High-Protein, Breakfast Meal Prep Ideas

Overnight oats, egg bites, cottage cheese bowls and more nourishing meals to start your day.

Lidey Heuck’s maple sausage egg muffins.Christopher Testani for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Spencer Richards.

Published Aug. 29, 2025Updated Aug. 29, 2025

If the internet is making you worry that you aren’t eating enough protein, you can breathe a sigh of relief: Experts say that the average American is, in fact, getting enough.

That said, a little protein can help keep you sated longer (and research suggests that many Americans often forget to include protein at breakfast), so here are 18 tasty recipes for protein-rich, make-ahead breakfasts — with several vegetarian options — that will keep you going through your busy school and work days.

An overhead image of two bowls filled with cottage cheese topped with strawberries.

This Ali Slagle recipe levels up the classic breakfast combination of cottage cheese and fruit. By pairing strawberries with vinegar, honey, basil, salt and pepper, then letting them sit for up to one day, you create a robustly flavored mix that’s sweet, savory, herby — and delicious spooned over cottage cheese.

Recipe: Strawberry-Basil Cottage Cheese Bowls

An overhead image of egg bites on a plate paired with eggs and sliced avocado.

Maple syrup adds a touch of sweetness to Lidey Heuck’s sausage, egg and cheese muffins that are perfectly portioned to grab and go. Throw in whatever vegetables and mix-ins you have on hand, but make sure to limit yourself to one or two high-moisture items to keep the muffins from coming out soggy.

Recipe: Maple Sausage Egg Muffins

An overhead image of oatmeal muffins topped with sliced almonds.

More filling than a muffin, these gluten-free oatmeal cups from Lidey Heuck are bound with eggs, mashed banana, nut butter and milk. You can use your favorite dried fruit, nut butter and milk, but keep the same ratio of wet-to-dry ingredients so the muffins hold their shape.

Recipe: Baked Oatmeal Cups

A side image of an English muffin filled with bacon, eggs and cheese.

Make a dozen of these bacon, egg and cheese sandwiches from Ali Slagle at the beginning of the month, and stash them in the freezer. If you’re looking to add vegetables, toss them in with the scrambled eggs.

Recipe: Make-Ahead Breakfast Sandwiches

A side image of two jars of overnight oats topped with nuts.

When soaked for at least three hours in the refrigerator, oats become creamier than they do on the stove. Add chocolate and Medjool dates to feel like you’re eating brownie batter for breakfast. Or, combine your morning matcha latte and this Genevieve Ko porridge by whisking green tea powder into the milk.

Recipe: Overnight Oats

Nine breakfast bars topped with nuts are photographed from overhead on a white surface.

In this clever recipe, Sohla El-Waylly marries a granola bar and a banana-nut muffin. The bars contain a little honey, but they get additional sweetness from this cool trick: While the mixture rests, an enzyme in the eggs called amylase converts the banana starches to sugar, naturally making the recipe sweeter. Make sure you use extra-ripe bananas so the fruit’s delicate flavor can stand up to the earthiness of the nut butter.

Recipe: Banana Nut Breakfast Bars

A tofu scramble in a cast-iron skillet is photographed from overhead.

This craggly-edged tofu from Ali Slagle is reminiscent of breakfast sausage thanks to maple syrup, sage, hot sauce and plenty of black pepper. Add whatever vegetables you have to the crumbled tofu, making sure you increase the seasoning to taste. Prep a big batch of this at the beginning of the week, then use it in breakfast burritos, sandwiches or mixed into a savory morning bowl of grains and greens.

Recipe: Breakfast Tofu Scramble

A baking dish full of baked oatmeal studded with nuts and blueberries is photographed from overhead.

This baked oatmeal from Lidey Heuck sort of feels like eating a fruit crumble for breakfast. The egg does double duty, adding protein and binding it all together, so you can cut slices, wrap them and tuck them into a lunch box or nibble them on the go. This recipe is endlessly customizable, so toss in whatever you like: chia seeds, hemp hearts or flax seeds.

Recipe: Baked Oatmeal

A frittata filled with cheese and vegetables is baked into a cast-iron skillet.

Genevieve Ko’s frittata recipe is a glorious brunch party centerpiece, but it’s also a great make-ahead weekday breakfast. Slice wedges, wrap them in foil and freeze, then defrost and reheat as needed. Or, enjoy a slice cold from the fridge topped with salad greens. Bacon and goat cheese make this rich and flavorful, while spinach and peppers add fiber and texture.

Recipe: Loaded Baked Frittata

Three jars filled with chia seed pudding and topped with fruits and nuts are photographed at an angle.

When chia seeds are mixed with coconut or almond milk, they thicken and become gelatinous, like a tapioca pudding that also just happens to be rich in fiber and protein. Melissa Clark calls for adding passion fruit nectar and dried apricots for sweetness, but you can mix in any fresh or dried fruits, juices or jams you like. Portion the pudding into individual jars for grab-and-go breakfasts.

Recipe: Chia Seed Pudding

Six small tortillas topped with cheese, eggs, beans and avocado are photographed from overhead.

These hearty burritos from Yewande Komolafe are packed with creamy soft-scrambled eggs, avocado and refried beans. Cilantro adds freshness, while hot sauce gives it a pop of heat. Their miniature size makes them a great option for kids to eat in the car on the way to school or camp.

Recipe: Breakfast Burritos

A large rimmed bowl filled with berry-topped muesli is photographed from overhead.

Instead of calling for traditional muesli ingredients like fruit juice or applesauce for moisture, Yossy Arefi opts for Greek yogurt and tahini, which give it all creaminess and heft. Make this ahead in large or small batches, and choose the nuts and fruits that you like best.

Recipe: Muesli

A crisp chickpea pancake studded with herbs is photographed from overhead.

This large-format chickpea pancake from Mark Bittman has origins in Provence and Liguria, where it’s made on copper disks in wood-fired stoves, but using a cast-iron skillet in your oven works just fine. Think of this as a vehicle for whatever toppings you have around: simply dressed greens and a boiled egg, or leftover roasted vegetables, Greek yogurt and tahini.

Recipe: Socca

A small stack of pancakes glossed with syrup is photographed at an angle.

Not your average pancake, cottage cheese and plain yogurt fortify Mark Bittman’s version of the breakfast staple. His take is light and soufflé-like because he calls for separating the eggs and beating the whites to stiff peaks. Make a batch at the beginning of the week and reheat them, or eat them cold, topped with nut butter or more yogurt.

Recipe: Light, Fluffy and Rich Pancakes

An egg-filled wrap is photographed from the side.

In this smart recipe from Naz Deravian, she calls for making a frittata loaded with spinach, then wrapping it in burrito-sized tortillas or lavash spread with cream cheese for extra richness. The frittata has a salty, umami kick thanks to feta and sun-dried tomato, but add any herbs or condiments you love to ramp up the flavor.

Recipe: Make-Ahead Spinach and Feta Wraps

Three bowls of cooked oats are photographed from above.

Cooking oats in the slow cooker on low for two hours, then on the warm setting for another six hours while you sleep, produces what Sarah DiGregorio considers to be a superior porridge — one that’s creamy and risotto-like in texture. Top the mixture with berries and nut butter, or go the savory route and toss it with Parm and leftover roasted vegetables.

Recipe: Slow-Cooker Steel-Cut Oats

Two mugs are topped with granola. A small jar of yogurt sits to the side, as does a sheet pan filled with more granola.

Pecans, pumpkin seeds and sunflower seeds add heft to this crunchy and filling granola adapted from Jon & Vinny’s, a restaurant in Los Angeles. Many commenters say they’ve successfully reduced the sugar by half with happy, just-sweet-enough results.

Recipe: Seeded Pecan Granola

Three egg bites are photographed from the side on a plate. One is halved to show the vegetables inside.

For these surprisingly light egg muffins from Naz Deravian, egg is blended with cottage cheese, then cooked in a water bath, which gently cooks the mixture. Make a batch and freeze them as a gift to your future busy self.

Recipe: Cottage Cheese Egg Bites

A short stack of pancakes topped with butter, berries and syrup is photographed from the side. Another serving sits just behind, next to a bowl of berries.

“Absolutely a keeper. So so good,” wrote one reader about these chewy-crisp eggless(!) pancakes from Genevieve Ko. The combination of oats, buttermilk and flax will keep you full past lunchtime.

Recipe: Oatmeal Pancakes

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