Whether classic or creative, the breakfast board is an excellent way to change up your breakfast routine. Here, I’ve got a couple ways to pull kid- and/or grown up-friendly breakfast boards together, plus a host of tips for making your own.
I can’t take credit for the breakfast board trend in our house. It was fully Brian’s idea. I can take credit for buying him that little German pig-shaped breakfast board from the Brooklyn Kitchen long ago, so that’s something.
The beginnings of the breakfast board in our house was less creative inspiration and more the need to feed our kids a better breakfast. Carb-y breakfasts (hello, cereal) led to afternoon crashes and tantrums. So Brian started making a more protein-rich breakfast with steamed eggs, a bit of cheese, pickles, prosciutto or tinned fish, and a few snack-y crackers or slices of baguette. Add sliced fruit and vegetables, seeds or nuts, mustard or a mix of balsamic and olive oil, salted butter, nut butter, jam, honey, ranch, whatever.
The breakfast board you make is entirely yours. Ideally, it should be protein heavy. Combine whatever you like. Sesame crackers and anchovies? Great. Delicious, even. Ranch and jarred artichokes? Weird, but totally fine. We look to traditional models for inspiration – the German breakfast board or Italian antipasto platter, for instance – but we are not bound by them.
Breakfast Board Basics
A great breakfast board begins with protein. Try 2 – 3 of the following:
- Steamed or soft-boiled eggs
- Cheeses: try fresh mozzarella, Swiss, cheddar, cheese sticks (halved), gjetost, or brie
- Meats: summer sausage, cured meats like prosciutto, speck, or salami, or pâté
- Fish: tinned sardines, anchovies, and herring, smoked salmon, or the weird creamed fish in a jar that my husband buys
Once you have your proteins settled, layer in pickles, fats, and crunchy, salty or sweet things:
- Pickles: cornichons, bread and butter, dill, pickled beets, carrots, or green beans, any kind of kraut, olives, jarred red peppers or artichokes
- Spreads and dips: mustard (we like to set out a few kinds), aioli, salted butter, jam, nut butters, olive oil and balsamic, or a favorite store-bought dressing
- Toasted nuts or seeds
- Seasonal fruit: Berries, citrus, apples and pears, stone fruit, or tropical fruits
- Seasonal vegetables: sliced radishes and carrots, steamed beets or green beans, fresh tomatoes or cucumbers
Other goodies:
- At last, add a few crunchy crackers or slices of baguette (Trader Joe’s has an excellent selection of little crackers)
- Sea salt, pepper, hot sauce, or everything spice
A quick note: because of food allergies, our home is nut free. This really limits the plant-based options for breakfast proteins here, but please feel free to liberally add nuts and nut butters to your boards.
Whether classic or creative, the breakfast board is an excellent way to change up your breakfast routine. Here, I've got a couple ways to pull kid- and/or grown up-friendly breakfast boards together, plus a host of tips for making your own.
- 2 - 4 steamed eggs (Steamed 7 minutes; click link for recipe)
- 2 ounces mozzarella Ciliegine
- 3 ounces salami
- 2 ounces Castelvetrano olives
- 2 plum tomatoes quartered
- 1 peach sliced
- A mix of little crackers
- Everything spice
- 2 - 4 steamed eggs (Steamed 7 minutes; click link for recipe)
- 2 ounces summer sausage sliced
- 2 ounces nutty cheddar sliced
- ¼ cup cornichons
- 4 European plums quartered
- 2 tablespoon Dijon mustard
- Rice crackers with sesame seeds
- OK Mok sesame crackers
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Arrange the eggs, meats, and cheese on a breakfast or cutting board. Tuck the pickles, fruit, and vegetables around the proteins. Add the crackers, spreads, and a little bowl of sea salt, and serve!
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