10 breakfast for dinner ideas the whole family can eat

Breakfast for dinner is a real dinner when the plate has three things on it: a protein, a vegetable or fruit, and something filling. Here are ten that get there, most of them in half an hour, from eggs and pantry staples you probably already have.

It is also the easiest family dinner there is to adjust at the plate. Pancakes, eggs and toast need almost nothing changed for the youngest person at the table.

What makes breakfast count as dinner

Build it like any other dinner, and it stops feeling like a skipped meal. A stack of pancakes on its own is a snack that happens to be warm. Pancakes next to scrambled eggs and a bowl of sliced pear is dinner.

• A protein. Eggs, ham, sausage, beans, cheese, yogurt or ricotta.
• A vegetable or fruit. Spinach wilted into eggs, roasted tomatoes, a pan of peppers, or fruit cut at the counter.
• Something filling. Potatoes, toast, tortillas, pancakes or waffles.

Every idea below covers all three. Where it does not do so on its own, the side that finishes it is named.

10 breakfast for dinner ideas

1. Potato and spinach frittata. Fry thin slices of cooked potato with an onion, add a big handful of spinach, then pour eight beaten eggs over the top. Ten minutes on the stove, a few under the broiler until the middle is set. Cut it in wedges and serve with toast.
2. Breakfast burritos. Scrambled eggs, black beans, grated cheddar and diced roast potato rolled into warm tortillas. Salsa and hot sauce stay on the table. Roll a few extra, wrap them in foil and freeze them for a night with no plan at all.
3. Shakshuka with white beans. Onion, peppers and garlic softened in olive oil, a can of tomatoes, a can of white beans, then eggs cracked into hollows in the sauce. Cover the pan until the eggs are cooked through, and put bread on the side for the sauce.
4. Ricotta pancakes with eggs and fruit. A spoonful of ricotta in the batter makes the pancakes softer and more filling. Scrambled eggs on the side and a bowl of sliced fruit turn the stack into dinner. Syrup goes in a jug on the table so each person adds their own.
5. Savory cheddar and zucchini waffles. Grated zucchini, squeezed dry, and a handful of cheddar folded into ordinary waffle batter. Serve them with ham and halved cherry tomatoes for the adults, quartered for the youngest.
6. Broccoli and cheddar quiche. A shop-bought crust, soft-cooked broccoli, cheddar and a custard of eggs and milk. It takes about 40 minutes in the oven, most of it hands-off, and a green salad finishes the plate for the adults.
7. Sweet potato and sausage hash. Diced sweet potato and onion roasted on one tray at high heat, with sausage, out of its casings and crumbled, browned in a pan. Fold them together and top each plate with a fried egg.
8. Ham, spinach and cheese strata. Day-old bread, ham, spinach and cheese layered in a dish, with eggs and milk poured over. It is assembled the night before, kept in the fridge, and baked the next evening. This is the one to make on a Sunday.
9. Ham and cheese crepes. Thin pancakes folded around sliced ham and grated cheese, warmed in the pan until the cheese melts. Cucumber sticks for the adults and soft-cooked carrots for anyone who needs them.
10. Eggs, beans and toast. Scrambled eggs, a pan of warmed beans and buttered toast, with roasted tomatoes or wilted greens on the side. It is the plainest dinner on this list and the one with the shortest shopping list.

Cook the eggs all the way through

Eggs are in every one of these dinners, so the one rule worth knowing is the FDA's. Its egg safety guidance says to cook eggs until both the yolk and the white are firm, and that scrambled eggs should not be runny. Casseroles and other dishes containing eggs, which here means the frittata, the quiche and the strata, should reach 160°F. Use a food thermometer to be sure.

The same page names children among the people at greater risk of serious illness from Salmonella. That is why the shakshuka eggs cook under a lid until set rather than staying soft, and why there are no runny yolks on this list.

Making it work for the youngest at the table

Most of these need nothing more than cutting and cooling. A few need a closer look, and the CDC's list of choking hazards for young children covers every one of them.

• Sausage. Sausages are on the CDC list. In the hash it is crumbled out of its casing and browned, so break it into very small pieces for her portion, or leave it off her plate.
• Cherry tomatoes and grapes. Uncut cherry tomatoes and grapes are both on the list. Cut them before they reach a small plate.
• Beans. Mash or flatten the beans on her portion of the burritos, the shakshuka and the beans on toast.
• Peanut butter. If pancakes come with nut butter at your table, the CDC lists chunks or spoonfuls of nut and seed butters. Spread it thinly instead.
• Cheese. The CDC names large chunks of cheese, so grate it or melt it, as all of these recipes already do.

What size and texture suit your own child's age and stage is a question for your pediatrician rather than for a recipe list. Eggs, milk and wheat run through most of these dinners. If any of them is a question in your house, settle it before the night, not at the table.

Leftovers and make-ahead

Three of these dinners are better made ahead: the strata, the quiche and the burritos. The FDA's egg guidance says to refrigerate leftover cooked egg dishes and use them within 3 to 4 days. Reheat them thoroughly, to 165°F, before serving.

Do not let them sit out. The FDA says cooked eggs and egg dishes should not stay out of the refrigerator for more than 2 hours, or 1 hour above 90°F. Put leftover frittata away when the plates come off the table, not after bath time.

A leftover quiche or frittata wedge also makes the next day's lunch, which is one less thing to plan. If you want breakfasts that reheat for the actual morning, 15 make-ahead toddler breakfasts covers the ones that survive the freezer.

Common questions

Is breakfast for dinner a healthy dinner?

It is as balanced as the plate you build. The three-part test above, a protein, a vegetable or fruit and something filling, is the same one you would use for any dinner. A frittata with spinach and toast meets it. A stack of pancakes on its own does not, which is why every idea here comes with the side that finishes it.

How often can we have breakfast for dinner?

Once a week is a comfortable rhythm, and it makes a natural fixed night in a rotation. If you already plan dinners by slot, as in 20 toddler dinner ideas, breakfast night slots in the same way, with three or four of these as the options for that night.

What if my toddler only eats the pancakes?

Serve the eggs and the fruit anyway, next to the pancakes, and say nothing about it. One dinner is not the test. What she sees on the table over many weeks matters more, and a refused egg tonight is another exposure. For the moment at the table itself, see what to do when your toddler refuses dinner.

Which of these work on a budget?

Eggs, beans and potatoes are usually inexpensive, and the frittata, the beans on toast and the burritos lean on them most. 16 cheap family dinners has more built on the same ingredients.

The one thing to keep

Breakfast becomes dinner the moment the plate has a protein, a vegetable or fruit and something filling. Cook the eggs through, keep the syrup and the hot sauce on the table, and one night a week is planned for good.