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What to eat in Italy? Top 25 Italian Breakfasts

Last update: Thu Mar 20 2025
Top 25 Italian Breakfasts
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01
Brioche con gelato
Brioche con gelato infographic
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Brioche con gelato is a traditional dessert hailing from Sicily. This dessert sandwich consists of a soft, buttery brioche bun that's stuffed with a generous amount of gelato. It's especially popular during the hot summer months, and it's sometimes even eaten for breakfast.


If desired, finish it with a sprinkled of chopped nuts and a pinch of powdered sugar for extra flavor.

MOST ICONIC Brioche con gelato

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02

Snack

PROVINCE OF LECCE, Italy
4.4
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This traditional Italian savory treat is prepared with various fillings that are enclosed between two layers of puff pastry. Typically round in shape, rustico is usually filled with a combination of béchamel sauce, tomatoes, and mozzarella cheese, but there are also varieties that employ spinach or ricotta.


Unlike other local delicacies from Salento and Lecce, rustico is not part of the traditional country-style cuisine and is believed to have developed in the 1700s, following the invention of béchamel sauce. The pastry is a common street food item, and it is mainly enjoyed as a breakfast or an afternoon snack.

MOST ICONIC Rustico

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03
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The Italian cornetto is a popular crescent-shaped pastry, similar to a croissant but with key differences. The dough is less laminated than that for a croissant and enriched with sugar, eggs, and butter, resulting in a cornetto with a slightly softer and less flaky texture when compared to a croissant and a sweeter and richer flavor.


It is also usually less curved and slightly larger than a croissant. Cornetti (plural for cornetto) can be enjoyed plain or filled with sweet fillings like crema pasticcera (pastry cream), jam, Nutella, or almond paste, and are sometimes dusted with powdered sugar or glazed. 
04

Sweet Pastry

GALATINA, Italy
4.3
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Pasticciotto is a popular Italian dessert consisting of a shortcrust pastry filled with flavorful pastry cream. Traditionally, the crust is made with lard, so that it is moister and softer than the regular crust prepared with butter. It is recommended to consume pasticciotto fresh out of the oven when it is still piping hot.


Many believe that the dessert was invented in the 18th century by Andrea Ascalone, a chef from Galatina.

MOST ICONIC Pasticciotto

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05

Cake

PAVIA, Italy
4.3
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A classic in Italian pastry and the symbol of the city of Pavia, torta Paradiso is a simple sponge cake variation that mainly uses the three essential cake ingredients - sugar, flour, and butter. Created by Enrico Vigoni in the early 1800s, Torta Paradiso lends itself perfectly as a dessert all on its own, or to various tasty fillings like creams, custards, or spreads.


The unmistakable softness, fragrance, and sweetness also make it a popular choice for a breakfast treat - accompanied by espresso, milk or tea.

MOST ICONIC Torta Paradiso

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06
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Granita di mandorla is a variety of Sicilian granita—a frozen dessert that comes in a wide array of flavors. This almond-based version can be made from scratch, using ground almonds, or with the already-prepared almond paste. The latter will usually be smoother, while the one prepared with ground almonds will have a slightly coarser texture.


The ingredients are simply mixed with sugar and water, and the combination is then frozen. In Sicily, granita is often enjoyed for breakfast, and it is often served with Italian-style brioche (brioscia) on the side.

MOST ICONIC Granita di mandorla

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07

Frozen Dessert

SICILY, Italy
4.2
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This classic Sicilian semi-frozen dessert is just the thing to cool you down during the dog days of summer. It is served all across the island, and traditionally enjoyed for breakfast alongside an espresso and brioche. Granita is made with water, sugar, and fruit juice or various other flavorings.


It is sometimes confused with sorbetto, though granita has a much grainier texture, hence the name, while its origins can be traced back to the sweet Arabic chilled drink sharbāt which was introduced to Sicily during Arab rule. However, traditional granita is not simply chilled but almost frozen - in fact, it was once called rattata (lit. grated) and made using snow and ice from Etna that was collected during winter, then stored in mountain caves. 

MOST ICONIC Granita

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08

Breakfast

SOUTH TYROL, Italy and  one more region
4.2
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Tiroler gröstl is a traditional dish from Tirol, an Austrian region famous for its skiing and hiking courses. Like most Alpine dishes, gröstl is simple, yet rich, consisting of fried potatoes, onions, and bacon. Traditionally, the dish is served with a fried egg on top.


Gröstl provides an ideal way of using yesterday's leftovers and transforming them into a great, hearty, and warming mountain lunch that can be shared communally, straight from the pan. It is recommended to pair the dish with the famous kaiserschmarrn in a separate pan. 

MOST ICONIC Tiroler Gröstl

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09

Egg Dish

UMBRIA, Italy and  one more region
4.2
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Frittata al tartufo is a traditional Umbrian and Istrian dish made with a combination of eggs, black truffles, olive oil, salt, and black pepper. This simple dish is made by pouring beaten eggs into a pan with hot olive oil, and then adding thin shavings of truffles, salt, and pepper to the pan.


After the eggs have curdled, all that's left is to sprinkle the dish with finely chopped parsley or dry white wine before serving. If desired, the dish can be additionally flavored with grated cheese on top. In Istria, the dish is called fritaja s tartufima - it's commonly prepared for breakfast and it can easily be found in local restaurants. 
10
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Lemon granita is believed to have been one of the first versions of this frozen Sicilian specialty. Granita al limone is made with lemon juice, water, and sugar, while lemon zest is often used as a flavoring. The combination is frozen and then stirred with a fork to partially break the ice crystals and give granita its distinctive granular texture.


Like other types of granita, this lemony version is often accompanied by a Sicilian brioche (brioscia), and though is it is commonly enjoyed as a refreshing dessert, the Sicilians prefer to enjoy it as a sweet breakfast.

MOST ICONIC Granita al limone

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Cookie
VENICE, Italy
3.7
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Cake
TUSCANY, Italy
n/a
19
Breakfast
FRIULI-VENEZIA GIULIA, Italy
n/a
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TasteAtlas food rankings are based on the ratings of the TasteAtlas audience, with a series of mechanisms that recognize real users and that ignore bot, nationalist or local patriotic ratings, and give additional value to the ratings of users that the system recognizes as knowledgeable. TasteAtlas Rankings should not be seen as the final global conclusion about food. Their purpose is to promote excellent local foods, instill pride in traditional dishes, and arouse curiosity about dishes you haven’t tried.

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Italian Breakfasts