5 Portable Breakfasts You Need This Week

I’ve never been a morning person, which means I stumble around in a haze until I get some caffeine or food into my system. For me, breakfast has never been the most interesting meal of the day; it’s more a means to an end, but I’m aiming to change that. Maybe mornings would be more tolerable if there was an awesome meal to look forward to!

With that in mind, here are five delicious breakfasts that are also ideal for hectic mornings. You can prep ahead of time, grab it on your way out the door, and still start your day with a good, solid meal.

I know that mornings are not the time you want to be pulling out measuring cups or cutting boards, so most of this week’s meals are make-ahead affairs. Portability is also really important for those who are trying to catch the subway and need a meal that can be thrown into a bag and eaten in the office. Luckily, it’s easy to adapt classic breakfast recipes and make them into grab-and-go options, and we’ve made sure to share the best ways to store, transport, and reheat them.

If you spend a little extra time on the weekend or in the evenings putting these breakfasts together, it’ll really pay off. Not-too-sweet chocolate granola muffins can do double duty as breakfast or an afternoon snack, and the frittata scraps from making freezer breakfast sandwiches become the filling for handheld breakfast quesadillas — perfect for those days when you feel like you only have one hand to give to breakfast.

Grits, sausage, and spinach layer together in cute jars for the ultimate savory breakfast parfait, and we’ve taken classic avocado toast and given it a sweet twist with yogurt and honey. Breakfast just might become your favorite meal of the day!

• Cook the spinach and sausage mixture for the frittata.
• Make and assemble the frittata breakfast sandwiches.
• Save frittata scraps for quesadillas.
• Bake the muffins and freeze any that won’t be eaten within two days.

• Heat breakfast sandwiches and go!

• Enjoy the muffins.

• Make the breakfast quesadillas with the leftover chopped frittata.
• Freeze any uneaten quesadillas.

• Make the avocado toast.
• In the evening, make the savory grits parfaits.

• Heat the parfaits in the microwave.

• Uncooked chicken or turkey Italian sausage (1 pound)
• Baby spinach (10 to 12 ounces)
• Avocado (1/2 per avocado toast)
• Cheddar, Monterey Jack, or Swiss cheese (six 1-ounce slices)
• Shredded cheddar or Monterey Jack cheese (1 cup)
• Shredded cheddar cheese (1/2 cup)
• Plain whole-milk Greek yogurt (1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons per avocado toast)
• Hearty sandwich bread, such as peasant bread, sourdough, whole-wheat, or multi-grain (1 slice per avocado toast)
• English muffins, regular or whole-wheat (6)
• Flour tortillas, 10-inch (4)
• Dried cherries (1 cup)
• Granola (1 cup)
• Grits (1 cup)
• Shredded cheese, thinly sliced green onion, or minced fresh chives (optional for topping the grits)

• Yellow onion (1)
• Large eggs (14)
• Whole milk (3 cups)
• Milk, not nonfat (1/2 cup)
• Mexican hot sauce (optional)
• All-purpose flour (1 2/3 cups)
• Unsweetened cocoa powder (1/3 cup)
• Dark brown sugar (3/4 cup)
• Honey (1 teaspoon per avocado toast, plus more for drizzling)
• Vanilla extract (1 teaspoon per avocado toast)
• Baking powder (1 teaspoon)
• Baking soda (1 teaspoon)
• Olive oil (2 tablespoons)
• Vegetable oil (1/2 cup)
• Salt, fine and kosher
• Black pepper