Plant-Based Breakfast Ideas

I can’t imagine waking up in the morning without eating breakfast. If you’re here then I imagine neither can you! The plant-based breakfast ideas here don’t require a recipe.

Which is awesome news for busy mornings. Who has time to cook a breakfast recipe on the weekend for the weekday? You might already have to meal prep for lunch and dinner during the week. Now we’re adding breakfast in the mix? #Teamtoomuch

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What Do You Eat For Breakfast On A Plant-Based Diet?

What makes a balanced breakfast? You'll want to think about protein + whole grain/starchy vegetable + fruit and possibly vegetables. I like to think of vegetables for breakfast as a "health bonus". It isn't required to be healthy but it can help.

As a Registered Dietitian, I really enjoy helping people to figure out how to put healthy meals together that you'll still enjoy. It's important to keep the joy in healthy eating! I hope you'll find this table helpful.

PROTEIN	WHOLE GRAIN/STARCHY VEGETABLE	FRUIT	VEGETABLE *optional
nuts, seeds, beans	oatmeal	banana	sliced tomatoes
nut butter such as peanut or almond butter	granola	berries	spinach
soy milk, ripple milk, or another dairy-free milk with at least 6 grams of protein in one serving	whole-grain bread products	melon	onion
eggs	cereal	plum, peaches, apple	peppers
Greek yogurt	potatoes, plantains	grapes, cherries, kiwi, etc.	mushrooms, etc.

Should you eat before 12pm?

If you are hungry before 12pm, it is ok to honor that hunger and eat. Intermittent fasting has been a popular topic lately. It might work for some, but not so much for other people. To keep a healthy relationship around food and eating we don't have to ignore hunger just because it isn't noon. There is another approach. You can still eat breakfast and be healthy.

Breakfast every day doesn’t have to include bacon and sausage every morning. As a Registered Dietitian, it’s not something I would recommend. I like bacon too but it just isn’t the healthiest food and not a food I would recommend eating daily.

Let’s take the labels away for a minute. Put “vegan”, “vegetarian”, and “plant-based” to the side. Think about eating your favorite Greek yogurt with berries and granola. Or a simple peanut butter sandwich. These meals would be considered vegetarian/vegan, but they're just tasty without slapping labels on them!

Are Plant-Based And Vegan The Same?

These terms are often used interchangeably but they aren’t exactly the same thing. A vegan diet strictly avoids all meat, dairy, and eggs all the time. A plant-based diet includes mostly plants but there is room for small amounts of meat, dairy, or eggs if you so choose. Plant-based is a term for a diet choice. Being vegan can also extend into lifestyle choices. Someone who is vegan may also avoid purchases products that were tested on animals. They may choose to only buy plant-based household products. For more information, Healthline has a very informative article on plant-based vs vegan.

Plant-Based Breakfast Ideas for Busy Mornings

1. Overnight Oats

Overnight oats are one of the best grab-and-go breakfasts out there! Keep it simple. There are some pretty intense overnight oats recipes out there, but it doesn't take all those ingredients. Of course, you can if you want to. The other thing to be careful of with certain recipes is the amount of sugar that's added. A tablespoon of honey is too much. Try cutting it down to one teaspoon of honey. Here's the base of your overnight oats:

• old-fashioned oats
• milk
• nuts/seeds *for additional protein and healthy fats
• fruit

Don't like cold oats? Microwave your oats in the morning for ~1 minute (or longer if you need).

Here’s a free handout on making simple overnight oats complete with tips on how to sweeten your oats naturally.

2. Greek Yogurt

Choose a plain non-dairy yogurt

• Add fruit
• Add any type of nuts or seeds (chia seed, sunflower seed, or ground flaxseed)
  • Non-dairy yogurts have virtually no protein. That's why I'm recommending adding nuts or seeds
• If you need some additional sweetener, stick to one teaspoon and that's it!

Choose a plain or low-sugar dairy yogurt

Examples of low-sugar dairy yogurts are:

Chobani "less sugar", Oikos Triple Zero, Siggi's

Choose one of these yogurts, add fruit and/or granola (¼ cup - ⅓ cup of granola). Breakfast is done!

3. Bread/English muffins

Here's some quick plant-based breakfast ideas you can do with bread. These ideas don't require any prep!

• Whole grain English muffin with peanut butter (or your favorite nut butter) on both sides
• Peanut butter sandwich on whole grain bread
• Peanut butter banana sandwich

4. Ready-to-go Shakes

There are so many shakes and powders out now. It can be overwhelming and confusing to figure out which one is best for you. A brand that I recommend often is Orgain. They have a vegan organic nutrition shake that's pretty much a meal replacement. This shake has more added sugars than I would prefer but the ingredients are simple to understand. The shake includes added vitamins and minerals. If this is something you'd be interested in check them out.

What else should I look for in these shakes?

• Easy to understand ingredients
• A shorter list of ingredients
• <10 grams of added sugar
  • The least amount of added sugars the better. Although sometimes when they have very low amounts of added sugar, they've also added an artificial sweetener. So if you want to avoid artificial sweeteners then look out for them on the ingredient list.
• It should have at least a few grams of fiber. The more the better!

5. Cereal

Cereal is sometimes looked at as a "bad food". To categorize all cereals as "unhealthy" isn't exactly fair. Cereals can provide a significant amount of fiber, iron, calcium, and other vitamins and minerals that we need. There are a few things to look out for on the nutrition label.

WHAT TO LOOK FOR WHEN BUYING BOXED CEREAL?

>/= 5 grams of fiber in one serving

<8 grams of added sugar

*Consider adding nuts to the cereal to feel fuller

Here's a list of dietitian-approved cereals:

• Kashi
• Cascadian Farms
• Raisin Bran
  • Personally, I like the Trader Joe's Raisin Bran or the Publix brand of Raisin Bran. These both have the lowest amounts of added sugar that I've seen from other brands.
• Multigrain Cheerios
• Plain Cheerios

Can Plant-Based Eat Eggs?

Yes, you can eat eggs while following a plant-based diet. Plant-based doesn’t mean strictly avoiding meat, dairy, and eggs. These foods are just limited and most often replaced with plant-based options. A plant-based diet focuses more on vegetables, beans, peas, lentils, fruit, whole grains, and starchy vegetables.

Plant-Based Breakfast Burrito

6. Burrito

If you have leftover beans on hand then you can make yourself a breakfast burrito! Put all the ingredients together, wrap it up and there's your breakfast. Choose from any of the following ingredients for your plant-based breakfast burrito:

• tomatoes, spinach, onion, peppers
• cheese
• eggs
• salsa
• leftover rice
• tofu
• hummus, chickpeas, or beans
• plain Greek yogurt as sour cream 🙂

For a plant-based breakfast burrito add hummus, veggies (like sliced peppers and tomatoes), salsa (optional), rice (optional). Plant-based doesn't mean vegan. So you could add a scrambled egg, cheese, beans, and veggies to a burrito as well. If you have any questions on what you can combine together, ask me in the comments below!

7. Frozen Waffles/Pancakes

You might be thinking what?! Yes, whole-grain frozen waffles or pancakes can be an option for a healthy breakfast. Besides just drenching them in syrup, there are other ways to enjoy them. Here's a couple of options for how to eat them healthfully.

Option #1

Heat blueberries (or blackberries or raspberries) in the microwave just enough to get the juices flowing. Put the berries on top of your waffles or pancakes. Lightly drizzle honey or maple syrup! Add nuts, if you like, and breakfast is served!

Option #2

Heat 1-2 tablespoons of nut butter (peanut or almond butter for example) in the microwave. Start out heating it in 15 second increments so it doesn't splatter. Once it's smooth add 1 teaspoon of maple syrup, then mix together. Drizzle over your waffles or pancakes and enjoy!

More plant-based recipes!

Lentil Potato Stew

Mango Yogurt Frozen Pops with Ginger

5-Minute Granola

Black-eyed Peas and Rice (instant pot) *swap the chicken broth for vegetable broth

Stuffed French Toast These are not vegan because the recipe requires whipped cream cheese. It’s healthier than the typical stuffed French toast and absolutely delicious!