What Coco Gauff Eats In A Day

If you follow tennis or the Olympic Games at all, then Cori "Coco" Gauff has likely already been on your radar for a while. The impressive tennis professional made her Olympic debut in 2024 at just 20 years old. If that isn't inspiring enough, she has been collecting titles since she was 19 from high-level games, including both the U.S. and French Open, and is one of the youngest Olympains to win a singles match. She also shocked the tennis world by defeating the legendary Venus Williams playing Wimbledon at just 15 years old and, at the 2024 games, by engaging with a lengthy back-and-forth with Olympic linesperson over a disputed points call. Gauff clearly has some fuel to her Olympian fire, and her daily eats contribute to the inferno she brings to each court she steps upon.

According to the International Tennis Federation, a professional tennis player needs between 3,500 to 5,000 calories a day to fuel their incredibly active body. This is around double the recommended amount for your average person. What does this look like in terms of actual food? We've taken a look at what Gauff eats in a day to satisfy such a high demand sport and a subsequent high intake diet, and you may be surprised at how tasty all of it sounds. From balanced breakfasts and bowls of pasta to gooey chocolate brownies, here's what this Olympian and champion tennis player could be eating regularly. 

Coco Gauff is now an Olympian, so it makes sense that she'd eat like one. With breakfast widely deemed to be the most important meal of the day, she starts off right with a fully balanced meal. A range of proteins and carbs fuel her training sessions. In an interview with Women's Health, Gauff describes her usual breakfast as, "eggs, potatoes, sausage, and fruit." A breakfast with two proteins and two carbs sounds pretty versatile.

Carbs may get a bad rap, but these nutrients are actually incredibly important, especially for someone who is as active as Coco Gauff. Carbohydrates are where most of the energy our body burns comes from and you can bet those powerful drives and serves eat up a ton of energy. Carbing up first thing in the morning should give Gauff the energy boost she needs for a solid training session and an Olympic match. Both potatoes and fruit are fibrous carbs, too, while both are packed with important vitamins and minerals.

The protein Gauff pairs with her carbed up breakfast aids her in multiple ways. First, protein allows for muscle growth, which is obviously necessary for a full-time, training athlete. Eating protein in the morning also helps to give your body a boost of energy and aids in transporting oxygen to the brain. This means higher brain function and surely Olympians like Gauff need to start their day wide eyed and motivated.

Sure, big breakfasts are for champions, but even Olympians take a break from morning feasting sometimes. While her typical first meal of the day is hearty and sustaining, match days look a bit different for Coco Gauff. Hunger comes on a bit later in the day, which inspires a light breakfast followed by lunch not too long after.

These small breakfasts still consist of carbs, but Gauff takes it easy on the protein. "Eggs and some toast — I love almond-butter toast — or a fruit bowl," she said to EatingWell when laying out her pre-match breakfast. These lighter meals are due to matches being set for midday, which pushes up her lunch. She explains that she's usually not hungry for an early breakfast, so the two meals tend to almost converge and she therefore eats two separate smaller meals.

Though Gauff typically skips the meat portion of her breakfast on match days, she is still consuming some protein. The almond butter contains enough protein to keep Gauff satiated until lunch, while the creamy spread is also a great source of healthy fat. Imagine you're gearing up for the Olympics every time you eat almond butter toast or a fruit salad, as this was likely Gauff's go-to before her first Olympic match.

Remember how we said carbs aren't the enemy? Well, Coco Gauff apparently holds them to bestie status, because pasta is a go-to dish for her lunches. According to her, pasta makes adhering to an athlete's diet easy. This makes a lot of sense because pasta is a carb and calorie-loaded food that makes it possible to consume a lot of sustenance without actually consuming a ton of food. Athletes, especially those who are actively training and participating in the Olympics, need extra of just about everything. They need to consume more calories, more water, and especially more carbs to keep their bodies moving and working at peak performance.

In addition to being a carb bomb, pasta is incredibly versatile. Pasta isn't just penne and chicken or spaghetti and meatballs. There are countless combinations when it comes to this food, especially when you consider the many different forms pasta can take along with the seemingly endless topping possibilities. Where Gauff is concerned, she said during a press interview that penne reigns supreme when it comes to before-match meals, as it's a simple, less messy pasta shape (via Tennis). When she doesn't mind getting a little dirty, though, spaghetti is what really wins her heart. As far as toppings go, she told Well+Good that tomato sauce with chicken, spinach, and parmesan cheese is a frequent combo.

She may opt for a heavier pasta-based lunch most days, but lighter days more likely feature a rice bowl for Gauff. Just as with pasta, a rice bowl can be as simple or as complicated as you make it. The customizability of the base dish is perfect for an athlete or anyone who needs to focus on the particulars of their food intake. In other words, Gauff can make sure she is getting the nutrients she needs, while also spicing things up in the kitchen. Chicken and rice everyday, like you may have seen some bodybuilders preparing and consuming, can admittedly get boring. Having the ability to get creative and work in a variety of veggies, sauces, meats, and spices keeps a diet exciting and easier to follow.

In that same interview with Women's Health, Gauff reveals that beans, avocado, and chicken are three of her go-to pairings with her standard rice bowl. Cultures throughout the world have different versions of the rice bowl, too. Preparing different takes on the dish can not only nourish the body, but take the eater on a world tour. Replacing the chicken with salmon and the beans with chickpeas is a simple way to switch up a diet and retain vital nutrients. Adding salsa and sour cream easily transforms the staple into a Latin-inspired version of the dish. Something as simple as adding the trendy Green Goddess dressing or an aioli can add even more variation.

As Gauff has been a pro athlete since she was 15 years old and likely hasn't had much time to explore the kitchen, sometimes her dinners can be basic. There's absolutely nothing wrong with a solid meal made up of base food groups, though! A meat and veggie meal can satisfy just as much as a full course dinner if you do it right, and foodies certainly know that there's plenty you can do with a cut of salmon or a slab of steak.

As for Gauff, she leans toward the lighter proteins, but protein is nevertheless the centerpiece of her dinners. As such, she gravitates toward salmon and chicken rather than steak. She pairs her meals with a hearty portion of veggies, noting to Women's Health that her air fryer has come in clutch when cooking Brussels sprouts. While there are some things you should really never cook in an air fryer, the popular kitchen gadgets are perfect for athletes who need to eat and have little time to cook.

Gauff, who admitted to Women's Health that she isn't an accomplished cook, is proof that it doesn't really take much time or effort to dine like an Olympian. Pick a protein and a roasted veggies recipe to pair on the side, and you're set. Pro tip: seasoning can go a long way in taking a basic dish to a whole new delicious level.

Water is the lifeblood of practically every living thing on Earth. We not only need water to live, but we need it to thrive. Everything from our skin and nails to our heart and brain need plenty of water to operate at optimal levels. Just as with calorie intake, athletes need to up the amount of water they consume to make up for what they lose in sweat.

The average ideal intake of water for an adult woman is 95 ounces (125 ounces for men), so Coco Gauff needs to drink this and then some. If you've ever tracked your water, you know that it's not such an easy task to drink that much in a day. Gauff combats this issue by switching up what she drinks to stay hydrated.

Gauff does drink plenty of water, but she also uses Pedialyte to stay hydrated. That's right, Pedialyte isn't just the ultimate hangover cure or your toddler's after-sick drink; it's also an athlete's not-so-secret weapon. In addition to the electrolyte beverage, she occasionally drinks pineapple juice. Considering she is the new "Chief Smoothie Officer" for Naked juice, Gauff's juice and smoothie consumption may become a more than just occasional thing.

Fruit is an incredible source of fiber, and having a variety of fruit is a great way to get a wide range of vitamins in your diet. Coco Gauff's mother apparently knows this quite well, because she often prepares fruit salads for her tennis pro daughter. Gauff has gone viral for eating out of a Tupperware container at matches, and in an appearance on the Today show she explained that it's simply filled with fruit prepared by her parents.

An Olympian who eats homemade fruit salad packed by her mom is one of most wholesome things we've ever seen. It's both incredibly endearing and practical. No one wants to go into an important event or match hungry, and fruit is a light enough snack to not bog down a high-level tennis star like Gauff.

Fruit salad is another dish that is so versatile it would be hard to get tired of it, making it a great go-to for everyday consumption. Watermelon and cucumber are an interesting, yet satisfying pairing that many don't consider when making fruit salad. A medley of berries and pomegranate seeds would be a great antioxidant boost, and throwing in a handful of grapes or a few slices of tropical fruit would offer up a sweet and refreshing treat. Pro tip: frozen fruit salad is akin to a dessert, and freezing would keep the fruit more fresh when on the go.

Professional athletes are always on the go, especially if they have achieved Olympian status. Not only does this active lifestyle make you more hungry, but it could also all too easily give you less time to sate that hunger. Snacking is a great way for athletes like Coco Gauff to incorporate needed calories and sustenance in between training and matches. She certainly does so, and her snacks of choice may surprise you.

Her enjoyment of fruit salads could certainly be seen as one such snack, but Gauff isn't afraid to bring along processed snacks, too. Potato chips, protein bars, and any other kind of crunchy chip she can get her hands on are her go-to snacking foods, as she told EatingWell. Seaweed chips, dried fruit crisps, and flavored potato chips are all things she likes to munch on. Chips are, of course, something her athletic diet doesn't always allow for, but protein bars also allow her to fuel up regularly.

Protein bars come in many different flavors from many brands. If you are trying to mimic an athlete's diet, do some serious label searching to find a protein bar that's right for you. Part of the shady side of protein bars is that it's a bit too easy to overload on sugar when simply relying on exaggerated keywords and salesy terms printed on the label. Look for protein and fiber content when deciding if a protein bar is definitely worth your money.

Pasta lovers, rejoice! Noodles are so much more than just a versatile lunch for Coco Gauff; she actually eats them whenever. In 2023 when she competed in Beijing, the tennis champion raved about all the pasta she was eating there. "I like noodles a lot," she told the on-scene announcer (via The Tennis Letter's X post), "I've been eating it for breakfast, lunch, and dinner."

Lunch and dinner pasta dishes are a given, but you don't see very many people opting for a bowl of noodles at breakfast time. Luckily, there are no actual food police saying you can't break out the rigatoni before noon. If you want some semblance of a breakfast pasta meal, eggs are a great, yet potentially unexpected addition to spaghetti.

It's not just the noodles served up in China that have Gauff salivating. The tennis pro loves pasta so much that she has been a spokesperson for Barilla since 2019. With how much pasta Gauff eats, it's a sponsorship that makes quite a lot of sense. She's even been seen cooking up dishes with the brand's pasta throughout the years.

Olympians are widely thought to be the best athletes in the world and subsequently some of the healthiest humans amongst us. That doesn't mean they deny themselves the decadence of junk food, though. Coco Gauff is a dessert gal who doesn't shy away from a sugar rush.

While she needs to stay in peak physical shape to bring home the match wins, Gauff loves dessert and is okay with adding it to her diet — especially after successful matches. While her tastes do change every so often, she told Women's Health that brownies are one of her favorite desserts. She's also a sucker for other classic treats, as she likes a good ice cream after a hearty meal. If we had to hazard a guess, we'd say that, given her love for a rich brownie and other chocolate goodies, chocolate ice cream or some kind of flavor with an element of chocolate would be her go-to ice cream flavor.

Those who follow Gauff on social media have likely seen an occasional dessert of hers while scrolling through their feed. She isn't shy about sharing her love of sweet treats with her fans, with her step by step recipe TikTok video for fried Oreos evidence of this fact. With as much work she puts into her craft, she is deserving of all the sweet treats she wants.

Coco Gauff is starting to sound like a foodie queen. Not only does she nom down on noodles, snacks, and dessert, but she has a special sweet tooth for all things chocolate. She doesn't wait until after a meal to enjoy the sweeter things in life, either. And with a name like Coco, how could she not see the beauty in such a widely beloved food?

Brownies and ice cream are great, but there's something about a breakfast pastry that hits just right. Gauff has been outspoken for her love of chocolate pastries and cakes, and said she enjoyed a chocolate cake-like baked good for breakfast while in Paris (via X).

It's not just chocolatey baked goods that have Coco Gauff salivating, but chocolate candy as well. She told EatingWell that Twix and KitKats are two of her favorite chocolate bars, though she doesn't get to have them as often as she would like. We've gone over her love of chips, but we kind of missed one: Gauff has also posted on X that she loves chocolate chips. It sounds like the way to this tennis star's heart is definitely through her stomach.