For me, meal prep doesn’t necessarily look like preparing full recipes but can be as simple as slicing a bunch of bell peppers for easy snacks and lunches. It can look like taking the time to chop a whole bag of onions to freeze to make getting stir fry going on a Wednesday night a little easier. But, yes, it can also mean preparing full recipes. In the case of breakfast, I find preparing full meals particularly helpful. I often work before our kids are awake and once they’re up it’s often go, go, go before school so having breakfast prepared and ready to grab out of the fridge or reheat is hugely helpful.
Today’s blog post is actually born out of reminding myself of this very fact as I sat down to think through the coming week yesterday afternoon. After church, I sat at our kitchen counter with a notepad and a pen in hand thinking through breakfast. Dinner often gets the most of my meal planning attention but yesterday breakfast apparently wanted a little love so I began writing out a meal plan for breakfast. I then had all of these ideas for breakfasts I wanted to make ahead that I either used to make all the time or I remembered loving when I took the time to actually meal prep breakfast for myself and our family.
Today I wanted to share a few of the ideas I jotted down. Many of the breakfast meal prep recipes below are breakfast recipes I’ve meal prepped a bunch of times on Sundays over the years to help make breakfast easier during the week. I also included a couple recipes I really want to try (I’m looking at you, freezer breakfast sandwiches) to hopefully inspire myself to sprinkle a little variety into my breakfast meal prep!
If you’re a meal prep wizard and have any breakfast meal prep recipes you swear by, please let me know! I’ve always been someone who loves leftovers and don’t mind reheating food in the least, so prepping breakfast ahead of time is right up my alley.
Breakfast Meal Prep Recipes
Overnight oats blew up the internet a decade or so ago and back in my early days of blogging, longtime blog readers saw me make them on repeat. They’ve stood the test of time for me and are a breakfast meal prep staple I turn to again and again because they’re supposed to be made in advance. Overnight oats are also very versatile and you can make them a million different ways depending on what flavors or ingredients you’d like to incorporate into your morning bowl. Bonus: Most recipes are very easy to double or triple.
Overnight Oats Recipes To Try: Peanut Butter Cookie Dough Overnight Oats (my go-to!) / Maple Pecan Overnight Oats
Also known as the oatmeal recipe that captured my heart when I was pregnant! My mom introduced me to this recipe and I joke that it ruined me for “regular” oatmeal because now that my tastebuds have been introduced to this deliciously chewy, seedy and delightfully doughy recipe, it’s the only oatmeal I ever want in the morning. It’s also an oatmeal recipe that will leave you feeling satisfied for hours thanks to fiber-rich chia seeds, flax seeds and hemp seeds. The best part? It’s a fantastic one to prep ahead as it reheats well and even tastes wonderful cold with yogurt or cottage cheese.
Super Seed Oatmeal Recipe to Try: Super Seed Oatmeal (the only and only!)
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Breakfast Burritos or Breakfast Sandwiches
I’ve seen my friend Brittany meal prep breakfast sandwiches and I think it’s brilliant! I love an egg sandwich in the morning and used to make them for myself all the time before we had kids. I’m not sure why I fell out of the habit but I need to bring them back and love the idea of making a bunch ahead of time, freezing them and then reheating them in the morning for a fast and delicious weekday breakfast.
Meal Prep Breakfast Burritos/Breakfast Sandwiches to Try: Freezer Breakfast Sandwiches /Healthy Freezer Breakfast Sandwiches / Healthy Freezer Breakfast Burritos
Protein pancakes always appeal to me, especially when they’re protein pancakes made without protein powder. Truthfully, my banana bread protein pancakes have been the only protein pancakes we’ve made in our house for years because we all love them and love the ingredient list, too! For anyone out there with little ones, these pancakes were actually one of our boys’ favorite first foods. I cannot tell you how many batches we’ve made over the years but I can tell you the recipe is a great one to double and have on hand to reheat and eat throughout the week. (As toddlers our boys even liked them cold!)
Protein Pancake Recipes to Try: Banana Bread Protein Pancakes
I love chia seed pudding as an easy breakfast option or an afternoon snack. I thoroughly enjoy the texture of chia pudding (think tapioca pudding but a little heartier) and have fun playing around with different flavors and toppings. Chia seeds are naturally packed with fiber and area good source of protein, too, but I’ll often bump up the staying power of chia pudding by adding protein powder to the mix before refrigerating.
Chia Pudding Recipes To Try: Chocolate Chia Seed Pudding / Mason Jar Chia Seed Pudding
When it comes to family-friendly breakfast meal prep recipes, baked oatmeal is one of the best because it’s a healthy and filling way to feed a lot of people. Great by itself or topped with Greek yogurt and fresh berries, baked oatmeal is a recipe I’ve been meal prepping for years and years.
Oatmeal Recipe To Try: Collagen Baked Oatmeal (this is pretty much the only baked oatmeal recipe I’ve made the past few years)
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Egg Casserole or Frittata
I know some people are funny about reheated or leftover eggs but if you are not one of them (I’m not!), meal prepping an egg casserole or a frittata is a great way to get some protein and veggies into your morning meal. I first fell in love with meal prepping frittatas in the postpartum phase of life when I realized protein is not something I naturally reach for in the morning and I knew I needed something with a little more staying power to fuel my body while I was nursing and starving 24/7. My love for frittatas has remained strong and my staple add-ins include chicken sausage, spinach or kale, bell peppers and onions.
Egg Casserole/Frittata Recipes to Try: Chicken Sausage and Spinach Frittata (my personal favorite) / Cottage Cheese Zucchini Breakfast Casserole (fluffy and protein-packed)/ PaleOMG Easy Breakfast Casserole (this one is a little more involved but it’s fantastic)
This one gets all the love from our boys! They love muffins for breakfast, lunch and snack time so we make a LOT of muffins in our house. I much prefer making muffins at home so I can make them with more nutrient-dense ingredients and thankfully our whole family is all about them.
Muffin Recipes to Try: Whole Wheat Pumpkin Muffins (so beloved by our family that we make them year-round) / Favorite Toddler Muffin Recipes (for those looking to meal prep for little ones)
Egg bites are so popular even Starbucks jumped on the bandwagon and sells them. They’re basically mini bite-size egg casseroles and can be made a million and one different ways. I typically include veggies of some sort and chicken sausage or cheese for a little burst of flavor.
Egg Muffin Recipes to Try: Baked Egg Cups
Our boys love waffles. A LOT. I’m not sure why it took me so long to begin making a bunch of waffles at one time to freeze and then reheat on busy weekday mornings but now that I have, there’s no turning back. I typically make a box of two of waffles using the Simple Mills almond flour pancake and waffle mix and then freeze them. They heat up perfectly in the toaster and always make me feel grateful I thought ahead enough to take a little extra time on the weekend to make a bunch of waffles at once.
Waffle Recipes to Try: I’ll be honest, I’m really partial to Simple Mills Pancake & Waffle Mix when it comes to waffles. It’s been a family favorite in our house for years and when every single person in our family likes something, I’m not messing with it!
Question of the Day
Do you prep breakfast ahead of time? Any favorite make-ahead breakfast recipes out there?
