9 Hearty and Healthy Fall Breakfasts

Chilly fall mornings are the perfect time to slow down and enjoy the season’s harvest with a healthy breakfast. Whether you’re after sweet or savory, the flavors of fall offer plenty of possibilities. Here are some ideas to get you started. Try them on their own, or mix and match a few recipes for a seasonal brunch to share with friends.

Red Flannel Hash

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Dig your potatoes and pull your beets! Aida Mollenkamp created this vegetarian Red Flannel Hash for Chowhound, combining the best of the garden for a hearty start. Roasted veggies are topped with eggs for a pretty presentation and a punch of protein to power your morning. Get our Red Flannel Hash recipe.

Related Reading: The 9 Best Skillets of 2019

Apple Cinnamon Baked Oatmeal

Fiber-filled oatmeal is a classic cold-morning breakfast that can be spiced up to suit any season—for fall, the obvious choice is apples. Make this baked oatmeal your own with a handful of chopped nuts, your favorite dried fruit, or a dollop of yogurt. Get the Apple Cinnamon Baked Oatmeal recipe.

Related Reading: What Are the Best Apples for Baking?

Wild Rice Porridge

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Don’t know what to do with that leftover rice in your fridge? Have it for breakfast! This recipe combines pears, pecans, honey, and cream to create a beautifully simple breakfast. Take advantage of the season and use fresh pears instead of dried. Nuts, fruit, and grain make for a great start to any day. Get our Wild Rice Porridge recipe.

Healthy Quinoa Breakfast Porridge with Figs

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Rice isn’t the only grain that can switch from the evening shift to the early morning. This breakfast porridge cooks quinoa with dried figs, maple syrup, cinnamon, and nutmeg, then enriches it with milk (choose non-dairy milk for a vegan dish), and chopped, toasted pecans plus more figs for garnish. The dried figs will plump up in the pot, but feel free to mix in fresh figs for the topping. Get our Healthy Quinoa Breakfast Porridge with Figs recipe.

Related Reading: A Guide to Figs

Crustless Mushroom Quiche

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For the mornings when you have time to play in the kitchen, this easy crustless quiche is rich with bacon, mushrooms, and cheese. You can omit the bacon and cut back on the cheese for a lighter bite, but you’re already saving a lot of calories (and fuss) by omitting the crust, so don’t feel too guilty. Add a salad and this is perfect for lunch or dinner too. Get our Crustless Mushroom Quiche recipe.

Spiced Pumpkin-Pecan Pancakes

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No breakfast list would be complete without pancakes, and while not exactly spa food, these are healthier than some! This recipe uses pumpkin and pecans to get the flavors of fall into this breakfast standard, but if you top the stack with molasses-clove butter, it’s even better. The fresh pumpkin adds color, flavor, and beta carotene. Get our Spiced Pumpkin-Pecan Pancakes recipe.

Related Reading: Why Pumpkin Should Be a Superfood

Healthy Sweet Potato and Black Bean Breakfast Burrito

Using sweet potatoes is a great fall twist on the classic breakfast burrito; black beans, avocado, cheese, and eggs are all along for the ride as usual, all wrapped in a whole wheat tortilla. These are a great make-ahead breakfast too—store them in the freezer and defrost as needed. For a meatier option, add bacon, breakfast sausage, or chorizo (real or veggie versions). Get the Healthy Sweet Potato and Black Bean Breakfast Burrito recipe.

Caramelized Pear Oatmeal

Without the ice cream, you could eat a pear crisp (or apple crisp) for breakfast, but this is a healthier way to enjoy the same fall flavors and fruit: maple syrup-caramelized pears and toasted pecans atop oats with a heart-healthy addition of flax seed. Cooking the pears in coconut oil instead of butter also means it’s vegan. Get the Caramelized Pear Oatmeal recipe.

Sweet Potato and Turkey Frittata

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Fairly similar to a crustless quiche, frittata is a great way to use up any leftovers you have on hand—so you might want to earmark this for the day after Thanksgiving, or just add shredded chicken (or leave the meat out all together). You can also substitute the sweet potatoes for leftover roasted butternut squash or even canned pumpkin in a pinch. Get our Sweet Potato and Turkey Frittata recipe.

Pumpkin Overnight Oats

“Overnight oats” often refers to a no-cook preparation of chia seeds and oats mixed up the night before and grabbed from the fridge in the morning once the liquid has had a chance to soak in, but this overnight oatmeal is actually made in the slow cooker while you sleep. Wake up to the warm scent of pumpkin pie spices, maple syrup, and vanilla—then dig in to this hearty yet healthy and totally comforting breakfast. Get the Pumpkin Overnight Oats recipe. (For the other kind of overnight oats with the same fall flavors, try this Pumpkin Pie Overnight Oats recipe with Greek yogurt and chia.)

This post was written by Kelly Hatton and has been updated by Chowhound Editors with new links, images, and text.