21 Vegan Breakfasts (2) – Cooked Breakfasts

Continuing this series on vegan breakfasts, I hope to show just how easy it is to have a tasty and satisfying breakfast on a vegan or plant-based diet. The first post looked at the conundrum of breakfast menu’s loaded with eggs and pastries. I find breakfast easy to make at home, but almost the most difficult meal to navigate when travelling or eating out. So please feel free to share this article with your favourite cafe’s to help them become more vegan friendly too!

We started this series with a look at simple Bread Basket and Cereal Bar options for breakfast in 21 Vegan Breakfasts (1).

We continue this breakfast extravaganza with some ideas that require a little cooking and preparation, but that are still very simple.

The Cereal Bar – continued

#10. Porridge. Porridge is easy to make and is a great winter warmer breakfast. Add plant-based milk or even just water to porridge oats and cook on the stovetop, or in the microwave. Add fresh or dried berries, sultana’s, or other fruits and a dollop of plant-based yoghurt or splash of vegan milk to serve. To make it sweet use a little treacle or maple syrup instead of honey.

#11. Overnight Oats / Bircher Muesli. This one needs some forethought to prepare the night before but is not complicated. There are loads of recipes online, if your favourite uses dairy milk, just swap it out for plant-based milk. The basic idea is to soak raw oats in a milk overnight in the fridge, usually with some fruit or spices added for flavour. Chopped apple, dried fruit and cinnamon is a classic combination, and by no means the only one. The overnight soaking process allows the starches in the rolled oats to break down so that they’re easier on your digestive system. Plus it’s a deliciously gooey comfort breakfast. Soak away!

#12. Chia Bowl. This is a trendy breakfast to impress your friends with. Add 2-3 tablespoons of chia seeds to 1/2 to 2/3 cup of plant-based milk in a glass or a bowl and leave it to sit for at least 15 minutes, or even better overnight in the fridge. The chia seeds will swell up, absorbing the milk and setting to make a pudding. Chia seeds are high in Omega3 and protein, as well as containing calcium, manganese, magnesium and phosphorus. To serve the chia bowl, remove from the fridge and top it off with your choice any or all of these suggestions: a spoon of granola, berries, banana or any chopped fruit, coconut flakes, and maple syrup. Really delicious and super healthy.

Cooked Breakfasts

#13. Pancakes. Pancakes are really easy to make vegan, and once you have the batter prepared, they can be served with just about any sweet or savoury topping you can think of. Pancake batter is often recommended to be made the night before and left in the fridge, but it’s also no problem to whip up right when you want to use it. A simple batter is just plain flour with a pinch of sugar and salt, and plant-based milk (or even just water) whisked in. To make a lighter and fluffier mix, try adding some baking soda and a little lemon juice as a raising agent. Alternatively, if you like a thicker texture, add a flax-egg (which is 1 tbsp ground flaxseed with 3 tbsp water left to sit for 10mins to thicken). Serve your pancakes with simple sugar and lemon juice, or maple syrup, fruit and yogurt, peanut butter, or for a full cooked breakfast with tofu scramble and vegan bacon (see below). The options are endless!

#14. Tofu scramble. For really good tofu scramble, invest in some kala namak (black salt). This salt contains sulphur and so gives the tofu a real egg flavour. Tofu scramble is easy to make – simply mash up tofu (any firmness is ok) with turmeric, black salt & pepper, green herbs, and optionally nutritional yeast. Lightly fry the mash until warmed through and serve. Great on toast, with hash browns, or in a wrap, tofu scramble is a great protein source to start the day. Serve it with green herbs, and rocket or salad to be healthy or with beans and vegan bacon for a full cooked breakfast.

#15. Rosti / Hash Brown: not all store-bought hash browns will be vegan, so check the packet carefully or make your own. There are lots of online recipes you can check out, but basically these are made mainly from grated potato with onion, bound into a cake and fried. They are not very healthy due to the frying, but sometimes you just deserve a treat! Serve with tofu scramble, vegan bacon, avocado or baked beans.

#16. Vegan Bacon: Vegan bacon is actually a thing, if you are craving animal-based breakfasts. Option 1, buy a manufactured vegan bacon. It is not currently available in Indonesia so I can’t advise which brands are best unfortunately. Or, option 2, make your own from rice paper, tempeh, tofu, wheat gluten or even banana skins… yup, I was a bit sceptical when I first heard this one, but it works! Nutritionally banana skins are a good source of potassium and fibre and are quite safe to eat, even though it’s not common in the west. The marinade is mostly sugar and fat though, so I think this should be an occasional treat and not an everyday breakfast! Another option is Gordon Ramsey’s vegan bacon recipe, which uses rice paper, tofu and a similar marinade to the banana skins. .

Vegan sausages are another cooked breakfast option to serve with tofu scramble. Vegan sausages are available in stores everywhere, even in Indonesia, where I will give a quick plug to the Green Rebel brand, which is one of my favourites.

Happy Mornings!

There you have it, another 7 super simple breakfast ideas that are totally vegan and anyone can make. I hope this has given you some inspiration to create your own ideas. Please share your favourites with me, I’d love to hear about them.

For those who want to explore further, read my other posts:

21 Vegan Breakfasts (1) – Simple breakfasts

21 Vegan Breakfasts (3) – Asian breakfasts