You’ve resolved to eat more vegetables. That’s admirable and worthwhile. However, even if you nosh on produce for lunch and dinner, reaching your personal quota can seem more daunting than doable. But knock out a serving or two right at the start of your day, and you’re well on your way. We’re sharing 16 ideas for incorporating veggies into your morning routine, plus the best recipes for healthy frittatas, breakfast burritos, bowls, toast, and more.
1. Stir them into a frittata or omelet.
Ease yourself into eating vegetables for breakfast with frittatas and omelets. If you’re pressed for time, you can make a Baby Spinach Omelet in just 15 minutes. If you’re planning for the week ahead, a frittata or quiche will save your mornings. Plus, frittatas can help you use up the extra veggies in your fridge.
2. Make a better breakfast hash.
Why limit your morning hash to potatoes when you can cook them with veggies like bell pepper, kale, and acorn squash, too? Or, sub potatoes with sweet potatoes for more options. For protein, add sausage or leftover meat to an otherwise veggie-heavy hash.
3. Transform your toast.
Avocado toast may be old news, but top it with roasted asparagus, tomatoes, diced bell peppers, sliced radishes, or carrot ribbons for an even more nutritious (and beautiful) breakfast.
4. Use your sheet pan.
Sheet pan dinners are some of the easiest meals you can make, and you can totally extend the concept to breakfast. Play it safe with breakfast-y ingredients like sausage and potatoes. Or, roast root vegetables before crowding the pan with kale. Even a recipe like our Chicken, Apple, and Brussels Sprout Sheet Pan Dinner has breakfast potential; and as long as you adjust the cook time, we won’t stop you from using sausage instead.
5. Add vegetables to a scramble.
Scrambled tofu recipes often include veggies, and it’s time to give eggs the same treatment. Combine your protein of choice with zucchini, tomatoes, and more for a balanced breakfast.
6. Sneak them into strata.
Strata takes more time to cook than the average breakfast, but that makes it worthy of weekends. Add your favorite veggies to a recipe like our Overnight Asparagus Mushroom Strata, which reviewers have tried with spinach, broccoli, and zucchini.
7. Put them in pancakes.
Food for thought: If it tastes good in a quick bread, it will taste good in pancakes. Think bananas, chocolate chips, pumpkin, and blueberries. Right? Carrot pancakes and zucchini pancakes just make sense. We don’t write the rules.
8. Toss a breakfast salad.
If you prefer a light breakfast, breakfast salads can change your mornings for the better. Give a favorite salad a morning makeover with an egg or bacon crumbles. Or, balance the bitterness of kale with quinoa and dried fruit, adjusting the ratio of greens to grain as you want.
9. Roll a breakfast burrito.
Breakfast burritos can hold in a solid serving of vegetables thanks to tomatoes and avocados, and scrambling eggs with bell peppers, onion, and spices first adds even more flavor.
10. Shake things up with shakshuka.
Cook eggs in a simmering sauce of tomatoes, onions, peppers, and spices to make this aromatic breakfast, a favorite in North Africa and the Middle East. Enjoy shakshuka on its own or with a warm loaf of pita bread to sop up all sauce you can.
11. Cook your egg in a veggie cup.
For an extra easy breakfast, crack eggs into bell pepper rings on a nonstick skillet or bake them inside avocado halves. Other produce would work here, too, like hollowed-out tomatoes or portobello mushroom caps. Toast, who?
12. Stuff a sweet potato.
Sweet potatoes also make an excellent vehicle for eggs, not to mention bacon or ground sausage. For a sweet and simple breakfast, spread nut butter on the spuds. Almond, cashew, and pecan butters bring a subtle sweetness, while peanut and sunflower butters contribute a roasty, savory element.
13. Top a breakfast pizza.
If you like your pizza piled with veggies, you’ll find that greens benefit breakfast pizza, too. Will it be bell pepper, tomatoes, and onions with sausage and eggs? Asparagus with potatoes and Gruyere? Bacon, egg, and spinach on a cauliflower crust? Go crazy.
14. Sip a smoothie.
If you’re a Spinach and Kale Smoothie person, it’s time to branch out. Chopped carrots yield carrot cake-like results with cinnamon, nutmeg, and dates. Zucchini, beets, and even cauliflower can also bulk up a smoothie. Steam them to mellow out their flavors and make them more digestible, then freeze them for easy smoothie add ins.
15. Slurp soup. Yes, for breakfast.
When the weather’s too cold for smoothies, warm up with a bowl of breakfast-friendly soup. Start with starchy recipes like Butternut Squash and Apple Soup, Carrot Ginger Soup, and Sweet Potato and Kale Soup.
16. Begin your day with a bowl.
Of course, we can’t forget the ever-versatile breakfast bowl. Go for a grain bowl (like our Miso Oatmeal Bowl with spinach and avocado), a salsa-topped burrito bowl, or a savory sweet potato bowl. Or, get creative with your own combo of carbs, protein, and vegetables.
