Ain’t nobody got time for baking a casserole at 7 a.m.
Let’s be real: No mom is waking up on a weekday morning hours before her kids to make them homemade breakfasts each day. Chances are you’re already up before the sun to get yourself and your kids out the door and into school and work on time (or at least not that late). So, having some go-to school morning breakfast ideas — ones you can make ahead and reheat or that only take a few minutes to prepare — is everything. And often, your kids’ breakfast needs to be portable enough to eat in the car. These recipes cover all your bases, and most of them can be made ahead so that you don’t have to cook first thing in the morning.
There is absolutely nothing wrong with packaged foods, like those BelVita crackers and bottled protein shakes, if that’s what your kid will eat on a hectic morning. But if you’re looking for ways to save a little money (ingredients do tend to cost less than prepared foods), making a big batch of breakfast cookies or oatmeal bars on a Sunday afternoon could serve the same purpose. Or, if your kid reports that they’re always starving by lunchtime, maybe you’re hoping to get a little more fat and protein in them in the AM — that’s where some cheesy egg and sausage muffins could come in handy. So, whatever you’re hoping to accomplish with breakfast on school mornings, these recipes can help.
01Make-Ahead Breakfast Biscuit Sandwiches
Need something you can grab out of the fridge, reheat, and run? These make-ahead biscuit sammies from Damn Delicious will do the trick. The homemade biscuits are flaky and delicious, and everything stacked between them will keep you and your kids satisfied ‘til lunch rolls around.
02Chocolate Zucchini Muffins
A Cookie Named Desire’s chocolate zucchini muffins look absolutely delicious, and if you have a picky eater on your hands, you know the food has to look tempting to get them to bite. They get bonus points for having hidden veggies in there and being easy to eat on the go. Make a big batch, freeze in an airtight container, and reheat for 10 seconds to enjoy when it’s time.
03Baked Oatmeal Bars
These baked oatmeal bars from A Cookie Named Desire are, again, a great eat-with-your-hands breakfast for the car ride to school. They’re loaded with peanut butter and chocolate chips for taste. The recipe takes about 10 minutes to prep and 45 minutes in the oven, then you can leave these on the counter for up to three days or store in the freezer.
04Make-Ahead Freezer Breakfast Burritos
A savory make-ahead option that can live in the freezer, these breakfast burritos from Diabetes Digital look so freaking good. They’re packed with fiber, protein, and greens, and you can easily add meat or other veggies to customize the flavors. Hungry teens can reheat and scarf down a couple with ease.
05Cheesy Sausage & Egg Muffins
OK, think the biscuit sandwich but easier to eat on the run: Meet the cheesy sausage and egg muffin. This recipe from Averie Cooks is ready in 30 minutes and lasts in the freezer for months, so parents and kids who love the Starbucks egg bites can have their very own in seconds on busy mornings.
06Easy Overnight Oats
If the idea of making a bunch of Tupperwares or jars of overnight oats sounds great, but you’re not sure what to put on top, Damn Delicious has six different versions of her recipe to inspire you. They don’t require a ton of ingredients, and all you have to do is dump them in a container together to eat in the morning. Time to go make pumpkin pie oats...
07Ham Breakfast Casserole
Ham, cheese, potatoes, bell peppers, onions — All The Healthy Things’ breakfast casserole recipe sounds like a crowd-pleaser. Fifteen minutes of prep and an hour in the oven will yield 12 servings that you can slice and store individually. Just reheat them for 30 seconds while getting everyone ready.
08Strawberry Baked Oatmeal
You can't go wrong with old-fashioned oats when you're trying to get something nourishing on the breakfast table. All the Healthy Things' strawberry baked oatmeal recipe balances out the oats with a touch of dark brown sugar and vanilla extract for sweetness, cinnamon for warmth, sliced almonds for a nice crunch, and the star of the show, sliced strawberries, for wholesome goodness. It's delicious, quick, easy, and ideal for making ahead.
09Blueberry Superfood Smoothie
You have nothing prepped, five minutes, overripe bananas, and hangry kids. That calls for smoothies. This smoothie recipe from Dude That Cookz just needs blueberries, bananas, spinach, Greek yogurt, peanut butter, and juice. What you get: a delicious, nutritious smoothie with enough healthy proteins and fats to help everybody feel full (and more chipper).
10Easy Blueberry Muffins
Everybody loves them, and they’re another handheld breakfast perfect for tossing into the backseat as you dive into the car. Simply LaKita’s can be made with frozen blueberries (love a budget-friendly fruit option) and kept in the fridge or freezer.
11Breakfast Cookies
Breakfast cookies? Say no more. These little babies from Jessica in the Kitchen are loaded with nutrition from rolled oats, bananas, flax seeds, raisins, and peanut butter (and you can add in other seeds or fruits if you want). But they really do look and taste like cookies, thanks to the chocolate chips, cinnamon and nutmeg, and maple syrup additions.They’ll keep for a few days in the fridge or up to three months in the freezer (but you will need to thaw them, unlike some other recipes on the list that you can reheat from frozen).
12Easy Blueberry Banana Bread
If the portions of muffins are not enough for your hungry tweens, then blueberry banana bread it is. This recipe from Dude That Cookz takes a little over an hour to be ready, and it’ll last three days in the fridge after that. It’s tasty enough that you shouldn’t have to worry about any going to waste.
13Avocado Toast
You can’t really make it ahead of time, but avocado toast only takes a few minutes to prep and serve. Jessica in the Kitchen tops hers with everything seasoning and pickled onions, but you could swap that out for eggs and cheese, lox, and red onion — whatever your heart desires, really.
Whether you feed your kids a sit-down, homemade breakfast at the kitchen table or are frisbee-tossing Pop-Tarts at them as they unload in the car line, all that really matters is that they have full tummies when they get to class. But if you’re looking for ways to make filling, nutritious breakfasts a little easier to come by on weekday mornings, these recipes can definitely help.
