Breakfast: step-by-step recipes

How to plan breakfasts for a busy week

The secret to a good breakfast on a Tuesday is a decision made on Sunday. Split your week into three kinds of mornings: no-time mornings (food is already waiting), ten-minute mornings (one pan, one plate) and slow mornings (batter, oven, coffee in no rush). Most weeks need four of the first two and one or two of the last.

Ask yourself two questions before you shop: how many mornings will I actually be at home, and who eats with me? A single person and a family of four need very different amounts of eggs and tvorog, but the rhythm stays the same.

A useful shopping check: for five weekday breakfasts for two you need roughly a dozen eggs, a pack of tvorog, a bag of oats, milk or kefir and some fruit or berries. If one of these is missing, the whole plan wobbles, so write them down first.

Tips that make breakfast dishes better

• Dry your tvorog. If farmer's cheese looks wet, press it in a sieve for 15 minutes before making syrniki or zapekanka. Less moisture means less flour and a softer, more cheesy result.
• Rest batters. Crepe and pancake batters behave better after 15–20 minutes on the counter: the flour hydrates and the first crepe is less likely to tear.
• Low heat for eggs. An omelette cooked gently under a lid stays tall and tender; high heat makes it rubbery at the edges.
• Make one thing in bulk. A tray of granola or a casserole covers several mornings and makes the weekday plan realistic.

A simple breakfast plan for the week

• Monday and Wednesday: overnight oats in a jar, filled the evening before.
• Tuesday: a fluffy pan omelette with whatever vegetables are left in the fridge.
• Thursday and Friday: yoghurt with homemade granola baked at the weekend.
• Saturday: syrniki with sour cream or jam.
• Sunday: shakshuka straight from the pan, with bread for dipping.

Leftovers, batch cooking, kids and budget

Leftover crepes keep in the fridge for two days, stacked and wrapped; fill them with cheese and ham and warm them in a dry pan for a second breakfast. Zapekanka is just as good cold, so one tray gives you portable breakfasts for three days. Syrniki can be shaped, frozen on a board and cooked straight from frozen over low heat.

For children, smooth semolina porridge and small oladyi are an easy start; let them add their own toppings. On a tight budget, oats, eggs and kefir are the backbone: all three appear across these recipes, and none of them needs anything expensive to taste good.