Because Toast and Cereal Are Only the Beginning
Breakfast is supposed to be the simplest meal of the day—a coffee, maybe a piece of toast, something fast before work. Yet when you dare to venture outside that narrow routine, the world opens up into bowls of noodles, stews, porridges, and fried doughs that are anything but simple. That first meal of the day, as it turns out, offers an entire canvas of flavors and rituals. Some breakfasts awaken your senses with spice; others act to coax you awake. Some are sweet enough to feel like dessert; others savory enough to double as lunch. Here are twenty breakfasts from around the world that’ll make your head spin over what you’re missing out on.
1. Full English, United Kingdom
It’s less a meal than an event. With eggs, bacon, sausage, grilled tomato, mushrooms, beans, and toast all featured, the plate practically groans under the weight. Hotels across the UK serve it with bottomless tea, and you’d practically have to be bottomless yourself in order to get through the sheer bulk of this meal.
2. Chilaquiles, Mexico
You’d be hard-pressed to find a meal in Mexico that doesn’t incorporate tortillas in one way, shape, or form. Chilaquiles is tortilla chips reborn as breakfast. They’re covered in simmering salsa—green or red—and topped with crema, cheese, onions, maybe a fried egg, or some shredded chicken. It’s the kind of dish that just makes sense after a long night out.
3. Congee, China
Imagine a rice porridge so plain it becomes a canvas for anything: soy sauce, pickled vegetables, pork floss, or even century eggs. People eat it steaming hot, a spoonful at a time, the way you might nurse tea when you’re sick. It’s not fancy, but it’s comprehensive, and the dish settles deep in your stomach, keeping you steady for the day ahead.
4. Croissant and Café au Lait, France
This meal is perhaps the most elegant kind of minimalism. There’s no beating a flaky croissant adorned with a smear of butter or jam, enjoyed alongside a powerfully caffeinated coffee. It’s simple, but the sound of crust shattering under your fingers has its own unique sophistication.
Hannah Fleming-Hlll on Unsplash
5. Idli and Sambar, South India
With its soft, steamed rice cakes, this dish appears deceptively plain. But dunk them into sambar (spiced lentil stew), and the flavors bloom with every bite. South Indian families prepare dozens of these at a time, stacking them high upon the plate until they look like edible clouds.
6. Shakshuka, North Africa
To prepare this dish, eggs are poached in a bubbling pan of tomatoes, peppers, onions, and spices. The pan is set directly on the table, and everyone dips bread into the sauce. It’s communal by design and messy in the best way.
7. Açaí Bowl, Brazil
Açaí berries are considered a superfood, and Brazil is where they grow in abundance. Once blended into a purple smoothie, they’re doused with granola, bananas, and honey. Tourists take a moment to snap photos, but locals eat it quickly before the heat melts it. It’s sweet, refreshing, almost like starting the day with ice cream—but healthier.
8. Kaya Toast, Singapore
This is toast slathered with kaya, a coconut jam made with eggs, sugar, and pandan. It’s served with runny soft-boiled eggs you season with soy sauce and pepper. It sounds like a strange mix until you taste the sweet-salty balance for yourself. Then you get it.
9. Gallo Pinto, Costa Rica and Nicaragua
To prepare this dish, rice and beans are fried together with peppers, onions, and a little cilantro. After that, you add scrambled eggs, fried plantains, and maybe a slice of fresh cheese. Suddenly, what you’ve got on your plate has transcended breakfast to become fuel for the whole morning.
10. Tamago Kake Gohan, Japan
This simple dish is prepared by cracking a raw egg over steaming hot rice and stirring it all together with soy sauce until it becomes creamy. That’s it. It may be bare bones, but this humble dish is deeply comforting. It’s the kind of thing kids grow up on.
11. Baghrir, Morocco
This dish is also called “thousand-hole pancakes” since it’s so porous. It’s light, spongy, yellow with semolina, and served warm with butter and honey seeping into every pore. They don’t need syrup; it’s already imbued with flavor.
12. Bagel and Lox, United States
New York’s contribution to breakfast culture is a bagel, sliced and toasted, and topped with cream cheese, smoked salmon, capers, and onions. It’s slightly briny, chewy—a perfect balance of flavor and texture. And yes, like any true New Yorker, you’ll quickly form a strong opinion over which deli does it best.
Kristina D.C. Hoeppner on Wikimedia
13. Menemen, Turkey
The Turkish version of shakshuka, this dish consists of soft scrambled eggs cooked with tomatoes, peppers, and olive oil until they’re almost a stew. It’s then served in a metal pan and eaten with endless bread. It’s the perfect go-to when you want warmth without heaviness.
14. Pho, Vietnam
Yes, soup for breakfast. Pho consists of a steaming bowl of rice noodles with beef or chicken, herbs, lime, and bean sprouts. Street vendors begin serving it at dawn, and by mid-morning the pots are empty. The broth alone is so savory that it could wake the dead.
15. Arepas, Venezuela and Colombia
This meal is made up of cornmeal patties, griddled or fried, then stuffed with cheese, eggs, beans, and meat—whatever the morning requires. Arepas are handheld, filling, and endlessly adaptable for life on the go. It can be street food or home food, dealer’s choice.
16. Smørrebrød, Denmark
These open-faced sandwiches are served on dark rye bread. The toppings themselves vary—herring, eggs, cheese, or cold cuts—but the bread is the constant. Rye, for the uninitiated, is dense, ever so slightly sour, and quite hearty. Denmark doesn’t shy away from strong flavors.
17. Mofo Gasy, Madagascar
These sweet little rice flour pancakes are cooked in cast-iron molds over a charcoal fire. The end result is crispy on the outside, soft inside, and eaten hot directly from the pan. Vendors sell them on street corners, wrapped in newspaper. It’s cheap and easy.
18. Ful Medames, Egypt
To prepare this dish, fava beans are simmered together with olive oil, garlic, and lemon. It’s then topped with parsley or a hard-boiled egg. Paired with fresh bread, it’s sustaining in a way that feels ancient. People have eaten versions of it for thousands of years.
News From Jerusalem on Wikimedia
19. Welsh Rarebit, Wales
This breakfast dish isn’t served everywhere in Wales, but nearly. It consists of toast covered in a savory cheese sauce spiked with mustard or ale. It’s indulgent, gooey, and makes you wonder why cheese on toast doesn’t get more respect.
20. Huevos Pericos, Colombia
Scrambled eggs are paired with tomatoes and green onions, producing this bright and colorful meal. It’s usually eaten with arepas or bread and is always served with coffee. It’s somehow both simple and festive.
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