10 Breakfast Staples I Always Have as a 20-Something on a Budget

Eggs are always in my fridge — no exceptions. But I don't resort to making scrambled eggs or fried eggs in the morning because, as little time as those take, sometimes there's just not enough. I've found that the easiest way to guarantee I eat a healthy and filling breakfast on weekday mornings is to prep a week's worth of egg muffins on a Sunday evening. A muffin tin creates the perfect individual portions, and all I have to do in the mornings is grab two from the fridge and heat them in the microwave for one minute. If I don't, I inevitably buy an overpriced breakfast sandwich or bagel to satiate my intense hunger before 9 a.m. Below are a few recipes to get you started, but you can swap any of the ingredients for your favorite veggies, meats, or cheeses.

Recipes to try:

Stocking up on apples is my favorite way to make sure I'm eating enough fruit, and starting my day with one makes me feel significantly more energized. Did you know apples can give you as much energy as coffee? I also love that apples stay fresh longer than fresh berries: if you don't finish your apples one week, they'll still be good the next.

Pairing sliced apples with almond butter or peanut butter — aka protein — makes them more filling. I like to pack an apple and a couple tablespoons of nut butter in my bag to have as a desk-side breakfast or late-morning snack. Having peanut butter on hand also means I can spread it on toast with honey or make peanut butter banana oatmeal.

Speaking of oatmeal, it's another breakfast staple on my grocery list. Oatmeal is by no means the most exciting breakfast, but it's one of the cheapest and most filling. For a step above the microwaveable packets, I opt for quick-cook steel-cut oats ($2 at Trader Joe's). These stove-top oats cook in about eight minutes, and the container lasts for weeks in my pantry.

Recipes to try:

Because oatmeal has a bland flavor and mushy texture, it needs a little help from the toppings department. I like to keep dried figs, dried cranberries, toasted almonds, and granola in my pantry because they last a long time and are always there when I need to sprinkle some extras on a bowl of plain oatmeal.

Get the recipe: choose-your-own-adventure steel-cut oats

Trader Joe's Cultured Salted Butter ($3) is the only butter I absolutely have to have in my fridge. On mornings when I have time to do more than heat up an egg muffin, I make cheesy scrambled eggs with butter and spread the butter on crunchy toast.

Coffee is my lifeline — if my day doesn't start with a hot cup (or three), bad things happen. I like picking up locally made batches in San Francisco from places like Sightglass, Philz, or Four Barrel, but I also love the cheaper store brands from Trader Joe's and Whole Foods (don't forget: both stores have in-store grinders for whole bean coffee). Buying the coffee is step one for ensuring I brew it myself at home, but the other essential for me is setting up the coffee maker the night before so all I have to do is press the "on" button when I'm still half asleep in the morning.

To switch things up on occasion, I also love to make my own iced coffees (because those $4 iced coffees really add up). The secret to making quick iced coffee without making homemade cold brew is to combine instant coffee with cream — I like Califia Farms's almond milk products — a touch of sweetener, and ice in a to-go cup. You could also simply store extra coffee from the coffee pot in the fridge for the next day.

Get the recipe: quick iced coffee

On those mornings when I actually do have a few minutes to spare, I love sizzling up a couple pieces of bacon . . . and then scrambling eggs in the bacon fat. My favorite bacon, hands down, is Trader Joe's Uncured Dry-Rubbed Sliced Bacon. It's less than $5, and it's the best store-bought bacon I've ever had. Plus, unlike many other brands of bacon, this one is free of sodium nitrate and nitrite. Not only do I keep it as a breakfast staple, but I also love that I can use it throughout the week in dinners like pasta carbonara.

Thanks to its mild flavor and crazy-quick cooking time, spinach is the ideal vegetable to include in your morning routine to sneak in some extra nutrition. While I'm heating up a skillet for eggs, I like to toss in a handful of spinach first and sauté it to add to a quick omelet with parmesan or cheddar.

Get the recipe: vegetarian omelet