11 Healthy and Easy Whole-Grain Breakfast Recipes

11 Healthy Whole-Grain Breakfast Recipes

Celebrate Whole Grains Month with some delicious, wholesome breakfasts! Oats are a fantastic, healthy way to start your day, but after a while the taste and texture can get a little old. That’s where these 11 inventive warm breakfast cereal recipes come into play. While they’re not made with oats, each one features a different nutritious grain or seed. From fiber-rich freekeh to protein-packed quinoa to creamy polenta, these healthy, whole-grain breakfast recipes will reinvent what it means to start your day off right. So skip the snooze button and get re-acquainted with your stovetop!

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11 Healthy Whole-Grain Breakfast Recipes

Blueberry Amaranth Porridge

1. Blueberries n’ Cream Amaranth Porridge
If you’ve never tried it before, teeny tiny amaranth can be a bit intimidating. The seeds are even smaller than quinoa, and it’s easy to overcook and turn to mush. But if you follow the easy instructions in this recipe — soaking the amaranth the night before is the trick — you can have a hearty, warm bowl of berry goodness in 30 minutes the next morning. This recipe calls for heavy cream, but we suggest swapping in coconut milk for a bit of extra flavor, and to make it dairy-free. Photo and Recipe: Erin / Naturally Ella

Freekeh Breakfast Bowl

2. Freekeh Breakfast Bowl
This morning treat is like steel-cut oats, but even better. Freekeh has an earthy, nutty flavor with the chewiness of wheat berries, but with a bit more bite than steel-cut oats. Top the cooked grains with dried cherries and chopped pistachios for a bit of sweetness and crunch. To save time, cook up the freekeh the night before and reheat with a bit of extra milk the next morning. Photo and Recipe: Kelli Dunn / The Corner Kitchen

Breakfast Quinoa

3. Dried Fruit and Nut Breakfast Quinoa
This simple recipe is a great base for whatever toppings you like. Here, the quinoa is cooked in a mixture of coconut milk, nutmeg, cinnamon, vanilla and a bit of sugar, then topped with dried cherries and chopped pecans. Want to use a different kind of milk? Go for it. Cut the sugar? No problem. Opt for a different fruity topping? We bet it will be delicious! Simply follow the general cooking instructions noted here, and you’ll end up with something delicious. Photo and Recipe: Mary / The Kitchen Paper

Persimmon Quinoa Breakfast Bowl

4. Persimmon-Pomegranate Quinoa Breakfast Bowl
Protein-packed quinoa is the base for this fruity breakfast bowl. A mixture of cardamom and cinnamon give the quinoa a deep, sweet-and-spicy flavor, while pairing perfectly with juicy pomegranate seeds and persimmon slices. Top with a handful of walnuts (or any other nut) for added crunch. Photo and Recipe: Renee Blair / Life by DailyBurn

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Coconut Buckwheat Pooridge

5. Coconut Buckwheat Porridge
Gotta go gluten-free? Buckwheat is a great alternative to conventional oatmeal without sacrificing any flavor. Here, it’s ground before cooking with coconut milk, vanilla, honey, shredded coconut, currants and pecans. Grinding the buckwheat before cooking means that it has a more creamy consistency, rather than the lumpy texture that oatmeal can sometimes have. Buckwheat’s naturally nutty flavor is enhanced by the coconut and pecans, and dried currants add a chewy, slightly tart twist. Photo and Recipe: Sondi Bruner

Teff Porridge

6. Teff Porridge with Pecans, Dates, and Apples
Teff is a traditional Ethiopian grain that, like amaranth, is very similar in look to quinoa, but much tinier in size. (Fun fact: Teff is actually the smallest grain in the world!) Like quinoa, teff is also gluten-free and packed with protein. Add mejdool dates, diced apple, cinnamon and pecans, and you’ve got one flavor-packed porridge. We suggest using almond or coconut milk to make it even more interesting. Photo and Recipe: Aube / Kitchen Vignettes

Superfood Breakfast Bowl

7. Superfood Breakfast Bowl
This warm breakfast cereal is chock-full of superfoods, including coconut, quinoa, cinnamon, pumpkin seeds (aka pepitas), goji berries, chia seeds and banana. Cook the quinoa with coconut milk and dates to create a creamy and slightly sweet base, add some spices and cook a few more minutes, then top with all the superfoods your heart desires. Photo and Recipe: Sarah Yates / Camille Styles

__Creamy-Tahini-Breakfast-Polenta

8. Creamy Tahini Breakfast Polenta
Tahini, or sesame seed paste, adds a rich, nutty flavor to this polenta dish. Coarse-ground cornmeal is cooked with almond milk and water until creamy. Then, it’s flavored with the tahini, brown sugar, cinnamon and cardamom. Top with berries — or any other fruit or nuts you like — and dig in! Photo and Recipe: Liz / Noms for the Poor

Amaranth, Quinoa, and Polenta Porridge

9. Amaranth, Quinoa, and Polenta Porridge
We’re going to go ahead and call this the ultimate breakfast porridge, since it combines three of our favorite breakfast grains: amaranth, quinoa and polenta. The best part is that it’s easy to whip up a big batch of this breakfast cereal over the weekend to have something quick on hand to eat throughout the week. The base recipe here is simple — quinoa, amaranth, polenta, water and milk — but you can top it with anything you like, from fresh or dried fruit to nuts and granola. Photo and Recipe: Willow / Will Cook for Friends

No-Bake Raspberry Chia Breakfast Bar Recipe

10. No-Bake Raspberry Chia Breakfast Bar 
When a stove isn’t involved, the cooking process is always infinitely easier, right? Add a sweet raspberry jam, which complements the nutty oatmeal base and you’ve got the perfect on-the-go, a.m. meal. A hefty sprinkling of chia seeds on top not only adds crunch but also provides calcium, fiber and heart-healthy omega-3 fatty acids. Stash one in your bag for breakfast and another for a snack — #nojudgment. Photo and recipe: Renee Blair / Life By DailyBurn

Paleo Breakfast Cookies Recipe

11. Gluten-Free Breakfast Cookies
Forget what mom said and pass on the bowl of cereal, because look — you can have cookies for breakfast! This low-sugar recipe (only 3 grams per serving) isn’t only great for morning cravings on its own: It’s even better when topped with fresh fruit, almond milk and/or  yogurt. Because cookies (paleo or otherwise) should always be served with milk, right?!  Photo and recipe: Alexa Schrim / Life By DailyBurn

Originally posted April 2014. Updated September 2015. 

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