Brunch
923 recipes found
Cinnamon Toast
The ingredients for cinnamon toast — bread, cinnamon, sugar and butter — have remained largely unchanged since the recipe first appeared in 15th century Europe, where it was introduced as a less expensive version of French toast. Some variations call for adding the cinnamon and sugar before toasting, others after. The secret to achieving a cinnamon toast that’s both gooey and crunchy? A combination of both methods. Toast the bread in butter in a skillet, sprinkle with cinnamon sugar, flip so the sugar caramelizes, then sprinkle with more cinnamon sugar when it’s done. Toasting the bread in a skillet (like French toast) produces browned butter, which adds nutty warmth.
Strawberry, Millet and Banana Smoothie
Whenever you find sweet, ripe strawberries buy twice what you need and hull and freeze half of them. I freeze them in small freezer bags, one smoothie portion per bag. You can also use commercial frozen strawberries for this nourishing mix of fruit, millet, cashews and kefir. I have gotten into the habit of soaking a small amount of cashews and almonds in water and keeping them in the refrigerator to use in smoothies. For a vegan version substitute almond milk for the kefir, and if you can’t find plain kefir, use yogurt or buttermilk.
Grain Frittata With Chile, Lime and Fresh Herbs
You may think of frittatas as leftovers’ idea of heaven, but is it yours? For a frittata to look forward to, throw in leftover grains: The result is something like a Spanish tortilla, pleasingly dense, but with more bounce. Add an acid, like lime, and umami, like fish sauce, which melts into an underlying savoriness when warmed. Whatever you do, don’t turn on the oven for this. Instead, stir the frittata on the stove and all but the top will set — nothing a few minutes covered can't fix (no precarious flip!). Finally, put a salad on top. The herby one here adds pep to the substantial frittata, as does a final squeeze of lime.
Pineapple and Millet Smoothie
I played around with this smoothie, toying with adding this ingredient (banana) or that (coconut); but in the end what I love about it is the pure flavor of pineapple, softened by the grain that also thickens and bulks up the drink.
Matzo Frittata
This savory matzo brei, loaded with caramelized onions and mushrooms, is made like a frittata that you cut into wedges. While commonly eaten for breakfast during Passover, this one serves as a substantial side dish. Leftovers make a nice brunch or lunch, especially with a green salad. The key to a good matzo brei is soaking the matzo just enough to retain a little bit of chew, but not so much that it becomes soggy. Here, the matzo is submerged in boiling water for one minute to soften. If keeping kosher and making this for a dairy meal, use a tablespoon of butter instead of oil for extra flavor.
Deep Purple Blueberry Smoothie With Black Quinoa
My idea for this week’s Recipes for Health was to match grains and fruit by color and make nourishing smoothies. For this one I could have also used any of the black or purple rices on the market, such as Alter Eco’s purple jasmine rice, Lotus Food’s Forbidden Rice or Lundberg Black Japonica. I happened to have a full bag of black quinoa in the pantry, so that’s what I went for and it worked beautifully. You can also use fresh blueberries for this, but when they are not in season, frozen will do fine and will eliminate the need for ice cubes.
Granola Bites
These chewy-crunchy, salty-sweet breakfast balls are great for eating on the go because they don’t crumble and leave a mess. They take minutes to blend and a few more to roll, but if you make them a friends-and-family cooking project, the process can go even faster. Feel free to experiment here. You can swap out the almonds for cashews, the cherries for other dried fruits, and the sunflower seeds for shelled pumpkin seeds. Just keep the dates and make sure they're Medjool, which are softer and more thin-skinned than other varieties. The dates are the glue that hold the other ingredients together.
Cheesy Eggs on Toast
You don’t even need a toaster to make perfect toast. Crisping bread in a skillet — in melted butter, of course — gives it a tasty brown crunch and leaves you with a hot pan ready to scramble eggs. Be sure to swipe up all the butter and crumbs with the toasted bread when you take it out to keep the eggs nice and golden. Because more butter is added to the pan at the same time as the eggs, it melts slowly into the eggs while you stir them, leaving you with a creamy mix that ends up even creamier when cheese is melted in at the very end.
Pimento Cheese Frittata
The South likes to claim pimento cheese as its own, but its origins can actually be traced back to New York, the home of cream cheese, which makes up the spread’s foundation. Cheddar and mayonnaise were later additions. This frittata is a hodgepodge of creamy and spicy, celebrating the flavors and textures of pimento cheese. The fresh herbs add vibrance, and the sharp Cheddar can stand up to the spiciness of the various peppers. The chunks of cream cheese add velvety bits to each bite.
Pineapple-Basil Smoothie
I’m not sure that I would order this just based on the name. But believe me, you’ll be pleased by this herbal concoction. Pineapple has so much sweetness and flavor on its own, and it marries well with the peppery, anisy basil. Very little else is required (no banana in this smoothie). I like to use kefir, but yogurt will work too. Pistachios and chia seeds bulk up the drink nicely, and the pistachios contribute to the pale green color.
Crispy Parmesan Eggs
How can you make runny-yolked fried eggs even better? Give them edges of crisp, salty Parmesan. The addition takes just a few extra minutes and adds an incredible layer to a dish that’s already deeply lovable. Make sure to skip preground Parmesan here: You’ll want to shred the cheese yourself on the largest holes of your grater. And use a nonstick skillet or well-seasoned cast-iron pan to fry the eggs. They may never come off a regular pan. Eat them alone, lay them over asparagus, or use them to top a sharp, lemony salad. When something’s this perfect, it’s hard to go wrong however you serve it.
Loaded Baked Frittata
Sautéed onion, pepper and spinach lace this sturdy frittata that’s as good warm out of the pan as it is cold. Bacon and goat cheese enrich the mix, which can be eaten alone or put in a sandwich (see tip below). This recipe is, of course, delicious as is, but you can also take a cue from one of our commenters, Joan, who made this with leftover peppers and onions, adding sliced roasted baby potatoes. Ready in 45 minutes, it lasts for up to three days in the refrigerator, so you can enjoy it as long as it lasts — which may not be very long.
Banana Granola With Cinnamon, Nutmeg and Walnuts
This banana bread-inspired granola uses real mashed banana, coconut oil, cinnamon, nutmeg and toasted nuts. Keeping it simple allows the subtle banana flavor to shine through, but you can tweak the recipe by adding dried coconut flakes, sesame or pumpkin seeds, more spices, or even chocolate chips or dried fruit. Breaking the granola into large clusters halfway through baking ensures the granola cooks evenly. Allow the granola to sit for at least one hour on the counter to harden completely. Double the recipe if you’d like to stock up your freezer. It will keep at least three months there, at the ready for snacking, or can be served for breakfast, in bowls with milk and freshly sliced banana.
Cheddar-Sauerkraut Toast
This 10-minute, vegetarian meal is happily reminiscent of a Welsh rabbit, a Reuben sandwich and nachos. Toast slices of bread under the broiler, then top with the fermented trio of sauerkraut, pickled jalapeños and Cheddar. After a few minutes under the broiler, the cheese bubbles and crisps and the cabbage warms and mellows. The sauerkraut provides plenty of vegetables and, along with the jalapeño, tames the richness of the cheese. Adapt as you wish: Smear mustard or horseradish on the bread or trade the sauerkraut for kimchi.
Crunchy Kale Salad With Plums and Dates
Kale salad has passed whatever nebulous test there is of food fads and become a mainstay, especially in the fall, but it’s ideal for summer, too, because it doesn’t wilt in the heat. If anything, you want to be sure to crush the finely sliced greens until they’re droopy. Kale salad can feel like a chore to chew if the greens aren’t softened sufficiently, so massage them into submission. To add a welcome, easy crunch to the tender leaves, this salad is littered with roasted, salted sunflower seeds. They’re a savory contrast to tangy wedges of juicy plums and chewy, sweet dates in the lemony mix that holds up well on any picnic table and for up to 3 days in the fridge.
Avocado Soup With Chile Oil
This sopa de aguacate is a fresh and simple creamy soup that can be eaten chilled or at room temperature for a quick meal. The onion, garlic and cumin create a delicious base that pairs perfectly with the lime juice’s acidity. Top off this sopa with chile de árbol oil and pepitas for a little hit of heat and a hint of nuttiness. To get vegetarian recipes like this one delivered to your inbox, sign up for The Veggie newsletter.
Tomato Sandwiches
You may not really need a recipe for a tomato sandwich, but sometimes varying it can be nice, especially if you tend to get stuck in a habit as the summer progresses. This version, based on pan con tomate, involves rubbing the guts of a ripe tomato all over garlicky toasted bread. More tomato slices are added on top, along with slivers of onion and mayonnaise, and bacon if you'd like. It’s a supremely messy sandwich best munched over the sink, or with plenty of napkins nearby.
Australian Zucchini Slice
A beloved Australian staple, a zucchini slice is an eggy, frittatalike lunchbox staple that’s baked until it’s firm enough to slice and eat out of hand. Most versions include bacon, but in his book, “Snacks for Dinner” (Harper Wave, 2022), Lukas Volger substitutes a combination of olives and pickled peppers for a deeply salty bite without any meat. You can serve this hot, warm or at room temperature. Or make it a day or two ahead, store it covered in the fridge, then let it come to room temperature before serving so the texture is supple and soft.
Huevos Rotos (Broken Eggs)
Variations of this hearty fried egg-and-potato dish can be found throughout Spain, including the Canary Islands, where it’s said to have originated. There’s always a runny egg, but whether it sits atop fried potato rounds, French fries or crunchy chips varies by region and personal preference. The potatoes are often served with chorizo sausage or Serrano ham, but in this vegetarian version, smoked paprika and red-pepper flakes mimic chorizo’s flavor and heat. Pierce the eggs just before serving so the golden yolks coat the potatoes with a glossy sauce. Serve with sautéed greens or a crisp salad dressed with a lemon vinaigrette. This one-pan meal is good with a cup of coffee or a beer — it’s breakfast, lunch or dinner material.
Best Chicken Salad
The secret to this chicken salad recipe isn’t in the seasonings (though the tarragon and sour cream make it pretty wonderful) but in the texture of the chicken, described as “plush” by the chef Barbara Tropp in her “China Moon” cookbook. She incorporated Chinese methods and flavors to her cooking, including this foolproof method for poaching chicken breasts without overcooking. It makes a chicken salad that’s perfect for sandwiches (especially on dark rye or sourdough breads) or scooped onto a lettuce-lined plate with sliced radishes, tomatoes, crackers, grapes or all of the above. The chicken breasts used here must be bone-in, but you can remove the skin if you prefer. The skin and bones flavor the cooking liquid, providing a bonus of several pints of chicken stock.
Ham Omelet Sandwich
This breakfast sandwich is sold in bakeries, convenience stores and train stations in Japan, Hong Kong and throughout Asia. A thin, flat omelet layered with even thinner slices of ham is stacked between slices of buttered soft white bread, then cut into triangles. You can, of course, add cheese, but its beauty is in its simplicity. And, besides, going without cheese makes the sandwich as tasty at room temperature as it is when warm.
Fried Egg Quesadilla
This is a no-recipe recipe, a recipe without an ingredients list or steps. It invites you to improvise in the kitchen. This simple fried egg quesadilla makes as fine a light supper as it does a breakfast repast. Easy work: Melt some butter in a pan and gently cook a corn tortilla in it. Top the tortilla with grated Cheddar, a slice of deli ham or some cooked bacon if you want them, a little chopped cilantro or salsa or hot sauce, and another tortilla. Cook, flipping the quesadilla a few times, until it is crisp and golden and the cheese has melted into lace at the sides. Use a spatula to pull it out of the pan, and place it onto a cutting board to rest. Fry an egg in the now-empty pan with a little more butter, then cut the quesadilla into quarters, placing the egg on top. Top with cilantro and hot sauce or salsa. Sam Sifton features a no-recipe recipe every Wednesday in his What to Cook newsletter. Sign up to receive it. You can find more no-recipe recipes here.
Lemon-Almond Butter Cake
This buttery almond cake with lemon curd baked inside is like the ultimate citrus tart, without the heartbreak of pie crust. It's fancy enough to be served as a dinner party dessert, yet substantial enough to be served with Sunday brunch. (Bonus: you'll have several tablespoons of lemon curd left over. It's delicious on toast or pancakes.)
Classic Caprese Salad
This classic summer dish doesn’t get any simpler or more delicious. Use different-colored heirloom tomatoes for the prettiest salad, and buffalo milk mozzarella for the best tasting one.