10 Vegan Breakfast Ideas (Compilation #42)

Ah, breakfast. The most fun meal of the day, and the one that sets me up for greatness. (Whether greatness is achieved after the set up is another matter, of course. But it sets me up, anyway. Greatness can't come from a bad breakfast.) Because the weather has turned colder, I've been more keen on savory breakfasts, so if that's your preference, you'll find several options here. Sweet stuff is still represented, though--I can't get all the way away from my sweet tooth even in the cold!

1. Savory Oatmeal Bowl with Gochujang Cream Cheese (Gluten Free)

I ran across this non-vegan recipe and figured I would try veganizing it. I used Miyoko's cream cheese and a scrambled JUST Egg rather than dairy and a chicken egg, and cooked my oatmeal in chicken-style veggie broth. I also substituted seasoned seaweed rather than plain nori. It all worked out very well, though I think I could improve on the spicy cream cheese, and I wished for more oats. I have ideas about how I might try making this again in another way, but it was pretty great as it was.

2. Nutty Banana Bacon Toast

Elvis Presley was famous for many things. One of them was his love of peanut butter, bacon, and banana combinations. This non-vegan recipe from Cooking Light inspired my version of this treat. I cooked up some tempeh bacon until crispy and crumbled it in a small bowl, then mixed that with chopped pecans. Then I toasted a slice of whole grain bread, spread it with almond butter, and topped it with sliced bananas and my bacon-pecan mixture. I highly recommend this--it's smoky, salty, savory, and sweet all at once.

3. Ham and Broccoli Naan Breakfast Pizza

I've shown you a naan breakfast pizza before with different toppings. Another combination you might want to try: Naan topped with non-dairy shredded cheese (here, Mexican Daiya shreds, though I would recommend plain cheddar, too); a JUST Egg scrambled with some finely chopped onion; mushrooms, yellow bell pepper; broccoli; a slice of Yves veggie ham cut into squares; and a drizzle of some cashew-based cheddar sauce I had in my fridge that I thinned with unsweetened soy milk. This is a delightful savory option, and very easy to make if you keep naan in your freezer--just thaw the naan, prep your toppings, assemble the pizza, and bake it in the toaster oven for about 20 minutes.

4. Savory Corn Pancakes with Cilantro Dill Cream Sauce

Are you a savory breakfast person? You can still have pancakes! And I think you'll love these, since it's kind of like having tamales for breakfast in pancake form. The recipe I used is found at Sweet Simple Vegan. I did make them ever so slightly differently than as written (other than cutting the recipe in half, which I always do). I used unsweetened soy milk instead of almond, and Kite Hill unsweetened Greek style almond milk yogurt instead of cashew yogurt. I also left out the green chiles because I didn't have any, and the nutritional yeast because I totally forgot to put it in. Finally, I used fresh dill and dried cilantro instead of dried dill and fresh cilantro, and the garnish is dill rather than cilantro. I used fresh corn cut straight from the cob, which I am sure is one of the contributing factors to why this was so delicious. But it's also a very well-thought-out recipe, and everything goes together beautifully. Plus, it got me to use up a bit of masa harina. I look forward to making these when I have a jalapeno to throw in; I think they'd be gorgeous that way. I'm also curious to know if adding some cheddar shreds could make them even more delicious and tamale-like. You know it's a great recipe if it inspires more kitchen exploration!

5. Creamy Vanilla Yogurt Poppy Seed Fruit Salad (Gluten Free)

Though there are different fruits to celebrate in the fall than in the summer, there is still fruit to be had. I often have fruit salad of some sort as part of my breakfast, but sometimes I want to kick it up a notch or two. On one recent morning, I took inspiration from a non-vegan recipe I found online, and used it to guide my single-serving version. Here we have banana, halved red grapes, clementine segments, kiwi, and mango in a dressing made of a bit of non-dairy vanilla yogurt, some Vegenaise, a squeeze of lime, a pinch of granulated sugar, and poppy seeds. To make it prettier in the photo, I reserved some fruit to use as a garnish so it would be more vibrant, but you definitely don't need to do that. This was a really delicious way to get my morning fruit in. To round out the meal, I had herbal tea and some toast.

6. Graham Crackers with Cream Cheese and Grapes

I was in the mood for graham crackers after a long season without them, and also, it was the best season for grapes, so when I saw this recipe, I knew I had to veganize it. Using both red and green grapes gives it a nice color contrast, so I bought both kinds at the store. (Tip: Only buy the grapes you want. You don't have to use the bags they put them out in if they sell them by the pound. Just pull out what you want and use a different bag. It's what I do with cherries, too.) I spread some vegan graham crackers (most have honey, so read your ingredient lists) with Miyoko's cream cheese and topped that with sliced grapes. It was great! Slicing the grapes made them a totally new experience, and all these flavors went together beautifully.

7. Mexican Rice Breakfast Bowl (Gluten Free, Nut Free)

You may remember me sharing this with you recently, but here's a quick recap: Take leftover Mexican rice and put it in a bowl with your favorite scramble and the type of toppings you might find in a burrito. Here, it's fresh pico de gallo, sliced avocado, and fresh cilantro, but you could easily choose non-dairy sour cream, non-dairy cheese, sliced olives, scallions, fresh red onion, guacamole, etc. You do you and take advantage of the rice you cooked!

8. Maple Gingerbread Baked Oatmeal with Cream Cheese Frosting Drizzle (Gluten Free)

On the morning I made this, I needed the oven on because the heat hadn't kicked in for whatever reason (my building management did fix it by mid morning).  The perfect solution for this? This recipe from Peanut Butter and Jilly. Although the oatmeal itself is perfectly delightful, the vegan cream cheese frosting drizzle took it into "cake for breakfast" territory in the very best way. My one complaint--such as it is--is that this oatmeal doesn't hold together very well; next time I'd be likely to add a flax egg. But unless you're trying to make something look pretty in photos you may not mind that!

9. Fig and Tahini Smoothie (Gluten Free, Nut Free)

This simple but unusual smoothie recipe is found at The Conscientious Eater. I loved the combination of flavors here! Though this did have a punch of protein because I used soy milk, I had cut the recipe in half (I usually do with smoothie recipes), so I had a slice of almond butter toast to round out the meal.

10. Salsa & Scramble Bagels (Nut Free)

I got this idea from Taste of Home, though I used bagels rather than English muffins, and of course I veganized it. I started with a plain bagel I cut in half and toasted. On the toasty bagels, I spread some Miyoko's cream cheese and topped that with some JUST Egg scrambled with a bit of finely chopped onion. Over that, I put some homemade salsa I had in the fridge, then some chopped avocado. These are great! Eat the whole thing--i.e., two bagel halves with toppings--even though I only showed you one in the photo. The pair wasn't as photogenic, but you'll definitely want both.


Is the cooler weather changing your morning meals? Let me know if you're trying new things!