Is a Full English Breakfast Halal? What to Swap

Traditionally, no, the fry-up is built on pork. The bacon, the sausages and the black pudding are all pork (black pudding is also made with blood). But here's the good news: every other part of the plate is fine, and halal full-English breakfasts are easy to find across London, with beef or chicken sausages and turkey or beef rashers standing in for the pork.

The pork items

• Bacon, pork.
• Sausages, almost always pork in the traditional version.
• Black pudding, pork and blood; skip it on a halal diet.

What's already fine

Fried, scrambled or poached eggs, baked beans, grilled tomato, mushrooms, hash browns and toast are all halal-friendly. A plate of just these is a satisfying breakfast on its own.

The easy fix

Ask for a halal breakfast or build it from the safe items plus a halal sausage. Many London cafés, especially in areas with large Muslim communities, serve a full English with halal meat by default, our guide to halal food in London maps those areas. A quick "Do you do a halal breakfast?" usually gets a yes. (The same one-question trick works at the chippy, see is fish and chips halal.) And to see what the canonical caff plate looks like, the classic rooms are named in what to eat in London.

FAQ

A note on how we talk about food: this guide is general traveler information about typical recipes, not a ruling on any specific café's kitchen. Recipes vary from place to place, always confirm directly with the venue.

Restaurants are chosen for quality and reputation. If you follow a specific diet, or want to know whether any dish or drink contains alcohol, please check directly with the venue.