raisin stew.
• .xx. Papyns – Early rice custard thickened with almond milk; no fruit, but similar texture.

Rastons: A Medieval Pastry Disguised as Bread (Harleian MS 279)

Rastons: A Medieval Pastry Disguised as Bread

A loaf baked and sliced into “sops.”

This month I’m focusing on sops and pottages from Harleian MS 279. In medieval cuisine, sops were thick slices of bread soaked in broth and served at the start of a meal—think of the bread on top of French onion soup. Pottages were simple soups or stews, common fare for all classes, yet rarely highlighted in SCA feast menus.

To complement these dishes, I recreated a historical recipe for Rastons—a small, enriched round loaf found in 15th-century manuscripts. Traditionally, the top was cut from the bread like a crown, the crumb scooped and mixed with clarified butter, and then baked again. For my purposes, I simplified this process and sliced the loaf into sops instead.

Wondering how this fits into a medieval day? Rastons can be served in the early morning hours as a sop—bread meant to soak up warm broth, milk, or wine. Learn more in my post on What Did People Eat for Breakfast in the Middle Ages?

Original Recipe – Harleian MS 279:

.xxv. Rastons.—Take fayre Flowre, & the whyte of Eyroun, & the ȝolke, a lytel; þan take Warme Berme, & putte al þes to-gederys, & bete hem to-gederys with þin hond tyl it be schort & þikke y-now, & caste Sugre y-now þer-to, & þenne lat reste a whyle; þan kaste in a fayre place in þe oven, & late bake y-now; & þen with a knyf cutte yt round a-boue in maner of a crowne, & kepe þe cruste þat þou kyttyst; & þan pyke al þe cromys withynne to-gederys, an pike hem smal with þin knyf, & saue þe sydys & al þe cruste hole with-owte; & þan caste þer-in clarifiyd Boter, & Mille (mix) þe cromeȝ & þe botere to-gedereȝ, & keuere it a-ȝen with þe cruste, þat þou kyttest a-way; þan putte it in þe ovyn aȝen a lytil tyme; & þan take it out, & serue it forth.

Modern Interpretation by Dan Myers at Medieval Cookery:

Take fair flour, egg whites and a little yolk, warm barm (or yeast in ale), and beat them together until thick. Add sugar and let rest. Shape and bake. Cut a crown from the top, crumble the inside, mix with clarified butter, refill, replace crown, and bake again briefly. Serve warm.

My Adaptation:

• 3–4 cups flour (3:1 white to whole wheat)
• 2 tbsp sugar
• 1 cup warm ale (Brown Barrel Bomber, bourbon barrel aged)
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 packet dry yeast

To simulate ale barm, I dissolved dry yeast into warm ale. I then created a sponge by mixing ½ cup flour with the ale, sugar, and eggs, and allowed it to ferment for 20 minutes.

Sponge after proofing 20 minutes

I combined the sponge with the rest of the flour and kneaded it into a soft dough, which I shaped into a round loaf and allowed to rise until doubled. Then I baked it at 450°F for 20 minutes until hollow-sounding and golden.

Soft, tender crumb with a good crust—perfect for slicing into sops.

This bread—er, pastry—was a hit! The crust was crisp, the inside soft and flavorful from the ale. I preferred it even to my usual Manchet or French loaves.

Is Rastons Bread or Pastry?

Jim Chevallier, a noted food historian, points out that Rastons are not technically bread—the addition of eggs classifies them closer to pastry. The term “ratons” in French supports this classification. So while we often treat them like bread, they likely occupied a distinct place in medieval baking.

“CECI N'EST PAS UN PAIN... These were NOT breads. The recipe in question includes egg whites and yolks, reflecting the fact that a raton was a PASTRY.”

🔗 Related Links:

• Baronial 12th Night Feast Menu
• Medieval Cookery by Dan Myers

🍞 Curious About Medieval Bread?

If you’re wondering how Rastons compare to common breads of the Middle Ages, check out my earlier post: On the Making of Bread. It explores what everyday bread looked like, how it was made, and how Rastons fit into the broader medieval baking tradition.

Next Up: I’ll be using these Rastons in a series of posts about medieval sops and pottages. Stay tuned!

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🍽 Explore More Medieval Breakfast Recipes:

• Rastons – Egg-enriched bread for soaking in broth
• Soupes Dorye – Toasted bread in spiced almond milk
• Lyode Soppes – Early custard-style bread pudding
• Soupes Jamberlayne – Bread soaked in mulled wine
• Egges yn Brewte – Poached eggs in spiced broth
• Eyron en Poche – Poached eggs with herbs in sauce
• Pressmetzen zu Ostern – Spiced Lenten breakfast bread
• Spiced Apples and Pears – Stewed fruit with wine and spice
• Fennel and Bacon Bread – Rustic loaf with herbs and meat
• Frumenty and Venyson – Cracked wheat porridge with game

☕ Looking for even more morning inspiration?
Don’t miss the original article: Breakfast: Five Medieval Banquet Dishes »

#medievalfood #harleianMS279 #scacook #scafeast #historicrecipes #rastons #sops #pottage #medievalbaking #notbread