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Mary Berry's daily diet: the TV cook's breakfast, lunch and dinner revealed

Mary Berry eats healthily with the odd slice of cake!

Sophie Hamilton
Parenting Editor
Updated: November 10, 2021
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Queen of baking Mary Berry is a real national treasure – think of cakes, and you think of Mary's delicious recipes. At age 86, we're mystified as to how the former Bake Off judge manages to stay so slim when she's tasting sugary bakes all the time.

MORE: Victoria Beckham recommends this 10/10 dessert - and it's surprisingly sweet

The key to Mary's diet is everything in moderation. Her approach is one can eat cake, but just not stacks of it. She told The Sunday Times:: "I think to eat cake is very good for us, but it's the size of the slice and how often you have it."

WATCH: Mary talks about her shows Simple Comforts

Read about Mary Berry's daily diet below…

What does Mary Berry eat for breakfast?

"I make myself eat one piece of toast for breakfast," Mary previously told The Sunday Times. "When I'm doing Bake Off, I eat soup for lunch. I know what puts on weight for me, it's just over-indulgence. It's a case of grasping the mettle. I know it's difficult. It's about everything in moderation."

marmalade toast

Marmalade on toast is a favourite of Mary's

Mary also told The Independent about her comfort foods, revealing: "I really like boiled eggs or toast and marmalade. I've made loads of marmalade this year, so I'd have that. I save all my clementine and satsuma peelings and put them in the freezer and use them to bulk out my preserve – it gives it its own identity. If I have a choice of bread to have it on I always like Paul Hollywood's seeded variety."

MORE: Kate Middleton on the sweet way Prince William cooks for her at home

What does Mary Berry eat for lunch?

Mary's a big soup fan, but after bread at breakfast, she goes without it at lunch. "I have soup at lunchtime and I know exactly how many calories are in that soup. I don’t have bread with it, but I might have a salad if it’s very hot," she said in an interview with Good Housekeeping.

The mother-of-three added that she opts to have a small plate of food and likes to eat lots of vegetables such as 'green vegetables, broccoli, beans'. She says she had twice the amount of veg as her husband.

mary berry garden

TV cook Mary Berry

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What does Mary Berry eat for dinner?

Mary likes to eat a nutritious and balanced range of dishes for supper. Speaking to The Bristol Mag, the cook said of her stand-out specialities: "If it’s a cold winter’s day, I might do beef stew with horseradish dumplings or I might do a fillet of beef en croute."

beef stew

Beef stew and dumplings is Mary's dinner choice in winter

The star also told The Independent that if she had to choose a desert island recipe it would be: "…a simple pasta recipe. First, boil some pasta in salted water. Then cook some broccoli or, if in season, asparagus." Mary then adds pieces of fried dry-cured ham and cream to the pasta. Yum! She admitted she could live off it for a while.

pasta

Pasta with cured ham and asparagus

Another dinner favourite of Mary's is: "A really good sausage, the ingredients for celeriac and potato mash with crème fraîche and some English roasted vegetables," she told The Times.

What does Mary Berry snack on?

"I don’t snack," Mary once told Good Housekeeping. "If I’m at home, I might have a cup of tea with my husband with a piece of toast or a small piece of cake." We heartily agree.

cake

A little piece of cake makes the perfect snack!

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