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Recipes

19 Breakfast Meal Prep Ideas to Start Your Day

This article is written by a student writer from the Spoon University at St Andrews chapter.

Everybody has days when getting out of bed feels as impossible as Katy Perry and T Swift ever making up. You try to ignore the urge to press the snooze button. You close your eyes for one more minute. And finally, you roll over and go back to sleep. What’s a girl to do? Enter these breakfast meal prep ideas. Honestly, there’s no better way to get my butt in gear than a delicious, pre-made breakfast. Check out this list for 19 different recipes you can make the night before.

1. Chocolate Chip Banana Bread

breakfast meal prep ideas sweet chocolate
Vivian Armitage

If you wake up still dreaming of cake, then this chocolate chip banana bread is for you. It might taste naughty, but this loaf is actually made with healthy ingredients like whole wheat flour, applesauce, and honey to sweeten it. It’s the best of both worlds.

2. Trader Joe’s Yogurt Parfait

protein-packed dorm snacks yogurt milk
Jenny Mun

Yeah, you read that right. This Greek yogurt parfait uses only Trader Joe’s products to create a ridiculously easy breakfast. The recipe says 15 minutes, but I bet you could throw this together in five if you’re feeling ambitious.

3. Mocha Overnight Oats

breakfast meal prep ideas gif
Arden Sarner

You know those days when you rush to class and can’t remember how you got there? These mocha overnight oats are for those days. You may be running late, but you can still have caffeine and breakfast. 

4. Quiche Muffins

back to school breakfast ideas vegetable cheese
Caitlyn Heter

With only five ingredients, these quiche muffins may just be the easiest quiches ever. Just remember that you’ll be eating the eggs cold, so if you’re weirded out by that, then these are probably not for you.

5. Homemade Granola Bars

granola bar chocolate
Julia Muro

Swap your usual store-bought granola bar for this healthier DIY version. It has way less sugar than your average Quest bar, and a creamy almond flavor that’ll have you jumping out of bed.

6. Pre-Made Smoothies

make ahead smoothies salad
Rachel Eng

Confession: I’m smoothie-obsessed. I literally love smoothies so much that I once wrote an article on 43 different smoothies to try. Still, even I hate chopping fruit in the morning, and this article on smoothie prep is a gift from the heavens. No more slicing pineapple at 8 am.

7. Peanut Butter Overnight Oats

breakfast meal prep ideas sweet cream
Hana Brannigan

Have an almost-empty peanut butter jar lying around? Not a problem. This ingenious overnight oats recipe uses your leftover PB to create a breakfast that’s ready by the time you wake up. Pass the nut butter, please.

8. PB & J Muffins

last minute food gifts chocolate blueberry
Casey Hack

If you’re a fan of slathering peanut butter and jelly on your toast, then you’ll love these PB & J muffins. They’re perfect for the mornings when even toasting bread takes too long.

9. Cereal Bars

breakfast meal prep ideas corn wheat
Caroline Ingalls

You may not be able to bring cereal to class (unless you enjoy soggy cereal, in which case you do you), but you can bring these epic cereal bars. Did I mention they’re only three ingredients? Honestly tempted to make these right now.

10. Chia Seed Overnight Oats with Berries

peanut butter and jelly
Maggie Harriman

Make everyone in your early morning classes jealous with this recipe for berry overnight oats. Not only does it look like a sunrise in a jar, but it’s also packed with fiber and protein.

11. Bacon Jalapeño Egg Poppers

breakfast meal prep ideas bacon vegetable
Emma Lally

These bacon egg cups are any meat lover’s dream. Make these hot little poppers ahead of time, and wake up to a satisfying mouthful of spicy goodness.

12. Orange Creamsicle Chia Seed Pudding

healthy vegan desserts milk cream
Katherine Baker

Okay, so this looks nothing like an orange creamsicle, but I promise that this chia seed pudding tastes like one. And what’s better than a Popsicle-inspired breakfast? Not very much.

13. Chocolate Zucchini Muffins

breakfast meal prep ideas pastry cookie
Julia Rose Camus

You would never suspect there’s zucchini hidden in these chocolate muffins. Waking up to a batch of chocolate muffins and eating your greens? Sounds like a win-win.

14. Easy-Peasy Breakfast Cookies

vegan breakfast ideas sweet blueberry
Austin Lai

Eating cookies for breakfast? Yes, please. These jam breakfast cookies are only six ingredients, and none of those ingredients are sugar. This might be the only time that you can say eating cookies will make you healthier.

15. Pumpkin Bread

breakfast meal prep ideas chocolate coffee
Natsuko Mazany

By the time October rolls around, the excitement of a new school year has worn off. Enter this pumpkin bread. It’s the ultimate motivation to get your butt in gear on chilly autumn mornings.

16. Blueberry Scones with Lemon Glaze

breakfast meal prep ideas milk tea
Vernell Dunams

These glazed blueberry scones are definitely not the healthiest breakfast meal prep idea, but they are one of the tastiest. Skip your usual Starbucks scone for one of these homemade ones instead. Both your wallet and tastebuds will thank you.

17. Energy Balls

Christmas Cookies chocolate truffle
Kristi Cook

If you don’t have time to eat during class, then these energy balls are your solution. Sneak a few between classes, or take a 0.5 second break from writing notes to pop one in your mouth. They’re easy to make, and easy to transport.

18. Bacon Cheddar Leek Muffins

Muffin pan cheese bacon
Helena Lin

Thanksgiving happens only once a year, but you can enjoy stuffing every day with these bacon-cheddar-leek muffins. It’s the perfect way to meal prep and use any leftover bread that’s laying around.

19. Chocolate Chip Banana Muffins

breakfast meal prep ideas candy raisin muffin
Jocelyn Hsu

These chocolate chip banana muffins are basically like portable pancakes. Do they taste like dessert? Yes. Are they healthy? Debatable, but honestly, you gotta #treatyoself to get through that morning lecture.

These breakfast meal prep ideas are all simple, and most baked good recipes make enough to last you a week. That’s right, you could be eating chocolate chip muffins for seven days straight. If that’s not motivation to get moving in the morning, then I don’t know what is.

Jody Brimacombe

St Andrews '19

Jody is a third-year English major. Her favorite things include green smoothies, eating entire jars of nut butter, and singing in the car. She also has a not-so-secret weakness for trash TV.