10 Vegan Breakfast Ideas (Compilation #74)

 The sun doesn't come up very early in winter, and I get up absurdly early year round, so the lighting isn't always on my side at breakfast these days. But oh, well! Here are some lovely things I ate, often in the dark. I took advantage of frozen berries as well as seasonal produce, and relished the last of reliable oven season. 

Most of these are sweet, but I have several savory options here, too, as well as some with hidden veggies.

1. PB&J Bread Pudding

As I said above, I am letting myself eat berries in winter this year, so long as they're frozen; here, we have a perfect application for frozen berries via a recipe from Holy Cow Vegan. It's a bit fussier than some other types of bread pudding, made in layers of stewed berries, peanut butter cream, and custard rather than all together in a homogenous dish. The directions say to use fresh berries on top but I just used more frozen ones and they did the job just fine! If anything, I think the frozen strawberries look a little prettier after they've baked than fresh would. I made this with unsweetened soy milk and unsweetened natural peanut butter, so it really wasn't very sweet at all. You might want whipped cream or some maple syrup if you do it that way, but it's still really good as it is. You can, of course, also just use sweetened milk and sweetened peanut butter.

2. Yogurt Bowl with Cinnamon Orange Granola, Mango, and Kiwi (Gluten Free)

One of the things I found in 2025's use-it-up quest was that I really don't need to be buying granola. It's expensive and I don't get through it quickly. And that's why I started making my own when I wanted it--I can keep the proportions as I want them, and it's a lot cheaper to make. So here we have some homemade orange cinnamon granola (recipe from Natalie's Health) served up with some non-dairy yogurt, mango, and kiwi. I used a high protein yogurt, plus there are nuts and seeds in the granola, so this was my full meal with some herbal tea.

3. Tempeh Bacon, Just Egg, and Cheese Breakfast Tacos

I had some tempeh bacon left over from another recipe, as well as some tortillas, so this meant tacos to me! I warmed the tortillas with some shredded Daiya cheese in a dry skillet, and when warm and melty, I added the tempeh bacon (which I'd already browned) and some JUST Egg (I just cut a folded frozen on in half lengthwise), as well as some mashed avocado. These were amazing! Most of my breakfasts are sweet, but sometimes, a savory meal really hits the spot. It was very dark when I made these, so the photo is a bit dingy, but please don't judge it on that account--it truly was great!

4. Hidden Veggie Mini Spice Doughnuts (Nut Free)

I found a recipe for "Sneakiest Pumpkin Spice Doughnuts" in one of my physical cookbooks (Amanda Logan's Great Vegan Meals for the Carnivorous Family (2018)), and I wanted to make them even though I only have one mini doughnut baking tray. This obviously meant cutting the recipe down, but I was in the mood. The recipe, weirdly enough, does not involve pumpkin or pumpkin spice. (It has cinnamon and nutmeg, but pumpkin spice, to me, has more to it.) But it does have hidden veggies. You shred butternut squash, sweet potato, and carrots and blend that up with plant milk, vanilla, and a bit of oil to use as the wet ingredients. These were a tiny bit fussy--one has to pipe them into the pan, and then cool them after baking, and make a glaze--but they were fun and truly delicious. I may have missed the height of the baked doughnut trend, which is probably why I can never seem to find more doughnut pans, but I'm not a trendy person anyway. I just like good food. I had these doughnuts with some non-dairy yogurt, a blood orange, and some spice tea mixed with soy milk, and it was a perfect way to start a morning.

(You can also bake mini doughnuts in mini muffin cups, incidentally. They're just less cute.)

5. Raspberry Pistachio Banana "Sundae" (Gluten Free, Soy Free)

I didn't know what to call this, but basically, instead of ice cream, I used sliced bananas as the base for this "sundae." I topped that with some thawed frozen raspberries I mashed into a sauce and a drizzle of pistachio cream. I also recommend whipped cream on this. Somehow, when you have one of those perfect bananas, this is one of my favorite things for breakfast. Probably, you'll need more than this, but if you need a fruity side for your peanut butter toast or something, this is perfect.

6. Chickpea Flour Veggie Pancakes (Gluten Free, Nut Free, Soy Free, Top 8 Allergen Free)

I had some deja vu about this, so it's entirely possible this may have turned up in a breakfast compilation a while ago--hard to say with so many! But even if you have seen this here before, I think it's worth including again. I made these mostly following a recipe from Kuch Pak Raha Hai, though it's a flexible recipe so you can really just use what you've got. These are absolutely delicious with a bit of ketchup, and I like having them with tater tots (basically hash browns, right?). But there is one drawback: They're not very good left over, so you really have to enjoy them fresh. 

7. Bread Pudding with Pecans and Butterscotch Sauce

This is rather decadent, so you'll want to have other things with it; I had some fruit and a cup of tea with soy milk for my own breakfast. But sometimes decadent is just what I need! This recipe is from Serene Trail. It's fairly simple, though it takes a while to bake, so you'll want to save it for a day you don't have to do anything right away in the morning. I especially loved the butterscotch sauce in this.

8. Waffles with Blueberry Syrup, Whipped Cream, and Mango

I don't often make waffles. I find it hard to get them to cook properly without sticking. But I'm getting better at it! And this combination was so good. I started with a basic waffle recipe (I used one from My Darling Vegan) and topped it with homemade blueberry syrup (recipe from Laura Fuentes) and whipped almond cream. I put sliced mango on the side. The flavors are perfect together! You truly must try this!

9. Non-Dairy Cream Cheese, Cucumbers, Radishes, and Dill on an Everything Bagel

This combination is seriously addictive. It's pretty straightforward: Spread non-dairy cream cheese (I used Kite Hill) on a toasted everything bagel. Top that with sliced cucumbers, and season with salt and pepper. Sprinkle on some radish matchsticks and fresh dill. I will need more protein with this sort of thing, so I tend to have a smoothie made from soy milk and nut butter or some sort of hot drink with soy milk with it. Sometimes, what you really want is a bagel.

10. Orange Poppy Seed Baked Oats (Gluten Free)

I tend to cut nearly every recipe in half, and that includes this one from Flax and Sugar. If you want 1/2 of a 9 x 9 or 8 x 8 baking dish, just use a loaf pan. In any case, this was so good. The orange flavor really comes through, and at least in my case I ended up with a delicious sort of orange syrup on the bottom of the pan. The coconut topping was genius, since it allowed the coconut to get toasted and golden in a way that it wouldn't have if mixed in. This used some of my giant bag of poppy seeds as well as finishing off my coconut. I have such bravery using things up these days!