What Sarah Jessica Parker Eats in a Day to Stay Energized

Sarah Jessica Parker on a designed background
Sarah Jessica Parker on a designed background
  • Oops!
    Something went wrong.
    Please try again later.
  • Oops!
    Something went wrong.
    Please try again later.
  • Oops!
    Something went wrong.
    Please try again later.

Getty Images / Michael Loccisano

Since hanging up her Manolos in 2004 at the conclusion of her groundbreaking role as Carrie Bradshaw on Sex and the City (SATC), Sarah Jessica Parker has shown no signs of slowing. The 56-year-old actress and mom of 3 has since starred in movies (The Family Stone, Failure to Launch), appeared in guest stints on TV shows (Glee) and produced (Here and Now). Oh yes, and she partnered with husband Matthew Broderick to raise money for the Actors Fund amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, designed fashion for SJP boutiques, represented Garnier and launched a wine brand Invivo X, SJP.

And this year, she's back to reprise her role and keep writing her story as Bradshaw on HBO Max's SATC reboot And Just Like That.

Related: You'll Soon Be Able to Book Carrie's Apartment from Sex and the City on Airbnb for Just $23 Per Night

No wonder Parker admits in her vulnerable and revealing January 2021 Grub Street Diet, "there is not typically a lot of regularity to my days. This is an unusual time because I feel like I actually have a conventional schedule, something I've almost never had for my entire life."

She does have a few regular habits, however, including plenty of activity. But we're not talking about crazy spin classes or boot camps…During an interview with The Doctors co-host Dr. Travis Stork, Parker shares that one of her keys to staying healthy is "I walk a lot…and I also live in a house with four or five flights of stairs." She aims to hit 10,000 steps per day on her FitBit (buy it: $99.95, Target), and during summer, she loves swimming and kayaking.

So how does SJP stay so energetic to cover all of those steps in such style?

What Sarah Jessica Parker Eats in a Day to Stay Energized

Parker is not one for restrictive diets or detoxes, but she does have some very clear preferences. During Vogue's "73 Questions with Sarah Jessica Parker," the actress shared some hot takes about her favorite food ("Barbuto's roast chicken"), least favorite food ("parsley"), what she loves on her pizza ("sausage, peppers, onions"), favorite drink ("Coca-Cola"), favorite dessert ("my sister's brownies") and dark or milk chocolate ("milk chocolate").

The one food she needs to have every day? "I'm crazy for almond milk. I love it and can't figure out if it's thin and refreshing or thick like a milkshake. It's like the gift that keeps on giving," Parker tells Stork. (ICYMI, here are the 7 healthiest milks you can buy, according to dietitians.)

Her kitchen is always stocked with salami, artichoke hearts, hearts of palm, Finn Crisps original crackers (buy it: $35.54 for nine 7-ounce boxes, Amazon) and avocados (which her daughters especially adore).

"I would prefer to have salty things if I have to than sweet, but we also always have tootsie rolls and york peppermint patties," Parker adds to Stork.

Read on for more about her (spoiler alert!) absolutely delicious daily menu.

Breakfast

"I don't usually eat breakfast unless I'm shooting, and when I'm shooting, I have a full, massive, crazy breakfast. When I'm home and going to work on my own, I'll get up really early and just have coffee," Parker admits in her Grub Street Diet.

When she does eat an A.M. meal, it might be a bagel from her neighborhood bakery Bagel Buffet slathered with Kerrygold butter, mustard and salami with a banana, or a soft-boiled egg with salt and pepper plus some mango, avocado and cottage cheese on the side.

"I love Breakstone's 2-percent-fat cottage cheese. Love. I don't like nonfat, because I think, What's the point? It breaks my heart," she tells Grub Street.

Related: The American Heart Association Has Finally Broken Its Silence on the Death of a Beloved Sex and the City Character

Lunch

For lunch, Parker prefers a spicy tuna sandwich (tuna, jalapenos, hot sauce and pesto, between bread) and a power shake (banana, strawberries, vanilla milk and ice) from nearby cafe Joe & the Juice. She also occasionally enjoys leftovers from a dinner made earlier in the week.

This might include a soup, stir-fry or anything simmered up in her now Instagram-famous orange Le Creuset Dutch ovens (buy it: $370, Le Creuset).

Dinner

Dinner is where Parker—or should we say, her husband Broderick—really goes all out.

"I don't look at recipes nearly as much as he does, and he's not daunted by a lot of steps. He's very still; he doesn't run around the kitchen like I do. He's enormously patient, he's tranquil, and he loves it. He's a fantastic cook. I cook all the time too, but I don't read recipes nearly as much," Parker tells Grub Street.

During her Grub Street recap, Broderick and Parker teamed up to make homemade chicken matzo ball soup (using Julia Moskin's broth and Joan Nathan's matzo ball recipes).

"We make chicken stock all the time here. We freeze it, and we like to use it in our rice," she explains to Grub Street. "We save everything here. Matthew saves every Parmesan rind. If we have shrimp, we always try to make a stock with the shells, because it's so good and smells incredible."

Related: Giada Has the Smartest Way to Keep Parmesan Rinds From Going to Waste

Other nights, the family might sit down to Broderick's signature bolognese sauce, which he makes once a week.

"Everybody goes crazy for it. In the last 10 months, I would say he's done four or five different versions. He's done Rachael Ray's, he's done Ina Garten's, and he's been doing a good old-fashioned Bon Appétit recipe, which is the one that cooks for three and a half hours. For some reason, we all love this one. It's a little heavier—it's more old school. It cooks and cooks and cooks and just haunts you all day," Parker tells Grub Street.

Other cozy options like oven-baked beans, sautéed sausages with vegetables and lemon-thyme potatoes and pasta any and all the ways often star on the star's table.

Some days, Parker will wrap things up with dessert, like a classic peanut butter blossom cookie.

With dinner, Parker often drinks Invivo X, SJP Sauvignon blanc or rosé. Want to try these wines? Get them on Drizzly.com: $19 for the Sauvignon blanc and $18 for the rosé.

"We drink wine, but I still love a cocktail. To be honest, I really do love a cosmopolitan. I don't know how to make them well, but I genuinely love them. Strangely enough, it didn't happen until long after I stopped shooting the show and the movies," Parker says, referring to the go-to cocktail of SATC in her journal for Grub Street.

The Bottom Line

With all foods and food groups on the menu, Parker seems like a pro at fueling her days from morning to night. (No wonder her empire continues to boom!) Healthy fats, protein, produce, carbs and plenty of "fun" ingredients pepper her recipes, and it's clear that her family connects over time at the table.

While she didn't report on her H2O intake, we can only imagine Parker sips on plenty before, during and after she strolls through the city. Her city.

"The most exciting, challenging and significant relationship of all is the one you have with yourself. And if you find someone to love the you you love, well, that's just fabulous," Parker wrote as Bradshaw during SATC. It sounds like she has found both those fabulous things—and helps them hit home three times per day around her table.