10 Vegan Breakfast Ideas (Compilation #38)

I'm still in love with fruit. Seasonal eating is so fun! Because this is high summer, this is a very fruit-heavy compilation, though I did sneak in some spinach in several times. I may be having a love affair with cherries, but who can blame me? Cherries are so good. And veggies definitely have their place--just less often for breakfast in the summer, it seems.

1. Cherry Dark Chocolate Chunk Muffins (Soy Free)

I woke up one rare morning in June and it was 59 degrees, which meant instant excitement, because it was an opportunity to replenish my freezer muffin supply! This recipe for cherry dark chocolate chunk muffins from the Minimalist Baker was perfect. I had fresh cherries (I really can't help myself here; cherries appear, and I buy them) so I whipped up a batch. They're delicious! The almond extract really brings out the flavors. I used some chocolate chunks rather than chips, but it was otherwise the recipe as written.

2. Green Mango Smoothie Bowl (Gluten Free, Soy Free)

This is a study in contrasts (which was what June was like). You know those mornings you wake up and it's 80 degrees at 6:00AM? I hate those mornings. But a smoothie bowl almost always helps! This is a blend of plant milk, kale, spinach, frozen mango, and frozen banana, topped with fresh sliced mango, sliced kiwi, granola, coconut, hemp seeds, chia seeds, and a drizzle of almond butter. If you're going to eat ice cream for breakfast, add kale and spinach, and you'll feel virtuous about it!

3. Avocado Toast with Spinach, Mushrooms, and Tomatoes (Nut Free, Soy Free)

I don't often combine cooked vegetables with avocado toast, but if you haven't tried this, you need to try this! I started by sautéing some onion and mushrooms, then added some tomatoes and spinach and cooked them down a bit. I put this mixture on top of toast spread with avocado (everything seasoned with salt and pepper, by the way--season your veggies while cooking and season your avocado when you mash it). Alongside a protein-heavy oatmeal-nut butter bite I'd made and a glass of soy milk, this was an absolutely perfect breakfast.

4. Spiced Peaches & Cream Quinoa Porridge (Gluten Free, Nut Free, Soy Free Option)

Peaches are calling my name, so of course I had to make this quinoa porridge recipe from Set the Table. I made mine with soy milk rather than almond and added a splash of soy creamer to my bowl because my porridge had gotten a bit drier than I wanted, but I otherwise made it as written. Quinoa is so versatile! I love quinoa porridges for breakfast. My only complaint here is that I got distracted and ended up only having this for breakfast with nothing else, and that was lower in calories than my breakfasts should be. I was ravenous two hours later, but I didn't get lunch until about six hours after I'd eaten breakfast; this is not a recipe for feeling good! But that is easily remedied; just add a banana or a glass of soy milk to round out the meal, as you have already seen I did with my leftovers.

5. Oaty Banana Bread Mug Cake (Gluten Free, Nut Free Option, Soy Free Option)

Sometimes, I get tired of freezing my overripe bananas for smoothies, but I am extremely averse to using my oven this time of year. Bring on microwave mug cookery (or, I suppose, in this case, ramekin cookery). This is a recipe from Okonmi Kitchen. It's kind of a cross between a mug cake and baked oatmeal, so it's really perfect for breakfast--also, it's utterly delicious, and it's pretty darn cheap, since it's mostly oats and banana. I added all the suggested toppings--chopped walnuts, mini chocolate chips, and flaky sea salt--but if you need to avoid nuts, they're easy enough to leave out. I made this with soy milk but you could substitute another plant-based milk if you're avoiding soy. To round out my meal, I had a fruit salad and soy milk. This is one of my favorite breakfasts in this compilation!

6. Berry Spinach Breakfast Salad (Gluten Free, Nut Free Option, Soy Free Option)

Some mornings, I crave something fresh and light. Typically, one makes a smoothie bowl at such times. But that isn't always fresh or light enough. No problem; just make a breakfast salad instead! After seeing this non-vegan recipe, I decided to make something similar. I used spinach as the base of the salad, then I dressed the spinach with a simple yogurt dressing I made from some Siggi's vanilla cinnamon yogurt thinned with some soy milk and homemade blueberry syrup I had on hand. I topped it with strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, blueberries, banana slices, and vanilla granola. This may sound a bit odd, but if you're trying to get more greens in, this is a really fun way to get them! Spinach has a very neutral flavor. It's mild and goes super well with fruit, so you won't find it clashing with everything else. If you are avoiding soy and/or nuts, just be sure to use a yogurt and plant milk that doesn't contain those ingredients, such as oat-based milk and/or yogurt.

Because this is so light, I had this breakfast salad with a soy-milk based grain coffee latte. But it would also go well with toast or a side of farina to round out the meal.

7. Chocolate Buckwheat Pancakes with Stewed Cherries (Gluten Free, Nut Free, Soy Free Option)

Buckwheat, not being wheat, does not contain gluten, so these are gluten free pancakes. I used soy milk to make them but you could use something else if you're avoiding soy. The recipe is from Lazy Cat Kitchen and was basically an excuse to eat more chocolate and cherries for breakfast. I used the lower amount of maple syrup suggested and concluded I needed more maple syrup so I ended up pouring warm maple syrup over the top of these, which is extremely unusual for me, but buckwheat pancakes do tend to seem a little drier than wheat flour-based or oat flour-based ones do. It was good with the syrup! I had a glass of soy milk with these to round out the meal.

8. Blueberry Peach Oatmeal (Gluten Free)

Roughly following this recipe from Eating Bird Food, but substituting soy milk for the water and chia seeds for the ground flaxseed, I started one recent morning with this delicious oatmeal. I love the combination of peaches and blueberries, and the almond butter is a nice touch, too! I did find that this wasn't quite sweet enough for me (and I'm not into really sweet things, so that's saying something!), so I ended up drizzling my oatmeal with a bit of rice nectar "honey" and it was lovely.

9. Berry Banana Sweet Potato Breakfast Bowl with Pumpkin Seed Butter and Granola (Gluten Free, Nut Free, Soy Free)

This is simple, but deeply satisfying (with bonus points for being so allergy friendly!). Start with a base of warm mashed sweet potato. You can make it more flavorful by mashing the sweet potato with cinnamon and vanilla, and add more protein by adding some ground flax and/or seed butter to the mix. If you want it sweeter, add some maple syrup. Spread the sweet potato in a bowl and top it with bananas, berries, and some granola (this was just some plain vanilla granola). Then, drizzle it all with some pumpkin seed butter. I loved this with a cup of herbal tea.

10. Cherry Peach Crisp (Nut Free)

I am in love with fruit crisps lately, and they bake really well in my toaster oven if I make them small. I was inspired by this omnivore recipe here, scaled down and veganized (I just swapped Earth Balance for the butter). This was so good. It actually had enough of the "crisp" topping that I wasn't left wanting more, as I often am. I ate my fruit crisp with some vanilla soy yogurt and a glass of soy milk to round out the meal.

Making these compilations is always full of surprises for me, and this is no exception--this time, I'm marveling over how much fruit I'm eating! We'll see what happens next time, as summer continues to tempt me with stone fruits. Send me your nectarine and plum recipes!