18 Easy Breakfast for Dinner Recipes That Everyone Will Love

Short on time or dinner ideas? Turn to breakfast recipes and make it brinner.

By
Robin Shreeves
Robin Shreeves
Robin Shreeves
Robin Shreeves is a food and beverage writer.
Learn about Simply Recipes' Editorial Process
Published September 18, 2023
Robin Shreeves
A plate of sweet potato waffles topped with a sunny side up egg and chives

Simply Recipes / Sally Vargas

When my son was two, he had an interactive book that asked questions, and he had to use a stylus to touch the correct picture answer. One of the categories asked toddlers if certain foods were served at breakfast or dinner. He would get very frustrated when we got to pancakes because as far as he knew, pancakes were dinner food. The book would buzz, indicating he was choosing the wrong answer, and I would have to explain to a befuddled toddler that he wasn't wrong, but neither was the book.

I've always embraced breakfast for dinner, or brinner as it's sometimes called. Sometimes I choose to make traditional breakfast foods for dinner because they're quick to cook up. Sometimes, I choose to do so because I simply want to switch up our usual dinner routine.

These 18 breakfast recipes range from super quick omelets to easy casseroles that are large enough for two dinners—one for tonight and one to free for another night. Some of them are even make ahead, so you can just heat up brinner, fill up, and get on with your busy night.

  • Breakfast Pizza With Cheddar, Bacon, and Eggs

    Overhead view of a breakfast pizza topped with eggs.

    Simply Recipes / Sally Vargas

    For a quick dinner, use store-bought dough or crust (or make your own if you'd like) as the base for this pizza topped with cheddar, bacon, and eggs. Partially cook the pizza before adding the eggs, then finish it off until you cook the eggs to your liking.

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  • Sheet Pan English Breakfast

    English breakfast on a sheet pan with mushrooms, eggs, beans, tomatoes, and sausage
    Nick Evans

    If you've ever had a full English breakfast, you'll know how filling it can be. Sausage, beans, tomatoes, mushrooms, and eggs fill a plate. This sheet pan version makes 4 servings with little cleanup.

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  • Sweet Potato Waffles with Fried Eggs

    Sweet Potato Waffles with Bacon, Scallions and Fried Eggs
    Sally Vargas

    Here's a waffle recipe that's perfect for breakfast, lunch, or dinner. The waffles are made with mashed sweet potatoes. Top them with eggs, bacon, and scallions. Then drizzle with honey.

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  • Easy Breakfast Casserole

    Breakfast Casserole with mushrooms and broccoli in a glass baking dish
    Elise Bauer

    This adaptable casserole recipe is your best friend. You'll need to have eggs, cheese, milk, and bread on hand, but you can fill it with whatever meats, such as bacon or crumbled sausage, as well as any veggies you have on hand. You can bake it right away after you've assembled it, or if you have the time in the morning, put it together, leave it uncooked in the fridge, and put it in the oven as soon as you get home.

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    Continue to 5 of 18 below.

  • Chorizo and Egg Tacos

    Breakfast Taco Recipe with Chorizo and Eggs
    Irvin Lin

    Protein-packed chorizo and scrambled eggs are great dinner ingredients. Put them in a taco and top them with the usual taco toppings, and these breakfast tacos may become your go-to dinner tacos.

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  • Corned Beef Hash

    Corned Beef Hash in a Cast Iron Skillet

    Simply Recipes / Annika Panikker

    Chop up corned beef, leftover from making homemade corned beef or deli corned beef and potatoes, and then pan fry them with onions. Serve the hash with fried eggs on the side and let the yolk run into the hash for extra yumminess.

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  • Breakfast Wraps with Spinach and Feta

    spinach, scrambled egg and feta wrap with tomatoes and spinach on side
    Sally Vargas

    Here's a brilliant idea—make ahead spinach and feta wraps. They're intended to be breakfast wraps, but this recipe for wraps with scrambled egg are perfect to grab for dinner, too. Store them in the fridge or freezer and reheat in the microwave.

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  • Savory Dutch Baby Pancake with Salmon and Fried Egg

    Dutch baby pancake topped with egg, salmon, and tomatoes in a skillet
    Sally Vargas

    A Dutch baby is a pancake that's baked in a hot skillet. This version becomes a complete meal when you add salmon and an egg on top. It comes together in just 30 minutes, making it a quick, unexpected dinner.

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    Continue to 9 of 18 below.

  • Zucchini Breakfast Casserole

    zucchini casserole with ricotta and tomatoes in a casserole dish
    Elise Bauer

    It's sort of a casserole, sort of a strata, kind of a frittata but it's baked instead of cooked on the stove. Bread, cheese (Parm and cottage), eggs, zucchini, tomato, and basil go into a 9x13-inch baking dish for dinner (or breakfast or lunch) for a crowd.

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  • Shakshuka with Feta, Olives, and Peppers

    The Best Shakshuka in a skillet.
    Sally Vargas

    This one-skillet dish of eggs and bell peppers simmer on the stovetop in a cumin and smoked paprika infused tomato sauce. Sprinkle feta and pitted olives to top it off. Serve with crusty bread to soak up all the goodness.

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  • Buttermilk Pancakes

    buttermilk pancakes topped with blueberries and syrup on a gray plate
    Sally Vargas

    No breakfast for dinner list would be complete without pancakes. Buttermilk gives these pancakes a tangy note, but otherwise, these are straight forward pancakes waiting for you to top with whatever you want such as blueberries or go salty and top with bacon or proscuitto before adding the maple syrup.

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  • Spiced Pumpkin Waffles

    pumpkin waffles with apple sauce
    Elise Bauer

    Spiced with cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg, these waffles are made with pumpkin purée. Top with toasted pecans and whipped ricotta to make them savory. Or go ahead and do them up breakfast style with apple sauce and maple syrup.

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    Continue to 13 of 18 below.

  • Breakfast Quesadilla with Black Beans and Eggs

    black bean and egg quesadillas on a blue plate with salsa on the side
    Sally Vargas

    Twenty minutes and dinner is ready. Make a batch of these scrambled eggs, black bean, green chile, red onion, and cheese quesadillas stuffed into flour tortillas, and you can freeze the extras for nights when you don't even have 20 minutes to make dinner.

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  • Easy Breakfast Casserole With Prosciutto

    slice of cheesy casserole with a side salad
    Katie Morford

    Easy to make, this savory breakfast casserole makes an excellent dinner. Add eggs and torn bread pieces together and then throw in vegetables such as asparagus and greens, proscuitto, milk, cottage cheese and cheddar. Omit the poscuitto, and it's vegetarian. Serve with a fresh salad.

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  • Denver Omelet

    Denver Omelet with Mixed Greens on Plate

    Ross Yoder / Simply Recipes

    If you have leftover ham and some bell peppers, you have what you need for this omelet. Add cheddar cheese to whip up a classic Denver omelet. Serve with your favorite hot sauce.

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  • German Farmer's Breakfast

    German breakfast of ham, potatoes and bell pepper on a white plate
    Elise Bauer

    Fancy some Bauernfruhstuck for dinner? That's the German word for this hearty meal of potatoes, eggs, green onion, bell peppers, parsley, and chopped ham. Top with ketchup.

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    Continue to 17 of 18 below.

  • Huevos Rancheros

    Huevos Rancheros Topped Chopped Cilantro on a Plate, and Surrounded by, a Small Plate of Chopped Cilantro, Orange Juice, a Bowl of Salsa, and a Deep Yellow Table Napkin With a Fork

    Simply Recipes / Ciara Kehoe

    Eggs, salsa, and tortillas are three simple ingredients that make one delicious meal in 20 minutes. Heat corn tortillas in olive oil in a pan. Top the tortillas with salsa and fried eggs. Sprinkle with cilantro. Chow down.

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  • Zucchini Tomato Quiche

    tomato quiche in a pie plate
    Elise Bauer

    A great make ahead, breakfast, lunch, brunch, or dinner, this quiche is full of vegetables, cream, Parm, and herbs. It keeps in the fridge for 3 days or in the freezer for about 3 months so you can have it one night, and then save slices for other nights you're in a hurry.

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