Guy Fieri's Favorite Breakfast Is This Iconic Southern Staple

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day, or at least that's how the saying goes, but when it comes to the favorite breakfasts of celebrity chefs, Guy Fieri isn't actually a big fan of this morning repast. He eats it only about twice monthly, and when he does, he's usually feasting on a triple-threat Southern favorite: grits, ham, and red-eye gravy. This meal is hearty and packed with the kind of flavor that the Mayor of Flavortown would want to gobble up. Fieri explained in an interview with Business Insider that this breakfast is a dish that his North Carolinian mom would make for him when he was growing up.

For the uninitiated, this meal is salty, creamy, and will put the giddy-up in your giddy-up and go. Red-eye gravy is the thick sauce that brings it together. It's made with ham drippings and strong black coffee. The coffee acts as a deglazer to ensure all the little pieces of ham stuck to the bottom of the pan don't go to waste, and instead create a gravy that is smoky, salty, and a little bitter-tasting. It's perfect for cutting through the fatty nature of the ham and the richness of the grits. 

This porridge-like dish is satisfying and substantial. The only thing it is missing is a good buttermilk biscuit to sop up any excess gravy, and maybe an egg; however, the "Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives" host might call foul with this addition. Guy Fieri won't eat eggs due to having developed a distaste for them after a traumatic experience eating one as a youngster, and that sealed the deal. That said, this meal is good as it is, with no changes needed, and if you can't eat it all, you can transform leftover grits into grit cakes for another meal. 

There's something else Guy Fieri like to nosh on in the mornings if he wants something a little lighter. It's another of his mom's recipes. The cookbook author raved to Business Insider about the granola his mother made when he was a child, citing its crunchy texture as one of its standout traits. Honey adds more sweetness to the dish, and nuts bring extra flavor and crunch. Fieri will add a small amount of yogurt and some berries to it for a little moisture to offset the inherent dryness. So, if you are looking for a more well-rounded breakfast, this plus the ham, grits, and gravy will do the trick. And, especially if you are looking for breakfast ideas without eggs, this one is sure to appease your youngest critics.