50 Amazing Ways to Eat Breakfast for Dinner

February 28, 2019
Photo Courtesy Intro
Breakfast is the most important meal of the day—no matter what time it's served. 
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Tex-Mex Breakfast Bake 

Meredith Food Studios 
Tex-Mex Breakfast Bake  Recipe

This flavor-packed take on breakfast casserole is a great way to use up leftover Texas toast or garlic bread. Rich, indulgent, and spicy, its gooeyness is perfectly complimented by the tang from the crema, which can be found in a Latin market. Play around with frozen toast flavors to spice things up, or serve it as breakfast for dinner. 

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Sausage-Hash Brown Breakfast Casserole

Photo: Becky Luigart-Stayner; Styling: Jan Gautro, Laura Martin
Sausage-Hash Brown Breakfast Casserole Recipe

Combine frozen hash brown potatoes with sausage, eggs, and cheese for a hearty, 5-star-rated breakfast or brunch casserole that can be prepped ahead and baked the next morning. Sauté one large onion and one bell pepper in the pork drippings for extra flavor and color. Tip from the recipe developer: To make mini frittatas, cook in 6-inch cast-iron skillets for 30 minutes at 375. Top with sliced avocados, pico de gallo, and a dollop of sour cream and sprinkle with green onions.

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Be-Still-My-Heart Breakfast Pizza

Photo: Kelsey Hansen; Food Styling: Blakeslee Giles; Prop Styling: Audrey Davis
Be-Still-My-Heart Breakfast Pizza Recipe

As delicious as cold, last-night's pizza can be for breakfast, some occasions call for a little something extra. Perfectly cooked eggs, tender heart-shaped dough with a crisp bottom, and traditional hot Italian sausage make the cutest morning pizza. Add whatever extra toppings you, or whomever you're making this for, love. Just make sure not to crack the egg into the bacon heart, because it won't cook. 

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Breakfast Meatballs and Spud-Ghetti  

tifs
Breakfast Meatballs and Spud-Ghetti   Recipe
Kind of like breakfast for dinner, but still breakfast. You're gonna love the sausage and egg meatballs, spiralized potato "noodles," and hot sauce, syrup, and ketchup sauce.

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Christmas Breakfast Casserole

Photo: Alison Miksch; Food Styling: Mary Clair Britton and Kady Wohlfarth; Prop Styling: Prissy Lee
Christmas Breakfast Casserole Recipe

This warm and comforting casserole is everything you could want in a Christmas morning breakfast: rich and cheesy grits, rounded out with sausage, bacon, and poblano. 

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Hashbrown Breakfast Pizza

Time Inc. Video Studio
Hashbrown Breakfast Pizza Recipe

Should’t the most important meal of the day occasionally take a turn at being the most delicious? We think so; and with this crispy, cheesy breakfast pizza, it can. Utilizing frozen hash browns for the crust, this morning pie is easy to make, ridiculously tasty, and totally portable. Plus—it’s a morning meal you won’t have to fight anyone on. You can even prep the pizza ahead of time and simply reheat portions as you need them throughout the week. Customize with your family’s favorite toppings and it’s sure to be a fast favorite. 

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Golden Beet-and-Potato Breakfast Bake

Victor Protasio
Golden Beet-and-Potato Breakfast Bake Recipe

Beets add color and flavor to hash browns in this tasty one-pan breakfast. Squeeze out as much liquid as possible from the beets and the potatoes so they crisp up in the pan.

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Mini Breakfast Pizzas

Victor Protasio
Mini Breakfast Pizzas Recipe

This mini breakfast pizza is glorious: A pizza and salad combo that makes for a delicious weekend breakfast or brunch but also works nicely as a dinner. You can buy whole-wheat pizza dough in the freezer section of your grocery store, or from your favorite local pizza shop, or get a mix from Amazon. We like to par-bake the dough a bit first so it comes out perfectly crispy without overcooking the egg. If you don’t like runny yolks, cook each pizza for an additional couple of minutes.

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Quinoa Breakfast Bowl with 6-Minute Egg

Greg DuPree
Quinoa Breakfast Bowl with 6-Minute Egg Recipe

Embrace breakfast’s savory side with this whole-grain bowl. This simple one-dish meal is crowned with a soft-boiled egg; the nutrient-rich yolk creates its own creamy sauce. New research shows that eating eggs with raw vegetables like tomatoes increases your absorption of carotenoids—antioxidants that may protect against heart disease.

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Savory Sausage Breakfast Rolls

Photo: Becky Luigart-Stayner; Styling: Jan Gautro
Savory Sausage Breakfast Rolls Recipe

Filled with sausage and cheese, these hit the spot on a chilly fall morning. We like reduced-fat pork sausage, but turkey sausage also works in these breakfast rolls.

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Sausage, Gravy, and Egg Breakfast Sandwiches

Photo: Jennifer Causey; Styling: Kira Corbin
Sausage, Gravy, and Egg Breakfast Sandwiches Recipe

This sandwich will rival what you get at the drive-through. Freezing the gravy in ice-cube trays makes portioning easy. For freezing and heating instructions, see below.

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Spicy Breakfast Taquitos

Photo by Kelsey Hansen
Spicy Breakfast Taquitos Recipe
Whether you eat them freshly made or defrosted from a box at 2 a.m, there’s no denying that taquitos are good and pure. In fact, they’re so great that we should probably be eating taquitos for breakfast. While there’s nothing wrong with going to town on whatever type of taquito you like at 8 a.m., but why not embrace filings that are slightly more breakfast-y?
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Fattet Djaj Is the Perfect Savory Breakfast for Egg-Haters

Photo by Liz Clayman
Fattet Djaj Is the Perfect Savory Breakfast for Egg-Haters Recipe
For those who don’t love eggs, savory breakfast can pose a bit of a challenge. While you could simply reheat last night’s dinner and call it a day, you should know that eggless savory breakfast can be way more exciting. Allow me to introduce you to fatteh. A type of southern Levantine dish of warm pieces of flatbread covered in hearty toppings like chicken, tongue, beef, eggplant, or chickpeas, fatteh is made in a multitude of regional styles. New York City’s Au Za’atar currently has their own version of the dish (they make it in the Lebanese style) on their brunch menu.

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Breakfast Lasagna Will Get You Through These Next Few Days

Photo by Stacey Ballis
Breakfast Lasagna Will Get You Through These Next Few Days Recipe
Why don’t we make ratatouille for breakfast more often? Winter breakfasts tend to slant sweet and warm—gooey cinnamon rolls, thick porridge smeared with jam, chocolate babka—but what about the savory? Specifically, what about the vegetables? Ratatouille proves that vegetables can be used in the morning outside of an omelet. This vegetable dish is so strong it can actually stand on its own if you don’t eat eggs. Of course our recipe calls for a dozen, but if you’re opting out, just toss in a can of cooked chickpeas for some protein.

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Instant Pot Breakfast Ratatouille

PHOTO BY GINA DESIMONE
Instant Pot Breakfast Ratatouille Recipe
The perfect breakfast sandwich, but miniaturized. We took everyone's favorite classic sausage biscuit sandwich and made it mini. Adorable breakfast sliders, you have our hearts.
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Breakfast Biscuit Sliders

PHOTO BY DANIEL AGEE
Breakfast Biscuit Sliders Recipe
Whether you’re looking for a solo power breakfast or have to feed brunch to a crowd, breakfast tacos are the way to go. Of course, you could go the classic route—scramble a bunch of eggs, brown chorizo, and fry a mess of potatoes to stuff into tortillas—and there’s certainly nothing wrong with that. However, if you’re looking for an alternative, look no further than pancake breakfast tacos. Pancake breakfast tacos are exactly what you’re picturing: all the delightful innards of a classic breakfast taco tucked cozily inside a warm pancake.

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Pancake Breakfast Tacos

PHOTO BY KELSEY HANSEN
Pancake Breakfast Tacos Recipe
We’re always here for a riff on classic breakfast tacos (see: pancake tacos), so get ready to stuff a paratha with your favorite fillings. The flaky flatbread gets its rich flavor from a mixture of bread flour and whole wheat flour, plus plenty of melted ghee. It may seem like magic, but those light layers are the result of accordion folding and rolling the dough into a spiral before rolling it out and repeating. Sounds tricky, but after watching this video and practicing it in real life, you’ll get the hang of rolling a paratha in no time.

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Breakfast Tacos with Paratha Flatbread

Photo by Daniel Agee
Breakfast Tacos with Paratha Flatbread Recipe
We’re always here for a riff on classic breakfast tacos (see: pancake tacos), so get ready to stuff a paratha with your favorite fillings. The flaky flatbread gets its rich flavor from a mixture of bread flour and whole wheat flour, plus plenty of melted ghee. It may seem like magic, but those light layers are the result of accordion folding and rolling the dough into a spiral before rolling it out and repeating. Sounds tricky, but after watching this video and practicing it in real life, you’ll get the hang of rolling a paratha in no time.
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Fried Egg and Rye Breakfast Salad

Photo via Cooking Light
Fried Egg and Rye Breakfast Salad Recipe
Yes, that’s right—breakfast salads! They’re a thing, and they’re fantastic. If this concept is new to you, just hear me out, please. A salad in the morning is a great way to work in a serving or two of veggies (or whole grains, or fruit—more to come in this series!) right off the bat. They’re light, fresh, and balanced, preventing that all-too-familiar carb/sugar overload that’ll have you crashing an hour or two later.

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Eggs Florentine Breakfast Pizza

Photo by Daniel Agee
Eggs Florentine Breakfast Pizza Recipe
If you go out to brunch on the regular, odds are you’re probably tired of classic dishes like eggs Florentine. While you love a good hollandaise sauce over spinach, sometimes you want to shake things up. That’s where this breakfast pizza comes in. It’s like your classic eggs Florentine studied abroad in Italy and came back with a new outlook on life—and would not stop talking about how magical Italy is.

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Breakfast Pizza Pockets Taste Like Childhood

Photo by Daniel Agee
Breakfast Pizza Pockets Taste Like Childhood Recipe
If you ever heated up a tray of pizza pockets for an after-school snack as a kid, listen up. Breakfast pockets take just a little more time to make, but are even more satisfying because you get to pick the fillings. Pick up a package of pre-made frozen pizza dough (or make your own, if you’re feeling homestead-y), roll it out, and slice it into square—large for bigger pockets, smaller for mini pockets. Fill the dough with eggs, cheese, and meat if you like, bake the pockets, and breakfast is served. Better yet, you could make a batch of breakfast pockets on Sunday night and reheat one before you head to work for the next couple days.
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Make a Lobster Roll Breakfast Taco This Weekend

Photo by Daniel Agee
Make a Lobster Roll Breakfast Taco This Weekend Recipe
For some Northeasterners, it’s not summer until the first lobster roll has been consumed. If you’re not planning a trip to Maine in the near future (or you just aren’t into that much mayo on a sandwich), the lobster roll breakfast taco is calling your name. Pairing tender chunks of lobster meat with creamy scrambled eggs instead of the mayonnaise-y lobster salad, the lobster roll breakfast taco also makes its home inside a charred tortilla instead of a hot dog bun. We might be about to loose the lobster roll purists, but just give this guy a chance.

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Make Loaded Breakfast Nachos Out of Pancakes

Photo by Daniel Agee
Make Loaded Breakfast Nachos Out of Pancakes Recipe
Who says nachos have to be savory? Our favorite finger food is just as popular in a sweeter version—plus, this one has pancakes, and we just can’t say that about classic nachos. These breakfast nachos mashes up everything we love about a fat stack of pancakes with a bit of culinary magic—also known as frying—to transform the pancakes into triangular “chips.” Classic pancake toppings (fresh berries, chocolate syrup, whipped cream) are re-envisioned as nacho adornments, and we can’t say we’re mad about that.

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Egg in a Waffle Hole Is What Breakfast Dreams Are Made Of

PHOTO BY CAITLIN BENSEL
Egg in a Waffle Hole Is What Breakfast Dreams Are Made Of Recipe
Will we ever tire of egg-in-a-hole foods? No. No, we won't. And why would we—the egg-in-a-hole allows us to to mashup our favorite breakfast food (runny yolk, of course) inside anything that could possibly complement a fried egg. This egg-in-a-hole, waffle edition, takes the trend back to breakfast basics, placing a jammy egg in the center of a classic buttermilk waffle.
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Chicken and Waffles Are the Best Clucking Breakfast Ever

Photo by Evan Sung
Chicken and Waffles Are the Best Clucking Breakfast Ever Recipe
No one’s quite sure where the tradition of pairing fried chicken and crispy waffles first originated (some believe it was at Roscoe’s in Los Angeles). Chef Kyle Bailey from DC’s Birch & Barley shared his version, one of the stars of a brunch menu that draws crowds—and long lines—every weekend. He wisely selects chicken thighs to brine in buttermilk and spices before dredging them in a heavily seasoned flour mixture and frying to a shattering crispness; the thighs never lose their natural juiciness.

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Make-Ahead Breakfast Enchiladas for Your Sunday Brunch Party

Photo by Teresa Sabga
Make-Ahead Breakfast Enchiladas for Your Sunday Brunch Party Recipe
A home cook’s definition of misery: inviting friends over for breakfast and hectically running around the kitchen while everyone else mingles and knocks back mimosas. With this recipe, you can entertain with ease. Assemble this make-ahead breakfast special the night before and wake up to fully loaded enchiladas for ten or more. Minimal fuss, maximum flavor. After all, who can resist fluffy, soft eggs, salty ham, and melty cheese cocooned in warm tortillas? Absolutely no one. Got leftovers? Much like chili, these enchiladas are even better reheated the day after.

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Breakfast Sushi with Bacon, Egg, and Cheese

photo by alex tepper
Breakfast Sushi with Bacon, Egg, and Cheese Recipe
One of the finest staples of New York City breakfast culture is the bodega BEC, or bacon, egg, and cheese. This sandwich, whether on a roll or a bagel is generally a foil-wrapped godsend purchased on the go for cheap. It combats hangovers, fills your belly, and tastes damn good no matter how crappy it was executed. The only downside to the BEC is that it's a gutbomb. You don't want to do hot yoga post-BEC.
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Breakfast Sushi with Everything Bagel Seasoning and Lox

Photo and video by Alex tepper
Breakfast Sushi with Everything Bagel Seasoning and Lox Recipe
Here, the breakfast classic of a bagel and lox transforms into breakfast sushi. A sliver of smoked salmon is anchored to caper-brined sushi rice with a dab of wasabi cream cheese. A dunk in homemade everything bagel seasoning seals the deal. You may be shocked at how good caper-brined sushi rice is. I use it for all my sushi needs, even outside of breakfast.

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Eggs Benedict Totchos Is Your New Favorite Breakfast Mash-Up

photo by Caitlin Bensel
Eggs Benedict Totchos Is Your New Favorite Breakfast Mash-Up Recipe
Potatoes have been a breakfast staple for a long time, but until some genius decided to turn hash browns into little fried cylinders Americans didn't know the joy of tater tots. Who doesn’t love french fries that are engineered for breakfast? For those of us who understand the importance of the tater tot as a meal and not just a side dish, you can throw them in your breakfast mac n cheese or make a full-on tater tot casserole that will make your little tater-loving heart happy. But the ultimate tater tot-lover’s dream is eggs Benedict totchos.

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Eat This Breakfast Mac and Cheese Straight Out of the Pan

photo by Caitlin Bensel
Eat This Breakfast Mac and Cheese Straight Out of the Pan Recipe
Our breakfast mac and cheese has bacon, tater tots, and two types of cheese. From start to finish, it’ll take you 40 minutes to make and probably two minutes to eat, and you won’t need to put on pants.
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This Champagne Omelet with Truffle Is the Classiest Way to Eat Your Eggs

Photo by Ed Anderson
This Champagne Omelet with Truffle Is the Classiest Way to Eat Your Eggs Recipe
Gayle Pirie literally wrote the book on eggs—Country Egg, City Egg—so she certainly has worthy advice about how to do up an omelet. Currently the chef and co-owner of Foreign Cinema in San Francisco, Pirie makes what might be the fanciest omelet imaginable: a Champagne omelet with truffle. "The omelet recipe comes from our desire to elevate beloved classic food with truffle and Champagne, should you feel celebratory in life's moments, it’s a dish to feel special about," she explains.

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How to Make a Healthy Breakfast Sandwich That's Actually Good

Photo by Alison Miksch
How to Make a Healthy Breakfast Sandwich That's Actually Good Recipe
English muffins and sausage are a natural breakfast pair with a fried egg, but they also translate beautifully into a quick and healthy sandwich. The crisp outside and craggy surface of a split English muffin makes it ideal for sandwiches. We swap the egg and cheese for crisp, tart apple and sautéed spinach. The spread is a clever hacked version of béarnaise—creamy from the mayo yet bright with tarragon and vinegar. Use bulk turkey breakfast sausage. For thin, round apple slices, cut crosswise from end to end, and then remove any seeds.

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Breakfast Frito Pie Will Leave You with Zero Regrets

Photos by Teresa Sabga
Breakfast Frito Pie Will Leave You with Zero Regrets Recipe
Take a bag of Fritos, preferably the snack-sized ones you can grab in vending machines. Open it. Dump in a few scoops of chili, maybe some scallions, cheese, sour cream, salsa, or a spritz of lime juice, and dig in. You could use a fork or chopsticks to avoid dropping chili and salsa on yourself, or just dig right in with your hands. Chips count as utensils.
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Make-Ahead Breakfast Burritos Are What Stand Between You and Despair This Winter

Photo by Peteers via Getty Images
Make-Ahead Breakfast Burritos Are What Stand Between You and Despair This Winter Recipe
These freeze well, which means you can do a big cook, roll the burritos up, and stash them in the freezer for rushed mornings or breakfast-for-dinner occasions. But before you go putting anything in the freezer, remember: Everything will freeze, but not everything will reheat in a way that you’ll want to eat it. In terms of breakfast burrito ingredients, think soft creamy dairy things (sour cream, goat cheese, feta, queso fresco, etc.), avocado, most pickles, and potatoes.

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Frittata + Rice Casserole = Breakfast Paella

Photo by Anjali Pinto
Frittata + Rice Casserole = Breakfast Paella Recipe
The key to paella success? Have patience and don’t fuss with the pan too much—it doesn’t need shaking and the food doesn't need stirring. The beauty about Spanish rice dishes is that they really don't require much work. Once all the ingredients are in the pan, you only need to stir it a little to make sure everything is thoroughly mixed.

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4-Ingredient Chorizo and Egg Breakfast Tacos Save Time, Cash, and Your Morning

Photos by Teresa Sabga
4-Ingredient Chorizo and Egg Breakfast Tacos Save Time, Cash, and Your Morning Recipe
You’re craving a new protein-packed breakfast, but you don’t have much time to experiment in the kitchen before running out the door. Here’s a foolproof breakfast taco recipe that’s quick, simple, and most importantly, delicious. The chorizo breakfast tacos only call for four ingredients (meaning you won’t break the bank when buying groceries).
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