Christmas morning is a special time that calls for a breakfast that's simple to prepare and serve. After all, there are presents to unwrap and memories to be made. Try these fast and festive breakfast ideas for Christmas Day. They'll help you provide a tasty meal without preventing you from being able to make new Christmas morning memories with the people you love.
Make-Ahead Christmas Breakfast Ideas
Make-ahead breakfasts let you get the cooking out of the way before it's time to eat breakfast on Christmas morning. Wake up to a hot breakfast with an overnight slow cooker meal, or prepare a casserole the night before to pop in the oven when you arise.
Christmas Quiche
Assemble a quiche the day before Christmas and pop it in the oven while people are opening gifts. By the time everyone is hungry, the quiche will be ready. Make a savory quiche with lots of green veggies, such as this recipe for broccoli quiche. You could also add some spinach or Swiss chard for even more green. Dress it up for Christmas by stirring some red bell pepper into the egg mixture, or top the finished quiche with diced tomatoes just before serving.
Hash Brown Potato Breakfast Casserole
If you like the idea of putting together a casserole the day before to bake on Christmas morning, consider this hash brown breakfast casserole recipe. It's a hearty one-dish meal with potatoes, sausage, cheese, milk, and butter. Top it with cherry tomatoes and chopped fresh spinach for a festive appearance. Just be warned that everyone might need a nap after breakfast with such rich and delicious fare.
Slow Cooker Oatmeal
Put together your favorite slow cooker oatmeal recipe on Christmas Eve and allow it to cook overnight. Give it a seasonal flair by stirring in cinnamon and/or nutmeg, or even apple pie spice or pumpkin pie spice. Not only will the oatmeal taste great, but the kitchen will smell like Christmas! Put out a stack of bowls and a selection of stir-ins and toppings that are perfect for Christmas, such as jellied cranberry sauce, cut-up dried fruit, candied nuts, and crushed candy canes.
Slow Cooker Rice Pudding
For a similar yet unexpected option, prepare slow cooker rice pudding so it's waiting and ready when everyone wakes up on Christmas morning. You could make this instead of or in addition to oatmeal. The same toppings and mix-ins that work with oatmeal will also be delicious with rice pudding.
Coffee Cake and Wassail
Bake a coffee cake in advance of Christmas morning so there's a quick snack waiting in the kitchen for everyone after they work up an appetite opening presents. Put a batch of wassail in the slow cooker before going to bed on Christmas Eve for a fragrant, readymade warm beverage that's a great alternative (or addition!) to actual coffee.
Festive Deviled Eggs
Prepare your favorite recipe for deviled eggs the day before Christmas, but top them with red paprika and green onions. Or, consider mixing a bit of green food coloring into the yolk mixture before stuffing it into the egg whites. Sprinkle paprika on top for a fun Christmas design. You could also mix red food coloring into some of the yolk mixture, which would give the finished product a bit of a candy cane appearance. Do both for a festive yet protein-packed Christmas breakfast.
Christmas Cookies and Milk
While cookies really don't qualify as a meal, you can make an exception for Christmas morning! Make extra when you're preparing Santa's Christmas Eve treat, so the entire family can dine like the jolly one himself when they wake up to see what Santa brought. This could become a fabulous new Christmas tradition that people look forward to every year.
Red Velvet Cake
For a sweet breakfast even more decadent than cookies and milk, consider purchasing or making a red velvet cake to serve for breakfast on Christmas morning. Nothing says Christmas has arrived more than a rich and delicious chocolate cake that is red in hue. Enjoy it with one of your favorite hot Christmas beverages.
Breakfast Burritos
Make a batch of breakfast burritos well in advance of the last-minute Christmas rush and freeze them. Put them in the fridge to thaw the day before. On Christmas morning, place a platter of burritos on the kitchen table along with microwave instructions. That way, everyone can grab one to nuke when they're ready for a snack. Consider making both vegan breakfast burritos and a traditional version with scrambled eggs, sausage, and cheese. Add red and green bell pepper for a festive twist.
Merry Sweet Potato Muffins
Who doesn't love homemade muffins? Sweet potatoes are a popular holiday meal item. If you're making a sweet potato casserole for Christmas dinner, cook a few extra tubers and use them to whip up a batch of sweet potato muffins to eat for breakfast. These are a particularly great option because people can easily munch on them while the gift unwrapping is still going on.
Really Easy Christmas Breakfast Ideas
Making something the day before is a good idea if you have time, but Christmas Eve is often just as hectic as Christmas Day. If you're looking for something even easier than a make-ahead meal, consider these extremely easy Christmas breakfast ideas.
Continental Breakfast Assortment
Who says everything has to be home-baked for Christmas? Create your own hotel-worthy continental breakfast with store-bought or bakery-purchased danishes, turnovers, and muffins. Place them on a tray and display the tray on a counter alongside a bowl of grab-and-go fresh fruit, like oranges, bananas, or grapes. This is a great low-effort and low-maintenance option that people can enjoy for breakfast and snack on until Christmas lunch or dinner is served.
Christmas Morning Charcuterie Board
Make a special Christmas charcuterie board with a selection of tasty finger foods and treats. Include things like red and green grapes, green olives, gourmet cheese with green marbling (such as sage derby cheese), crackers, nuts, smoked meat, colorful fruitcake slices, jam, and more.
Fruit Tray With Festive Dip
Purchase a variety of red and green fruits such as apples, grapes, raspberries, strawberries, and kiwi, along with other fruit that your family enjoys. Cut up the apples and kiwi and arrange them on a tray with the berries, grapes, and other fruit. Make a batch of marshmallow fluff fruit dip. Divide it into two bowls and tint one with green food coloring and the other with red.
Breakfast Sandwich Station
Fill up a counter with various options appropriate for easy-to-assemble breakfast sandwiches. Kids and adults alike will enjoy choosing among bread slices, English muffins, croissants, and bagels to which they can add their favorite spreads or fillings, even in unusual combinations. Pull together a collection of goodies like butter, jelly, honey, peanut butter (or your family's favorite nut butter), deli ham, smoked salmon, cheese slices, spreadable cream cheese, and other favorites.
Make Your Own Parfait
Put a bowl of chilled yogurt over ice in a large bowl. Place bowls with parfait add-ins where everyone can access them, and provide pretty Christmas mugs, glasses, or bowls in which people can create their own parfait. Opt for red and green yogurt (think cherry and lime), along with a mixture of traditional and holiday-specific stir-ins. Good options include berries, granola, crumbled gingerbread cookies, candy canes, and colored sugar or sprinkles (in red or green, of course).
Blend Your Own Smoothies
Pull out the blender and place bowls of smoothie ingredients on the counter or on a designated shelf in the refrigerator, and tell people to make their own. Or, assign people to shifts of operating the blender so no one is stuck in the kitchen for too long. Basic smoothie recipes can be as simple as fruit, milk, yogurt, and ice, so you don't need a lot of ingredients to pull off this frosty Christmas morning breakfast.
DIY Instant Mix Breakfast Bowls
For a super-simple Christmas morning breakfast, set out an assortment of single-serve instant oatmeal packets or instant grits packets alongside a stack of bowls and some spoons. Set out some mix-ins (bacon bits, chunks of ham, shredded cheese, raisins, cinnamon, sugar, etc.) and fill an insulated carafe with hot water. People can quickly and easily stir up a breakfast bowl that suits their tastes without having to involve anyone else (unless they're kiddos and need a grown-up to help with the hot water).
Protein Bar Variety
Purchase a collection of protein bars in varying flavors, and place them out where everyone can grab their favorite kind. This is a super simple way to get everyone fed that requires no effort beyond setting a few boxes out on the counter, though you can arrange them in a fancy display if you wish. There's no clean-up after the fact. Whatever anyone doesn't eat can go directly back into the pantry for later use. (You may also opt to whip up a batch of homemade protein bars and wrap them in festive packaging.)
DIY Waffle Bar
Stock the freezer with a selection of toaster waffles and let everyone know they're there. Stack up plates beside the toaster and arrange a collection of waffle toppings such as butter, syrup, sliced strawberries, pecans, and whipped cream on the counter. People will be able to toast their own waffles and top them to taste whenever they're ready. If you have a Belgian waffle iron, you can also fill a pitcher with waffle batter and let people cook up their own Belgian waffles.
Cereal and Milk
Don't overlook the obvious option of cereal with milk. Even cornflakes or puffed rice can become festive when you top them with red fruit or stir in some red and green mini-marshmallows. You might even want to splurge on a limited edition Christmas cereal from one of the big-name cereal companies, such as General Mills' Elf (like the movie) cereal.
Set Up a Creative Christmas Breakfast Buffet
If you want to provide a sizeable yet simple meal on Christmas morning, simply mix and match a variety of the ideas above to come up with your own scrumptious and impressive serve-yourself spread for Christmas morning. This is a particularly good idea if your family eats Christmas dinner in the evening rather than midday. Just combine a variety of sweet and savory dishes to create a Christmas morning buffet that everyone is sure to love.
