10 Vegan Breakfast Ideas (Compilation #20)

I'm pretty sure that when I return to packing a lunch and running out the door after a bowl of cereal most mornings you'll see a lot fewer of these breakfast ideas, but they've been a great source of comfort to me in my isolated state. So here goes 200! I find it really funny that, long ago, I found it difficult to come up with even 10 vegan breakfasts. It just goes to show that if you start diversifying, it will snowball.

1. Maple Pecan Banana Breakfast Bake (Gluten Free)

I'm not sure how I ran across this recipe from Paleo Running Mama, but I was happy to try it because I love pretty much anything with almond flour. I'm definitely not someone who subscribes to any of the fad diets of the era (unless veganism counts as a fad diet, but I think you know what I mean), so I'm not a paleo person, or a keto person, or an oil-free person, or an intermittent fasting person, or what-have-you. But I don't mind sampling things from those diets so long as they're vegan. This was a mixture of bananas, applesauce, almond flour, pecans, flax, maple syrup, vanilla, and a few other things, baked until set. This was very dense--a serving is about 1/4 of this little casserole (I halved the recipe as written), which is roughly half a cup, probably. I liked a lot of things about it, though I think next time I need to top it with maple syrup as shown on the blog--this just wasn't sweet enough for me! But it kept me going well all morning, so that was good, and with a glass of soy milk it definitely fit the bill for my 2021 effort to make breakfast not just varied but more substantial.

2. Peanut Butter, Apple, and Pomegranate Toast

I found this idea at Feed Feed, and it looked like something I wanted to try. I mean, who doesn't like peanut butter and apples on toast? Add some pomegranate arils and chopped pecans and then it's fancy winter food, too. I added a sprinkling of chia seeds for good measure.

3. Coconut Flour Pancakes

I seem to collect alternative flours lately, so of course I had some coconut flour to use up! This recipe from Spoonful of Kindness looked like a fun option. This is how you know I'm not the average food blogger, though, because if I were, I should have had the berry garnish for these. Even the batter for this smelled amazing, so making them was a sensory delight. I think my pancakes ended up about half the size intended--I made 11 of them instead of the 6 the recipe says it yields--but sometimes it's nice to have cute little pancakes and they're easier to flip in any case. I had these with some maple syrup, and as part of my goal to make breakfast more substantial, a glass of soy milk.

4. Mango-Coconut Rice Pudding (Gluten Free)

I'm a sucker for pretty food, and this pudding is really pretty! I found this recipe at Plated Cravings, and I had all the ingredients on hand, so why not? I reserved some of the toasted coconut as a garnish but I don't know if that was really needed; in any case, I loved the layering here. This can be eaten warm (more like a porridge) or cold (more like dessert). Either is good. Be sure to put it in a glass bowl or jar so you can see the layers! This was pretty low in protein, so it (predictably) got a side of soy milk.

5. Chocolate Banana Oatmeal (Gluten Free)

Cocoa powder is surprisingly good for you (so I'm told). So why not have some for breakfast? My recipe for this oatmeal is here.

6. Avocado, Mushroom, and Garlic Toast

More toast, but this one is savory, and a perfect isolation meal because you won't be sharing your garlic breath with anyone. On top of your usual toast with mashed avocado and salt and pepper, put some mushrooms and garlic sautéed in olive oil. I used three mushrooms and one clove of garlic for this slice of toast. This was so simple and soothing on a chilly morning.

7. Peanut Butter Tofu Mousse (Gluten Free)

There are probably fancier recipes for peanut butter tofu mousse than the one I found at PETA, but probably few are simpler. For me, this wasn't quite thick enough, and was more of a smoothie bowl than a mousse, but I did like the peanut butter, and the chopped peanut topping was really nice, too. 

8. Green Chia Pudding with Tropical Fruit (Gluten Free)

This one is probably not for the chia pudding beginner, but if you like chia puddings, this one could be fun to try! As with all my chia puddings, I blended it up until smooth. Using soy milk, this is otherwise the same recipe as appears on Veggies Save the Day. A bonus for blending it up is that you don't have to stir it after 15 minutes--just pop it in the fridge and you're done! What this really is, is spinach chia pudding, but that sounds a little weird, so green chia pudding it is! You don't really taste the spinach if you eat it with fruit. I piled on chopped mango, kiwi, and bananas.

9. Banana French Toast with Stewed Berries, Peanut Butter, and Coconut Whipped Cream

It not being remotely berry season, I used stewed frozen berries here, but this would also be good with fresh berries in season. The French toast recipe is from Happy Healthy Life. I just used some super stale white bread I had around, and in my case the banana mix was enough for four slices, not just the two in the original recipe, but that may reflect the kind of bread I used. This definitely had the texture of the French toast of my childhood, though obviously it isn't eggy like that long ago dish was. It was crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. The one thing I found challenging is that you have to have your heat just right--too high and the banana burns on the outside but stays raw otherwise and just slips off, but too low and it just won't crisp up. It wasn't too tricky once I figured it out, though. Because I've gradually found plain syrup a tad boring on things like this, I chose some toppings with a bit more pizzazz. I loved the way the peanut butter melted into the bread, the way the berries acted as a naturally sweet syrup, and the way the coconut whipped cream finished it off.

10. "Egg" and Sausage Egg Rolls with Cream Gravy

I did not invent this, though I may have been the first to veganize it. I had some egg roll wrappers left over from making my vegan egg rolls, so I scrambled up some JUST Egg, sautéed some onions, and browned some Wegmans Don't Be Piggy sausage crumbles to put inside them, along with a bit of vegan cheese. I made a cream gravy out of soy milk to go on the side for dipping. This was fun! I probably would save this to make on special occasions, but if you're looking for an unusual savory option for a brunch or something, this could be perfect. If I'd had a bell pepper and/or green onions I would have put some of that in there, too, because that would make for a prettier filling, but sometimes you have to work with what you've got.