Looking for a way to make your mornings less chaotic? Find a way to motivate yourself out of your comfy bed with these easy and cheap breakfast ideas.
Say goodbye to stressful mornings and hello to a delicious and affordable breakfast that will keep you energized all day.
With these simple, cheap breakfast recipes, you’ll be able to save time, money, and satisfy any cravings, while fueling your body with more than just your morning coffee (and who doesn’t love bacon first thing in the morning?).
What are the benefits of eating breakfast?
Ever hear that old saying “Breakfast is the most important meal of the day” while it might have been a way for our Moms to get us to finish our breakfast, the older I get the more I see the truth in it. Science has also backed this with new studies showing that eating a good meal first thing in the morning can kickstart your day.
Healthy breakfast options can also help us in saving money in the long run. It helps us not feel uncontrollably hungry later, so we can think through our decisions throughout our day.
Imagine this, you skip breakfast, running errands, and find that by noon you’re unbelievably hungry and are nowhere near your house.
What happens next?
You end up eating at the closest restaurant, spending money, and probably not eating something healthy. By eating a cheap, healthy breakfast we can avoid all this and feel full and happy throughout our day.
So where do we start?
Quick, Cheap Breakfast Ideas : Setting up the plan
The first step is to create a plan.
Create a simple list of foods you can prepare beforehand for days when you are on the go or simply don’t want to put too much effort into cooking and a list of meals you can easily make on mornings when you have a little more time.
Being frugal doesn’t mean we have to sacrifice our health. I found that the way to balance cheap, tasty, healthy meals is to make sure to plan.
I usually spend the Sunday planning the meals I want for that week or even meal prepping. That way when my brain is all fuzzy in the early mornings I can still get a positive start to my day with a healthy breakfast that doesn’t break the bank.
Check out this post for more information on beginning your meal planning, and this post for how to meal plan on a budget.
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Products I use to help me meal prep
Meal prepping, while helpful in the long run, can be really stressful to start off with. When you have a set plan, it’s easier to start but then I get frustrated with having my whole fridge and freezer over run with meal prepped meals and honestly found it very disorganized.
After some research, I found some tricks to help me easily store my meals, which made mornings hassle-free. I linked products I find the most useful in my day-to-day life.
The products are not too expensive and can be used over and over, or for different purposes so you really get a good bang for your buck.
Mason Jars with lid
These are really easy to store overnight oats or premade yogurt parfaits, and the lid keeps it fresh. Add in your ingredients, store it in your fridge and just grab it when you’re on the go. I found that the size is really good, it doesn’t take up too much room in my fridge and looks cute.
Ziploc bags
Ziploc bags are really versatile in storing different foods and make it easy to find what you are looking for without having to dig through containers. It really clears up so much space. One trick I learned was to add dates on the bag so you can see how long you’ve had it stored.
Meal Prep containers
These can really help in setting up a cheap breakfast the night before. That way you just grab it and go. I find that they easily fit in my and my husband’s work bag, are really easy to clean, and the airtight lid keeps everything from leaking all over my bag.
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Easy Breakfast ideas when you’re on the go
Although these take a little time to plan and make, the recipes are overall simple, and once made you can keep them in the freezer/fridge and simply pop them in the microwave to heat up. Perfect for any time you’re on the go and need a little pick-me-up meal.
Bread and muffins
These are amazing to make at home as you can freeze portions to have throughout the week, and while store-bought options are available, baking these at home lets you have the best ingredients, tweak them to your liking, and is a cheaper option overall.
Take some of your time on the weekend and whip these out, I have included some of my favorite easy go-to recipes below.
Muffins
Feel free to tweak these recipes to your taste buds!
Bread
- Banana Bread (For this it’s great to use bananas that are going bad)
- Easy Pumpkin Bread
- Easy Cinnamon Bread
Egg muffins
Ever tried the Starbucks egg bites? They are delicious and filled with protein that will keep you going until your next meal. Make a batch of these and freeze them, and pop them into your microwave when you’re ready to eat.
These are easily customizable to your taste, add spinach, ham, or anything you wish.
I have included my favorite recipe below to get you started.
Recipes:
This recipe gives you three different ways to prepare the egg muffins but feel free to customize to whatever you have on hand!
Fruit Parfaits
Yogurt is a staple breakfast item and while buying single packs of yogurt and grabbing them when on the go is an easy choice, you’ll find you’ll get more bang for your buck by buying the bulk container of yogurt.
Assemble these ahead of time adding in your favorite granola and fruits. Being frugal doesn’t mean we have to compromise on delicious meals.
Recipe:
Important tip leave the granola until you are ready to eat it, that way you can avoid soggy granola instead of a crunchy topping.
Overnight oats
Similar to the Fruit Parfaits, Overnight Oats are a good way to jazz up a classic American breakfast. Buying bulk oats is a good way of saving money and being healthy since you avoid the added sugar in the pre-seasoned individual packets.
Simply add in the oats and your favorite milk and ingredients. I have recently been obsessed with the apple pie recipe, and find that I’m full and satisfied for a lot longer.
Recipes:
- Overnight Oats (Get 6 different easy ideas)
- Summer Overnight Oats (More creative ideas)
Again easily customizable to your taste and what you have on hand.
Pancakes and Waffles
Growing up I loved Eggo waffles and while they may not be healthy I still loved the idea of popping these into the toaster and getting on with my day. By buying bulk waffle and pancake mix you’ll find that you will be able to save a lot more, while also customizing the recipe to your preference.
Want a fresh batch? These recipes also work if you have a little extra time in the morning and want to whip up a warm stack of pancakes or waffles.
Recipes:
- Meal Prep Pancakes (Feel free to use whatever flour suits you)
- Blueberry Lemon Pancakes (Different take on classic pancakes)
- Banana Egg Pancakes
Quick Breakfast meals to make in the morning
Found that you have time to whip up some fresh breakfast but don’t want to be there all morning? I’ve included some ideas of easy quick cheap breakfast ideas below. The best thing is that they are all customizable, letting you change based on what you are currently craving.
Breakfast Sandwich
Who doesn’t love a Mcdonald’s egg Mcmuffin, although not healthy? I know I have found myself in the drive-thru at Mcdonalds at 7 am before going to work. Over time though these stops add up, so instead I found recipes I could make at home letting me customize to what I wanted.
Overall it takes no time simply cooking your eggs, adding whatever veggies and protein you want (or make it sunny side up), using toast or English muffins.
My secret to making it my own is adding in a slice of whatever cheese I am obsessed with, this week it’s Swiss cheese. Check out the recipes below to get started.
Recipes:
Tip: you can use the frozen egg muffins from above and heat them together with the sandwich to save more time
Breakfast burritos
Can you tell I love eggs? I try to find creative ways to add eggs to my breakfast. Breakfast burritos are one of those ways, it takes at most 20 min to assemble and are easy to take with you.
Make scrambled eggs with any veggies of your choice, warm up your tortilla on the same pan, and assemble your burrito. I love adding in cheese and ham before wrapping the burrito.
Recipes:
These can also be frozen and cooked whenever you want.
Smoothies
A good way to incorporate fruits and veggies is by making a smoothie. Add in whatever fruits and veggies you want, and streamline the process by buying frozen fruits and adding this in. The frozen fruit makes the smoothie that much creamier.
If I am feeling like I want to treat myself, even more, I add less liquid be it water or milk, and turn the smoothie into a smoothie bowl adding fruits and granola on the tip and viola you have a cafe-approved breakfast while saving money.
Recipes:
These cheap breakfast recipes can help you save money and live a healthy life overall
The great thing about all these recipes is their flexibility. Have some extra time on your hands? Just choose any of the highlighted recipes and make it fresh while still not spending the whole day in the kitchen.
While some of this takes some time to plan out, overall you end up saving money, and energy and feel fueled throughout the day. If you need help creating a plan or grocery list check out some of my other posts and join my grocery budget challenge.
More Frugal Articles: The Ultimate Basic Pantry Staples Checklist
7 Simple tips on How to Organize a Walk in Pantry
How to Use Coupons Effectively Without Going Extreme
Come and follow me on Pinterest for more money saving hints and frugal tips!
Last Updated on 13th May 2023 by Emma
