Breakfast Ideas for School / Work / Uni (Healthy & Vegan)
Breakfast foods are one of my favourite things in life, I would eat breakfast for every meal if I could (actually I pretty much do that anyway) and therefore I am so surprised when people tell me they don't have breakfast before school / work / uni ??!! However I do understand that making time to fit everything into your morning routine can be pretty difficult if you have an early start, and sometimes you just have to prioritise your eyeliner over making breakfast. Therefore I have compiled a list of some of my favourite easy breakfast ideas that are perfect for making before school, uni or work (or just for any day) and are of course 100% vegan and healthy(ish).
BREAKFAST IDEAS FOR SCHOOL / WORK / UNI (HEALTHY & VEGAN)
I'm going to break down these breakfast ideas into a few different categories as then it'll be easier to find the breakfast that best fits your preference. Also you can adjust any of these recipes to suit the foods that you have around your house or to your dietary preferences, for example wherever I mention a type of non-dairy milk you could substitute it for any non-dairy milk that you like (e.g coconut milk, rice milk, soya milk), and you do not have to use the specific fruits or extra ingredients such as chia seeds or flax seed if you do not have them!
DRINKING WATER
The most important thing to do in the morning is to drink lots of water! I recommend that you have around 1L of water as soon as you wake up, and preferably 30 minutes before breakfast (so get ready first before eating anything) this really kick starts your metabolism and wakes you up for the day! If you aren't used to drinking water in that quantity or in the morning then start slow but force yourself and soon you will get into the habit! You get so dehydrated during the night that if you don't drink a lot in the morning you could have headaches or affected performance at school or uni so its very important! Also lemon water and green tea are perfect ways to start the morning as they contain little to no caffeine and naturally wake your body up so you are not dependent on caffeine to function!
Quick & Easy
These breakfast ideas are the quickest & easiest healthy breakfasts that I regularly have, each taking under 10 minutes (maybe longer if you take time to make them look pretty and take pictures for instagram - because thats all I do realistically).
Nice-cream is one of my favourite meals all year round as it is just so tasty, especially when flavoured with different fruits! My favourite types of nice-cream are raspberry, peanut butter or mango, topped with a variety of yummy things such as granola, coconut, chia seeds, flax seeds or even vegan brownie pieces (as pictured above). To make nice-cream all you have to do is freeze some bananas overnight and then in the morning before school you can just put your frozen banana (I use about 3-4 bananas) into a blender - though make sure its a fairly powerful blender or it could potentially break the blade, and blend up with whatever flavour you desire, I love to add a handful of frozen raspberries or a tablespoon of peanutbutter at this stage. The banana will clump together at first but once its been blended for a few minutes it will become smooth and creamy, and then its done! Just spoon into a bowl and top with fruit, nuts / seeds, granola or whatever else you would like, and enjoy!
2. Smoothie Bowls
Smoothie Bowls are my FAVOURITE BREAKFAST EVER as they are just delicious, so easy to make and so good for your body! I already have a whole post on smoothie recipes that you can read here, but I am constantly discovering more and more flavours and combinations that I love. The best thing about having smoothies for breakfast is that all you need to do is put all the fruit in a blender (I have the blendactive one which was about £30 from Argos) and blend together. You can pour it into a bowl so you can top it with granola, nuts and seeds, fruit, coconut and any other toppings of your choice! The smoothie bowl featured below consisted of banana, strawberries, peach and almond milk and was topped with blueberries, granola and coconut! If you are new to having smoothies for breakfast I would suggest you may want to add some type of sweetener such as maple syrup however if you consistently eat them then you will get used to not including sweeteners in your smoothies!
3. Oatmeal
Many people may think that oatmeal is only a winter breakfast, however I love it so much that I don't think it should be limited to only one season! I prefer to cook oatmeal on the hob however you could also cook it in the microwave if you prefer! Just combine 1 - 2 cups of oats with 2x the amount of liquid (I usually go for 1 cup of oats, 1 cup of almond milk and 1 cup of water) in a small saucepan and cook on a low to medium heat for 3-5 minutes, stirring continuously until thickened. Make sure that you do not cook your oatmeal for too long otherwise it will start to clump together, making it not as creamy. The great thing about oatmeal is that you can create so many different variations, I love to add flax seed, chia seed and cinnamon to my oatmeal whilst its cooking and then add fruit and other toppings afterwards. Alternatively you could add fruit into your saucepan whilst your oatmeal is cooking, such as banana slices or frozen berries.
4. Granola, Fruit and Almond Milk with PB and Banana Bagel
One of my absolute favourite breakfasts for before school, the banana and peanut butter provide you with energy to wake you up and keep you motivated with school, whilst the granola and fruit is the perfect combination of sweetness that also helps to keep you full until lunch! I love using wholewheat bagels, with organic 100% peanut butter and sometimes I will have granola and milk without fruit, sometimes I'll add fruit, usually depending what's in the fridge! So easy to make but so filling and delicious at the same time!
On-The-Go
These breakfast ideas are perfect if you don't have any time to eat breakfast before leaving for school or work, or if you have a long journey to school on a train or bus that is convenient to eat breakfast during. Each of these ideas either takes under 10 minutes to make or can be pre-made the night / week before so that you can just grab it in the morning and go.
1. Smoothies
You can pour your smoothie into a bottle to take to school or work if you are really in a rush (I always used to take smoothies on the train to drink in the morning). The blender that I have is really convenient for this because you make the smoothie in a sports bottle which is screwed onto the base, meaning that you can easily unscrew the blade and replace it with a lid and then take your smoothie with you on-the-go without having to put it into another bottle, for more information on the blender I have, you can check it out here.
2. Banana Muffins
Another of my favourite quick and easy breakfast options is a banana muffin, which I actually have a recipe for here. Whilst not as filling as oatmeal (I would suggest you have a smoothie or some fruit along with a muffin otherwise it may not fill you up completely and you will be extremely hungry waiting for break time!) Bananas are a great thing to have for your breakfast because they provide energy that will help wake you up in the morning and get your metabolism kickstarted!
3. Overnight Oats
When I first came to veganism, the idea of cold oats that had been prepared the day before was not at all appealing but trust me when I say this is such a yummy breakfast, and so easy to prepare! The night before, pour about a cup of oats and 2 cups of non-dairy milk into a jar (one with a lid so you can take it with you) or a container. Add some peanut butter or cacao powder to sweeten (about 1 tbsp of cacao and 1 tbsp of pb) and mix together, leave in the fridge overnight and then in the morning add any toppings such as banana or granola and take it with you for an easy on-the-go breakfast!
If you have a bit more time in the morning
When I was at school (I am currently on my gap year) I used to have one day per week where I would have no lessons and therefore didn't have to get up at 6.30am to get ready, meaning that once a week I could make something for breakfast that took me a bit longer to prepare. These breakfast ideas would also be great for the weekend, or for if you just have that little bit extra time in the morning, as they take around 10-30 minutes to make!
1. Nice cream with Avocado on Toast
As already mentioned, nice cream is one of my favourite breakfasts, but sometimes I just want something warm in the morning to go alongside it, and that's where avocado toast comes in! Personally I really dislike the taste of avocado by itself, but I can just about handle it on toast or in a sandwich (as mentioned in my picnic blog post which you can read here). When having avocado on toast I love using a heartier bread such as sourdough or homemade bread (pictured above is homemade wholemeal bread), because I feel it is just such a nicer combination. Once my bread is toasted, I mash up an avocado (I use about half of one for 2 slices of toast) and then top with lemon juice and cracked pepper to taste. This breakfast will fill you up until lunch and is perfect for indulging in the morning!
I just purchased a waffle maker which was probably the best decision of my life so far, and therefore I had to include this amazing recipe that I discovered (see below). Whilst this isn't the healthiest breakfast to have everyday its a perfect treat for a Friday or a day where you have a little more time, and you could even make this batter the night before and keep it refrigerated meaning in the morning you would just have to pre-heat your waffle maker and your waffles would be done in under 10 minutes! I love topping my waffles with banana and strawberries, vegan whipped cream and even icecream (I mean if it's vegan it's healthy right??)
- 1 1/4 cup non-dairy milk
- 1/4 cup coconut oil (melted)
- 1/4 cup maple syrup
- 1 3/4 cups spelt flour
- 1/2 cup oats
- 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tbsp flax seed
- Combine the wet ingredients into a small bowl and whisk together
- Add dry ingredients to a mixing bowl and combine
- Add the wet ingredients into the mixing bowl and mix with the dry ingredients until thoroughly combined
- Let it set for 5-10 minutes whilst you preheat your waffle maker
- Coat your waffle maker with coconut oil before pouring in your batter (about 1/2 cup)
- Cook according to your device's instructions (around 2-3 minutes)
- Remove from waffle maker and top with your choice of toppings
3. Pancakes
I'm sure you already all know that I absolutely adore pancakes, and you can check out my basic pancake recipe here, but I really want to reiterate how incredible pancakes are, especially for breakfast! You can make the mixture the night before and refridgerate it so that in the morning you just have to cook and eat them! A delicious breakfast in under 15 minutes? YES PLEASE!!
4. French Toast
Another one of my favourite foods, vegan french toast was something I never thought I would find! But here it is, crunchy, sweet and perfectly flavoured, this french toast is perfect for the morning before school! You can find the recipe I love to use here, just make the batter the night before and in the morning you can fry your french toast and its complete! I love topping mine with blueberries, banana and maple syrup!
I hope you have enjoyed these breakfast ideas for school, work or uni and that this is helpful to you! If you try out any of these or have any questions feel free to email me at positivesoph@gmail.co.uk or contact me on instagram or twitter (@positivesoph) I would love to hear from you!! Make sure you always have a healthy breakfast before school as it really does affect your performance throughout the day!
Keep your soul happy! - Sophie :)
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