16+ Breakfast ideas you can make in 5 minutes or less!

Affiliate links are used in this post, if you make a qualifying purchase via my link, I receive a small percentage of the sale at no additional cost to you. I only recommend products and services I use and love. It helps support my blog, so thank you for your support! Read my full disclosure here.

I love breakfast food. If I had to pick one type of meal that I’d have all day every day, I’d go for breakfast food. There are so many options, and they’re all so yummy! But, making them in the morning is not as much my thing. The typical weekday morning has too much to do for me to want to cook a big breakfast that nobody has time to eat anyway! For more than a decade now, I’ve been making breakfast for my kiddos and have come up with all sorts of yummy, healthy and EASY 5-minute breakfast ideas.

These are things that make it into our lives all the time. They’re not all made from scratch; in fact, most of them aren’t. But they are ideas to get food in bellies to get the day started off on the right foot, and you can’t go wrong with that!

Continental 5-minute breakfast ideas

One of the things I enjoy about staying at hotels (aside from not having to wash the towels we use!) is the continental breakfasts. Most of them are so simple, but getting to choose from a variety of things that are premade is just special to me. (Again, I love all breakfast food, so this may not be too surprising!)

You can imitate continental breakfast at home. I’m not saying set out lots of choices for your family to pick from (though if that works for you, go for it!). But, I like having items on hand that are similar to what I’d find at a continental breakfast. Then I can mix and match them together for a healthy, 5-minute breakfast for the kiddos. Pick two or three choices from this list, and you’re set!

Yogurt

My kids love yogurt. So, we always have at least one kind of yogurt in the fridge. Strawberry, peach, vanilla and strawberry banana are their favorites. I used to buy it in individual cups, but I realized the big 32-ounce container makes way more sense. I love that yogurt adds a healthy, easy way to get some protein in their bellies before heading out the door to school.

We usually keep yogurt tubes as well both in the fridge and in the freezer. While they do eat the tubes at breakfast sometimes, they also work for lunchboxes and after-school snacks.

Granola bars

Granola bars are a staple in my pantry. Along with breakfast, they also work for lunchboxes and after-school snacks. There are a few different varieties we have liked through the years, but my kids’ all-time favorite is sweet-and-salty peanut bars.

Recently, my son has been enjoying the same types of granola bars in the cashew variety. My favorite is chocolate chip granola bars. And then we can’t forget fruit and grain bars. Berry flavors are my kids’ favorite.

When I am working ahead of time, we also love homemade oat and honey granola. It’s super easy to make; I often make it for us to snack on throughout the week. And when that happens, I almost always include it for breakfast, too!

Fresh fruit

The best fresh fruit for 5-minute breakfast ideas is fruit that doesn’t take much work. Think bananas and apples or precleaned and prepped berries or grapes. We also go for fresh peaches in season that I clean and slice up in just a couple of minutes for the kiddos. I usually pair flavors together. If I have strawberry yogurt, then I serve it with berries.

Dried and canned fruit

Fresh fruit is always good, but don’t overlook dried and canned fruits. My kids love raisins, unsweetened applesauce (Pouches and single-serving cups are super easy!) and fruit packed in its own juice for additional breakfast options. Dried and canned fruits last much longer and are easily accessible year-round no matter where you live.

Cereal

I LOVE cereal. In fact, that’s my personal go-to breakfast. Almost every single morning I enjoy a bowl of Honey Nut Cheerios with a small glass of milk to get my day underway.

However, you can get creative with cereal, too. My kids don’t like milk on their cereal. They eat it dry. So, I will often include a small amount of cereal as a side for them. They can add it into their yogurt as they eat it for an extra crunch or eat it solo. My daughter tends to go for Honey Nut Cheerios like I do, while my son really loves plain Cap’n Crunch.

Another way we get creative with cereal is making peanut butter honey nut cereal clusters. just like with the homemade oat and honey granola, this takes longer than five minutes. But just like with the granola, I make these clusters for us to snack on throughout the week and they end up being a breakfast option, too!

Muffins

Because they aren’t necessarily the healthiest option, muffins aren’t in rotation all the time at my house. But every couple of months or so, I’ll either make some muffins or buy mini muffins.

Carb-y 5-minute breakfast ideas

Some of these more carb-y breakfast ideas can pair well with some of the continental breakfast options above and some stand well on their own.

Bagels

Bagels are a staple in my freezer. Yep. I buy refrigerated bagels (Lender’s is our favorite brand) and stick them in the freezer. My son will eat bagels for breakfast, lunch or dinner. But they really are a great, filling and fast breakfast food. I wrap the bagel in a paper towel and thaw it in the microwave for 25 to 30 seconds, then put it in the toaster. The go-to bagel for my son is a plain bagel with peanut butter. I prefer cream cheese and sometimes another flavor like cinnamon raisin or blueberry.

Cinnamon toast

This breakfast is a throwback to my own childhood and more in the every couple of months breakfast rotation. All you do is toast bread and spread it with some butter while it’s still hot. Then top it with cinnamon and sugar. If you don’t have a cinnamon sugar blend, just use some sugar, a bit of cinnamon and mix together on the top of the toast. It’s so easy and so yummy!

Peanut butter toast

Toasted bread with peanut butter smeared on it makes another tasty 5-minute breakfast that packs a protein punch. I serve this to my daughter as toast and to my son as a sandwich. Either way, it’s a great breakfast option that pairs well with fruit or a yogurt tube.

Avocado toast

Avocado toast has become one of my daughter’s favorite treats. Sometimes she’ll add some egg with it, but she cuts the avocado and puts it on toast, usually with a drizzle of agave syrup as well.

Hot 5-minute breakfast ideas

Just because you are going for a fast breakfast doesn’t mean it can’t be a hot one. These hot breakfasts really are ready in 5 minutes or less!

Waffles

Frozen waffles have come a long way since I was a kiddo. You can get basic ones or Belgian waffles. Either way, pop them in the toaster and within minutes they’re ready to devour. My son loves his with a bit of butter and some sugar-free syrup. My daughter prefers to dip her waffles into unsweetened applesauce. In fact, I started them both on waffles and pancakes with applesauce as toddlers to be healthier and less messy. They both still eat them that way, though my son ultimately prefers syrup these days.

Pancakes

Confession of sorts: my kids prefer frozen pancakes to homemade most of the time. It sort of flabbergasts me, but then again they have frozen pancakes more often. I stick a stack of three pancakes in the microwave for 1 minute and 11 seconds. (Notice I don’t have to touch any other number besides one!) Then they’re ready to go. Just like with waffles, you can serve them with unsweetened applesauce as a syrup alternative.

Oatmeal

This comes with another confession: I only like instant oatmeal. It’s what I had most often growing up, and I just prefer it! Much to my husband’s disdain, I make instant oatmeal with hot water, not even hot milk. But make it however you like. My mom uses quick cooking oats in the microwave to make hers in minutes nowadays, but I still go for instant oatmeal. I like sugar free maple and brown sugar. My kids both like cinnamon apple (but only the store brand, as I discovered a few months ago when they were out of store brand and we got name brand!).

Scrambled eggs

I can’t talk about 5-minute breakfast ideas without mentioning microwave scrambled eggs. This has been a game changer for me. Game. Changer! Make them plain, buttered, Italian flavored, cheesy or omelette. Add in some toast or fruit on the side and you’ve got a hearty, filling breakfast in less than five minutes!