20 High-Protein Vegetarian Breakfasts (10 to 27 Grams Each)

One in ten American adults gets about 6 grams of protein or less at breakfast. Nine in ten get about 23 grams or less.

Run the same math on dinner and it’s about 24 grams to 47. So the low end of dinner beats the high end of breakfast.

The usual fix is a side of meat. You don’t need it.

On a food label, 10 grams of protein per serving counts as “high,” because that’s 20% of the 50 gram Daily Value. Every breakfast below clears that line, and about half hit 20 grams or more.

The numbers come from USDA food data, so treat them as ballpark figures. Your brand will be a little different.

Here are 20 vegetarian breakfasts that actually pull their weight on protein, in no particular order.

1. Greek Yogurt With Hemp Seeds

Greek yogurt has about double the protein of regular low-fat yogurt. One 170 gram container of the plain nonfat kind is about 17 grams before you add a thing.

Three tablespoons of hemp seeds take it to about 27. By weight, hemp seeds carry more protein than almonds, peanut butter or chia.

2. Cottage Cheese Bowl

This is the laziest 24 grams you’ll ever eat. That’s one cup of 2% cottage cheese, straight from the tub.

Fruit, black pepper, hot sauce, whatever you like. The protein was done before you opened the lid.

3. Three-Egg Scramble With Cheddar

A large egg is about 6 grams, so three of them get you to about 19. An ounce of cheddar pushes the plate to about 25, which is half the Daily Value before lunch.

And no, scrambling doesn’t change the count in any way worth caring about.

4. Tofu Scramble

The word “firm” on a tofu package tells you almost nothing about protein. USDA lists one firm tofu at about 17 grams per 100 grams and another firm tofu at about 9. One “extra firm” block comes in at about 10.

So a half cup of scramble can be about 22 grams or about 11. Same word on the front, half the protein inside.

Skip the name and read the nutrition panel. It’s vegan either way.

5. Black Bean Breakfast Burrito

Everything in this burrito is working. Half a cup of black beans is about 8 grams, two eggs are about 13, and the 10-inch flour tortilla quietly adds about 6.

That’s about 26 grams you can eat with one hand. Canned beans or home-cooked, the number barely moves.

6. Tempeh Breakfast Hash

Tempeh is about one-fifth protein by weight. A 3 ounce portion crumbled into a potato hash is about 17 grams, and the whole thing is vegan.

7. Peanut Butter on Sprouted Toast

Two tablespoons of peanut butter on two slices of sprouted bread gets you about 17 grams. The bread does more of the work than the peanut butter, about 10 grams to 7.

Now the honest part about sprouted bread. A slice has about 5 grams and a slice of regular whole-wheat has about 4, mostly because the sprouted slice is bigger.

8. Overnight Oats With Soy Milk and Chia

Oats have a great reputation and a pretty average protein count. A cup of oatmeal cooked in water is about 6 grams, which doesn’t make this list.

The soy milk and chia do the lifting. Half a cup of dry oats, a cup of soy milk and an ounce of chia seeds land at about 16 to 18 grams, depending on which soy milk you buy.

9. Besan Chilla

Meet the entry-level one. Besan chilla is a savory chickpea-flour pancake from Indian cooking, and half a cup of the flour gets you about 10 grams.

That’s exactly the “high” line and not a gram more. Chickpea flour still carries close to twice the protein of whole-wheat bread by weight, and paneer or yogurt on the side pushes the plate up.

10. Lentils With a Fried Egg

Lentils for breakfast sounds wrong until you see the number. A cup of cooked lentils is about 18 grams, and one fried egg makes it about 24.

Leave the egg off and it’s vegan.

11. Edamame Toast

It’s the same green-mash-on-bread idea you already know. A cup of edamame on a slice of whole-wheat toast is about 22 grams, and most of it comes from the edamame.

12. Paneer Bhurji

Nobody can agree on how much protein is in paneer. USDA’s survey data says about 16 grams per 100 grams. Two brand labels say 25.

That’s a big gap for the same cheese, so check your package. Bhurji is paneer crumbled and scrambled, and it lands somewhere from good to great depending on what you bought.

13. Skyr

Skyr plays in the same league as Greek yogurt. A 150 gram cup of one major plain brand has about 17 grams.

Another brand runs lower, so don’t assume skyr wins automatically.

14. Kefir and Peanut Butter Smoothie

You can drink this one in the car. A cup of lowfat plain kefir is about 9 grams, two tablespoons of peanut butter add about 7, and you’re at about 16 without chewing.

15. Beans on Toast

Britain figured this out a long time ago. A cup of canned baked beans over two slices of whole-wheat toast is about 20 grams, and it takes about as much effort as cereal.

One catch. Some canned baked beans come with pork in them, so grab a can that says vegetarian.

16. Natto Over Rice

Natto is the breakfast that fights back. It’s fermented whole soybeans, a traditional Japanese breakfast food, and it’s famous for two things: a strong smell and a sticky, stringy texture that follows your chopsticks around like it has abandonment issues.

Half a cup is about 17 grams of protein, and that’s before counting the rice. Add mustard and scallions and you’ve got a vegan breakfast.

People either love it or try it exactly once.

17. Quinoa Porridge With Almonds

Quinoa gets a lot of credit it didn’t earn here. A cup of cooked quinoa is only about 8 grams.

Cook it into porridge with a cup of 2% milk and the milk matches it, gram for gram. An ounce of almonds (about 23 of them) adds about 6 more, for about 22 total.

18. Ricotta Toast With Pumpkin Seeds

Half a cup of part-skim ricotta on whole-wheat toast is about 18 grams. Good, not special.

Then an ounce of pumpkin seeds takes it to about 27. That’s a lot of return for a handful of seeds.

19. Seitan Breakfast Hash

The flour seitan is made from, vital wheat gluten, is about 75% protein by weight. Nothing else on this list comes close to that.

Seitan itself is a different story, because once it’s cooked it’s mostly water. Going by brand labels, a 3 ounce serving runs about 15 to 21 grams.

Still great for a vegan hash. It’s wheat gluten though, so it’s not for anyone avoiding gluten.

20. Shakshuka With Chickpeas

Two eggs in tomato sauce are about 13 grams. Half a cup of chickpeas stirred in adds about 7, and now your brunch order is a 20 gram breakfast.

The Bottom Line

Breakfast never had a meat problem. It had a cereal problem.