These are the top 10 breakfast foods in America (2024)

Breakfast isn't just the most important meal of the day, it's also the best meal of the day. (And if you don't agree, I'm sorry but you're wrong.) I'll eat breakfast for breakfast, breakfast for lunch, and breakfast for dinner. Basically, there is no limit to the eggs, toast, and waffles that I can—and will—consume.

I'm not alone in my love of a.m. eats, either. A survey revealed the 10 most popular breakfast foods in the U.S., from the crispiest bacon to the fluffiest pancakes. Here are the winners, plus our tips on how to make them all yourself.

10. Doughnuts

There are people who like doughnuts—and then there are people who obviously just don't have good taste. Because who can deny the fluffy, sugary, warm goodness that is a fresh-baked doughnut on a cool morning?

Pro tip: You can even make your own in the air fryer in under 10 minutes. (Or you can take the lazy route and have them delivered to your door effort-free.)

Shop doughnuts at Goldbelly

9. Home fries

Call them home fries, call them hash browns, call them breakfast potatoes... no matter the name, they're all mouthwateringly good.

The trick to the perfect diner-style potatoes—which are crispy on the outside but soft on the inside—toss your potatoes (with the skins on, of course!) in a cast-iron skillet until they're browned. (Our favorite is the Lodge 12-inch skillet.)

$40 at Amazon

8. Oatmeal

Oatmeal is like the Taylor Swift of breakfast foods: It was always good but kind of flew under-the-radar until it reinvented itself (hello, insane Instagram oatmeal bowls) and completely blew up.

While that metaphor might be a stretch, you get the point—oatmeal isn't just for your grandma anymore. Not only is it timelessly popular, it's also delicious, filling, and most importantly, healthy.

7. Fresh fruit

I love fruit as much as the next person but a single banana does not a filling breakfast make. We love packing fresh fruit (like strawberries, blueberries, or raspberries) with yogurt and granola in these handy containers for healthy, more satiating breakfast.

$19 at Amazon

6. Cereal

With the exception of Corn Flakes (sorry not sorry), I don't think you can go wrong with any cereal, especially the sugary kinds that yield that deliciously sweet milk for drinking at the end.

But if you're looking for a healthier alternative to the nostalgic, saccharine varieties of our youth, Magic Spoon is a grown-up version that's high in protein and low in sugar. Shop at Magic Spoon

5. Bacon

PSA: You're probably making your bacon wrong. After we tried three popular methods (oven, stovetop, and microwave), we found that making bacon in the oven is the best.

However, our kitchen and cooking editor explains that she still sticks to the stove when she's cooking for a crowd: "My perfect bacon method is getting a huge cast iron skillet, placing the bacon in while the pan's still cold, and then cooking low and slow until crispy and browned on both sides, flipping throughout."

4. Pancakes

Sweet or savory, plain or chocolate chip, dusted with powdered sugar or swimming in syrup—no matter how you make them, pancakes will always have my heart. You can whip them up on a Saturday morning on our favorite electric griddles—the Hamilton Beach 3-in-1 Electric Indoor Grill. If you're feeling extra creative, try your hand at these Japanese soufflé pancakes to make your morning (or evening!) extra special.

$70 at Amazon

3. Toast

Toast is—and always has been—my favorite food. In fact, one of my mom's favorite stories to tell is how I once ate 10 pieces for breakfast when I was 5 years old. And while I use a toaster (setting #4, please) our editor-in-chief, David Kender, does not. Instead, he makes his toast in the oven using the broiler.

If you value the convenience of a toaster, though, we recommend the Breville Die-Cast 2-Slice Smart Toaster.

$160 at Amazon

2. Sausage

Everyone knows that a good breakfast has the perfect balance of carbs, protein, and fats. Get the second two with some sausage, which is as tasty as it is filling.

If you have a stand mixer (like the cult-favorite KitchenAid), you can even make your own sausage at home using a food grinder attachment.

$450 at Amazon

$90 at Amazon

1. Eggs

There are so many ways to eat eggs, from scrambled to over easy to fried to hard-boiled. One of my favorite hacks for the best scrambled eggs is one that I stole from Gordon Ramsay: Add a dash of crème fraîche and butter for richness and top them with chopped chives for flavor.

We also love making convenient and portable egg bites in the Dash egg bite maker for healthy, protein-packed breakfasts on busy weekday morning.

$50 at Amazon

Prices were accurate at the time this article was published but may change over time.