Introduction
Breakfast meals can be challenging between lack of sleep from the night before and trying to get out the door for work and dropping the kids off at school. We are here to provide a list of quick and cheap breakfast meal ideas. Breakfast is one of the most important meals of the day. Why? WebMD states “Breakfast kick-starts your metabolism, helping you burn calories throughout the day. It also gives you the energy you need to get things done and helps you focus at work or at school.” Breakfast tends to be one of the cheaper meals of the day too. At the time of this published blog, a typical American breakfast consisting of one serving of cereal, one cup of milk, and one banana can cost just under $2 per serving. One side note to add here is that you do not have to eat the traditional breakfast foods for breakfast. You can by all means break the rules and have hamburgers or something else nontraditional for breakfast. We’ve been known a time or two to have leftover pizza for breakfast. Now, on to the tips and recipe ideas!
Cheap Breakfast Foods
Here is a list of some traditional breakfast foods:
Oatmeal or grits or cream of wheat with peanut butter or cinnamon or brown sugar mixed in
Potato bowls: Cooked cubed potatoes (ideally cooked the night before to save time), one cooked egg topped with cheese and ham or bacon or sausage; (you could put it in a tortilla after it’s cooked if you need it on the go). We understand at the time of this blog eggs are more expensive than usual but for a dozen eggs at $3.99 you are paying around $0.33 per egg which is still relatively cheap compared to red meats.
Some cereals can be cheap as well. Ideally you should pair this with some fruit and a protein to keep you satisfied till lunch as a fair number of cereals are mostly sugar.
Full meal replacement shakes are another great option instead of skipping breakfast. (Here’s are our two favorites: Lean Whey Milk Chocolate and Lean Vegan Chocolate)
Toast with jam. Ideally pair this with a protein like peanut butter to make it more filling. [Yes we just suggested a pb&J sandwich for breakfast. 😉 ]
Yogurt topped with chopped nuts and fruit
Homemade waffles or pancakes (you can add your favorite protein powder to them to make them more filling). Also you can pre-make them the night before or on meal prep day and freeze them to enjoy throughout the week or month.
Homemade granola bars are a great cheap option. Although store bought are okay, they can be pricey and less filling. Here’s our favorite quick granola bars recipe: 8 Easy Homemade Granola Bar Recipes
Fruit can be relatively cheap sometimes but should be paired with a protein and some grains like toast.
You can make and freeze your own croissant sandwiches, or you can buy store-bought. Here’s our favorite recipe for making your own croissant sandwiches: Breakfast Croissants – Freezer Meal.
Tips for Making Cheap Breakfasts
Buy ingredients in bulk. Sometimes buying ingredients in bulk can save you money especially when you know you consume a lot of the same breakfast foods. Sometimes it’s not cheaper to buy in bulk because the item isn’t any cheaper in bulk or you’re not able to finish the bulk food before it goes bad. Want to know if it is cheaper? Submit your favorite bulk breakfast items to Saving Groceries and we will check where to get your breakfast foods the cheapest near you!
Use coupons and discounts. Some stores like Publix, Safeway, Winn-Dixie and others have on their website and mobile apps coupons. Other mobile apps and websites such as coupons.com, stocard app, Ibotta app and Fetch Rewards app have additional saving options.
Plan meals in advance. By planning meals in advance, you can plan the costs for each meal. Remember a typical American breakfast consisting of one serving of cereal, one cup of milk, and one banana can cost just under $2 per serving. You can also make some breakfast foods the night before or on meal prep day and leave them wrapped in the fridge to be quickly reheated in the microwave like breakfast burritos, waffles, and pancakes, croissants sandwiches and much more to save you time on your busy mornings.
Make use of leftovers. If there are leftovers from the night before, feel free to break the rules and have leftovers for breakfast.
Cook in batches. If you pre-cook some of your breakfast items in advance such as homemade breakfast burritos, waffles or pancakes you can freeze them or leave a few in the fridge to enjoy throughout the week.
Recipe Ideas
In addition to the tips of the cheap breakfast foods you can make:
Oatmeal with fruit and nuts.
Omelets are quick and there are a variety of ways you can make omelets. You can use cheese and bacon or ham or sausage with some favorite cut up veggies like tomatoes or chives or red peppers in your omelets. You can even place an egg in a microwave-safe cup, place your favorite shredded cheese and your favorite mixtures like bacon and red peppers and microwave it for one minute and then it’s ready to go with you out the door on those busy mornings.
Banana and peanut butter smoothie is another quick recipe idea. There are a variety of smoothie recipes online so choose the one with the right ratio of ingredients you like and whether you prefer yours smoother or chunkier. Here’s a recipe that’s ready in 10 minutes: Banana Breakfast Smoothie Recipe
Avocado toast with an egg is another quick, easy on-the-go option.
Greek yogurt with granola and honey is a simple 3-minute recipe.
We also like these recipe ideas from food bloggers: 33+ Easy Breakfast Ideas, 38 Quick & Easy Breakfast Ideas, this recipe is ready in 12 minutes: Peanut Butter Breakfast Bites Recipe, and here are some Freezer Breakfast meal ideas: Have Breakfast Ready in 60 Seconds with these Freezer Friendly Meals.
Conclusion
We understand wanting to skip breakfast. In fact, it our founder’s least favorite meal of the day, but it is an important meal of the day not just for our health but also for our wallets as there is varying reports online that say people typically eat more at lunch and/or snack more throughout the day as a result of skipping breakfast but again the results are not conclusive. Try making your favorite breakfast foods that are typically served hot into freezer meals instead or grab a healthy cereal or full meal replacement shake to keep cooking time down to 3 minutes or less. Eating or not eating breakfast is completely your choice. We just want you to be informed of the health benefits of eating breakfast as well as the financial benefits of having breakfast at home. We suggest you print this page out for quick reference if you are working on implementing some or all of these tips and place it in your recipe binder for quick, easy access for your meal planning. We are referencing the recipe binder we spoke about in our blog post meal planning. If you haven’t yet started meal planning, we suggest you check out our blog post meal planning to help save you money and time on your groceries. If you want to learn more about making your own freezer meals, check out our blog How To Make Freezer Meals. In our next blog, this Thursday, we will be sharing our favorite cheap dessert recipes we’ve found. Leave a comment for what you found the most helpful and Subscribe so you never miss a blog! Stay saucy!
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