This post is all about easy breakfast ideas for toddlers.
10 Easy Breakfast Ideas For Toddlers
Are you in a hurry to get out of the house or simply have a very hungry toddler most mornings? Here are 10 easy breakfast ideas for toddlers that will save your time and make your little one happy.
I’m not a nutritionist and I am not giving dietary advice here. I’m simply sharing my go-to breakfast ideas that my one-year-old loves and that make my mornings go smoothly.
Whether you’re a working mom or a stay (aka working) at home mom, it’s so much easier to have a couple of go-to breakfast options already in your mind, rather than trying to figure out every morning „what should I make for my baby today?”, „ wait, didn’t he/she have that already 4 times this week?”. Meanwhile, baby is grumpy and hungry and waiting.
Not that there’s anything wrong with having the same breakfast every day but I’m sure you want to expose your little one to a variety of foods, flavors, and textures, which also means providing all the nutrients they need.
These breakfast ideas are aimed at kids over one year old, who have already tried a wide variety of foods. Moreover, by now you’ll know what your baby tends to like and dislike, so you can adjust the ideas provided in this post accordingly.
Obviously, we don’t want our kids to be picky eaters and we want to keep offering them foods that they turned down before. However, for the sake of this post, we’re talking about easy breakfast ideas, you know your kiddo will eat.
There are several key ingredients I recommend always having at home and I’m sure you’ve got most of them already anyway. Using those you can come up with many different breakfast variations. For me, some key ingredients would be:
- Oats
- Eggs
- Milk (or plant-based alternative for toddlers)
- Bananas
- Berries
- Whole grain bread
- Avocado
- Yogurt
- Spinach
- Cherry tomatoes
- Oat flour (or your preferred flour for baby)
It’s also good to have chia seeds and ground nuts, which you can easily add to a lot of different breakfast recipes, making them extra nutritious and exposing your toddler to those allergens. Just keep in mind to always soak the chia seeds in water or milk, letting them fully expand and become soft before serving them to a young child.
For some extra flavor, you can add sea salt, cinnamon, and honey.
Out of those key ingredients, you can make pancakes, muffins, waffles, sandwiches, and different variations of oatmeal, smoothies, and eggs. You can obviously also keep switching up the fruits and veggies you add to your kid’s plate. In that way, with a few simple ideas, you can create endless breakfast variations.
You know your kid and their appetite best, so adjust their breakfast based on that however, it’s good to expose them to different flavors and textures.
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10 Easy Breakfast Ideas For Toddlers
No matter what breakfast you’re serving I recommend always adding a side of fruit, where it makes sense you can add finely ground nuts, and sneak in a piece or two of a veggie. Especially if they don’t like veggies that much, just so they get used to it and have more opportunities during the day to try some.
Easy Breakfast Idea For Toddlers #1: Oatmeal
Oatmeal is the perfect easy toddler breakfast. It’s high in fiber, filling, nutritious, and easy to prepare. And it doesn’t have to get boring after a week or two as there are many ways to prepare it and endless toppings to use.
You can cook oats in a pot, make overnight oats, baked oats, or even microwave them.
I highly recommend using a milk of your choice instead of water. In this way, it’s creamier, tastier, and more nutritious.
You can add berries, bananas, peanut butter, cinnamon, graded apples and pears, chia seeds, honey, eggs( for baked oats), and so much more. In this way you can use whatever you’ve got that day in your kitchen, expose your toddler to different flavors and make sure that they won’t get tired of eating oatmeal for breakfast.
Healthy Breakfast Idea For Toddlers #2: Whole Grain Avocado Toast + Fruit
Benefits of avocados for toddlers:
” Healthy avocados are sodium, sugar, and cholesterol free. Also, they are a good source of five essential nutrients for toddlers – fiber, vitamin C, magnesium, folate, and vitamin K. These essential nutrients support healthy growth and bone health and help support the immune system. In total, avocados contribute nearly 20 nutrients to a toddler’s diet (…)” – Source
Easy Breakfast For Toddlers #3: Banana Oatmeal Pancakes
All you need are rolled oats, bananas, eggs, whole grain or oat flower, your milk of choice, and a pinch of salt and/or cinnamon for extra flavor.
Simply mash up the bananas and then add and mix all the ingredients. Cook on a pan with butter or coconut oil. Serve with fruit.
It’s even possible to make tasty pancakes with bananas, oats, and eggs alone, without even adding milk or flour.
I can guarantee you, that your toddler with love this simple breakfast.
What’s great about it, besides that it’s fast and easy to prepare, is that it contains fiber, whole grains, potassium, fats, protein, and vitamins all in one meal. Moreover, the pancakes also taste great cold or reheated in the microwave.
Breakfast Idea For Toddlers #4 Fruit Salad
Most kids love fruit, so you know they’ll eat it. Packed with vitamins, fiber, and minerals, a fruit salad is a great choice for a quick, easy way to start off your toddler’s day, especially when they’re really hungry and you want to feed them right away.
You can always sneak in some avocado and cherry tomatoes into the salad and also serve it with a slice of whole grain bread (+butter or peanut butter).
Breakfast For Toddlers Idea#5 Smoothie
Smoothies are a great choice for an easy toddler breakfast. You can make them calory and nutrients dense by adding spinach, avocado, banana, milk of choice, berries, and chia seeds (only if you let them soak in the milk prior!). You could also add oats or/and peanut butter. There are endless options when it comes to smoothies.
Yes, it’s important for your child to explore and get used to the different textures and flavors of food, you want them to learn and get used to chewing their food rather than just drinking it. However, it’s absolutely okay to serve them a blended version aka a smoothie as well. Especially when they’re over around 15 months old, and are used to eating regular foods by now.
Easy Breakfast Idea For Kids #6: Scrambled Egg/Egg Omelet + Whole Grain Bread + Fruit
For a quick, yet filling and nutritious breakfast you can serve bites of whole grain bread with egg omelet (or scrambled egg) and some fruit.
Easy Breakfast Idea For Toddlers #7: Yogurt + Fruit
Simply transfer the yogurt into a little dish and mix in some berries and/or a banana.
Toddlers Breakfast Idea #8: Toddler Cereal + Fruit
A super easy breakfast idea is a multigrain cereal that’s designed for toddlers. Usually, you can prepare it with water or milk. Top it up with some fruit, ground nuts, or peanut butter for extra calories and nutrients.
Healthy Breakfast Idea For Toddlers #9 Chia Seed Pudding
All you need are chia seeds, as well as milk and a sweetener (honey, or maple syrup) of your choice.
Mix ½ cup of chia seeds with 1½ cups of milk, add your desired amount of sweetener and let it sit overnight. I highly recommend serving it with berry, banana, or my kid’s personal fav, mango puree.
Easy Breakfast For Toddlers Idea#10: Rainbow aka Snack Plate
Last but certainly not least one of my absolute favorites, a snack plate, or how I like to call it, a rainbow plate, meaning a variety of bite-sized foods. A little bit of everything. More colors, more flavors, and more choices for your toddler, not much work for you.
You can be truly creative, use leftovers, and make the plate as big as your kid’s appetite.
Snack plates are great for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
Make sure to add fruit, veggies, whole grain foods (for instance a whole grain peanut butter toast), and some extra protein.