10 Vegan Breakfast Ideas (Compilation #57)

A lot of my breakfasts are very beige this season. I didn't realize that until I'd compiled this assortment. But they taste good and involve fruits and vegetables, so it's not that I avoided the food groups that tend to be colorful. I guess that's just the nature of things in winter sometimes. I wanted a lot of things that were the same color scheme, or kind of colorless--sweet potatoes, pumpkin, peanut butter, apples, bananas...

You'll still find color here--cooler weather doesn't mean the food always ends up colorless--but in places I definitely think things tasted better than they looked!

1. Blueberry-Apple Compote Stuffed Sweet Potato with Peanut Butter Syrup (Gluten Free, Soy Free)

With fall, I start craving sweet potatoes. They make for a straightforward, comforting breakfast sometimes, either baked in the oven like this one or overnight in my slow cooker. This one got stuffed with blueberry-apple compote (compote recipe from the Paddington Foodie) and some of my own homemade peanut butter syrup, which consists of a bit of vegan butter, peanut butter, and maple syrup all melted together over low heat while stirring until you get this smooth, warm, creamy topping. It was a gorgeous plate of comfort food in the morning.

2. Gingerbread Oatmeal (Gluten Free, Nut Free)

This is an easily veganized recipe from Little Home in the Making; just use plant based milk (I used soy) and vegan butter (I used Wegmans buttery sticks, for what that's worth). I thought with that much syrup and molasses it might turn out too sweet for me, but it was actually really lovely! If I'd had bananas and walnuts on hand, I would have added them, but sometimes one just makes do. In this case, making do was perfectly fine, even if it does make for not-so-blog-worthy kind of photography. Just trust me: This brown sludge is tasty!

3. Sweet Potato Waffle Bowls with Blueberry Topping, Almond Milk Yogurt, and Peanut Butter Syrup (Gluten Free)

If you have some leftover roasted sweet potatoes, these waffles from Emilie Eats are a great way to use them up. Plus, the waffles are gluten free, and the recipe includes a blueberry topping that goes with them really well. I added some almost milk yogurt and a drizzle of homemade peanut butter syrup to make it into a waffle bowl (which is a great way to have waffles, by the way--if you love waffles but just having waffles doesn't agree with you, you can make them a component of a larger meal). All I needed with this was a cup of hot tea.

4. Assorted Salted Melons (Gluten Free, Nut Free, Soy Free)

Someone had gotten catering for a work thing and gave me the fruit tray to take home when it was over. Hence, I had watermelon, honeydew melon, and cantaloupe all at once! I personally think all melons are more delicious in most cases with some salt, so I just served up my fruit with some salt, a soy latte, and some toast and it was a perfect breakfast.

5. Pumpkin Pie Quinoa Flakes (Gluten Free)

I bought quinoa flakes a while ago but wasn't sure what to do with them. But then I had some canned pumpkin to use up and I ran across this recipe from Simply Quinoa. True to the advertising, it tasted like the filling in a pumpkin pie, and had a very similar texture, so this was a fun breakfast. If you can't have farina because of the gluten, I'd recommend giving quinoa flakes a whirl--and bonus points for the protein in quinoa, too!

6. Pumpkin French Toast (Nut Free)

I had some Dave's Killer Bread multigrain white bread (it's a fascinating thing) that seemed a bit stale, and I had part of a can of pumpkin open in my fridge, so this recipe from Nora Cooks was a godsend. This may be the best French toast I've ever had! If I'd had more energy I would have made a nice stewed berry-based syrup, but as I didn't, I stuck with the classic toppings--vegan butter and maple syrup. A cup of soy milk-based hot cocoa rounded out my meal.

7. Peanut Butter Banana Baked Oatmeal (Gluten Free)

This is a recipe from Feel Good Foodie, which I topped with my own homemade peanut butter syrup and banana slices. There isn't much that could go wrong here, because this is such a classic combination, and it's an easy breakfast to pop in the oven while you do other things to get ready for your day. I had this little square with a smoothie and was ready to get things done!

8. Beet Salad Toast (Soy Free, Nut Free)

This may seem a bit odd, but hear me out. I had some leftover Korean-style beet salad (recipe from Lavender & Macarons) and it was calling my name, so I decided to put it on toast rather than having it as a side dish with rice and other banchan--and it was absolutely delicious. I topped the beet salad with sesame seeds and fresh parsley for a garnish. I had my breakfast in courses on this day--my toast with herbal tea, then a smoothie with a few different protein sources to round things out (soy milk, peanut butter, and chickpeas alongside the fruit). I've rarely enjoyed a morning meal more!

9. Pumpkin Streusel Muffins (Nut Free)

Do you want a muffin with a big, fluffy top covered in a crunchy streusel? This recipe is from Rainbow Nourishments. I did skip making the icing, because there was already plenty of sweet stuff here and this was for breakfast, but I think the icing would be great on these, too, if you want something sweeter. I had this with a soy milk-based steamer, and because they were so big, that was enough for me in the morning.

10. Peanut Butter Chocolate Chunk Banana Bread with Peanut Butter Glaze

If you're looking for a decadent breakfast, try this bread (recipe from Rabbit & Wolves) with some soy milk or a soy latte! I cut the recipe in half and cooked it in mini loaf pans; I then cut my mini loaves the long way as a change of pace. I'm not sure whether that made it prettier or not but I tried! In any case, although this is yet another very brown breakfast, it was also absolutely delicious. I enjoyed the peanut butter glaze, too, though I think that pushes this more into cake territory than quick bread--but then again, what's wrong with that?

I don't know why this season of my life is so muted (that's true in my food and in some other areas), but I'm proud of myself that I've kept going, and I hope you'll find ways to plod along, too.

Onward!