20 Quick & Healthy Breakfast Ideas For Working Women

Breakfast is considered the most important meal of the day. It kicks off our day. But our busy mornings leave us with little time to make and eat breakfast. Perhaps, it is time to rethink our daily schedule and give healthy breakfast a chance to shine. 

An excellent, filling breakfast gives us plenty of energy to help concentrate and complete all our tasks. But unfortunately, in today’s fast-paced world breakfast is often neglected. We tend to rush through it, or worse, skip it entirely. Fortunately, there are several healthy breakfast recipes in Indian cuisine that are here to your rescue. 

20 Desi Healthy Breakfast Recipes That Are Worth Trying

1. Upma

Upma is a South Indian dish made out of rava or suji. Rava is known as semolina in English.

Cooking Time: 12 to 20 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1 cup rava
• 1 small onion
• 2 green chillies
• 2 spring onion stems
• Finely chopped carrots and capsicum

Method: 

1. Roast the semolina to give it a toasted flavour. To make the cooking process more comfortable, you can cut up the vegetables the night before. 
2. Fry the vegetables in oil till they are cooked. Add a pinch of salt. Add the rava to the mix. Pour some water if it gets too dry.

You can also make upma using millets such as foxtail millet, Kodo millet, or sama/bhagar. Millet upmas are filling and perfect for a low-calorie breakfast.

2. Aloo Paratha

Cooking Time: 30 minutes

Ingredients:

• 2 large potatoes
• A handful of coriander leaves (dhaniya)
• 4 tablespoons butter
• 1.5 tablespoons salt
• 4 green chillies
• 1 tablespoon red chilli
• 2 cups of wheat flour
• ½ cup of water
• Ghee as required

Method: 

1. Boil the potatoes and mash them in a large bowl. 
2. In the potatoes, add green chillies, dhaniya, and mix well. 
3. Put wheat flour in a large mixing bowl. 
4. Add water and knead into a soft dough. 
5. Make small-medium balls of the dough. 
6. Roll them out into 3 to 4-inch circles. 
7. Add a spoonful of potato filling in the centre. 
8. Close the dough and round it with your fingers. 
9. Now roll them with a rolling pin into round parathas. 
10. Heat a tawa and roast the parathas, cooking them on both sides with ghee. 

3. Rice Sevai Upma 

Cooking Time: 30 minutes

Ingredients: 

• A packet of rice sevai
• 4 cups of water
• 1 teaspoon mustard seeds (rai)
• 1 or 2 chopped green chillies
• ½ inch finely chopped ginger (adrak)
• 1 medium onion (finely chopped)
• 5 to 8 curry leaves (kadi patta)
• 12 to 15 cashews (kaju) (halved)
• 1 cup of chopped coriander leaves (dhaniya patta)
• 1 small to medium lime or lemon (sliced or diced) to be served with the upma
• Salt as required
• 2 tablespoons oil

Method: 

1. Boil the rice sevai in a pan. Once done, drain the water and keep the sevai aside. 
2. In a different pan, heat 2 tablespoons of oil. It could be coconut, sesame or olive oil. Fry the cashew nuts first till golden. Then add the mustard seeds. Then fry the onion till they are pink. 
3. Add the ginger, chilli and curry leaves after this. You can also add some other vegetables to this such as tomatoes or capsicum. 
4. Add salt to the mix. 
5. Squeeze lemon juice on top and serve. 

4. Tomato Uttapam

Cooking Time: 30 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1 cup of idli rice
• ½ cup of rice
• ½ cup of white urad dal (split)
• Sesame oil, or ghee
• ½ cup of chopped onions
• ½ cup of chopped tomatoes or sliced cherry tomatoes
• 1 to 2 tablespoons chopped green chillies
• 2 tablespoons chopped coriander leaves (dhaniya)
• Salt, to taste
• Water as required

Method:

1. First, you have to prepare the batter for the uttapam. Soak raw rice and idli rice together, by combining the two and covering them with water in a bowl, for 6-7 hours. After 6-7 hours, rinse the rice mixture and urad dal mixture 2 to 3 times free of the soaking water. 
2. Grind the rice mixture into a smooth batter. Then grind the urad dal as well. Mix both batters together. 
3. Pour the batter into a large utensil, cover and set it aside to ferment for at least 8 to 10 hours. Make sure that the utensil has enough space for the batter to rise when it ferments. This fermentation process can be done overnight.
4. Chop all the vegetables and mix them well into the batter. Add salt to it. 
5. Preheat a non-stick tawa on medium heat. Take one ladle of uttapam batter and pour it on the tawa. Spread it around in thick circles. Cook on medium heat for 2 to 3 minutes or until the base is cooked. Flip the uttapam when the base is prepared to cook the reverse side as well. 

5. Vegetable Sandwich

Cooking Time: 20 minutes

Ingredients:

• 8 wheat/brown bread slices
• 1 small finely chopped onion
• ¼ chopped green bell pepper (capsicum)
• 40-50 grams of coriander leaves (dhaniya)
• 2 medium-boiled potatoes
• ½ cup boiled green peas
• 1 small chopped green chilli
• 1 teaspoon chaat masala
• ⅛ teaspoon black pepper powder
• ¼ teaspoon lemon juice
• ½ inch chopped ginger
• ¼ cup mozzarella cheese (optional)
• 1 big clove of garlic
• Salt as required

Method: 

1. Grind fresh coriander leaves (dhaniya), garlic, green chilli, and ginger in a grinder and make a paste. 
2. Add ¼ teaspoon lemon juice and a pinch of salt.  
3. In a big bowl, add the onion, bell pepper (capsicum), mashed green peas, roughly mashed potatoes, mozzarella cheese (optional), black pepper powder, salt as required and 2.5 tablespoons of prepared paste (coriander, garlic, ginger, chilli paste). 
4. Mix everything thoroughly and your stuffing will be ready. 
5. On the bread slices, spread this stuffing evenly. 
6. Toast the sandwich on a pan or in a toaster. 
7. Cut it into 2 pieces diagonally to make triangles. 
8. Serve with chutney or ketchup.

6. Onion Rava Dosa

Cooking Time: 30 minutes

Ingredients: 

• ½ cup unroasted rava (sooji or semolina)
• ½ cup of rice flour
• 1 finely chopped green chilli
• 1 medium finely chopped onion 
• 5 to 6 curry leaves 
• ½ inch finely chopped ginger
• 9 to 10 crushed black peppercorns (kali mirch)
• 1 tablespoon chopped coriander leaves (dhaniya)
• Salt, to taste
• Oil as required

Method:

1. Mix the rava, rice flour, green chillies, ginger, onion, dhaniya, and kali mirch in a bowl. 
2. Pour water and make a thin batter of medium consistency.
3. Heat the tawa or non-stick pan. Spread a bit of oil on the pan. With a ladle pour the dosa batter from the edges towards the centre. 
4. Drizzle  ¼ or ½ or 1 teaspoon of oil from the top. 
5. Cook till the base is golden and crisp. 
6. Flip and cook the other side. 
7. When both sides are cooked, remove the dosa from the pan. 
8. Serve the hot dosa immediately.

7. Adai Dosa

Just like the moong dal cheela, adai dosa is also made from lentils. 

Cooking Time: 25 minutes

Ingredients: 

• ¼ cup of chana dal
• ¼ cup of toor dal
• 2 tablespoons moong dal
• 2 tablespoons urad dal
• ¾ cup of rice 
• 1 finely chopped green chilli
• 1 finely chopped onion
• 5 to 6 curry leaves 
• ⅛ teaspoon hing (asafoetida)
• ½ inch finely chopped ginger
• 1-2 tablespoons chopped coriander leaves
• Salt, to taste
• Ghee/oil as required

Method:

1. Soak the rice, toor dal, chana dal, moong dal, urad dal and chillies for 2 to 3 hours. 
2. Later, drain the water. Add the ingredients to a grinder. 
3. Add chilli, ginger and hing to the grinder and blend to a fine paste.
4. Allow it to ferment and keep this mixture aside for another 4 to 7 hours or overnight. 
5. In the morning, add onions, coriander, chilli and salt to the batter and mix it well. 
6. Then, on a heated tawa, add a ladle full of the batter, and spread it around to make a circle.
7. Add ½ teaspoon to 1 teaspoon of ghee or oil on the sides. 
8. Allow it to become crisp and cooked. 
9. Repeat the process till the batter is over. 

8. Tofu Bhurji

If you are a vegan, tofu is an essential ingredient to stock in your pantry.

Cooking Time: 15 minutes

Ingredients:

• 200 gms regular tofu or silken tofu
• 1 finely chopped medium onion
• 1 finely chopped large tomato
• 1 finely chopped green chilli
• ½ inch finely chopped ginger
• 1 small finely chopped clove of garlic
• ½ teaspoon cumin seeds
• 1 pinch of turmeric powder
• 1 pinch red chilli powder
• ¼ teaspoon garam masala (optional)
• 1.5 tablespoons oil 
• 1 tablespoon chopped coriander leaves
• Salt, to taste

Method:

1. Crumble the tofu and keep aside.
2. In a pan, heat some oil; add garlic and cumin seeds. Wait till the cumin seeds turn a little brown
3. Then, add onions and fry till they soften.
4. Add the ginger and green chillies and fry for a few seconds.
5. Add tomatoes and fry till they soften.
6. Sprinkle the turmeric powder, chilli powder, salt and garam masala and stir.
7. Add scrambled tofu and stir well.
8. Sauté for 3-4 minutes.
9. Add coriander leaves as dressing.
10. Serve with hot bread or rotis.

Bell peppers, button mushrooms, broccoli and zucchini can be added to the vegetables too. Tofu bhurji is high in protein and goes well with crunchy, toasted bread. Be sure to give this power-packed healthy breakfast a try one hectic morning! It is easy to make and keeps you full of energy for a long time.

9. Beetroot & Sesame Thepla

Healthy breakfast ideas allow our creative juices to flow and make us innovate and experiment! Thepla is a popular and easy-to-make-breakfast recipe. Methi theplas are made the most often. But eating the same thing over and over again can get a tad bit monotonous. This is when we need to invent new recipes! Beetroot and sesame thepla does just that. It gives us something new to relish.

Cooking Time: 25 minutes

Ingredients:

• 2 grated beetroots
• 2 cups of whole wheat flour
• 1 teaspoon cumin powder (jeera)
• 1 teaspoon garam masala
• 1 teaspoon red chilli powder
• 3 green chillies
• 1 teaspoon ghee
• 3 teaspoons sesame seeds (til)
• Salt, to taste

Method:

1. To make this healthy breakfast, mix the beetroot, garam masala, salt, cumin powder, chilli powder, chillies, sesame seeds and ghee together.
2. Add the whole wheat flour into the same mixing bowl and knead it to a smooth dough with some water.
3. Then, add a small amount of wheat flour dough and flatten it using a rolling pin into a flat round dough.
4. Heat a tawa and cook the flattened dough on it.
5. Cook it for about a minute and flip the thepla and let it cook on the other side for a minute.
6. Apply butter or oil as needed while cooking.

10. Rice Flour Crepes

Cooking Time: 20 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1 cup of rice flour
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch
• ½ teaspoon sugar
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ½ cup of milk
• ¼ cup of water

Method: 

1. Whisk all ingredients together.
2. Stir till bubbles form in the batter. 
3. On a hot tawa, spread a ladle of the batter and spread it in circular motions. 
4. Cook till the side becomes crisp and brown. 
5. Flip it and cook the other side.
6. Serve hot with fresh fruit

Learn 10 vegan recipes that are perfect for breakfast, lunch and dinner here.

11. Poha

Poha is an all-time favourite healthy breakfast from Maharashtra. The most prevalent version is kande pohe which is made using onions. You could also make aloo poha and add both onions and potatoes. Peanuts add a lovely nutty flavour to the poha. A slightly different version of poha comes from the holy city of Benaras called the chooda matar. In North India, poha is known as chooda. In chooda matar, the fresh peas of winter are fried, and poha or chooda is added to it, along with lots of cumin seeds which gives the dish an added zing! A plate of poha with masala tea is an absolute delight! 

12. Oats Dosa

If you love dosa but don’t have the time to make the batter and let it ferment, then oats are a must in the kitchen. Oats do not require any soaking the day before, nor do they need fermenting. 

• You only need to grind the oats that you have to a fine powder.
• Pour water into the flour until it reaches a liquid consistency and viola, your batter is ready! 
• Pour the mixture into a pan, and the dosas are prepared to have with any sabzi you like. 

You can also make many other easy healthy breakfast recipes with oats such as oats upma, oats idli and oats dhokla. 

13. Cheela

Cheelas are not only a favoured perennial North Indian breakfast but also an easy low-calorie breakfast. While besan cheelas are the most popular of the lot, you can experiment with any kind of flour and a variety of vegetables. 

• Use rice, barley, jowar (sorghum), buckwheat flour instead of besan 
• Use versatile veggies like spinach, bok choy (pak choi), spring onion, cauliflower, coriander and capsicum can be added to the batter. 
• For a  healthy breakfast, you can also use moong dal to make your batter. 
• Soak the moong dal overnight. 
• In the morning, grind it to a paste
• Pour the batter into a frying pan to make the cheelas. 

It is best to have them with a paneer bhurji. 

14. Dal Parathas 

Among the most popular healthy breakfast ideas is cooking parathas. If you have leftover dal, you can reuse them by making delectable dal parathas! 

• One essential step before stuffing the dal into the paratha is to dry out the dal. Do not leave any water. 
• Boil the dal till it is completely dry. 
• Let the dried dal cool down. 
• Then, take small pieces from the whole wheat dough. 
• Roll them with the rolling pin. 
• In the centre, place the dal filling. 
• Close it from all sides. 
• Flatten this stuffed dough once again. 
• Then cook the paratha on both sides of a hot tawa.

15. Paniyaram

Though this is a quick recipe, one needs a special pan to make this! They are small ball-shaped dumplings usually made with fermented urad dal and rice batter but can be made with any other batter as well. The paniyaram pan is best if it is made of cast iron and has small cavities where the batter can be poured and cooked on low heat. There are sweet and savoury versions of this easy breakfast. 

16. Bread Upma

If you have some leftover bread with you, but you are tired of making the same old butter toast, try this recipe out! This is also the easiest of all healthy breakfast recipes. 

• Tear the bread slices into smaller pieces.
• In a kadai, heat some oil. 
• Add hing, chillies, cumin seeds, and mustard to the oil. 
• Then sauté some chopped onions. 
• Add in a variety of vegetables next such as tomatoes, peas, capsicum and carrots.
• Add salt and masala. 
• Fry them till they are semi-cooked. 
• Lastly, add the bread pieces to the mixture. 
• Stir well so that the bread soaks up all the spices and flavours.

Now that’s having your bread with a twist! 

17. Crepes Made Using Buckwheat & Amaranth Leaves

This is another creative healthy breakfast idea. Buckwheat flour or kuttu ka atta is most often consumed during Navratri fast and is a good substitute for wheat flour. It is also best consumed during winter as it gives warmth to the body. Amaranth leaves are chorai or cholai saag. 

• To make them, you need to chop the amaranth leaves finely. 
• Then add them to a bowl of buckwheat flour. 
• Pour the water into the bowl and mix the ingredients until you get a liquid consistency.
• On a hot tawa or pan, pour a ladle of this batter, and spread it to form a circular shape. 
• Add ghee on the edges. 
• Flip it when one side browns. 
• Add ghee to the other side as well.
• Cook it till the entire crepe or cheela is browned and crisp. 

18. Ragi Vermicelli

The vermicelli available in the market is usually the rice variety. Still, if you hunt stores in South India, you are sure to find ragi vermicelli which is a healthier option. 

• Steam the ragi vermicelli in a cooker, or you could boil it as one boils pasta.
• Fry hing, mustard seeds, urad dal and curry leaves in a kadai. 
• Add onions and sauté. 
• Adding an assortment of vegetables like carrots, potatoes, peas and tomatoes makes this a healthier option. 
• Let all the vegetables become semi-cooked and then add the boiled ragi vermicelli to the kadai and mix it well.

19. Ajwain Paratha

Everyone loves aloo paratha. But even easier to make is ajwain parathas which are great for digestion. 

• The usual process of making a paratha is followed. 
• But to the dough, carom seeds or ajwain are added along with salt and chilli. 
• You can add some ghee and malai or cream as well to make the dough softer. 
• If you have ajwain leaves, you can add them to the dough instead of the seeds. 

Ajwain plants are easy to grow at home. Ajwain leaves can be plucked and ground to a mix and then added to the flour to make the dough. 

20. Sabudana Khichdi

While sago or sabudana is mostly consumed during fasts, there is no harm in eating them regularly. It is actually a healthy option.

• To make the khichdi, soak the sago pearls overnight. 
• Next morning, drain the water. 
• Then, fry or roast some peanuts in oil (other alternatives include almonds or sesame/flax seeds).
• Add ginger, chilli, cumin seeds and potato. 
• Fry till it is cooked
• Add the soaked sago to the vegetables. 
• Stir the mixture to let the sago soak the spices and flavours. 
• Garnish with coriander leaves

And that’s it! Within about 20 minutes, your sabudana khichdi is ready. This is by far, one of the quickest healthy breakfast recipes! 

Looking to get more creative with your breakfast? Then try this buttery, melt-in-your-mouth garlic mushrooms recipe – enhanced with Indian spices adds a much-needed desi tadka to this Spanish dish!