Wake Up Right: 20 Easy, Healthy Breakfast Recipes Perfect for Every Kind of Morning

Breakfast is about memories of eating a bowl of cereal in my pajamas while watching Saturday morning cartoons. It’s about waking up to the smell of bacon wafting through the air, knowing it would be accompanied by my dad’s scrambled eggs. Breakfast is when I learned how to make pancakes from my grandfather, who always made a mini pancake first as a test to check the heat level of the pan. (I also got to eat the mini pancake, so it was a win-win.)

Breakfast is often touted as the most important meal of the day, and for us at EatingWell, that sentiment rings true. We know a balanced meal can kick-start your morning, providing you with key nutrients that help you stay energized throughout the day. It’s not only a time to create memories with loved ones, but also a way to enjoy some of our favorite foods. 

Now, I eat breakfast knowing it nourishes both mind and body. Whether it’s fiber from overnight oats, protein from a crustless quiche or antioxidants from a fruit-and-veggie smoothie, these nutrients can help keep you full for longer, support digestion and reduce inflammation in the body, respectively. Eating breakfast also supports your overall metabolic and cardiovascular health. And while it can be easy to skip your morning meal on busy days—in fact, almost 25% of U.S. adults skip breakfast on a daily basis—we want to help you prioritize breakfast so you can enjoy it on any given day.

Get the Recipe: Crustless Spinach & Goat Cheese Quiche

Enter: 20 delicious, healthy breakfast recipes perfect for any occasion. The recipes in our meal-prep category are perfect for those who find that having something ready to grab from the fridge is the key to success. Are you the kind of person who isn’t hungry when you wake up but know you should eat a little something? Our breakfast snacks are just for you! 

Of course, no breakfast spread would be complete without some special recipes to make for brunch. These recipes are not only tasty, but also totally Instagram-worthy. Finally, we tapped the EatingWell team for some of their favorite breakfast recipes, dishes that are tried-and-true that we know you’ll enjoy, too.

We want everyone to start their day with a healthy, tasty bite so you have all the energy you need for the morning ahead. However—and wherever—you eat breakfast, these recipes are worth waking up for. 

For a Small Bite on the Run

Whether you wake up with a smaller appetite or tend to skip breakfast but are trying to be better about eating something in the morning, consider these breakfast snacks instead. These recipes can be enjoyed in a couple of bites, from a slice of High-Protein Pumpkin Bread to Mini Banana Pancake Bites. Enjoy these packable snacks on your drive to work or pop a few in your kids’ lunchboxes.

For Weekend Brunch

Invite your friends and family over and impress them with our delicious brunch recipes. Our Crustless Spinach & Goat Cheese Quiche is the epitome of brunch vibes, while our Sheet-Pan Lemon-Blueberry French Toast is the easiest way to serve a hungry crowd.

Favorite Breakfast Recipes from Our Own Kitchens

These recipes come straight from the kitchens of EatingWell’s editors and recipe developers. From our Blistered Cherry Tomato & Fried Egg Toast to Huevos Divorciados (Divorced Eggs), these are the dishes we turn to when we make breakfast, including recipes taught to us by loved ones and dishes inspired by popular restaurants.

Make-Ahead for Busy Mornings

Calling all meal preppers: these recipes deserve a spot in your next meal plan. Make them on a Sunday when you have a little more time and have grab-and-go breakfasts at the ready all week long. Pumpkin-Spice Latte Overnight Oats will remind you of your favorite fall beverage, while our quick Spinach & Feta Mug Scrambled Eggs are so easy to make, there’s really no excuse for not trying it.

A Behind-the-Scenes Look at Our Recipe Development Process

Every single one of EatingWell’s healthy recipes is created by food experts and reviewed by registered dietitians.

We started work on these recipes way back in January. Our food team began by identifying the breakfast topics we know our readers love, from meal-prep-friendly recipes to dishes perfect for weekend brunch. We then asked our team of professional recipe developers to suggest brand-new ideas they were excited about. 

For instance, Craig Ruff, a developer in our Test Kitchen, suggested his favorite breakfast recipe. “The Blistered Cherry Tomato & Fried Egg Toast is a breakfast that I keep in heavy rotation. I almost always have the ingredients on hand,” he says. We then narrowed down a list of more than 1,000 recipe ideas to the 20 recipes you see here (which included some lively discussions and voting!). 

The development process had its ups and downs. Some recipes, like our Crustless Spinach & Goat Cheese Quiche and Huevos Divorciados (Divorced Eggs), were easy and straightforward to develop whereas others, like our Peanut Butter Pancakes, were a little trickier. For the pancakes, we initially wanted to include jam in the batter to mimic a PB&J sandwich.

“I tried several different ways to incorporate the jam, from swirling some on the wet batter to sandwiching it between layers of batter, but it was a big fat no,” says Julia Levy, who developed this recipe. “Ultimately, I landed on fresh strawberries folded into the batter to still give it a PB&J feel but without the added sugars!”

The final result is a fluffy pancake studded with berries, so it’s a win in our book! Plus, we were able to reduce added sugars in the recipe, which aligns with EatingWell’s nutrition guidelines.

Once the recipes were developed, our food editors closely reviewed them. Did the Sticky Bun Baked Oats seem dry? (We added more glaze to achieve the classic sticky bun look and provide moisture.) Could the Smoked Salmon & Cream Cheese Stuffed Bagel Bites be baked in the oven for those without an air fryer? (Yes, it worked after we made some adjustments to the dough.)

After we reviewed them, the recipes were tested again by someone other than the person who initially developed them. This step ensures that the recipe will work, and if the tester finds any issues, they’ll work through them until the recipe is perfect. 

Once the recipes were finalized, they headed to our photo studio. The team photographed the finished recipes and also took step-by-step photos to help you visualize the method as you make the recipe at home. 

Finally, the recipes were reviewed by a registered dietitian to ensure each recipe’s nutrition analysis was accurate. They also added the nutrition and dietary tags you see on each page—heart-healthy, nut-free and diabetes-appropriate, to name a few. These tags allow you to quickly see if a recipe fits your needs. 

Recipe development, testing and nutrition analysis is a lengthy process, but it guarantees we’re publishing the best recipes possible. We hope these breakfast recipes help you start your days nutritiously and deliciously!