10 Gluten-Free Breakfast Recipes

Flavorful, non-wheat flours can be tricky to work with, as master baker Alice Medrich learned while developing recipes for her book Flavor Flours (Artisan Books). They each need to be approached on their own terms, and one usually can't be substituted for the other. The tasty exceptions: Any kind of new-to-you flour can be given a test-drive in pancakes, waffles, and crêpes. Here's Medrich's basic pancake recipe, a delicious template for experimentation.

Recipe: Basic Pancakes

Earthy buckwheat is blended with ginger, spices, molasses, and toasty-tasting brown rice flour to make an unexpectedly light muffin that's great with sour cream or butter.

Recipe: Buckwheat Gingerbread Muffins

Quinoa looks like a grain, but it’s actually a seed and gluten-free. Served with greens and eggs, it makes for a wonderfully satisfying breakfast.

Recipe: Red Quinoa Bowl with Swiss Chard and Poached Egg

Annie Somerville of Greens Restaurant, in San Francisco, shares her campground breakfast favorite. She likes it so much that she added it to the restaurant menu and it has become a Greens brunch staple. This spicy dish is welcome at home or in camp.

Recipe: Pinnacles Scramble

Creamy polenta is often hidden under a meaty main dish, but at breakfast time it can be the star. Top it with your favorite fruit, an egg, or even a little crispy bacon.

Recipe: Creamy Breakfast Polenta

We love this technique for soft, creamy scrambled eggs. Full-flavored cheeses and a touch of crème fraiche, and a distinctive Meyer lemon salsa verde make this an egg dish you’ll return to over and over. You’ll find lots of uses for any leftover salsa verde.

Recipe: Scrambled Eggs with Meyer Lemon Salsa Verde

Breakfast bars from a box often contain glutens, but when you make them yourself you know you’re safe. Pepitas (pumpkin seeds) also set this bar apart from those found on grocery store shelves.

Recipe: Fruit-and-Nut Breakfast Bars

Custardy baked eggs are cooked and served in the same dish for quick clean-up. This delicious breakfast is easily scaled up for as many servings as you need. Try different herbs and cheeses for variety.

Recipe: Shirred Eggs

Occasionally referred to as breakfast nachos in the Sunset Test Kitchen, chilaquiles—a Southwestern restaurant favorite—is fun to make at home. If you’re in a hurry, use your favorite fresh storebought salsa. Chilaquiles easily convert to vegetarian fare, and still full of color and flavor, when you leave out the chicken.

Recipe: Chilaquiles con Pollo y Queso

Don’t let the name throw you off. It’s just devilishly delicious with a nice hot little kick. This has long been a favorite of college students and visitors to the Big Sky Café in San Luis Obispo, California.

Recipe: Devil's Mess