You're gonna love chilaquiles. No chicken, eat with a couple fried eggs. Delicious breakfast.
posted by phunniemee at 5:54 PM on January 28 [14 favorites]

I'm assuming you've ruled out other "on toast" options like beans on toast and avocado on toast? Beans on toast is probably the most UK lazy breakfast imaginable so it even counts as another culture.

Toast aside, the first thing I thought of was shakshouka. You can make it pretty quickly as long as you don't get fancy, though I think it's faster/easier if you partially make it ahead of time. I find the sauce keeps fine for three of four days in the fridge, so I just need to spoon it into a pot and bring it to a simmer in the morning. Then I just crack an egg in and let it poach. Easily less than 10 minutes all said and damn healthy. The sauce freezes okay as well, depending on your opinion of how peppers handle the freeze/thaw process. It makes them kind of mushy, but since I cut them pretty finely and it's a sauce I don't think it really hurts it.

I'm also a big fan of breakfast burritos. As with the above it's laziest to make the filling (sans eggs) ahead of time. The filling freezes really well so no reason not to do a large batch. Then just reheat in the microwave while you scramble an egg and toss both into a tortilla.

Last suggestion is overnight oats. I know you said you don't like oatmeal, but I find it doesn't really taste or have the same texture as porridge, especially if you're adding in chia seeds and such. Plus, there are a ton of paleo versions of the recipe that swap the oats out for different things if you decide oats aren't for you.
posted by forbiddencabinet at 6:02 PM on January 28 [5 favorites]

If Jianbing is too involved to be your Chinese egg related breakfast jam (which: understandable), do a search for 鸡蛋灌饼 (jidan guan bing). There's about 800 videos in YouTube all with slightly different methods and I to have to confess, I'm intrigued. I'm just waiting for the perfect weekend morning to give it a go myself.
posted by soren_lorensen at 6:03 PM on January 28 [4 favorites]

I just spent a week in Cancun and had molletes for breakfast most mornings. Light enough to go swimming afterwards, heavy enough to skip lunch and subsist on margaritas until dinner.
posted by jenjenc at 6:14 PM on January 28 [4 favorites]

I went to a Denny's in Tokyo and had hash browns with wild mushrooms in curry sauce for breakfast. It was really good! Hash browns are a bit of a pain to make from scratch but can be bought frozen or made from a mix - same with curry sauce.
posted by moonmilk at 6:18 PM on January 28 [2 favorites]

Base recipe for strata. My preferred version is actually made with slightly overdone (or split and toasted) biscuits, but any bread you have is fine. And you can add vegetables (just make sure they're precooked), beans/lentils, tofu, meatless substitutes, pasta/noodles, mild or spicy chiles, mushrooms, whatever sounds good to you with eggs.

If you want to make and freeze in portions, add a little bit of regular or gluten-free flour, flax meal, psyllium husk, or xanthan gum to your egg mixture, and that'll help keep the eggs from going terribly watery on thawing.
posted by Lyn Never at 6:19 PM on January 28 [2 favorites]

Depending on what part of the country you’re from, cold leftover grits shaped into patties, pan fried, and topped with whatever might be sufficiently unfamiliar for your question. :)
posted by Gymnopedist at 6:23 PM on January 28 [6 favorites]

Toasted bagel and a schmear of cream cheese?
posted by RobotVoodooPower at 6:26 PM on January 28

If you want a variation of eggs and toast, I like to put whipped cream cheese on the toast and sprinkle it with Trader Joe's Everything but the Bagel seasoning, and put scrambled eggs on top. Would also be good with avocado slices.
posted by shortyJBot at 6:31 PM on January 28

I was totally just describing fried grits with maple syrup to my husband. Do that. (you can also buy the premade polenta tubes and use those)
posted by Green Eyed Monster at 6:47 PM on January 28 [2 favorites]

French omellette like Jacques Pepin makes. Takes a while to get the hang of it, but they are delicious even when they don't quite look right.
posted by smcameron at 6:50 PM on January 28 [2 favorites]

Tamago kake gohan. Or you can do what I do for lunch some days and make one of those microwavable flying saucers of precooked rice, tipped onto a plate and topped with a couple eggs over easy, so the yolk runs into the rice. I top that with Worcestershire sauce, a dotting of ponzu, and za'atar or just sumac. Mmmm!
posted by limeonaire at 7:00 PM on January 28 [3 favorites]

You might enjoy the Indian breakfast dish semolina upma. You can vary the spice level based on your preference (it's not really meant to be very spicy). Very comforting and quick once you get the hang of it.
posted by peacheater at 7:10 PM on January 28 [1 favorite]

A surprising number of leftovers are pretty gosh-darn good with an egg on top - everything from broccoli beef to pizza (also good w no egg). I'm also a fan of taking muffin recipes and minimizing the sugar content, maybe adding more whole grains. Frozen scallion pancakes do pretty well in a pinch too. Toast with egg/ham/fish salad, nut butter, avocado ... I've had tacos with black beans and sweet potato and cotija cheese, and I keep meaning to try some kind of breakfast empanada which may or may not include traditional breakfast ingredients.
posted by bunderful at 7:14 PM on January 28 [2 favorites]

Japanese diner classic, omurice: https://food52.com/recipes/52860-omurice

Indian comfort food, dal makhani: https://www.geniuskitchen.com/recipe/punjabi-dal-makhani-301613
posted by unstrungharp at 7:23 PM on January 28 [2 favorites]

Seconding eggy rice. Ful medames with hard-boiled egg slices. Sabich. You could probably make an approximation of khachapuri adjaruli with pizza dough, but that's more involved and possibly more filling than you want.

Soft-boiled with toast soldiers isn't as big of a thing in the US, but it ought to be.
posted by holgate at 7:28 PM on January 28 [1 favorite]

Still "eggs and toast" but a quintessential Singaporean breakfast : kaya (coconut jam) butter toast sandwich, eaten alongside soft boiled eggs with dark soy sauce and pepper.
posted by hellopanda at 7:30 PM on January 28 [4 favorites]

I like to make ramen noodles for breakfast sometimes. It's inexpensive and tasty. There are lots of variants that work but the basic approach is:

1) Toss the flavoring packet. That is a sodium bomb you don't need. Instead use something like Better than Bouillon in the water, and maybe a little nice oil (say, sesame) at the end.
2) Add an egg once the ramen brick starts to soften (1-2 minutes in typically). You can crack it directly into the boiling water for a poached egg, or scramble it and drizzle it in for more of an egg drop soup effect.
3) Add veggies. Sliced scallions, baby spinach, maybe some kim chi, whatever you like. There are many options.
4) Hot sauce (sriracha) to taste.

This is especially nice if you live in a cold climate.
posted by axiom at 7:30 PM on January 28 [7 favorites]

Dosa has a good balance of protein and carbs. Buy batter at Indian grocery stores, spread on pan like you would cook a crepe or pancake.
posted by redlines at 7:42 PM on January 28 [2 favorites]

franco-north Americans eat baked beans at breakfast
posted by brujita at 7:44 PM on January 28 [1 favorite]

Now that I look back on it, it's pretty weird, but it was definitely delicious (if you like meat).

Whenever we could get our hands on some (ie when our relatives would come back from Asia with some in their suitcase) we would have pork floss for breakfast (you can also get beef or chicken floss if you don't eat pork). It was a little sweet, a little savoury, very light and fluffy. Imagine cotton candy but, uh, made of meat.

We would put a pile of it on our plate, tear off a piece of squishy white bread (I know, I know--in no way am I claiming this is nutritious) and kind of scoop up the pork floss with the bread, squash the bread together so the pork floss was sandwiched between the layers, and eat the bite of bread-and-floss. The white bread was squishy and the floss was a little crunchy. Breakfast of champions for sure. It's also good on top of congee (jook), and might make it more filling. It was a bit hard to get when I was a kid, but I bet you could get it in an Asian supermarket in any major city in North America now.

So weird. I have not thought about this breakfast delicacy for ages. Mmm.
posted by hurdy gurdy girl at 7:47 PM on January 28 [4 favorites]

I make fruit butters, but you can buy fruit spreads, they have less sugar than jams or jellies. Anyway, I make toast, put on the fruit spread, and sprinkle that with feta cheese. One multigrain slice and feta is breakfast for me, with tea, or coffee.
I have been known to save chili verde from dinner, and poach eggs in it for breakfast.
posted by Oyéah at 8:13 PM on January 28 [2 favorites]

My Transylvanian spouse makes french toast more or less like anyone else, but instead of topping it with butter and syrup, she tops it with a slice of mild white cheese while it's still hot enough to melt it, then sprinkles it with kosher salt and eats it like that.

It's not exotic, and it might even come across as underwhelming to some. But it's plain and delicious in a kind of simple, elemental way that someone stuck on eggs and toast might like.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 9:31 PM on January 28 [3 favorites]

Huevos rancheros are pretty fast if you do the prep in bulk. If you already have an open can of refried beans, some salsa, some grated cheese, it's hardly more time than frying the original egg to also microwave some tortillas, assemble a stack of tortilla-beans-egg-cheese-salsa and put it back into the pan for thirty seconds to crisp up. Here's the first huevos rancherso recipe I found on the Google. Obviously, don't make salsa and refried beans from scratch every morning. Open a can, or at least make big batches.

Similarly, migas are quick if you start with refried beans and fried tortillas (e.g., out of a can, and unsalted tortilla chips, respectively).

Also, if you liked rice porridge, an easy way to improve calorie density is to drizzle a bunch of sesame oil over it. Alternatively, have you had pao fan? Very traditional Shanghainese breakfast, the lactose free equivalent of milk and cereal. Because the rice is just mixed with some water rather than simmered in large volumes of water until it dissolves, pao fan achieves much higher calorie density than zhou.

Also, if your objection to having oatmeal more than once a week is the monotony of flavor, try savory oatmeal. First skirlie recipe on the Google. It's oatmeal sauteed with onion and fat. I like to add scallion and a little broth too, although that's probably not traditional.
posted by meaty shoe puppet at 9:59 PM on January 28

French toast is the go-to cereal alternative in our house, even on a school morning.

If you have access to an Asian grocer, there's lots of frozen breakfast foods. Any sort of stuffed baozi, or my favorite, simple frozen tangyuan boiled in water (even better in jiuniang, if you can source it).
posted by msittig at 11:12 PM on January 28 [1 favorite]

I make no promises for your long term health but Sunnyside up eggs in butter accompanied with buttered toast sprinkled with sugar. The eggs are healthily lashed with Maggi or soy sauce. The egg yolk marries well with the butter and soy sauce. Savory, salty and sweet flavors in the morning taught to me by my Vietnamese mother.
posted by jadepearl at 1:26 AM on January 29 [1 favorite]

I like eating congee with pork floss and thousand year old eggs and some green onions on top. A good Instant Pot recipe here. I also like spam, a fried egg, and garlic fried rice. Sometimes I cut the spam into whole slices, coat it with a soy sauce-sugar glaze and fry it and fry leftover white rice and chopped garlic on the side. Sometimes if I'm feeling a one pan meal, I'll just make spam fried rice with garlic. Filipino breakfasts are also amazing, especially if you get the special vinegar that goes with it. Serious Eats also has a great article on how to make a Japanese breakfast.

I also like eating leftover ratatouille for breakfast with brown rice.
posted by yueliang at 3:46 AM on January 29 [3 favorites]

I also forget, any noodle soup is a bomb breakfast tbh. Lots of great Vietnamese noodle soup recipes here by Katie Le. Serious Eats also has a great 30 minute chicken pho I make all the time.
posted by yueliang at 3:52 AM on January 29

Pa amb tomàquet!

You toast a sliced baguette (or just a regular piece of toast, but it need to be pretty sturdy bread), drizzle it with olive oil, rub it with a glove of garlic, rub a ripe tomato all over the surface, and sprinkle with a little salt. You can eat it as-is (I do), or put anchovies or slices of jamón on top.

Alternatively, you can mash or blend the tomato and spoon it over the top. I like it better that way because you get more tomato.
posted by lollymccatburglar at 3:54 AM on January 29 [3 favorites]

I second savory oatmeal! Like risotto, but can be made in the microwave in 5 minutes on 50% power. Stir-in options include but are not limited to: sautéed onion, garlic, mushrooms, greens; cheese or nutritional yeast; bacon bits (real or vegan); avocado; tomato; any sauce or spice you like (e.g. soy sauce, Worcestershire, chili powder); top with an egg cooked how you like. As a dedicated Savory Breakfast Person, I can stand to eat savory oatmeal a lot more often than sweet.
posted by snowmentality at 4:37 AM on January 29

We don't eat them for breakfast, but Spain has huevos rotos. You can add serrano ham, chorizo or slivers of foie gras to the basic recipe, but that's not essential.

We also have a different recipe for migas cooked from stale bread instead of Mexican tortillas. You can go light on the charcuterie and put grapes or melon chunks on the migas for a lighter dish.
posted by sukeban at 4:56 AM on January 29

Just a variation of your original breakfast, but ever since I tried it, I don't think I've made eggs any other way (except hard/soft boiled which sorta doesn't count for our current purposes). Like the author of the article, I *hate* it when my diner eggs had that thin line of crispy brown around the whole thing... ew! So annoying to eat, weirdly chewy somehow, gross. But! If you purposely fry the whole bottom of the egg and it's all crispy?? Suddenly it's the best sunny side up egg I've ever had. I usually do the spooning the oil over the top thing to cook the egg white thoroughly too.

Here's the article. Or this one.
posted by Grither at 5:33 AM on January 29

Almost forgot about Turkish breakfasts. I've seen this done in practice with whatever is on hand - can be as simple as sliced tomatoes and a chunk of good feta sprinkled with dried thyme, with good bread on the side. The full spread described in the link is something I associate with a relaxed weekend breakfast with guests.
posted by bunderful at 6:22 AM on January 29 [1 favorite]

I have been known to save chili verde from dinner, and poach eggs in it for breakfast.

Absolutely. I'll also make something like chilaquiles with this, or just dump a cup of chile verde over eggs and toast.
posted by aspersioncast at 6:28 AM on January 29 [1 favorite]

I found oats astoundingly less boring once I started eating steel cut oats. I toast them in the pot with a hunk of butter, add water or half milk & half water, bring them to a boil, simmer for about as long as I'm finishing up washing dinner dishes, turn off the burner, leave them on the stove overnight, and reheat and dig in in the morning. Sometimes I'll make week's worth this way and stash the rest in the fridge and just heat up a portion each morning. I haven't explored the full range of savory oats, but I do sometimes go super simple with just a pat of butter and sprinkling of salt. Flavor pairings I like: cinnamon raisin, cinnamon clove apple, cranberry walnut dried coconut, maple syrup (doesn't need a companion, but nuts are nice with this), honey (ditto), spoonful of jam (especially strawberry-rhubarb or blueberry), pumpkin pie (canned or roasted pumpkin + pie spices, sweetener as desired). Sometimes I make it with coconut oil instead of butter and it really changes the flavor.

Smoked or pickled fish is excellent on a bagel or toast (think smoked salmon, cream cheese, bagel + slivers of red onion, tomato, capers). Pickled herring is a nice alternative, especially on a sturdy rye bread (I skip the cream cheese for this one, but a little butter is nice), onion + dill for garnish.
posted by carrioncomfort at 7:09 AM on January 29

Mexican markets have chili rellenos cold in the deli case. These are pasillia peppers, stuffed with mild white cheese, dipped in egg white and fried. Chili rellenos heat up in a couple of minutes in the microwave, with some cold salsa they make a nice breakfast main dish. They freeze and heat up well too. I keep blue berries around to go on the side of things, or to top oatmeal. I tried soaking steel cut oats in vanilla soy milk with cinnamon and cloves. I left it for two days. They heated well enough in the microwave, two minutes, but 3.5 with extra soy milk they would have been more soft. Both cinnamon and cloves have cholesterol lowering properties. I don't use butter on oats I eat to lower cholesterol.
posted by Oyéah at 8:20 AM on January 29 [1 favorite]

I must recommend symmetry breakfast (he has a cookbook) for unusual breakfasts. The person making these breakfasts is a half Chinese person from England now living in China. He makes lots of breakfasts from all around the world.
posted by Ms. Moonlight at 9:44 AM on January 29 [1 favorite]

Speaking of oatmeal - a while back I had some cold oatmeal which I reheated, then poured a little cream over and put a spoonful of jam in the middle. Need to buy cream so I can do it again.

Also, cabbage stir-fried with sambal oelek and soy sauce is great just-made or re-heated. Personally I like it with a bit of rice and, predictably, an egg on top.

Also I haven't played much with the whole breakfast bowl fad but there's a lot of possibility: a bed of grains (millet, quinoa, barley, rice, etc) and your choice of fruit, veg and protein.
posted by bunderful at 12:17 PM on January 29

Tea eggs

The instant pot works really well for this.
posted by extramundane at 1:51 PM on January 29

My go-to breakfast is leftover brown rice (Basmati, jasmine, etc.) or some kind of pasta (orzo, most any noodle) with either shredded (chopped up) Brussels sprouts OR freshly made sprouted seeds (these are my favourites) OR fresh arugula OR chopped fresh spinach OR chopped fresh Swiss chard, sauteed in olive oil, with soy sauce. You can also scramble an egg in there, add cheese, add garlic or onion, add leftover lentils, or do whatever strikes your fancy. Done in 10 mins (if using leftover rice, which I recommend, or orzo, or already cooked noodles), very satisfying.
posted by mmw at 2:41 PM on January 29

For something radically different, hot dry noodles, which are a local Wuhan thing. Sesame paste and noodles, crushed peanuts, a little spice, and you’ve got a great breakfast. I wish I’d tried them more often when I lived there. It takes a little getting used to the noodles being cold, but the flavor makes up for it.
posted by Ghidorah at 4:24 PM on January 29 [1 favorite]

Broccoli frittata is a breakfast recipe (though we also eat it for dinner), is super easy to make, and reheats well if you want to make it ahead. Cut it into wedges, wrap them up well, and just reheat a wedge for breakfast.
posted by gudrun at 5:12 PM on January 29

I’m in charge of breakfast at our house, and my go-to easy bread/egg concoction is naan, lightly fried in butter, topped with guacamole and a fried egg. We get the naan and guacamole singles from Costco, so it’s always on hand and very quick. Spice/sauce to taste. Sub in or add refried beans, cheese, etc.

I will also be trying several of these suggestions, myself. Thanks for posting this question!
posted by malthusan at 8:13 PM on January 29

Another permutation of egg / garlic / tomato / carb: "classic tomato and egg stir fry (西红柿炒鸡蛋)", in congee / on noodles / in oatmeal / on rice / with bread / etc. I feel like this is the spiritual reflection of shakshuka.

In London I deal with life by putting grilled tomatoes, mushrooms, and scrambled eggs into oatmeal with a healthy dose of the darkest vinegar they have. In America we don't have grilled tomatoes so I make do with just eggs and vinegar in oatmeal with a dash of random hot sauce.
posted by batter_my_heart at 11:58 PM on January 29 [1 favorite]

Well, everybody has lots cooler stuff than I am making—my usual go-to is toast with jam (just got a jar of “Saskatoon berry jam”!) and a little cheese. But once in a while I enjoy a scoop of plain yoghurt with a mass of berries and a spoon of jam stirred in topped with a teaspoon of crunch—usually some kind of granola-like substance. Oh, and black coffee. Because we are not an animal.
posted by Gilgamesh's Chauffeur at 2:32 AM on January 30

> Tamago kake gohan

Or you can have natto and egg and rice. Or just natto and rice.
posted by needled at 5:01 AM on January 30