4. Savory Egg, Quinoa and Avocado Bowl

Best for: anyone who doesn’t want a sweet breakfast.

You’ll need

• 2 eggs
• ½ avocado
• ½ cup cherry tomatoes
• 1 cup spinach
• ½ cup cooked quinoa
• Black pepper, to taste

Make it

Warm the cooked quinoa.

Lightly cook the spinach until it begins to wilt, or leave it fresh if that’s your preference.

Cook the eggs using your preferred method.

Add the quinoa and spinach to the bowl, followed by the eggs, sliced avocado, and tomatoes. Finish with black pepper.

You can also add herbs, chili flakes, or a small amount of your preferred sauce for additional flavor.

The useful shortcut

Cook quinoa ahead of time rather than preparing a tiny portion every morning.

That turns this from a breakfast requiring several cooking steps into something you can assemble much more quickly.

Build a Breakfast Bowl From What You Already Have

Once you understand the combinations above, you don’t really need another recipe.

Here’s an easier way to decide what goes into your bowl.

If you have Greek yogurt…

Add berries or banana, then something crunchy such as almonds or seeds.

If you have oats…

Cook them with milk and add fruit, cinnamon, and a spoonful of nut butter.

If you have eggs…

Build a savory bowl with leftover cooked grains and vegetables.

If you have frozen fruit…

Blend it with yogurt and just enough liquid to create a thick smoothie bowl.

If you have cottage cheese…

Use it like yogurt with fruit and nuts, or go savory with tomatoes, cucumber, herbs, and black pepper.

This approach also makes breakfast bowls useful for using small amounts of ingredients left from other meals.

How to Keep Breakfast Bowls From Becoming Boring

The easiest mistake is making the exact same yogurt-and-berry bowl every morning until you don’t want to see yogurt again.

You don’t necessarily need completely different ingredients. Change one characteristic.

Change the temperature: alternate between cold yogurt and warm oatmeal.

Change the texture: use creamy yogurt one day and add toasted nuts or seeds another.

Change sweet for savory: eggs, quinoa, spinach, and avocado create a completely different breakfast from fruit and yogurt.

Use seasonal fruit: strawberries, peaches, apples, berries, bananas, and mango create different combinations without changing the entire method.

Change the dominant flavor: cinnamon, cocoa, nut butter, vanilla, herbs, or spices can move the same base in different directions.

Make-Ahead Strategy for Busy Mornings

Don’t assemble five complete bowls on Sunday and expect every ingredient to have the same texture several days later.

Instead, prepare components.

Prepare ahead

Depending on the bowls you’re making, you can prepare:

• Cooked oats
• Cooked quinoa
• Chia pudding
• Washed fruit
• Washed/chopped vegetables
• Portioned nuts and seeds

Keep these separate

Crunchy ingredients such as nuts, seeds, and granola are usually better added shortly before eating.

Likewise, ingredients that release moisture can affect the texture of other components during storage.

Create a breakfast station

If you regularly make breakfast bowls, keep commonly used dry toppings together.

For example:

Cinnamon + chia seeds + nuts + oats

Then keep refrigerated ingredients such as yogurt, fruit, eggs, and cooked grains accessible.

The goal isn’t elaborate meal prep. It’s reducing the number of decisions you have to make when you’re half-awake.

Sweet vs. Savory: A Quick Combination Guide

Use the combinations as starting points rather than strict recipes.

←PreviousNext→