15 Vegetarian Breakfast Ideas (Make Ahead, Freezer and Brunch)

These vegetarian breakfast ideas are the ones that actually get made in my kitchen, on rushed school mornings and slow Saturdays alike. All fifteen are my own tested recipes, from two minute pressure cooker oats and cluster granola to freezer pancakes, sourdough waffles and a French toast bake that feeds six.

In short, these 15 vegetarian breakfast ideas are all meat free and fall into make ahead bakes, freezer cubes, high protein options and weekend brunch. Ten can be made ahead, two are vegan as written, and protein runs from 3 g for a pumpkin muffin to 12 g for a raspberry sourdough waffle.

I have grouped them the way I plan my week: make ahead jars and bakes, freezer cubes you cook from frozen, protein packed options, and weekend brunch. After the recipes you will find a protein chart, a seven day breakfast plan, a fridge and freezer chart and my easiest vegan swaps.

Why These Vegetarian Breakfast Ideas Work

Honestly, breakfast is the easiest meal of the day to go meatless, because most of the classics never had meat in them. The trick is making them filling and making them fast, so here is what every recipe below has going for it.

• Ready before you are: ten of the fifteen are made ahead, either in the fridge, in a jar or in the freezer.
• Real protein: eggs, milk, yogurt, chia and oats do the work, and I give the grams from each recipe card.
• Family friendly: pancakes, waffles and muffins win over children who would never touch a chia seed.
• Clearly labelled: I mark the vegan recipes and point out where honey, eggs or dairy come in.

Make Ahead Vegetarian Breakfast Ideas

First, the three I cook on a Sunday so the week starts calmly. One is made in a pressure cooker, one bakes on a tray and one comes out of a single bowl.

1. Instant Pot Oatmeal

This is breakfast for six from rolled oats and water (vegan). It cooks in my 6 quart Instant Pot at high pressure for just 2 minutes, then a 10 minute natural release finishes the job. It looks loose when the lid comes off, but it thickens as it cools. So I portion it while warm and add toppings each morning.

Get the Instant Pot Oatmeal recipe →

2. Homemade Granola

My granola (vegan) is sweetened with maple syrup and baked with coconut oil, so it suits everyone at the table. The secret to big clusters is pressing the mixture flat before baking, stirring once, then leaving it completely alone while it cools. In fact, I scatter it over yogurt, eat it with milk, and nibble it straight from the jar.

Get the Homemade Granola recipe →

3. Pumpkin Muffins

These pumpkin muffins come out of one bowl with a wooden spoon, so there is no mixer to wash. Pumpkin puree, sugar, eggs and oil are whisked together, then flour, baking soda and cinnamon go in just until the flour disappears. Of course, filling the cases nearly to the top is what gives you proper bakery domes.

Get the Pumpkin Muffins recipe →

Freezer Breakfasts You Cook From Frozen

Next, my secret weapon: jumbo silicone cube trays. Batter, custard, porridge and smoothie all freeze in neat portions, and each one goes straight from the freezer to the pan, oven or blender.

4. Freezer Pancakes

Rather than freezing cooked pancakes, I freeze the batter in jumbo silicone freezer cubes with berries or chocolate chips set into the top. A cube then goes into a covered pan over low heat and cooks from frozen. As a result, every pancake gets a fresh golden crust on the morning you eat it.

Get the Freezer Pancakes recipe →

5. Freezer French Toast

Cubes of brioche soak up a cinnamon and vanilla custard, get packed loosely into the same jumbo tray and freeze raw. Then I bake a few blocks from frozen until they puff up with caramelised edges. It tastes like French toast made that minute, without anyone standing at the hob.

Get the Freezer French Toast recipe →

6. Frozen Oatmeal Cubes

One big pan of creamy cinnamon oats cooked in milk with a little maple syrup becomes eight frozen portions. Breakfast is then two cubes, a splash of milk and a minute or two of gentle heat. The trick is cooking it slightly thicker than you would eat it, because the oats keep drinking liquid as they cool.

Get the Frozen Oatmeal Cubes recipe →

7. Smoothie Cubes

I blend two quick batches, strawberry and banana with oat milk and a little honey, and banana with vanilla, then freeze them in the tray. After that, a thick, frosty smoothie is just two or three cubes, a splash of milk and thirty seconds of noise. Skip the honey and blend with plant milk if you want them vegan.

Get the Smoothie Cubes recipe →

High Protein Vegetarian Breakfast Ideas

After that, the three I lean on when I need breakfast to last until lunch. Each one is mostly hands off, and two of them happily sit in the fridge for a week.

8. Instant Pot Yogurt

Two ingredients, whole milk and a spoonful of live yogurt, and the machine does the rest overnight. You heat the milk, cool it to about 110°F, stir in the tempered starter and let it set for 8 to 10 hours. It looks loose out of the pot, but it firms up beautifully once chilled.

Get the Instant Pot Yogurt recipe →

9. Chia Pudding

Chia seeds, milk and a little honey are stirred together, stirred again after five minutes so nothing clumps at the bottom, then left in the fridge overnight. Any milk works, including almond or oat. I keep the fruit in a separate tub so it stays bright. Honey makes it vegetarian rather than vegan, so swap in maple syrup for a vegan jar.

Get the Chia Pudding recipe →

10. Air Fryer Hard Boiled Eggs

No water, no watched pan: the eggs bake in their shells at a surprisingly low 245°F and then go straight into iced water. Honestly, they peel more cleanly than anything I ever got out of a saucepan. I cook nine at once on a Sunday and they go into lunchboxes, onto toast and into my bag as a snack.

Get the Air Fryer Hard Boiled Eggs recipe →

Weekend Brunch Recipes

Finally, the slow mornings. These are the recipes for when everyone is home, the coffee is on and nobody is in a hurry, and three of them use up a sourdough starter or a stale loaf.

11. Sheet Pan Pancakes

Sheet pan pancakes solve the one real problem with pancakes, which is the cook flipping in threes while everyone else eats. An ordinary buttermilk batter goes into a lined half sheet pan, and eighteen minutes later fifteen squares are ready at the same moment. Scatter berries or chocolate chips over the top rather than stirring them in, or they sink.

Get the Sheet Pan Pancakes recipe →

12. Sourdough Discard Pancakes

A full cup of unfed starter goes into the bowl instead of down the sink, and it brings a gentle tang and a softness that plain flour cannot fake. Keep the batter slightly lumpy and cook it within about 30 minutes, since the discard and the baking soda start working the moment they meet.

Get the Sourdough Discard Pancakes recipe →

13. Raspberry Sourdough Waffles

These raspberry sourdough waffles make 5 large waffles in 20 minutes, with whole frozen raspberries folded into a tangy starter batter. Little pockets of hot fruit sit inside a shell that shatters when you cut it, and the tang from the starter stops it tasting like pudding at eight in the morning. Fold the raspberries in whole, straight from frozen, so they do not bleed and steam the waffle soft. Then rest the waffles on a rack, never a plate.

Get the Raspberry Sourdough Waffles recipe →

That shattering shell comes from a properly hot waffle maker, so give it the full preheat before the first ladle of batter goes in.

14. Sourdough French Toast Casserole

Sourdough French toast casserole is what happens to half a stale sourdough loaf when people are staying. Cubes of bread soak up an egg and cinnamon custard, then the oven does what a frying pan would do, only for six at once. Better yet, you can assemble it the night before and bake it in the morning with about five extra minutes.

Get the Sourdough French Toast Casserole recipe →

15. Sourdough English Muffins

Sourdough English muffin dough goes together in fifteen minutes the night before and sits on the worktop while you sleep. In the morning you roll, cut and cook the rounds in a dry pan, no oven needed. Cook them low and slow, then split them with a fork so the tear follows the air pockets for the best crunchy nooks.

Get the Sourdough English Muffins recipe →

Protein in Each Breakfast

The question I get most is whether a meatless breakfast keeps you full. Here is the protein per serving for these vegetarian breakfast ideas, straight from each recipe card. Like all my nutrition information, these are estimates, so treat them as a guide.

So the lighter ones are best paired up. For example, I serve granola over a cup of yogurt, and oatmeal with a boiled egg on the side.

A Week of Meatless Breakfasts

Here is how these vegetarian breakfast ideas fit into a real week in my house. Sunday covers the oatmeal, granola, yogurt and eggs, and the freezer covers the rest.

Fridge and Freezer Chart

Every time below comes from the recipe card, so you can batch cook these vegetarian breakfast ideas without guessing.

How to Build a Filling Meatless Breakfast

University of Georgia Extension puts it simply: a balanced breakfast includes carbohydrates, protein and fiber. That is the formula I use when I put a plate together.

• Start with a carb you love: oats, a waffle, a muffin or a square of French toast.
• Add a protein: yogurt, an egg, milk or a spoonful of nut butter.
• Finish with fruit or seeds: berries, banana, chia or a handful of granola for fibre.
• Make it ahead: the North Dakota State University Extension notes that batch cooked muffins and casseroles help busy people actually eat breakfast, which is exactly why half of this list lives in my freezer.

Easy Vegan Swaps

Two of these recipes are vegan as written: the Instant Pot oatmeal and the granola. However, several more of these vegetarian breakfast ideas are only a swap or two away.

• Honey: it is vegetarian but not vegan, so use maple syrup in the chia pudding and smoothie cubes.
• Milk: oat or almond milk works in the chia pudding, the oatmeal cubes and the smoothie blend.
• Eggs: the pancakes, waffles, muffins and French toast rely on eggs for structure, so I would choose a dedicated vegan recipe rather than swap.
• Yogurt: serve the granola with a plant based yogurt instead.

My Tips for Vegetarian Breakfast Ideas That Last All Week

• Cook once, eat five times. One pot of oatmeal or one tray of cubes covers most of the school week.
• Label the freezer bags. Pancake, French toast and oatmeal cubes look surprisingly alike at 7am.
• Keep toppings separate. Fruit, granola and syrup go on the day, so nothing goes soggy.
• Use the toaster. Frozen waffles, pancakes and split English muffins all reheat best there, rather than in the microwave.
• Rotate the menu. Instead of the same breakfast every day, swap one make ahead and one freezer recipe each week.

Frequently Asked Questions