Wondering about the best breakfasts for a Renal Diet? If you’re on dialysis or are not following a very low protein diet, scrambled eggs are a great option! Adding vegetables to your scramble is a great way to add more nutrients and fiber. If you’re avoiding eggs, read on to learn about some great plant-based egg substitutions!
The Secret of Super Scrambled Eggs
Want to know the secret of taking a kidney friendly breakfast from boring and bland to absolutely lovable? AND still nourish your kidney health?
Good! I’d LOVE to tell you. It’s simple – add veggies and fresh herbs (and for me loads of garlic). There are lots of different egg-vegetable combinations you can do a great renal diet breakfast, but this is one of my favorites!
Why is spinach always on the “limit” list for the renal diet?
First to clarify about spinach because I know the question is coming! Spinach often shows up on the “Do NOT” or “limit” renal diet list although it shouldn’t. Here is why: COOKED spinach has a lot of potassium per cup. Fresh spinach is actually okay as far as potassium goes. This is because spinach becomes very concentrated as it cooks. We used fresh spinach for this renal diet breakfast recipe!
Other low potassium vegetables for a renal diet breakfast
I also used cauliflower – which I like sauteed or roasted (boiled not as much), yellow peppers, onions, and garlic. Yum!
A note on the potassium content of cauliflower: using frozen cauliflower instead of fresh cauliflower allows you to save time and reduce potassium.
Not everyone with kidney disease needs to cut potassium, but if you do, we recommend using frozen instead of fresh cauliflower.
A tip to keep your flavor-enhancing herbs fresh
One last tip. Fresh herbs are one of the best ways to take any meal in your renal diet and make it go from blah to hurrah. Fresh cilantro and parsley are pretty inexpensive. I buy a bunch of each every single week.
To store any fresh herb, I clip the stems and put them in a glass jar in my fridge (kind of like a bouquet). They stay PERFECT all week and I clip off what I need for different recipes. There are loads of health benefits to fresh herbs, but I especially love them because of the flavor they add to any recipe.
Special considerations for those following a low-protein or very low protein diet:
If you have CKD but are not on dialysis and following a low or very low protein diet to protect your kidney, you might be taking a plant-based approach. If so, you can easily swap the eggs for scrambled tofu, like our vegan breakfast scramble or even chickpea scrambled eggs!
Renal Diet Breakfast: Loaded Veggie Eggs
Ingredients
- 4 whole eggs
- 1 cup cauliflower
- 3 cups fresh spinach
- 1 garlic clove minced
- 1/4 cup bell pepper chopped
- 1/4 cup onion chopped
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 tablespoon oil of choice coconut or avocado oil is good for high heat
- fresh parsley and spring onion for garnish
- *optional tomatoes on side if no potassium restriction
Instructions
- Beat eggs with pepper until light and fluffy, set aside.
- Heat oil over medium heat in large skillet.
- Add onions and peppers to skillet and sauté until peppers are translucent and golden.
- Add garlic, stirring quickly to combine and immediately adding cauliflower and spinach.
- Sauté vegetables, turn heat to medium-low and cover for 5 minutes.
- Add eggs, stirring to combine with vegetables.
- When the eggs are cooked thoroughly, top with fresh parsley or spring onions. If no potassium restriction feel free to serve with a side of bright fresh tomatoes topped with cracker black pepper. A touch of feta or a strong sharp cheese would also be delicious with these
Notes
Nutrition
KidneyRD Verdict:
Yes – this is a great simple recipe! There are many ways to diversify it with different vegetables or spices. Other vegetables you could include would be corn, eggplant, leeks, spaghetti squash, other peppers, broccoli and sauteed radishes. I also like a touch of lemon and red pepper flakes on my eggs to enhance flavor without adding loads of salt.
Other egg recipes we love!
Want to make your renal diet LIVABLE and LOVABLE?
Want to find out more how to make your renal diet livable and lovable? Schedule a time to meet with me! I’m here to end the overwhelm and confusion so you can be confident with your meals and keep progression of kidney disease at bay.
Can You please post recipes low in Potassium, as Spinach has a high potassium count!
i just received the horrific and shocking news, that i will have to receive dialysis sooner than later! with a stage-4-to-5 Kidney count of (17) i am absolutely lost concerning food recipes?
Thank You
Alma Roehling
Hi Alma, spinach is high in potassium only when cooked down. 1 cup of fresh spinach has <200 mg potassium which is considered a low potassium food! So sorry to hear about your news! Highly recommend working with a renal dietitian on a plant-based, low protein diet, low acid diet. It can make all the difference in the world. You can check out the services I offer or go to kidney.org/ckdrd and find one in your area. Every person has very specific needs!
I read that fresh spinach is low in potassium. Great! Then the recipe proceeds to cook it down, despite the author claiming it would use fresh spinach. Starting with fresh and cooking it contradicts what was written initially!
are egg yolks okay for patients at stage 5 of CKD, with GFR 5? the patient is underweight and is nearing dialysis. kindly reply soon as the patient is getting critical and hospitals are not taking any patients due to corona outbreak.
Thanks
She compares 1 cup of fresh spinach vs. 1 cup of cooked spinach. To get 1 cup of cooked spinach would require multiple cups of fresh spinach… thus that’s what she means when she states 1 cup of fresh is less Potassium than 1 cup of cooked… and she’s right! Just think about it for a second.
Cooking doesn’t increase the potassium.
What is best fit for stage 3 CKD with GFR of 37
Hi Richard,
Unfortunately, we cannot give any individualized advice in our comments. If you would like to book a Nutrition Strategy Call with one of our amazing KidneyRD practitioners, they would be happy to help you develop a plan for your specific needs!
You can sign up for a Nutrition Strategy call here.
thank you…you are a life saver
Maam,
My father is in need of low protein and low carbohydrate diet.
I am trying to follow this diet,
If possible pls suggest some more food items he can have
Pls suggest me
It would be a great help if u share with us
Hi there,
Unfortunately, we cannot give any specific recommendations via comments.
You can, however, Book a Nutrition Strategy call or Sign up for our monthly class for more information on the low protein diet and foods recommended to help support kidney health.
Please can you send me some
Respies
I am at stage 3 kidney diease
And any information .you
Have
Miss denise arnott
Hi Denise,
We are working on getting more recipes up on our blog, stay tuned for more kidney friendly recipes coming soon!
I read some where it is healthier just to eat the egg white and not yolk on Renal diet
Hi Noelle,
There are a couple of reasons why you may see the recommendation to avoid egg yolk.
The yolk contains cholesterol, for those with high cholesterol levels it may be recommended to limit egg yolk.
The yolk also contains phosphorus and choline, both of which can negatively impact the kidneys.
However, each person is unique and has individual needs. To determine what foods are best for you, we recommend consulting with a Renal Dietitian!
I love it. Thank you so very much for your delicious and healthy recipes
So if she cooks only 1 cup of fresh spinach, does that mean we eat 1/2 cup cooked or 1/4 cup cooked…? I’m confused Ron…
I do know if those limited to potassium, I’d be inclined to use it raw in this dish and only use a 1/4 cup…
I can’t rate the recipe because I haven’t cooked it…
Hi mam,
What if the patient is 55 year old and have acute kidney failure.what is the best breakfast and snack for them?and the limit of calorie intake must be 800k/cal only.please help me .
Thank you.
Hi Gina,
We are unable to give any nutrition recommendations via comments as each person has such unique needs.
However, we would absolutely love to help so please consider booking a nutrition strategy call.
Thank you for the platform. Lots to learn. Any advice on how to support patients at stage 4 CKD to reverse
Also the calls can be expensive. Why not what s up?
Hi Dolline, We are so glad that you are finding some helpful information on our website.
We love helping people with stage 4 CKD! You can book a nutrition strategy call or join our free monthly class for more information.
Spinach is lower or higher in potassium
Hi Adrian,
Great question! Spinach is moderately high in Potassium when it is raw. 1 Cup of raw spinach has about 150 mg. Cooked spinach has much more potassium simply because it takes a lot of fresh spinach to yield one cup of cooked spinach. 1 cup of cooked spinach has about 800 mg. Big difference, right? We hope that this helps! If you are looking for more clarity, please consider joining our monthly call!
dietician informed not to eat green leafy vegetable
what to do
Hi Michelle,
There may be a variety of reasons why the Dietitian advised you to avoid potassium including, Coumadin/Warfarin therapy or perhaps high potassium or risk of oxalate stones. If you’d like further clarification about this you can book an appointment with one of our Renal Dietitians.
One strategy is to swap out vegetables that you may need to limit or avoid. For example, if spinach is a concern in this recipe, feel free to leave it out and consider adding more bell pepper and even add zucchini!
I am experiencing left back pain and right lower stomach pain..I am thinking this might be my kidney. While reading all the advice really help me but my diet I want to start since it not late. Need advice. Thanks. this is Martha from Fiji.
Hi Martha,
We’d be happy to help! The best way to get started is to book a complimentary KidneyRD Clarity call so that we can learn a bit more about you and you can learn about our approach as well!
Good Heavens!! What’s to really eat? I have thyroid disease and cooked veggies are better for me (at least, what I read). I always eat sautéed lettuce and Spinach. Raw Cruciferous vegetables are not good for me. I love them so I cook them, at least it’s better than raw. I love eggs but have heart disease so I have to limit whole eggs. Not really much that I can eat…
Hi Carolyn,
It’s hard balancing multiple conditions and figuring out what you CAN eat. We love helping people discover that they may not need to be restricting so many foods after all! If you’d like to discuss your medical concerns and see if one of our Renal Dietitians can help you expand your diet and food choices, consider booking a free discovery call.
Above in recipe, it states to look at the chickpea scrambled eggs for a low protein alternative, but yet when I click on that recipe. it says it is high protein….am I misreading this??
Hi Ann,
Each serving of the chickpea eggs contains 10 grams of protein. Of course, you could modify that recipe to use almond milk instead of soy to lower the protein even further.
If you need clarification about how much protein is right for you, we recommend booking an appointment with one of our renal dietitians!
Thank You for all the Wonderful replies and for clarifying A LOT of doubts regarding Renal diet. It is REFRESHING to see You are up to date with all the New Kidney research….a lot of websites offering CKD info on the internet really NEED to UPDATE their information. It is 2022 not 1980’s or even 2016..
When one knows better, one will do better as Knowledge is indeed Power. THANK YOU!