10 Vegan Breakfast Ideas (Compilation #21)

I hope everyone is doing okay! Eating a substantial breakfast (by this I mean 300-500 calories and pointedly including a major protein) has been making a big difference in how I feel and I've impressed my own doctor, so I'm excited to show you what I've been eating. Know that I am not a medical doctor and can't give you any medical advice, but I can give you food ideas that are as valid as any other random internet person's. So you'll have to talk with your doctor to find out if this is a good idea for you. But these things have definitely been a positive part of my life in 2021, and I'm glad to share them with you.

I haven't had quite so many savory things here recently as are in this compilation, so if that's more your jam than jam, I hope you find good ideas here. But I am still mostly a sweet breakfast person. It is what it is.

1. Mango Almond Butter Toast with Flaked Coconut

I'd already tried the other mango toast ideas at Hummus Sapien, so of course I had to finish off the trifecta. This one isn't as fun as the tahini toast, but it was good and had some nice flavor and texture contrasts.

2. Rescued Chocolate Banana Bread and Yogurt Parfait

I suppose you could also do this with successful chocolate banana bread, but it was a nice thing for me to have when my banana bread absolutely did not rise. I had tried a recipe for chocolate-marbled banana bread that looked absolutely beautiful and then, well, wasn't. But it did work out pretty well cut into cubes and layered with some non-dairy yogurt. This was delicious!

3. Scallion Pancake "Crepe" with JUST Egg and Seitan Bacon

I can't claim to have invented this, but I didn't see any vegan versions of it out there. I had a scallion pancake in the freezer (and I'm making a point of eating my freezer stocks, now that things will surely go bad if I don't), so this was an easy breakfast one morning. I filled it with scrambled JUST Egg and Sweet Earth Benevolent Bacon, but you could easily do a tofu scramble or whatever other scramble you like and whatever stand in for bacon or ham or what-have-you that you like to use. My scallion pancake was a bit too thick to roll so I just folded it; maybe this is more of a soft taco than a crepe in the end. It didn't need anything else because the scallion pancake was already so flavorful. This was amazing. Were I going to stores frequently, I'd probably make this a lot. Bonus points for being one of the higher-protein breakfasts in my arsenal.

4. Earl Grey Oatmeal with Broiled Grapefruit and Toasted Almonds (Gluten Free)

This sounded wild, so of course I had to try out this recipe from Lively Table. It's easy enough to swap out the honey (I used Bee Free, but brown sugar is also a classic with grapefruit). This was nice and different, but I think I need to use sweetened soy milk in the oatmeal next time, though that issue was easily remedied with a drizzle of more Bee Free on top of the finished product.

5. Tofu-Cashew Ricotta and Roasted Tomato Toast

If you have any kind of vegan ricotta left over from something, you can use it for this. I had a tofu-cashew ricotta I love, and went with that. Just spread that on toast and add roasted grape tomatoes. (My recipe for the tomatoes is here, from years ago when the photos were a lot lower quality than they are now, so I should really refresh that one someday soon.)

6. Mini Apple Spice Doughnuts with Maple Cardamom Glaze, Toasted Coconut, and Pumpkin Seeds

The morning after I made these doughnuts from Rainbow Plant Life, in mini form because that was the pan I had, I decided they needed to be my breakfast. (Hey, doughnuts are a classic breakfast, right?) These days, I'm not doing things like just grabbing a couple of mini doughnuts for breakfast, though, so I had them with a bowl of fruit and a glass of soy milk. I definitely don't advocate doughnuts for breakfast every morning, but they can be a nice treat, and these baked doughnuts aren't that far from a muffin--just more fun.

7. Tofu-Aquafaba Scrambled "Eggs" (Gluten Free)

At this point I could probably round up all the scrambles I've tried and just do a scramble compilation. I probably have enough to do a "10 Scrambles" post. Let me know if that would interest you! There are so many different ways to replace eggs. In the interest of being less wasteful and more frugal, I've been trying to eat my aquafaba instead of pouring it down the drain, so I was happy to find this recipe at Blissful Basil. A tofu scramble made by the usual methods has a much firmer texture than this. These curds are soft and fluffy. Though warned against using extra firm tofu, that's what I had and so that was what I used, and it turned out great. They were much more like the soft, maybe even slightly runny scrambled eggs I sometimes made once upon a time than any scramble I've tried yet. You do need some patience and to resist stirring them too much. As you can see, I served this with toast with some margarine, some sliced mushrooms, and half a grapefruit. My toast isn't gluten free but the scramble certainly is, so I flagged it as such for you.

8. Pumpkin Quinoa Breakfast Porridge (Gluten Free)

Cotter Crunch's recipe for this porridge offers three options for preparing it: The stovetop, the rice cooker, and the slow cooker. I went with the rice cooker, and halved the recipe; it overflowed because some quinoa must have bubbled up and it plugged the steam vent. From that perspective, things didn't go according to plan, and I think my porridge was generally more dry than intended. But the porridge was lovely anyway! Next time I'd make it on the stovetop. This is a wonderful, creamy mixture of quinoa, pumpkin, and coconut. I topped mine with some pumpkin seeds, flaked coconut, maple syrup, a bit of salt, and some soy creamer. I recommend the salt; it really brings out the flavors.

9. Lemon Poppy Seed Pancakes

I found the recipe for these gorgeous, fluffy pancakes on the Viet Vegan blog. The lemon poppy seed glaze is utterly genius. I went halfway between the syrup option and the glaze option on her website, which both photographed well and tasted wonderfully lemony without being excessively sweet. Some fresh strawberries were great with these flavors.

10. Chocolate Cream of Rice (Gluten Free)

You probably recognize this from when I gave you my recipe. It's a really satisfying porridge that you can make as decadent or as simple as you want based on how you top it. If you're having to invite yourself to want to eat things by making banana stars, that's also fun.

It's not always easy for me to eat as much as I've been eating for breakfast these days, but it has seemed to make a big difference in how I feel. Here's to us all, doing our best, even when it's hard.