This Uova in Purgatorio with White Beans and Spinach is a PCOS-friendly recipe with 443 calories, 28g protein, and 45g carbs per serving. Ready in 25 minutes. High in fiber (13.2g), which supports insulin sensitivity.
Nutrition per Serving
Uova in purgatorio means eggs in purgatory. The name comes from the red, spicy tomato sauce the eggs cook in. It is a classic from southern Italy, made with what is already in the cupboard. Here the sauce gets a can of white beans and a big handful of spinach, so it works as a full breakfast with no bread. Each serving has about 443 calories, 28g of protein and 13g of fibre.
Grocery list:
- Eggs
- Canned chopped tomatoes
- Cannellini beans (canned)
- Baby spinach
- Onion
- Garlic
- Olive oil
- Chilli flakes
- Dried oregano
- Fresh basil
Nutrition notes: figures are per serving of 2 eggs and half the sauce, worked from USDA FoodData Central values. The beans are counted as cooked white beans, which is what a drained can holds. Spices, basil, salt and pepper are not counted.
Keeps: The sauce keeps 3 days in the fridge. Reheat it in the pan and cook fresh eggs in it.
Ingredients
Instructions
-
Warm the olive oil in a wide frying pan over medium heat. Add the onion and cook for 4 minutes until soft.Add the garlic and chilli flakes. Stir for 1 minute, until the garlic smells sweet but is not brown.Pour in the tomatoes, add the oregano and a pinch of salt, and simmer for 8 minutes until the sauce thickens.Stir in the beans and the spinach. Cook for 2 minutes until the spinach wilts.Make 4 hollows in the sauce with a spoon. Crack an egg into each one.Cover the pan and cook on low heat for 5 to 7 minutes, until the whites are set and the yolks are still soft.Top with basil and black pepper. Serve 2 eggs per person with plenty of the sauce.
Why this works for PCOS
Breakfast is often the most carb-heavy meal of the day. With PCOS, insulin resistance is common, so a breakfast of toast or cereal can leave you hungry again by mid-morning. This dish gives you protein from the eggs and beans, and fibre from the beans, tomato and spinach. That mix digests slowly.
The ingredients doing the work
- Eggs: protein that cooks right in the sauce, so there is only one pan to wash.
- Cannellini beans: they replace the bread you would normally use to mop up the sauce. They bring protein and fibre with their carbs.
- Spinach: easy greens at breakfast. It shrinks down to almost nothing.
- Tomatoes: canned tomatoes are cheap, keep for months and taste good all year.
Make it your own
Like it hotter? Add more chilli flakes. Want it milder? Leave them out. A few olives or capers stirred into the sauce give it a salty kick without any cheese.
How this fits a PCOS week
If you avoid dairy, most PCOS breakfast ideas do not work for you. PCOS Meal Planner builds a week around food you can eat, leaves out what you avoid, and gives you one shopping list.
Why this Uova in Purgatorio with White Beans and Spinach works for PCOS
With 28g of protein per serving (about 25% of calories), this Uova in Purgatorio with White Beans and Spinach sits at the top end of the 25-35g per-meal range that the 2023 International PCOS Guideline recommends for managing insulin resistance and supporting lean mass. Higher-protein meals also blunt the glucose response when carbohydrates are included, which matters for women with PCOS because chronic insulin elevation drives androgen excess and irregular cycles.
The 45g of carbohydrates here come paired with 13.2g of fibre, which slows glucose absorption and produces a flatter post-meal blood sugar curve. Fibre is one of the most under-rated tools for PCOS: it feeds gut bacteria that produce short-chain fatty acids linked to improved insulin sensitivity, and it modestly lowers circulating androgens by binding bile acids in the gut.
Fat makes up about 37% of calories in this dish. Dietary fat plays a load-bearing role in PCOS because sex hormones are synthesised from cholesterol, and very-low-fat eating can suppress hormone production over time. The 2023 PCOS guideline does not specify a strict fat target, but most clinicians recommend at least 25-35% of calories from a mix of monounsaturated, polyunsaturated, and saturated sources.
Eating a substantial breakfast like this Uova in Purgatorio with White Beans and Spinach is one of the highest-leverage moves you can make for PCOS. In the Jakubowicz et al. 2013 trial published in Clinical Science, women with PCOS who front-loaded calories to breakfast reduced fasting insulin by 56% and increased ovulation rates 50%, with no change in total calories. Front-loading works because insulin sensitivity is highest in the morning and lowest at night.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, this Uova in Purgatorio with White Beans and Spinach recipe is designed to be PCOS-friendly. At 443 calories per serving with 28g of protein, it supports balanced blood sugar and hormonal health. It also provides 13.2g of fiber, which helps with insulin sensitivity.
This recipe takes about 25 minutes total. Prep time is 5 minutes and cook time is 20 minutes. It makes 2 servings, so you can meal prep for multiple days.
Per serving: 443 calories, 28g protein (25%), 45g carbs, 18.2g fat. Plus 13.2g fiber. PCOS meal plans typically aim for 30% protein, 35% fat, 35% carbs to support insulin sensitivity.
Yes, this recipe works well as a PCOS-friendly Breakfast. At 443 calories, it fits within typical PCOS meal plan targets for Breakfast. Pair it with other PCOS-friendly foods throughout the day for balanced nutrition.
This recipe can be part of a structured PCOS meal plan. It makes 2 servings, making it great for meal prep. For a complete weekly plan tailored to your PCOS type, take our free 60-second quiz at pcosmealplanner.com/pcos-quiz to get a personalized 7-day meal plan.
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