10 Vegan Breakfast Ideas (Compilation #5)

Although finding new things to show you for breakfast has gotten a bit more challenging, I'm having a lot of fun trying things out! So here are 10 more things you can try for breakfast, all vegan, all delightful. A lot of these were breakfasts I ate over the holidays, so this is a bit chocolate-heavy at times, but when have you ever regretted eating chocolate for breakfast? I regret nothing. (Note: A little more than half of these are gluten free, too!)

1. Caramelized Banana and Peanut Butter Oatmeal

I found this recipe over at Live Kindly, and I was intrigued, because I have rarely, if ever, cooked my bananas. But they turned out to be so sweet and such a great topping for oatmeal! Peanut butter added more richness and protein, and the cinnamon brought it all together. This is a weekend breakfast for me, one that can easily be more of a brunch, because it will stick with you a long time. Eat this when you need sustained energy.

2. Blended Strawberry Chia Pudding

I never wanted to eat chia pudding, with all its weird, fish-eye like balls in it. (Note: I also can't deal with tapioca balls or bubble tea. It's a texture thing for me.) So I didn't join that bandwagon for a very, very long time. But there is another option, which is to make it in the blender. That breaks up the seeds. Then you get something smooth, creamy, and delicious. I've read that it will be prettier if you use white chia seeds, and if I had, this might have been a nice shade of pink rather than this dingy one, but a topping of coconut whip and dark chocolate shavings helped the presentation--plus it tasted great. This recipe at Hidden Veggies was my inspiration, and I'll be trying out the other flavors soon.

3. Chickpea Flour Pancakes with Guacamole

I love everything with chickpea flour in it I've ever had. Chickpea flour pancakes are an easy savory breakfast. I used this recipe at Hurry the Food Up for the chickpea flour pancake and my guacamole was my quick non-spicy version (I sometimes get in the mood for spicy guacamole, but if so I need fresh jalapenos, and I didn't have any on hand). When I don't want to pull out very many stops, my go-to is avocado mashed with lime juice, salt, pepper, and cilantro. If you are getting bored with avocado toast but still want an avocado-topped breakfast, this might be a good option!

4. Mango Carrot Ginger Smoothie

While I've learned to love what frozen bananas do in a smoothie, sometimes you want something that doesn't taste like bananas. I found this recipe for a Mango Carrot Ginger smoothie on Sharon Palmer's blog at a time I happened to have the necessary ingredients on hand. It was a refreshing, not-too-sweet change of pace from my usual banana-involved smoothies, and I got to use my bananas in some other interesting ways (as you can see!). (P.S.: I have come to absolutely love my glass straws. They're not as photogenic as paper but they don't disintegrate and they don't make your smoothie taste weird like the metal ones. But they are not as pretty as paper straws, and thus are probably less suitable if you're trying to be a food blogger.)

5. Sweet Potato with Maple Peanut Butter Drizzle

One of the easiest breakfasts (and pretty cheap, too!): Cook sweet potatoes in your slow cooker overnight (8-10 hours on low will do it nicely for me). In the morning, mix roughly equal parts peanut butter and maple syrup. Warm the mixture up a bit to help it blend (20 seconds in a microwave is plenty). Cut open your sweet potato and drizzle the warm maple peanut butter over it.

This was what came of me not quite wanting to make sweet potato "toast," because I prefer my sweet potatoes to be super soft and I also think the sweet potato "toast" looks like kind of a lot of trouble. (Maybe it isn't. I do a lot of things that require what is probably more effort.) But you can easily use sweet potato "toast" toppings on a slow-cooked sweet potato, too. I look forward to experimenting with this a bit more.

6. Berry Tofu Mousse

Tired of pudding? Try mousse. This recipe from SOS Cuisine makes silken tofu into something much firmer than my usual tofu pudding, as you can see from my mango and coconut topping not sinking down into it. The original recipe suggests this be served as a dessert; if I wanted it as dessert, I'd probably use sweeter berries (I used a frozen mix of rather tart ones: raspberries, blueberries, and blackberries), add more sweetener (incidentally, my sweetener here was Bee Free Honee, but you could also use agave nectar, I think), and/or top it with whipped coconut cream. But a lot of breakfasts can be quite dessert-like, too, so honestly...I might also do that for breakfast.

7. Breakfast Banana Splits with Peanut Butter Graham Crunch

When I found this idea on Imma Eat That, I knew I had to try it, because I love the combination of bananas, peanut butter, and graham crackers. (Not all graham crackers are vegan, so check your labels.) This was the breakfast I had on Christmas Day, so it's a bit more decadent than Kylie's, but this would also be great with the toppings she used--and she is right, if you add kiwi it will be gorgeous. My toppings (aside from the obvious peanut butter graham crunch) were some strawberry oat milk yogurt, coconut whipped topping, mini chocolate chips, and shredded coconut. I can't wait to try this again with other toppings!

8. Biscuits with Chocolate Gravy

I recently shared my vegan recipe of this Oklahoma version of something perhaps better known in Appalachia. This one was a childhood favorite and another I'd suggest saving for special occasions, not because it's hard--it's super easy--but because you might not feel your best if you eat a bowl of this every morning. (It's better in a bowl because then you get more of the gravy.) Make sure to eat it right away; the gravy gets a "skin" on it as it cools, which I have never cared for.

9. Tofu Waffles

Waffles are usually a carbohydrate bomb, but they don't have to be. You can make vegan waffles with silken tofu and boost the protein content. I made these with Hannah Kirshner's recipe, then topped them with berries and maple syrup. They have a different texture than my usual waffles--definitely less bready--but they make for a nice addition to the rotation.

10. Chocolate Chip Graham Cracker Muffins

Sometimes recipes are easy to veganize. Such was the case with chocolate chip graham cracker muffins from Chocolate, Chocolate and More. I used the Bob's Red Mill egg substitute and soy milk and Earth Balance butter and it was fine. The streusel topping didn't turn out anything like hers, but it didn't matter. These muffins ended up tasting like chocolate chip cookies, in an uncanny way.