Everything You Need to Know About Breakfast in Italy
Last Updated on 16th October 2023 by Sophie Nadeau
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If there’s one thing you should know about breakfast in Italy, it’s that it’s somewhat of a light and casual affair, with little more than a few pastries and a coffee. Unlike some of its northern neighbours, you shouldn’t expect to find any fry ups on the menu, though brunch has become more popular in the past decade or so in larger cities. Here’s your ultimate Italian breakfast guide.
Breakfast is known as colazione in Italian and is not really designed to fill you up, but is instead meant to give you a boost of energy to begin your morning and awaken your appetite for the day.
Contents
Introducing breakfast in Italy: what to expect
One of the other important things to note about Italian breakfast (other than it being a light affair and small in size) is that the type of breakfast you get is entirely dependent on the region that you’re visiting.
For example, in somewhere like Sicily, it’s not unheard of to get a granita (frozen iced dessert) for breakfast (I really recommend BamBar if you’re staying in Taormina), while in northern Italy, such as in Milan, you’re more likely to find brioche.
Another regional speciality that you might encounter during your Italy travels is roasted chestnuts served with natural yoghurt, which is served in Trentino.
In large cities like Florence and Rome, it’s becoming more common to find establishments serving brunches like avocado toast and pancakes (particularly during the weekend). If you’re planning on dining out in a formal establishment in Italy, be sure to read our advice on the coperto in Italy.
Where to go for breakfast in Italy
While specialty coffee shops are becoming more popular across the boot-shaped country, they definitely remain few and far between in comparison to many other destinations in Europe. Most people head to a local bar for breakfast and this is where you can purchase juice, a coffee (how you like it) and a pastry or two.
Breakfast drinks
Italians tend to eat dinner late and only has a few components; typically a small pastry, a soft drink, and the most important element of all: coffee. Instead of coffee, most children will instead have a glass of warm or cold milk.
Coffee
The main staple of an Italian breakfast is the coffee. Many Italians enjoy a cappuccino for breakfast (a coffee served with steamed milk), though you should note that it’s seen as a bit strange to order a cappuccino after midday as they’re considered too heavy to be drunk after breakfast.
Never order a latté unless you want a glass of hot steamed milk (there’s no coffee in a latté in Italy) and it’s also important to note that coffees are typically consumed pretty short in Italy (i.e. they’re very strong with not very much liquid).
Indeed, even when I have ordered an Americano, more often than not, I’ve been served with a coffee that would resemble more of a double espresso anywhere else! If you’re interested in learning more about Italian coffee, check out our guide to ordering coffee in Italy.
Other breakfast drinks
Another favourite breakfast staple, particularly during the summer months, is fresh juice. Orange juice isn’t typically as common as you would expect and it’s more likely that you’ll find some kind of mixed juice with multiple fruits on the menu. If you want to get water, then it’s worth noting that it’s usually not free and you’ll have to pay for a bottle.
Common breakfast foods in Italy
Pastries
Pastries are one of the main staples of an Italian breakfast and you can find them in all shapes and sizes. Many cafés have small versions of each kind of pastry, meaning that you can often mix and match two or three different ones to make up a good portion for breakfast. Pastries can either be plain or filled with cream, jam, or chocolate.
- Cornetti (Croissants): In spite of being more closely associated with France, croissants are a favourite staple of many Italians. Unlike their French counterparts, cornetti are often sweeter than croissants and are often served with a filling like pistachio cream or Nutella. Other variations are “cornetto alla crema” (cream-filled) or “cornetto alla marmellata” (jam-filled).
- Sfogliatella: These pastries are famed for their flaky and delicate layers. There are two main types of Sfogliatella. These are “Sfogliatella riccia” ( this is crispy and is baked in a shell-like shape) and “Sfogliatella frolla” (this has a pastry exterior). More often than not, these Italian pastries are filled with ricotta cheese and flavoured with orange or lemon zest.
- Bomboloni: This is the Italian answer to doughnuts. These pastries are usually filled with jam, custard, or chocolate and finished off with a dusting of powdered sugar. Depending on which region you’re in, they are either oval or round in shape.
- Baba: This is a yeasted pastry which soaked in rum or a syrup and is usually topped with whipped cream or fruit. Babà comes in a mushroom shape (allegedly inspired by the dome of St. Sofia’s Church in Constantinople) and is especially common in southern Italy, such as in Naples.
- Ciambella: This is quite literally a breakfast cake and is cooked to be consumed by the slice together wih your morning coffee. Shaped like a ring, this cake is usually flavoured with orange, lemon, or anise.
Though not really seen as an entire breakfast, many Italians enjoy dipping a kind of cookie into their coffee. Some of the more popular types of biscuit include biscotti (twice-baked cookies), amaretti (almond cookies), or simple buttery biscuits such as frollini.
Yoghurt and fruit
While pastries are pretty tasty, if someone wants to go for a healthier breakfast, then eating yoghurt and some fruit is also a pretty common breakfast choice. People will usually eat the fruit that’s in season.
Savoury breakfast options in Italy
In reading this article, if there’s one thing that you’ve probably deduced by now, it’s that most breakfast options in Italy are pretty sweet and savoury options can be few and far between.
If you want something more savoury, then cold cuts of cheese and meats are fairly common in regions such as Emilia-Romagna. Another popular option is a slice of toast with jam, butter, or Nuttella.
Things that aren’t common in Italian breakfasts
Cereal isn’t really all that common and so you’ll rarely find it served in people’s homes. You will likely find a few cereal mixes available at hotel chain breakfasts, but other than that, it’s just not that popular to serve cereal as a breakfast food.
Eggs aren’t all that common, but you will see some places offering up scrambled, boiled, or fried eggs on their menus. One egg recipe that you will find, however, is uovo sbattuto. This is literally translated into English as ‘beaten egg’ and is egg which is beaten with sugar and then eaten by dipping biscuits into it.
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