Best Brunch Recipes

By Food & Wine
Updated January 12, 2018
© John Kernick
Sweet or savory, brunch is our favorite meal of the day. Try a new twist on a classic, like eggs benedict, or something spicy, like Mexican-inspired baked eggs. These fabulous brunch recipes include everything from gooey glazed cinnamon rolls to brunch-appropriate salads.
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Tater Tot Waffles with Smoked Salmon and Caviar

© Eva Kolenko
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Jen Pelka of The Riddler in San Francisco makes supercrunchy and delicious waffles using Tater Tots. Here she tops the waffles with caviar and smoked salmon, creating a delicious and decadent dish that's ideal with Champagne.

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Ratatouille Toasts with Fried Eggs

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This is an ideal make-ahead brunch recipe; the luscious ratatouille tastes even better when made the day before.

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Butternut Squash and Kale Strata with Multigrain Bread

Con Poulos
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A terrific make-ahead breakfast strata from baker and pastry chef Zoe Nathan, who uses multigrain bread to add a distinct flavor to this satisfying casserole.

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Cinnamon-Raisin Bread Custard with Fresh Berries

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Chef Bradley Ogden’s 1987 recipe for ultrarich bread pudding is perfect for dessert or brunch. It can be made with store-bought bread, but it’s best made with a fresh bakery loaf, sliced 1/2 inch thick.

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Brioche with Prosciutto, Gruyère and Egg

© JOHNNY MILLER
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"I love a good frisée salad," says Suzanne Goin. "And of course I love toasted, buttery bread, with big slabs of melted cheese and prosciutto and an egg on top." Her sumptuous open-face sandwich, a staple at her A.O.C. wine bar since the place opened in Los Angeles in 2003, combines all her favorite things.Slideshow:Best Sandwiches in the U.S.

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Hellfire Club Bloody Mary

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Black pepper, Tabasco and fresh chile give this delicious Bloody Mary a fiery kick.

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Corned Beef Hash with Fried Eggs

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Colby Garrelts brines expensive wagyu for the homemade corned beef he uses in his tomato-rich, chunky hash. Home cooks can buy corned beef from the deli counter and cut it into thick pieces for this hash.

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Arugula-Endive Salad with Honeyed Pine Nuts

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This salad reinvents the classic combination of blue cheese and honey with crumbled Maytag blue and a crunchy, brittle-like garnish made from honey and pine nuts. Pine nuts have a subtle flavor that goes especially well with milder honeys, but other nuts, like pecans and walnuts, work nicely here, too.

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Butterscotch Sticky Buns

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“Over-the-top, sticky, gooey goodness—or, as I like to call it, ‘love.’ ” That’s how pastry chef Catherine Schimenti describes the thrilling moment she first dipped a warm sticky bun into sweet-salty butterscotch sauce. Schimenti flavors the sauce with a splash of Scotch. “I love adding glamour to old-school desserts,” she says.

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Breakfast Biscuit Sandwiches

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A giant step up from a fast-food breakfast sandwich, this biscuit is topped with eggs, cheese and country ham, jam optional.

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Pumpkin Pie-Croissant Pudding

© FREDRIKA STJÄRNE
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Bakers make traditional diplomat pudding with soaked ladyfingers or cake baked with fruit and custard. In this take, Frédéric Morin likes using the leftover croissants from Niemand Bakery. He says he always buys too much of everything, so he created this simple recipe for using up his leftovers.

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Mexican Eggs in Purgatory

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For the Italian breakfast dish Eggs in Purgatory, eggs are baked in a spicy tomato sauce. In this Mexican-inspired take, Grace Parisi substitutes a vibrant, fresh green sauce made with tomatillos, cilantro and scallions.

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Blueberry Muffins with Crumb Topping

Grace Parisi
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These muffins are easy to make: Simply mix the dry and wet ingredients separately, then combine them. Since the baking powder, which lightens the muffins, is activated by moisture, get the batter into the oven immediately. For soft edges, use liners; for crisp edges, use a well-greased, unlined pan. You can easily replace the blueberries with other kinds of fresh fruit, such as raspberries or peaches (chopped into small pieces).

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Wild Mushroom and Goat Cheese Omelets

John Kernick
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The idea for this creamy-tangy omelet comes from a fish dish often on the dinner menu at Grace Restaurant that includes some of the same ingredients here: shiitake mushrooms and delicate fresh pea shoots.

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Smuggler's Coffee

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This double rum coffee is deliciously flavored with cinnamon and orange zest.

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Spicy Honey-Glazed Bacon

PHOTO © TINA RUPP
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Slices of smoky bacon slathered in a spicy honey mixture are great at breakfast and addictive enough for a midnight snack.

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Vanilla Raised Doughnuts

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According to writer and recipe developer Jess Thomson, who helped Top Pot’s owners translate their recipes for the home cook, it’s best to weigh flour on a kitchen scale instead of using measuring cups. “When we tested the recipes for the book, that seemed to make a big difference,” she says.

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Poached Eggs with Sunchokes and Comté Polenta

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Home cooks can pair baked eggs with cheese polenta, evoking David Bouley’s Comté foam with polenta puree.

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Glazed Lemon-Ginger Scones

Con Poulos
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Aimee Olexy’s lemony, cream-based scones are light, moist and laced with pieces of chewy candied ginger.

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Fennel-and-Citrus Salad with Mint

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For his light, simple salad, chef Matthew Accarrino mixes grapefruit and orange segments with shaved fennel and a sweet-tart honey-lemon dressing.

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Three-Cheese-and-Herb Frittata Sandwiches

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Adding parsley, chives and cheese creates a fresh-tasting, creamy frittata that is terrific warm, at room temperature or chilled.

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Ham and Sausage Strata

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The strata needs to be refrigerated for at least 4 hours or overnight before baking, so plan accordingly.

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Asparagus and Bok-Choy Frittata

© KAREN MORDECHAI
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When making an Italian frittata, don’t limit yourself to traditional ingredients. The Asian flavors that fill this version offer a real change of pace.

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The Breslin's Ricotta Pancakes with Orange Syrup

PHOTO © LUCY SCHAEFFER
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Guests at the Ace Hotel can order April Bloomfield’s pancakes in their rooms or at her restaurant, The Breslin. While the pancakes are delicious on their own, they’re exquisite with the soft ricotta topping, crunchy sliced almonds and ingeniously vibrant (and neon-bright) orange syrup.

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Potato Pancakes with Smoked Salmon, Caviar and Dill Cream

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Although Wolfgang Puck is best known for putting smoked salmon, caviar and dill-flecked crème fraîche on his designer pizzas, he also loves this trio of toppings with his exceptionally crispy potato pancakes, a dish he makes frequently when cooking at home. All three garnishes are wonderfully decadent together; still, you can leave out the smoked salmon or the caviar.

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Eggs Benedict with Bacon and Arugula

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In her version of eggs Benedict, Tara Lazar swaps in applewood-smoked bacon for the usual Canadian bacon, because she prefers its rich flavor and crisp texture.

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Blueberry-Sour Cream Coffee Cake

© Fredrika Stjärne
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Blueberry preserves give this moist cake a pretty swirl and a fruity sweetness.

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Homefries with Jalapeños

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Steel-Cut Oatmeal with Soy Milk

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Chef Art Smith says that eating breakfast speeds up his metabolism and also fuels his intense workouts. He swears by steel-cut oatmeal, which has an appealing chewy texture.

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Glazed Cinnamon Rolls with Pecan Swirls

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Baking these cinnamon rolls in big batches makes the effort worth it—they take time but are so satisfying.

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Custardy Baked Orzo with Spinach, Bacon and Feta

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Few Americans eat pasta for breakfast, but this Greek-inspired recipe with orzo, leeks and bacon aims to make a few converts.

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Homemade Bagels

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The trick to these crisp, chewy bagels is the poolish, a fermentation starter (also known as a mother dough) made with bread flour, yeast and water. It is quickly assembled the night before the bagels are made.

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Open-Face Egg and Griddled Ham Breakfast Sandwiches

© Nicole Franzen
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F&W's Justin Chapple poaches a dozen eggs at once in a muffin pan in the oven, making his cute and tasty breakfast sliders extraordinarily easy to prepare for entertaining.

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Blueberry Dutch Baby

© Eva Kolenko
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Cookbook author Ben Mims uses pomegranate juice to sweeten the batter for this light and berry-rich pancake.