# What do Italians actually eat for breakfast? Canonical: https://zestasy.com/wiki/italian-breakfast/ Section: Zestasy Wiki > Food · Updated: 2026-10-14 · Publisher: Zestasy *Zestasy Wiki: our reference answers. Checked for facts and sources; less curated than the magazine.* Most Italians eat a sweet, quick breakfast: at home, coffee, milk or caffè latte with biscuits, rusks or bread with jam, honey or hazelnut spread; at the bar, an espresso or cappuccino with a cornetto or another pastry. Savoury breakfasts exist but are much less common, and some people have only a coffee. Visitors to Italy often go looking for a big breakfast and find a counter, an espresso machine and a glass case of pastries. That is not a failure of hospitality. It is the point: the Italian morning is short and sweet, and the serious eating comes later in the day. ## The sweet breakfast at home [Wikipedia's entry on Italian meal structure](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Italian_meal_structure) describes the most popular breakfast, *colazione*, as sweet, eaten either at home or at a café. At home, it says, it usually means coffee, milk or caffè latte with baked things such as biscuits, or slices of bread with butter and jam, honey or a chocolate-hazelnut cream; milk is sometimes swapped for fruit juice. On Sundays and holidays there may be cakes, tarts or regional specialities. [Italian Wikipedia's colazione entry](https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colazione) gives a similar picture, listing biscuits, *fette biscottate* (crisp, toasted rusks), cornetti, bread with chocolate or jam, yogurt, cereals, cakes and *crostate*, alongside coffee, milk, cappuccino or tea. In practice, a home breakfast might be: - **Caffè latte in a big cup**, with biscuits for dunking. - **Fette biscottate** spread with butter and jam. - **A slice of homemade cake**, often a plain *ciambella* or a [crostata](https://zestasy.com/wiki/what-is-a-crostata/) from the day before. - **Yogurt and fruit**, increasingly common. ## Breakfast at the bar The Italian *bar* is a café, and many people have breakfast there on the way to work. The English Wikipedia entry describes espresso as dominant at the café, with cappuccino or latte macchiato, accompanied by a cornetto, a bombolone (a filled doughnut) or another pastry, with plenty of regional variety. A few things worth knowing: - **The cornetto**, meaning little horn, is the crescent-shaped pastry at the heart of it. [Wikipedia's cornetto entry](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cornetto_%28pastry%29) says the name is now used interchangeably with croissant, that it is often filled with custard, apricot jam or chocolate cream, and that in the north it is usually called a *brioche*. - **It is quick.** A cornetto with an espresso or cappuccino at the counter is, the same entry says, considered the most common breakfast in Italy. A few minutes, a chat with the barista, and off. - **Every bar has its own habits**, so watch what the regulars do: where to order, where to pay, whether to sit. ## Savoury breakfasts and coffee only Both Wikipedia entries note that savoury breakfasts are much less frequent, though not unknown: the English entry mentions focaccia, or toasted bread with olive oil, tomato or salami. It also says that many Italians have only coffee and nothing to eat. ## Why it looks this way [The English entry](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Italian_meal_structure) notes that across the Mediterranean, breakfast is often skipped or lighter than in other parts of Europe, and that Italians commonly have small mid-morning and afternoon snacks, *merenda*. With a snack mid-morning and a proper lunch ahead, a sweet coffee-and-something breakfast makes sense. ## Bringing it home For an Italian-style breakfast without a bar downstairs: - **Make a simple cake at the weekend** and eat slices through the week: an [olive oil cake](https://zestasy.com/wiki/olive-oil-cake/), a lemon ciambella or a jam crostata. - **Keep good biscuits for dunking**, from plain rusks to [cantucci](https://zestasy.com/wiki/why-cantucci-are-hard/). - **Toast good bread** and spread it with butter and apricot jam. - **Make coffee properly**, with a moka pot or whatever you have, and sit down for five minutes. ## FAQ ### Can we have a savoury breakfast the Italian way? Yes. The savoury options the English Wikipedia entry mentions are focaccia or toasted bread with olive oil and tomato, which makes a lovely summer breakfast. Puglian [friselle](https://zestasy.com/wiki/what-are-friselle/) with tomato are in the same spirit. ### What is a typical Italian breakfast drink? Coffee in many forms: espresso, cappuccino, caffè latte or latte macchiato. Tea and fruit juice are also common, as Italian Wikipedia's list shows. ### Why is a cornetto called a brioche in Milan? Regional naming. The cornetto entry notes that cornetto is the common word in the centre and south, and brioche in the north. Same breakfast, different word at the counter. ## Sources - [Wikipedia: Italian meal structure](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Italian_meal_structure) - [Wikipedia (Italian): Colazione](https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colazione) - [Wikipedia: Cornetto (pastry)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cornetto_%28pastry%29) ## Related - [What is a crostata?](https://zestasy.com/wiki/what-is-a-crostata/) - [Why are cantucci so hard?](https://zestasy.com/wiki/why-cantucci-are-hard/) - [Why do Italians bake cakes with olive oil?](https://zestasy.com/wiki/olive-oil-cake/) - [What are friselle, and how do you eat them?](https://zestasy.com/wiki/what-are-friselle/) - [What is cucina povera?](https://zestasy.com/food/what-is-cucina-povera/) - [All Food answers in the Wiki](https://zestasy.com/wiki/#food)