5 vegan breakfast ideas

Quick, simple, but still super tasty, these vegan breakfast recipes will kick-start your day.

1. Scrambled tofu on toast

If you’re a savoury over sweet breakfast person, you’ll loveeee this. Mix it up by adding different toppings like mushrooms and tomatoes. This breakfast takes no more than ten minutes to make—yes plz.

Ingredients for one serving:

• 1/4 of a block of tofu (roughly 100g)
• Salt and pepper
• 1 tsp paprika
• Juice from 1/2 of a lime
• Gluten-free sourdough loaf (or bread of your choice)
• Mushrooms (optional)
• Tomatoes (optional)
• Avocado (optional)

Method:

1. Mash up the tofu with a fork until it resembles scrambled egg and then add in the salt, pepper, paprika, and lime juice
2. If using mushrooms, slice them and season
3. Heat up 1 tbsp of oil in a pan and once the oil is hot, add in the tofu and the mushrooms and cook for around 8 minutes
4. Serve your tofu scramble on top of toasted bread, and add mushrooms, tomatoes or avocado

2. Banana oat pancakes

These are perfect for lazy mornings or mornings with mates—brunch date, anyone?

Ingredients for one serving:

• 25g of oats
• 50ml of almond milk (or any dairy-free milk of your choice)
• 1 ripe banana
• 1 tsp of cinnamon
• 1 tbsp of maple syrup
• 1 tbsp of flaxseeds
• Fresh berries (optional)
• Peanut butter (optional)

Method:

These are super easy to make, just blitz all the ingredients in a blender until a smooth pancake batter forms.

Heat up some oil in a pan, then add some of the mixture, using a spoon to form a circular shape, cooking it for 2-3 minutes on one side then 1-2 minutes on the other.

Once the pancakes are cooked, top them with some strawberries, raspberries, and blueberries, then drizzle some melted peanut butter over the top.

3. Homemade granola

Shop-bought granola can be full of sugar and pretty pricey, so why not make your own? This recipe easily fills a large mason jar and will last for a couple of months.

Ingredients:

• 300g of oats
• 100g of pecans
• 75g of desiccated coconut
• a pinch of salt
• 150g of coconut oil
• 1 tsp of vanilla extract
• 50g of coconut sugar
• 50g of raisins/preferred dried fruit

Method:

1. Preheat your oven to 140°C, and line a baking tray with greaseproof baking paper
2. Add the dry ingredients into a mixing bowl and mix until well incorporated
3. Add in the wet ingredients (melted coconut oil and vanilla extract) and mix
4. Pour the mixture onto the baking tray and press down with a spoon until it’s flat and even
5. Bake for around 40 minutes until it’s browned
6. Take it out of the oven and let it cool slightly before adding in the raisins, and leave it to cool completely
7. Store it in an airtight container

4. Chocolate protein smoothie

This is a post-workout fave. You can always turn it into more of a meal by adding some fresh fruit, my homemade granola, and some linseeds on top.

Ingredients:

• 1 frozen banana (using a frozen banana just means you don’t need to use ice, making sure the smoothie remains thick and creamy)
• 80ml unsweetened almond milk
• 3/4 of a scoop of vegan chocolate protein powder
• 1 tbsp unsweetened peanut butter
• 1 tbsp flaxseeds
• 20g of granola (optional)
• Berries (optional)
• Banana (optional)
• Linseeds (optional)

Method:

1. Throw all of the ingredients into my food blender, but make sure to add the protein powder last so it doesn’t stick to the bottom.
2. Whizz the mixture on medium speed until all the ingredients are fully combined and it’s formed a thick milkshake texture.
3. Pour the mixture into a bowl and add any toppings of your choice, it’s as easy as that.

5. Banana bread

Banana bread is an underrated breakfast, perfect to grab in the morning when you’re rushing out the door.

Ingredients:

• 250g of plain flour
• 75g of light brown sugar
• 75g of caster sugar
• 2 tbsp of cocoa powder
• 1/2 tsp of bicarbonate of soda
• a pinch of salt
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 110g of dairy-free butter
• 60ml of dairy-free milk
• 3/4 ripe bananas (the riper the better)
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 80g of dark chocolate
• 60g of walnuts (optional)

Method:

1. Preheat your oven to 180°C, and line a loaf tin with greaseproof baking paper
2. Mix your dry ingredients in a mixing bowl and a wooden spoon
3. Once mixed, add in the dairy-free milk, vanilla extract, and the melted butter
4. Mash the bananas with a fork and then add them into the mixture.
5. Once a thick mixture has formed and all the ingredients have been fully combined, add in the chopped-up pieces of dark chocolate and walnuts and mix them in by hand.
6. Pour the mixture into the lined loaf tin and put it in the oven for around 50-60 minutes (double-check that it’s cooked properly by placing a skewer in the middle, if it comes out clean you’re good to take it out of the oven.)
7. Take the loaf out of the tin and let it cool, before storing it in an air-tight container.

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