Kamala Harris' Go-To Breakfast Meal Is So Simple

Kamala Harris loves cooking. She's a real foodie who's happy to dole out advice on everything from roasting chicken to crafting the perfect tuna melt. But for breakfast, Harris likes to keep it simple. In October 2024, when Harris appeared on football champ Shannon Sharpe's "Club Shay Shay" podcast in the lead-up to the presidential election, the former vice president admitted that her morning meal is "not very exciting." Her go-to? "It's usually a spinach omelet," Harris said. "It's protein with a little vegetable. I like chicken apple sausage and some toast, and I'm gone."

Harris seems to be a big fan of uncomplicated breakfasts. She's answered this question differently in the past, suggesting she likes to mix it up from time to time. Still, her previous responses have also been pretty quick and easy. In 2018, when Harris was a U.S. senator, she told New York Magazine' s The Cut she liked Raisin Bran with almond milk. (She's from California, after all, the state that accounts for a whopping 75% of the global almond crop.) Tea with honey and lemon washes it all down: "And then, I'm out the door."

People with busy jobs don't have a lot of time to spend on elaborate breakfasts. (Harris does, however, like a nice glass of wine at the end of the day.) Still, what they choose to start their day eating can reveal a little about them and where they come from — and that holds true for Harris.

Kamala Harris might have been a senator from California, but her mother was born in India, and in 2020, when talking about another beloved breakfast, Harris gave a shout-out to South Indian idli with "really good sambar" (via Times of India). Idli are steamed cakes made from fermented rice and lentils served alongside a lentil and vegetable stew called sambar: the essence of comfort food.

How do other powerful people start their days? President Donald Trump might have the least conventional morning routine of all: He skips breakfast, fueling up on only Diet Coke. First Lady Melania Trump also drinks her morning meal, but she goes for a more substantial smoothie with berries, spinach, yogurt, and other ingredients. Compare that utilitarian fare with the breakfast preferred by Trump predecessor Barack Obama, who favored four to six eggs to start the day as well as potatoes and toast.

The best-sounding politician's breakfast in recent memory? Probably the huevos rancheros with fresh tortillas that George W. Bush ate for brunch after church on Sundays. The worst? Well, Richard Nixon has become a bit infamous for the final meal he ate in the White House before resigning: cottage cheese, sliced pineapple, and a glass of milk. That meal wasn't too far off from Nixon's typical breakfast, which consisted of fruit, wheat germ, and coffee (so far, so good) but also cottage cheese topped with ketchup.