How to eat a healthy breakfast in Quito and Guayaquil without giving up tigrillo
Ecuadorian breakfast isn't the problem. How it's cooked is.
Green plantain isn't the enemy
Green plantain is resistant starch: it behaves like fibre, feeds the gut microbiome and has a lower glycaemic index than white bread. A tigrillo made with plantain, egg and fresh cheese is a complete breakfast. What turns it into a calorie bomb is the volume of oil and chicharrón, not the plantain.
The three pieces of a good breakfast
Enough protein (25–40 g), a fibre-carrying carbohydrate and a quality fat. Egg, plantain or whole-grain sourdough, and avocado cover all three. If breakfast is carbohydrate only — white bread, juice, sweetened coffee — hunger returns within two hours.
Coffee on an empty stomach
Black coffee doesn't break a fast and can help with morning training performance. A syrup latte does. If you train early, an espresso or americano before and breakfast after works for most people.
Practical versions
Tigrillo with less oil and ricotta instead of fried cheese. Bolón with egg instead of sausage. Avotoast on whole-grain sourdough with egg and avocado. Oat pancakes with protein powder and Greek yogurt on top. Each keeps the Ecuadorian flavour and changes only the execution.
Where to eat it
At PROT INN we serve breakfast throughout opening hours at all 13 locations, with macros calculated for every dish. Tigrillo costeño, tigrillo light, bolón especial, avotoast, vegan toast, protein pancakes and oat waffles are available from open to close.