The ultimate list of toddler breakfast ideas. Feeding my toddler a healthy breakfast is very important to me because he is growing. Here are easy breakfast ideas for toddlers.
The Ultimate List of Toddler Breakfast Ideas
A few days a week, my toddler wakes up hungry. On those days, he wants breakfast the moment he sits up.
So, I need to get breakfast on the table ASAP. If not, we will start the day with a meltdown. Those are never fun.
Toddlers are growing, growing, and growing. So making sure he has a healthy breakfast is really important to me. And yes, it is challenging. Toddlers definitely have a mind of their own. As such, they can be quite fickle.
Here's my list of handy toddler breakfast ideas
On the hungry days, it often feels like my toddler's breakfast appetite cannot be satisfied. However on other days, my toddler just plain won't eat.
Sometimes, I never know what I'm going to get with him at the breakfast table. That's why I always keep an arsenal of healthy breakfast ideas for my toddler in my back pocket.
This list has saved my sanity. And keeping these recipes in mind helps me act quick on tired mornings.
Here are my favorite toddler breakfast ideas. Also, I share a few tips and tricks on how I get my toddler to eat breakfast.
1. Porridge. Oatmeal is one of the easiest toddler breakfast ideas.
Why? I think it's because I let him get involved cooking it, and he gets a choice for his toppings.
How can a toddler help make porridge for breakfast?
Bring the cooking to your toddler's level.
We either use a little helper to let him stand at the worktop height. Or I literally put our tub of oats and pot on the ground.
I'll let him scoop the oats into the pot himself. Sometimes he makes a mess. But oats are pretty harmless on the ground.
And conveniently, he entertains himself trying to sweep up any spilled oats. That keeps him busy while the oatmeal is cooking.
The topping choices for porridge are endless too!
10 Heathy Porridge Toppings
Colorful bowls also make eating porridge exciting! These are our favorite bamboo kid bowls from Bobo & Boo.
2. Pancakes. Pancakes is always a favorite toddler breakfast.
Pancakes are the perfect finger foods for several reasons:
- No need for utensils.
- You can dip or spread the topping. As such, they are fun to eat.
- They can be made large or small.
Or for more fun, you can use a fun pancake mould to make zoo pancakes.
If you ask my toddler, pancakes every day!
As a mom, I love feeding my toddler pancakes for breakfast. That's because it's so easy to add healthy ingredients into pancakes and also on top of pancakes. That's two ways you can boost the nutritional value of the breakfast.
The best part is that pancakes can be frozen and defrosted as needed. This busy mom can't complain about that!
Lastly, pancake recipes can be very forgiving. Because of that, you can let your toddler help measure the ingredients and mix the batter.
Some of my toddler's favorite healthy pancake recipes:
Healthy and Easy Pancakes for Toddlers
Free From Pancakes for Babies and Toddlers
Healthy Apple Pancakes
Oatmeal Cottage Cheese Pancakes (GF)
Mini Pancake Skewers
S'mores Pancakes (Mini Nutella Pancake Skewers)
Healthy Pancake Topping Ideas to Try:
One of the best things about pancakes is the toppings! Here are some healthy and delicious toppings that my toddler loves.
Pumpkin and Sunflower Seed Butter (Nut Free Lunch Spread)
DIY Almond Butter - One Ingredient Only
Strawberry Chia Jam
Easy Blueberry Jam Made With Chia Seeds (Low Sugar and No Pectin)
3. There are so many different healthy muffins a toddler would love for breakfast
I haven't met a toddler who doesn't like muffins. They especially love muffins if you call them cupcakes.
Make mini muffins, and they are perfectly portioned-controlled finger foods.
Muffins are also great because you can stuff so many healthy ingredients into them.
Here's a toddler muffin recipe that makes 24 mini muffins.
You have the option of four different mix-ins. Chose depending on what your toddler likes.
Toddler Muffins
More muffins that my toddler devours
These healthy breakfast muffin recipes make full-sized muffin sizes. However, you can make them as mini muffins too.
Egg Free Banana Muffins (adaptable for vegan, GF)
Healthy Apple Muffins
Vegan Blueberry Muffins (No Eggs)
And, again, muffins are a freezable make ahead toddler breakfast. Make a muffin recipe once, and it will last you through many breakfasts.
4. Waffles can be easy to make, and toddlers love them for breakfast
One of my toddler's favorite breakfast recipes are waffles. Are you thinking they are tricky or difficult to make? Well, they don't have to be.
Here's an eggless waffle recipe. It's both easy to make and pretty forgiving.
Eggless Waffles
Sometimes waffle recipes will require you to beat the egg whites and egg yolks separately. But you don't need to break out the hand mixer or anything for this recipe. Plus, it's egg free. So no worries if your toddler sticks his hands in the batter and licks it.
Give your toddler a fork and have him mix away.
Be careful if you are cooking waffles with your toddler in the kitchen though. The waffle iron can get pretty hot.
That's the main reason why we love having a little helper. It keeps him contained since he cannot climb in or out of it himself.
Tip: Make thin waffles
The best tip I can offer you here is to buy a waffle maker that makes thin waffles. Why?
Thin waffles cook quickly. For instance, they cook in roughly two minutes as opposed to the usual five minutes. That way you aren't standing there waiting forever. Because as it is, every minute counts with a little one in tow.
Also important, thin waffles are easier for a toddler to bite into.
My toddler really enjoys breaking a whole waffle into heart pieces. It also keeps him entertained while the rest of the waffles are cooking.
And like pancakes and muffins, you can also freeze waffles! So you can make one batch, and serve it to your toddler for breakfast through the week.
Here are some other favorite waffle recipes for toddlers:
Norwegian Waffles (Heart Shaped Waffles)
Cottage Cheese Waffles (Flourless and GF)
5. Chinese steamed eggs are a healthy breakfast idea for toddlers and babies
My toddler is allergic to eggs. However from chatting with other parents, eggs are always a fun recipe.
I can't offer you too much insight here, but when I was growing up, my mom always made me Chinese Steamed Eggs. They are delicious. And if you make the recipe with bone broth, you can pack in more nutrients in your toddler's breakfast.
Chinese Steamed Egg
6. Bean Cereal - yes, a thing and it's makes a healthy breakfast for a toddler
I cannot deny the convenience and appeal of cereal. The problem is that many cereals are loaded with sugars. Also, many cereals have very processed ingredients.
The healthiest cereal I can find, which also is a cereal my toddler happily eats almost every day, is this bean cereal. If I let him, he will have it for breakfast, lunch, snack and dinner.
Bean cereal you might ask? Yes, this cereal is made with beans. It contains navy beans, lentils, and garbanzo beans.
The best cereal for toddlers - A healthy cereal made from beans!
We usually mix about ¼-1/3 Polar Puffs to ⅔-3/4 Original Power Os. We don't like the fruity stars!
That's my compromise for sugar. And we do it in one big container. By doing so, he doesn't actually know I add in the unsweetened cereal.
We use this container, which he can open without spilling if he's desperate to help himself to dry cereal.
He also loves these Annie's Organic Cinnabunnies. We do the same ratio mix. We use about ¼-1/3 Cinnabunnies to ⅔-3/4 Original Power O.
To really illustrate how much he loves these cereals... we live in the UK, but we literally bring ½ a suitcase packed with cereal back with us every trip. And when grandparents come visit, we also ask them to lug some more of the cereal over.
7. Chia pudding with PB and carob is an easy overnight breakfast for a toddler
We don't do chia puddings every day. However, it's good recipe to keep on that list of toddler breakfast recipes.
Chia Seed Pudding for Kids (Vegan, GF)
You can make this recipe the night before. As such, it's a very quick breakfast to serve.
There's more written in the actual recipe post about feeding toddlers chia seeds. Generally though, if given in moderation, I think this is a healthy breakfast for little ones.
8. Dress up yogurt to make it colorful and healthy for your toddler's breakfast
Listing yogurt on this list makes me feel so unoriginal. But this Pumpkin Greek Yogurt definitely deserves a spot.
Pumpkin Greek Yogurt Breakfast Bowl (GF)
By mixing in pumpkin to the yogurt, you are adding vegetables to your toddler's breakfast. Canned pumpkin texture pairs well with Greek yogurt. You don't need anything more than a spoon and a bowl to mix it together.
Leave off the nuts and granola for a toddler though. Sorry I did not have a photo without the topping! That bowl in the photo is for me.
9. Eat leftovers from dinner in the morning
Breakfast doesn't always have to be traditional breakfast foods. Sometimes a quick bowl of reheated leftover makes the best breakfast.
Some favorite leftovers for us are: fried rice, soups and stews, and lasagna or pasta bakes.
10. Smoothies. Give your toddler a drinkable breakfast.
If you have a picky toddler, or on my toddler's off days, we often settle on a drinkable breakfast.
To make a healthy smoothie that's fit for a toddler's breakfast, I always follow a general recipe. I use a combination of frozen fruit, a tablespoon of oats, a big spoonful of yogurt, a bit of powdered infant probiotics, some veggies, and a good dash of milk.
Pumpkin is the easiest veggie to add into a smoothie. That's because it comes in a can. It's also already smooth. Plus, it's naturally sweet and mild in flavor.
Here's a delicious smoothie recipe with pumpkin. You can cut out some of the maple syrup. That way, it has less sugar.
Pumpkin Pie Smoothie (GF)
Other veggies that work well are cucumber and carrots. I also sneak in celery and spinach too. However in our experience, those flavors tend to stick out a bit more.
Alternatively, we make a nut butter smoothie. One favorite is this apple peanut butter smoothie.
Apple Peanut Butter Smoothie (Vegan, GF, Dairy-free)
If I make thick smoothies, he takes his smoothie in reusable baby food pouches. For example, these include smoothies that are yogurt heavy, pumpkin heavy, or have extra oats.
Surprisingly, our baby food pouches have lasted since he started solids! They are easy for him to hold. Even better, he's usually pretty clean with them.
I hope your toddler loves these breakfast ideas. If you are looking for more breakfast recipes for toddlers, you can look through all my breakfast recipes that are kid friendly.
Toddler breakfast ideas to get through busy mornings
What are some of your favorite toddler foods? And does your toddler have a healthy breakfast? I'd love to hear some of your ideas in the comments.
Harshith Kumar says
Very good article and suits for the people who wants to try different breakfasts.