- Intermediate40 min
Potato Stuffed Wholewheat Paratha
Soft wholewheat flatbread stuffed with spiced mashed potato and griddled until it blisters. The trick is a well-rested dough and sealing the filling in without it bursting.
Contains gluten - Beginner10 min
Smashed Avocado Toast on Sourdough
Crisp sourdough under properly seasoned smashed avocado. It lives or dies on two things: toasting the bread hard, and seasoning the avocado more than you think it needs.
Contains gluten - Beginner10 min
Vanilla Chia Pudding
Chia seeds set overnight in vanilla-sweetened almond milk into a spoonable, tapioca-like pudding. The whole recipe is about ratios and one crucial stir.
Contains tree nuts - Beginner15 min
Mango and Coconut Chia Parfait
Layers of coconut chia pudding and bright mango puree, topped with toasted coconut flakes. As much about the look in the glass as the taste.
Free from all five allergens - Beginner25 min
Savoury Semolina Upma with Vegetables
Roasted semolina cooked into a soft, savoury porridge studded with vegetables and tempered mustard seeds. A South Indian breakfast staple, ready in under half an hour.
Contains gluten - Intermediate20 min
Crisp Fermented Rice and Lentil Dosa
Lacy golden crepes from a fermented rice and urad dal batter, crisp at the edges.
Free from all five allergens - Intermediate45 min
Steamed Rice and Lentil Idli
Pillowy steamed rice cakes from a naturally fermented batter. Serve with coconut chutney or sambar.
Free from all five allergens - Beginner25 min
Weekend Vegan Pancakes
Thick, tender, quietly tangy pancakes leavened with soured plant milk. Ten minutes of mixing, and the stack disappears faster than that.
Contains gluten
How to build a vegan breakfast you'll actually repeat
Pick a base that keeps. Cooked grains, a jar of soaked chia, or a fermenting rice-and-lentil batter all sit in the fridge and turn into breakfast in minutes. Most of the ten-minute recipes here are really assembly jobs on top of something you prepared once.
Add a pulse or a seed. This is what stops a plant-based breakfast falling apart by eleven. Lentils in idli and dosa, chia and nut butters on toast, chickpea flour in a savoury pancake. A grain plus a pulse is the whole trick.
Swap milk, don't skip it. Oat milk is the closest match for batters and coffee, coconut milk carries fruit and spice well, and almond is thin but useful. If you are avoiding tree nuts, oat and rice milks keep every recipe on this page open to you.
Know your labels. Sulphites hide in dried fruit, soy in bread and spreads, gluten in semolina as well as wheat flour. Every recipe here spells out what it contains, and the filter above does the reading for you.
Vegan breakfast questions
- What is a good vegan breakfast if you are in a hurry?
- Smashed avocado toast and vanilla chia pudding both come together in about ten minutes, and the chia pudding can be soaked the night before so it is ready when you wake up.
- Which vegan breakfasts are gluten-free?
- Dosa, idli and the chia recipes are naturally gluten-free. They are built on rice, lentils, chia and fruit rather than wheat. Use the allergen filter on this page to see the current list.
- Can you eat a vegan breakfast with a soy allergy?
- Yes. Soy shows up mainly in tofu scrambles and soy milk, both of which are easy to swap. Oat or coconut milk works in every drink and batter on this page, and none of these recipes depend on tofu.
- How do you get protein into a vegan breakfast?
- Lentil and rice batters such as idli and dosa, chia seeds, nut butters and legume-based fillings all carry real protein. Pairing a grain with a pulse in the same meal is the simplest habit to build.
Five recipes for the week, every Sunday
The weekly newsletter plans your week for you, breakfasts included and allergens always listed.
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