Say goodbye to soggy cereal and snacks grabbed on the go. Breakfast can – and should – be the best meal of the day. Whether you’re craving an indulgent weekend brunch or just want to shake up your weekday repertoire, treat yourself to a luxurious morning with our ultimate list of hot breakfast recipes. From sweet stacks of pancakes to hearty, savoury bakes and everything in between, these dishes are guaranteed to brighten any morning.
Click or scroll through our gallery to discover 34 amazing hot breakfast and brunch recipes that everyone will love.
This take on the classic eggs Benedict recipe is a delicious and decadent treat that seafood lovers will adore. To make it, sweet crab meat is matched with perfectly poached eggs and creamy lemon hollandaise, with goats’ cheese, toasted sourdough and avocado turning it into a hearty meal.
Get the recipe for crab and avocado Benedict on sourdough here
As much as we love a full English breakfast at the weekend, it can be a pretty messy affair requiring endless pots and pans. Enter this ingenious one-pan solution, featuring juicy tomatoes, fried eggs, streaky bacon, button mushrooms and crispy sausages – all cooked to perfection. All you need on the side is brown sauce or ketchup, and some crusty bread to mop up the juices.
Runny, pesto-crusted fried eggs, garlicky smashed avocado, crisp, warm sourdough, tangy ricotta cheese... who could resist such a sumptuous, restaurant-worthy breakfast? This wonderfully hearty take on classic fried eggs on toast is here to prove that fancy weekend brunches needn't take much time to put together. On the table in 10 minutes, it's a dish that looks (and tastes) incredibly impressive, minus the effort.
Get the recipe for red pesto fried eggs on sourdough with ricotta and smashed avocado
For those lazy days when you’ve got time to linger over a heartier breakfast, or even stretch it out into a luxurious brunch, this is the perfect recipe: a crispy potato hash topped with bacon and two beautifully runny eggs. Once broken, the warm yolks run down the bed of potatoes, creating a luscious, buttery sauce.
Get the recipe for crispy potato hash with bacon and runny eggs here
This tasty dish is a far cry from the classic shakshuka recipe, but sweet potatoes actually provide just the right amount of moisture and heft to serve as a base for these eggs. It’s made with mature Cheddar and sriracha, but you can use any kind of oozy, melty cheese and experiment with other hot sauces, such as Tabasco or harissa. Serve this vibrant dish as an extra special weekend brunch – it certainly looks the part.
This classic Anglo-Indian dish derives from the popular kichri – rice and lentils cooked together with ginger, chillies and onions. The British adapted the dish by adding eggs and smoked fish, and it then made its way back to the UK as a warm and comforting breakfast dish. Traditionally the eggs are just boiled and flaked into the rice, but here we’ve also added a poached egg on top for extra indulgence. It makes for an excellent brunch dish, too.
Nothing warms you up on a cold morning like a steaming bowl of porridge. Top this ginger, apricot and pear recipe with chopped pistachios and a generous swirl of honey. You could also use other fruit and nuts, depending on what you have at home, like berries and almonds or peanut butter and banana.
A pancake classic, nothing beats buttermilk drop pancakes served straight from the pan and topped with warm, freshly made lemon curd and berries. It's a sure-fire way to draw everyone to the breakfast table too. If you're in a rush, skip the curd and drizzle over some syrup instead.
A cross between a fritter and a pancake, these make a quick and easy savoury base for salmon and poached eggs. A breakfast worth getting out of bed for, you could mix and match your toppings too – swap the salmon for bacon or avocado.
Get the recipe for corn fritters with lox and poached eggs here
On dull grey mornings when it’s particularly difficult to wake up, French toast-style crumpets will lure you out of bed. Crispy bacon, salty Parmesan and black pepper blends together the flavours of a carbonara and works perfectly with the squidgy, eggy crumpets. This is a real breakfast treat.
If you rise too late for the greatest breakfast sandwich of all time from the Golden Arches, don’t worry – you can make your own McDonald’s-inspired muffin at home. For a tasty riff on that famous morning sandwich, layer a fried egg, rashers of bacon or sausages and slices of American cheese between a toasted English muffin. Serve with freshly squeezed OJ and you’ll be well on your way to having yourself a great day.
This masala omelette sandwich is simply out of this world and a great way to start the day with warming spice. It must be made with white bread and salted butter, and the squeeze of tomato ketchup inside the sandwich is equally important. If you are cooking for one, still make two omelettes – one to enjoy straight away and the second to make into a sandwich the next day.
In this filling breakfast recipe, crispy sweet potato cakes are topped with zingy guacamole and a silky poached egg. Great for when you have a bit more time to cook and enjoy your food in the morning, this recipe could even work for lunch or dinner too.
Scrambled eggs can often be a little bit boring, but it's definitely not the case with this loaded breakfast burrito. Combining perfectly scrambled eggs with flavoursome ingredients like chorizo, avocado, cheese and sweetcorn, these tortilla wraps are a filling and delicious breakfast option.
You can also kickstart your day with a filling burrito even if you eat vegan. This recipe is tofu-based, with the addition of fried plantain, onion and peppers and is served with a punchy tomato salsa. You could also use this recipe as your basic idea, then add vegetables of your choosing, such as sweetcorn, black beans, diced green peppers and rocket.
A twist on a traditional tomato shakshuka, these baked eggs are freshened up with green spring vegetables. Brilliant for a healthy start to the day or a filling brunch at home, this one-pan dish will feel like you're eating out. Add some toasted bread on the side for an even more filling meal.
It’s spicy, it’s rich and absolutely delicious. Laced with garlic and cumin, shakshuka is the perfect dish to serve for the whole family as a weekend breakfast or brunch and it doesn't take too much time and effort either. We recommend mopping up with warm pitta bread or toasted sourdough.
You probably have all the ingredients for these thin pancakes, otherwise known as crêpes, at home already. Nothing but a combination of flour, eggs, butter, milk, water and sugar, they’re incredibly easy to make and, once you’ve mastered your flipping technique, the (pancake) world is your oyster. When it comes to toppings, you can either go sweet or savoury – it's up to you.
Featuring crumpets cooked French toast style (bathed in whisked eggs and fried until crisp and golden) and topped with crunchy, gleaming pancetta, oozy poached eggs, creamy mashed avocado and a chilli-flecked sweetcorn salsa, this dish looks like it belongs on a trendy restaurant menu, but is actually really easy to put together.
Get the recipe for eggy crumpets with avocado, poached egg, pancetta and Mexican salsa here
A brilliant breakfast or brunch recipe hailing from Mexico, these huevos rancheros can be eaten for lunch or dinner too. Meaning rancher's eggs, this is a filling plate of food with beans, avocado and cheese. Top with the perfect fried egg and a generous drizzle of hot sauce for the ultimate morning treat.
This vegan twist on a Middle Eastern classic is ready in 30 minutes and packed full of goodness. If you're not catering for vegans, swap the plant-based yogurt for thick Greek yogurt for extra lusciousness. It serves two and is all cooked in one pan – an easy meal solution.
This French toast dish with apples and cream is an indulgent once-in-a-while breakfast treat that can be made using ingredients you probably already have in the house. Give it a whirl to use up stale bread and spare apples, and throw in a splash of Calvados if you want to make the sautéed fruit taste extra luxurious.
While this recipe cooks in the oven, you'll have plenty of time to dress the table, prep coffee or tea and serve some toast, making it the perfect weekend breakfast for entertaining guests. The roast potatoes, flavoured with the oil from the chorizo, will also work as a lunch or dinner meal – just add a green salad or some steamed green beans and you're good to go.
Fill your home with the delicious aroma of these amazing drop scones. Ready in 20 minutes, they pair well with a berry compote and a drizzle of maple syrup. You can also swap the compote for any savoury toppings.
Grilled cheese sandwiches are an undisputed American lunchtime classic, but there's nothing that says you can't enjoy one for breakfast as well. This version is taken to the next level with salty Parmesan and sharp Cheddar, and the addition of spicy jalapeños will certainly help kickstart your morning.
These puffed-up pancakes are of German origin but are said to have been popularised in Seattle in the early 1900s. Today, Dutch babies are much-loved on both sides of the pond, and are found in many a breakfast diner and brunch restaurant. A classic Dutch baby is baked in the oven in a searing hot cast-iron skillet and served with butter, lemon and icing sugar, but you could add anything your heart desires, sweet or savoury.
This recipe for a brunch favourite has a nifty trick up its sleeve – a cheat's hollandaise that's pretty much foolproof. Just add poached eggs, ham and a toasted English muffin for a satisfying breakfast you don't even have to go out for.
Another fast French recipe, this croque madame swaps traditional béchamel for creamy, garlic spinach. It’s tastier, in our opinion, and brings some much-needed greens to the dish. You could also sneak in a slice of good-quality ham or smoked salmon.
An easy Spanish-style tortilla is a great way to pack five vegetables into one dish. You can use frozen vegetables too, which makes it a simple meal either midweek or when you want to save time on the weekend. Add grated cheese to the egg mixture for extra flavour, then all it needs is a crisp, green salad on the side.
Get the recipe for courgette, pea and broad bean tortilla here
These savoury muffins work really well as an easy snack but are also great to start the day. For a bigger breakfast plate, add some ham, eggs or grilled tomatoes and you'll have yourself a proper feast first thing.
Bagels are a brilliant breakfast food whether you just have them on their own or filled with whatever your heart fancies. These Montréal-style bagels are a lot easier to make than you might think, and they can be frozen for up to three months so you always have one on hand to have toasted with cream cheese and salmon or ham and Cheddar.
Vibrant and packed full of punchy flavours, like pickled red onion and fresh coriander, these tacos are the perfect weekend pick-me-up and a great way to start the day. They also don't take a lot of time to make – and to cut the prep time, you could just bring all the ingredients to the table and let everyone build their own.
This plant-based recipe for pancakes uses soy milk and apple cider vinegar, resulting in the fluffiest, lightest pancakes everyone will love. Serve with maple syrup and fresh berries and no one will even notice the difference.
There's nothing wrong with cake for breakfast, especially when it's full of prunes and granola. These delicious squares are an absolute dream: easy to make, packed with goodness and seriously delicious. Bake a batch at the weekend and serve warm with Greek yogurt, then stash the leftovers in an airtight container and dive in whenever the craving for something sweet hits (or when you need breakfast to be ready, pronto).