14 Eggless Breakfast Recipes That Are Affordable And Delicious

As the current strain of bird flu wreaks havoc on egg prices and availability throughout the nation, restaurants and home cooks suddenly find themselves struggling to get their hands on a carton of eggs and scrambling to find substitutes for the breakfast staple. Unfortunately, it seems that this is not just a passing trend, as the cost of a carton of eggs continues to rise reaching a record-high national average.

With no relief in sight regarding the price, we reviewed our recipe archives and singled out some standout breakfast dishes to cook up during the egg shortage. While we will always find comfort in classic Benedict, shakshukas, and scrambles, the current state of egg affairs has us uneasy over spending upwards of $5 to feed our households breakfast favorites. So put away your scrambling whisk and ready yourself to start a journey into eggless breakfasts and brunches. With our help, you can toss the cash you'll save from skipping eggs into your mimosa fund without thinking twice about the yolky product your local supermarket likely lacks at the moment.

A standard in Chinese homes, congee (or juk in Korean) consists of simple pleasures elevated into crave-worthy comfort food. Armed with the know-how of whipping up a pot of jook, you can transform a paltry cup and a half of rice into a meal that's able to feed up to eight hungry mouths.

While our house jook recipe asks for turkey, stock, and other post-Thanksgiving trimmings, rice porridge, like so many great dishes, allows for a margin of interpretation and play. Simply watch a pot of rice submerged in turkey stock and top it with yummy leftovers. If babysitting a stockpot of rice feels stressful, most mid-range rice cookers include a handy set-it-and-forget-it juk (porridge) button for those of us who might want to fill our AMs with a trip to the gym, a dog walk, or a crossword puzzle before sitting down to eat. 

Recipe: Turkey Jook (Rice Porridge)

Move over avocado toast, the iconic green breakfast enjoyed enough time in the sun, but with avocado prices predicted to soar due to the possible tariffs on Mexican goods, along with the scarcity of eggs, we're in the market for a replacement toast to fill us up in the future. 

Our house recipe for ricotta toast takes cues from Arabic and Mediterranean flavors by including sesame seeds, honey, and mint, but you could also tweak it with various ingredients that you have stored in your pantry. For an especially delicious twist, try covering the surface of your open face sandwich with a fruity jam. Like rice porridge, ricotta toast can morph around any craving you find yourself hankering or, even better for your pocketbook, any leftover refrigerator goods you want to clear out. No matter the route you take with ricotta toast, you won't miss a runny egg's presence while you devour your new go-to carb-centric morning meal.

Recipe: Ricotta Toasts with Poppy Seeds, Orange and Mint

If you're feeling especially extravagant, or you're perhaps in need of a little culinary comfort, a heaping plate of the Southern classic indulgence, chicken and waffles, is just the right thing. This is a food marriage equivalent to Kristen Bell and Dax Shepard's partnership, as both components of the stacked breakfast dish boast formidable heft solo. However, when brought together on one plate, chicken and waffles (like the Hollywood couple) ascend to unstoppable heights.

Yes, our chicken and waffle recipe asks its audience to make several stations and requires time, skill, equipment, and patience. Still, the payoff exceeds the effort when you find yourself serving a restaurant-quality spread on your dining room table. Or, even better, turn the preparation of chicken and waffles into a family affair. Include your housemates, partner, or kids, and work together as a team to recreate this legendary breakfast dish. 

Recipe: Classic Chicken And Waffles With Bourbon-Maple Syrup

Another hearty combination with Southern roots, this biscuits and gravy recipe relies on creating a fluffy, absorbent biscuit to soak up the herbaceous white gravy. However, unlike chicken and waffles, this morning duo isn't complicated to make. From baking the biscuits to blending the gravy, the entire breakfast consumes less than an hour of your morning but seems fit for a special occasion.

Biscuits, crisp on the exterior and fluffy once broken open, welcome the creamy, pleasantly chunky gravy and make an ideal breakfast bite, perfect to accompany a swig of black coffee. Admittedly, less sexy than a typical fruit-loaded, colorful dish, biscuits and gravy is the perfect breakfast for slow-paced mornings when you want something comforting. We only whip up a batch of biscuits and gravy a couple of times a year, but we are always met with fanfare from our guests.

Recipe: Biscuits And Herbed Sausage Gravy

We've rooted for oatmeal's resurgence among breakfast items for years, but we understand its reputation became tainted thanks to mediocre, artificially flavored, instant packets that dominate break areas and hotel breakfast bars. Far from the gummy mush of these pre-portioned pouches, our baked oatmeal gives the grain-based breakfast a chance to shine beyond the glaring error of mornings relegated to unsatisfying fixes of instant fare.

Our favorite oatmeal dish asks for the extra step of baking the porridge in a presentable casserole dish, not just to sloppily scoop it from the pot. Adorned in a crown of multi-colored citrus and laced with dry apricots, any preconceived notions of boring oatmeal will be challenged upon gazing at this humbly chic (and healthy) early meal. Though we appreciate the everyday appeal of overnight oats and more modest approaches to oatmeal, this fruit-studded rendition manages to reach heights most oatmeal versions can't achieve.

Recipe: Apricot-Orange Baked Oatmeal

For gym rats and those of us who often take our breakfast from the comfort of our vehicle, smoothies rule as the optimal on-the-run breakfast. Fit for fast assembly and slow consumption, our black forest smoothie manages to include spinach, berries, and a heap of chocolate for flavor, plus flaxseed to provide the filling fiber component.

Our chosen recipe shows how you can swap out cow's milk for any alternative of your choosing (oat, coconut, hemp, etc.), and once you discover your own smoothie palette, crafting entire drinks to suit your whims or seasonality will add variety to your wholesome habit. Plus, brands selling supplements like maca powder, bee pollen, and collagen keep cropping up in the budding market where wellness culture meets culinary arts, so once you're entirely smoothie-indoctrinated, there will be an unlimited well of opportunities to bolster the contents of your smoothie glass. 

Recipe: Healthy Black Forest Smoothie

A little bit naughty, a little bit clean-cut, a loaded lox bagel marries the extravagance of a hearty bagel smothered in cream cheese with the simple chicness of smoked salmon. While we somehow mostly enjoy a bagel and lox at the favorite local cafe or bagel shop, building this colorful breakfast at home proves simpler than constructing most sandwiches.

Our loaded rendition includes bright bites of crunchy cucumber, the zing of raw red onion, and salty kick from briny capers, but (like always) feel free to discover inventive ways to play with herbs and spices by swapping out our ingredients with whatever you might have in your house already. And with tinned fish trending and brands exploding in popularity, you can test-drive the key element of this dish with a new salmon variation each time you itch for the open-faced bagel sandwich.

Recipe: Loaded Lox Bagel

Though eggs receive most glory as the best morning meal, potatoes, as their most reliable sidekick, deserve more spotlight, especially during a time when a carton of eggs can surpass the price of a whole chicken. Our south-of-the-border-inspired poblano potato breakfast hash, like a great Art Garfunkel track, smartly centers the usual sidekick into the main character.

Potatoes, as one of the least expensive produce offerings can sit in your pantry for months without showing signs of wilting, and (thank goodness) will never crack or break when dropped. Though some traditional versions top the potato-laden dish with fried eggs, this dressed-up variation needs no distraction from the cumin-spiced protagonist. The best thing about it is that in just over 30 minutes, you and a couple of guests can enjoy a plate of piping hot potatoes.

Recipe: Poblano Potato Breakfast Hash

Take a cue from Japanese culture and prepare a simple, warming bowl of miso soup to start your day. While many Western breakfasts ask for frying pans, a traditional Japanese breakfast contains an ornately arranged plate of fish, steamed rice, several side dishes, and a steaming cup of miso soup. Instead of an enormous meal meant to take you through dinnertime, an uncomplicated bowl of miso soup provides just enough fuel to get you going without weighing you down.

With only seven ingredients, a graceful and modest bowl of miso soup will only run you around a mere ten dollars to purchase all the components for a week's worth portions. With a tablespoon of miso paste per serving, a 17-ounce pack of the golden ingredient holds loads of servings, all in a container that can sit in your fridge for up to 12 months.

Recipe: Simple Miso Soup

Whether you have a kid in the house or your home is childless (and therefore crumb-free), the happy surprise on a Saturday morning in the form of stacked pancakes waiting to be smothered in syrup never fails to set the tone for a carefree weekend. Though we keep a standard pancake recipe in our arsenal, our roasted mixed berry and buttermilk pancakes take the nostalgic childhood classic and transform it into a dish we can imagine everyone enjoying.

Studded with roasted berries (fresh or frozen), the tart bite of raspberries and blackberries provides balance to a breakfast that can easily topple into pure dessert territory once powdered sugar or syrup hit the pancakes. You'll be ready for a weekend hike, household project, or social event after opening your day with these loaded buttermilk medallions that are simple, filling, and a reliable crowd-pleaser.

Recipe: Roasted Berry And Buttermilk Pancakes

Even pronouncing the word parfait feels somewhat fancy, and actually spooning an enticing bite of silky, scone-loaded yogurt between our lips makes our inner Marie Antoinette come alive. All of the elements in this strawberry and apricot parfait can be sourced or prepared days before you're ready to layer them into the cutest vessel you own. With only six ingredients, you'll be your own best friend when you wake up, realizing how your time in the kitchen includes no actual cooking and minimal knife work.

A simple fruit maceration only asks for fresh berries, a little sweetener, and an even smaller amount of elbow grease to successfully pull off and quickly heighten the intensity of natural flavors. The foundation is made with vanilla-flavored Greek yogurt that is topped with macerated fruit and crumbled scones. Be patient and assemble the elements into visible layers before you dig in.

Recipe: Strawberry And Apricot Parfait

Another breakfast where America's favorite vegetable takes the steering wheel, our cheesy hash brown casserole gives you an excuse to throw an impromptu brunch party, so get your favorite casserole dish and fill it with this cheesy treat. As humble as a breakfast can be, this seven-ingredient dish only takes up 10 minutes of prep time, leaving you with more minutes in your day to catch up on obligations or simply relax.

Best when served next to a plate of sausage or another complimentary protein, the creaminess met with the crunch of shredded hash browns eclipses the mundane eggs and toast and can easily feed a hungry crowd. We're not against the idea of sprinkling a half cup of bacon bits into the mixture as the bits of salty umami will perfectly complement the already borderline hedonistic dish.

Recipe: Cheesy Hash Brown Casserole

What smells better than a scented candle and brings more joy than Christmas morning? A piping hot batch of homemade extra fluffy cranberry cinnamon rolls fresh from our recipe section. With more charisma than a talent show and a touch of modern class, thanks to fruity cranberry filling and orange zest in the dough, the fragrance of these rolls contains the power to yank even the soundest sleepers from their cozy rest.

Though the bake time barely clocks above the 30-minute mark, remember that the rising process takes time, so set your alarm a couple of hours before you expect your belly to rumble and allow for a solid hour and a half for the yeast's power to take hold of your dough. Instead of the expected cinnamon paste swirled throughout the center, our fruity recipe cuts through the rich layers of frosting and butter to give mature cinnamon roll lovers a zingy burst of cranberry tartness and an aromatic orange backbone.

Recipe: Extra Fluffy Cranberry Cinnamon Rolls

If you want to take the idiom of liquid breakfast to the next level, once in a while, an over-the-top seafood cocktail like bloody mary is a great choice. This is also a great option if you're looking for the hair of the dog after a long night as it will immediately make you feel better. Plus, with restaurants competing for the Instagram crown of the most excessive version of this legendary cocktail, we believe in the natural amalgam of shrimp cocktail and a classic bloody mary.

This seafood bloody mary uses oysters and shrimp to give the whole thing a briny character, while the rest of the ingredients feature familiar items such as tomato juice, hot sauces, sherry vinegar, lemon, and horseradish. All these elements complement each other to create a supercharged bloody mary that we're more than happy to sometimes see as the breakfast option. 

Recipe: The Ultimate Seafood Bloody Mary