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Breakfast Nests: Vegan brunch idea

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Looking for a vegan brunch idea? You’re going to love these delicate breakfast nests with layer of hash browns, tofu scramble, and a drizzle of cashew queso. Vegan & gluten-free.

Vegan brunch idea: Breakfast nests with hash browns, tofu scramble, and cashew queso on a plate.

Whenever we travel, I’m always eager to get new vegan brunch ideas. In our town, vegan breakfast options in restaurants are on the slim side. And it’s too bad, because there are few things cozier than going out on Sunday mornings for cups of coffee, waffles, and hearty scrambles.

So when we were in Portland last spring, I took advantage of the vegan options – from brunch through after dinner drinks. I was really taken with the breakfast nests at A.N.D. Café. They were unlike any vegan brunch item I’d gotten in the past.

Since Portland is now many airport stops away, I had to re-create this vegan brunch idea at home.

Vegan breakfast nests with a drizzle of cashew queso

Breakfast nests with a creamy vegan queso - Made with hash browns & a tofu scramble. Great brunch idea! | cadryskitchen.com #vegan #brunch

These vegan breakfast nests are made with a layer of hash browns. They are then topped with tofu scramble dotted with onions, bell pepper, garlic, and kale. Then they’re drizzled with a creamy vegan queso.

I can’t think of a better way to start the morning than by gathering with friends for hot coffee or tea and a platter of breakfast nests.

Slice through soft scramble, hit the crunch of the hash browns, and sneak your fork through the nacho cheese on your way off of the plate.

These nests can be served as one or two to a plate for an appetizer, or make it a meal with seitan bacon and fruit.

Breakfast nests with a creamy vegan queso - Made with hash browns & a tofu scramble. Great brunch idea! | cadryskitchen.com #vegan #brunch

How to make vegan breakfast nests:

Grater and grated potatoes in bowl.

To make them for your next brunch affair, start by grating two baked potatoes. (I got the idea to use baked potato, as opposed to uncooked from a non-vegan recipe at Pioneer Woman.)

Grated potatoes in muffin cups for breakfast nests.

Then lightly oil a muffin pan, put three generous tablespoons of grated potato into each cup, and loosely press the potato into a cup shape. (Be careful not to press too hard, though.) Keep in mind that the potato will shrink as it cooks, and so it’s okay for it to spill over the top.

Lightly oil the top of the grated potato and add a dash of salt and pepper. Bake at 425 degrees for 20 minutes.

Tofu scramble over grated potato in muffin cups for breakfast nests.

Meanwhile, make the tofu scramble.

Remove the muffin tin from the oven, and top the potato mixture with a healthy helping of scramble, until it reaches the top of each tin. Put it back in the oven for ten more minutes.

Once the nests are done, carefully remove the nests from the tin with a spoon. The hash browns may come apart a little as you remove them. Don’t worry about it. They will still be delicious!

Drizzle the nests with a creamy vegan queso (also known as vegan nacho cheese sauce). I recommend using cashew queso (my personal favorite).

However, if you’re looking for a nut-free queso, use the recipe included in these fried vegan nachos. Heads up that the cashew queso is gluten-free. However, the nut-free queso is not. (It uses flour to make a sort of gravy.)

Breakfast nests with a creamy vegan queso - Made with hash browns & a tofu scramble. Great brunch idea! | cadryskitchen.com #vegan #brunch

Breakfast Nests in a Creamy Vegan Queso

These nests were inspired by a dish that I got at A.N.D. Café in Portland. They’re made with a layer of hash browns and topped with tofu scramble dotted with onions, bell pepper, garlic, and kale. They are then drizzled with a creamy vegan queso. Makes about 10 breakfast nests. Vegan & gluten-free.
5 from 3 votes
Print Pin Rate
Course: Breakfast
Cuisine: American, Vegan
Keyword: brunch, comfort food, dairy free, gluten free
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour 10 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour 20 minutes
Servings: 5 people
Calories: 140kcal
Author: Cadry Nelson

Ingredients

Instructions

  • Heat oven to 425 degrees. Scrub two Russet potatoes and prick several times with a fork. Bake in the oven for 40 minutes directly on the oven rack, turning each potato over half-way through. (It's okay if the potatoes are slightly underdone.) Or if you have an air fryer, you can bake the potatoes in the air fryer instead. After they are done cooking, remove them from the oven or air fryer and refrigerate until completely cool.
  • Peel and grate the baked potatoes. Lightly oil the cups of a muffin tin. Loosely pack 3 Tablespoons of grated potato into each cup. Lightly oil the potato mixture in the cups. Cover each cup with a pinch of salt and pepper. Put the muffin tin into the oven and bake at 425 degrees for 20 minutes.
  • While the potatoes cook in the oven, bring a large skillet to a medium heat. Add a teaspoon of extra virgin olive oil to the skillet. Saute bell pepper, onion, and garlic until fragrant and translucent, about five minutes. Add kale to the pan and continue cooking until it wilts, a few more minutes. Crumble the drained firm tofu into the pan. Add turmeric, black salt, paprika, cumin, and nutritional yeast flakes. Fully combine the tofu mixture with the spices, so that they are spread evenly throughout the scramble, and continue cooking for about 5-7 minutes.
  • Remove the muffin tin from the oven and cover the grated potato with tofu scramble, until the scramble reaches the top of each cup. Put back in the oven and bake for ten more minutes.
  • Once the Breakfast Nests are done, remove them from the oven and carefully remove each nest with a spoon. Cover with a drizzle of Creamy Vegan Queso (link to recipe above), garnish with cilantro, and serve.

Nutrition

Calories: 140kcal | Carbohydrates: 15g | Protein: 10g | Fat: 4g | Sodium: 19mg | Potassium: 452mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 1610IU | Vitamin C: 39.4mg | Calcium: 142mg | Iron: 4.1mg
Tried this recipe?Tag @cadryskitchen on Instagram and hashtag it #cadryskitchen!

 

Comments

  2. luminousvegans says

    November 16, 2013 at 6:54 am

    Happy Virtual Vegan Potluck! I remember reading about those nests on your A.N.D. Cafe post because I thought it would be cool to try and make. But now I don’t have to 🙂 Yours came out so beautifully moist and delicious looking! I could easily eat all of these!

    Reply

    • Cadry says

      November 17, 2013 at 2:52 pm

      Thanks, Ketty! Happy VVP to you too! I’m looking forward to trying more nest ideas. That meal from A.N.D. Cafe was on my blog inspiration page for a long time!

      Reply

    • Cadry says

      November 17, 2013 at 3:02 pm

      Thanks, Kammie! It seems like the options for vegan cheese-making are growing all the time! Whether it’s a sauce, spread, slice, or block, the options are seemingly endless.

      Reply

  8. spinachrevolution says

    November 16, 2013 at 11:02 am

    I really like the “nest” idea. There are so many fillings that can be added to it. What a great dish. Thank you for the great recipe.

    Reply

  9. sarah@thesweetlife says

    November 16, 2013 at 10:36 am

    Delicious! I’m basically just going through VVP instead of eating breakfast (can’t multi-task I guess) so I’m really digging this!

    Reply

    • Cadry says

      November 17, 2013 at 3:08 pm

      I hear you! VVP is a recipe for distraction! 🙂

      Oh, and I wanted to let you know that I tried to leave a comment on your blog, but I couldn’t get the captcha to work. I tried at least six or seven times. I wonder if anyone else is having that problem, or maybe it’s just something specific to my computer.

      Reply

    • Cadry says

      November 17, 2013 at 3:18 pm

      Yes, lately I’ve renewed my love affair with hash browns. They don’t offer them at the one restaurant in town that has vegan brunch on offer, and so I’d kind of forgotten about them. Luckily, they are easy to make at home!

      I’m so surprised that this is the first time you’ve heard about the Virtual Vegan Potluck! It happens twice a year. You’ll have to join up in the spring!

      Reply

    • Cadry says

      November 17, 2013 at 3:21 pm

      I hear you! I’m not a sweet breakfast-type person, but every once in a while I have to have a stack of pancakes or waffles. It’s good to see how the other half brunches on occasion! 🙂

      Reply

  18. acookinthemaking says

    November 16, 2013 at 2:14 pm

    Good gracious those look delicious! I love the potato nest idea…I can think of a lot of fun variations to try with just that base recipe.

    P.S. – I am constantly getting great ideas from non-vegan cooking shows! It’s fun 🙂

    Reply

    • Cadry says

      November 17, 2013 at 3:42 pm

      I agree! There’s endless room to play with this nest idea. I’m looking forward to toying with it more.

      I don’t watch a ton of cooking shows, because we don’t have cable at home. However, I do catch them on occasion when I’m on the elliptical trainer at the gym. If only I had a notepad on the side of the workout machine for jotting down ideas of recipes to veganize! 🙂

      Reply

  27. Starr says

    November 17, 2013 at 12:50 am

    I’m always searching for yummy, hot, vegan breakfast ideas. This definitely fits the bill! I’m looking forward to trying it, thanks for sharing.

    Reply

    • Cadry says

      November 17, 2013 at 5:18 pm

      What a good idea, Lizzie! This would make for a fun Christmas morning option. I haven’t tried making each section ahead of time and then just baking the scramble & hash browns together on the next day, but I bet it would work. Let me know if you try it!

      Reply

  34. Maggie Muggins says

    November 17, 2013 at 4:21 pm

    Fantastic idea Cadry, so cute and creative. I love that you smothered them in queso, that gives you 10 extra points in my books 😉

    Reply

    • Cadry says

      November 17, 2013 at 5:26 pm

      10 extra points, hooray! Out of curiosity, how many points am I at now? Do the points work like frequent flier miles or Starbucks credits, and will I eventually be able to spend them on something? Or is it like a basketball game and the points help me edge ahead of other brunch competition? Enquiring minds… 😉

      Reply

    • Cadry says

      November 18, 2013 at 9:33 am

      You and me both! Hashbrowns had fallen off of my radar since they’re not offered at any of the restaurants in the area with vegan breakfast options. However, lately they’ve been making our breakfasts at home extra special!

      Reply

  38. veganmiam.com says

    November 18, 2013 at 8:58 am

    What heartwarming and delicious Breakfast Nests: veggie hash browns & garlic & kale & creamy cheezy queso? I love all the combinations. I have yet to go to A.N.D. Cafe even though I lived about 2 hours away – however, I was in Bogota, Colombia at that time you were there. Happy VVP, it’s nice to see you here!

    Reply

  39. Shell says

    November 18, 2013 at 11:21 am

    These look so delicious! As you know, I haven’t tried tofu yet. This looks less intimidating to me than most tofu dishes.

    Reply

    • Cadry says

      November 19, 2013 at 7:41 am

      Thanks, Shell! I bet we could think of some alternatives to tofu as well for the filling. Maybe sweet potato hash browns with a black bean filling… We’ll have to give it some thought!

      Reply

  40. jessicademarra says

    November 18, 2013 at 11:16 pm

    I almost never make the typical breakfast food but I think I am willing to get up a little earlier to make these. Coffee on the side of course

    Reply

    • Cadry says

      November 19, 2013 at 7:42 am

      I hear you! Most mornings I just have leftovers from the day before for breakfast. However, some days call for something a little more involved! 🙂

      Reply

  41. thepeacepatch says

    November 20, 2013 at 5:00 am

    ohgoodgolly I haven’t had potato baskets since I was a kid! My mom used to fill them with some cream of chickeny thing with peas and onions. Very Betty Crocker. I love your sweet potato/bean suggestion…it would be fun to experiment with all sorts of things like purple potatoes, parsnips, etc. Maybe an over-the-top take on a T-day dish…sweet potato nests with a whipped candied sweet potato/date/nut filling and a marshmallow top. 😉
    One of the reasons your blog rocks is all the visuals…thanks for the helpful step-by-step photos! Cheers!

    Reply

    • Cadry says

      November 20, 2013 at 9:28 am

      I’m so surprised that you grew up with potato baskets! I’d never heard of them before our trip to A.N.D., but that’s a cute name! Yes, there are so many possibilities to branch out and experiment with this concept! I definitely look forward to exploring some more options. Thanks for the kind words on the photos. 🙂

      Reply

  43. kahht says

    November 26, 2013 at 10:04 pm

    Holy crap. I caught myself salivating while reading this! I know exactly what I’m bringing to the next brunch party. Thanks!

    Reply

  45. in2insight says

    July 19, 2015 at 10:49 am


    Wow, these not only look great but taste wonderful as well.
    A bit of a production, with an end result that is as flavorful as it is impressive.
    Ended up not baking the potatoes first, just grated, shaped and baked “raw”.
    Sauce ended up very thick, so thinned out a bit and adjusted seasonings.
    A great fancy delicious way to start the day. Thank you!

    Reply

  46. Helen Butt says

    October 13, 2015 at 2:01 pm

    Do the potatoes really need to be baked before they are grated. It seems as though they would cook enough in the muffin tins if put in raw. I’m tempted to try, but don’t want to end up with something that’s inedible.

    Reply

  47. April C. says

    January 17, 2018 at 1:05 pm


    I’m not a great cook, but decided to make these for a brunch I went to last week and they were the hit of the party! Vegans and non-vegans alike went crazy for them. Thanks for the fabulous recipe that even a dunce in the kitchen like me could follow. I highly recommend this recipe to anyone reading!

    Reply

  48. FeedThisFoodie says

    April 3, 2018 at 7:43 am

    Sounds delicious!! Planning a brunch for my sisters birthday in a couple of months and these would be a great addition 🙂 Has anyone tried making these ahead of time yet and then putting them together on the day?

    Reply

    • Cadry says

      April 5, 2018 at 9:04 am

      I haven’t tried that, but I’m sure there are shortcuts you could take. The queso can be made ahead of time and gently warmed on the stove on the day. It tends to thicken in the refrigerator, and so you may need to add a splash of water. You could make the tofu scramble beforehand too. I probably wouldn’t do the potato cups ahead of time, as the potato will soften in the refrigerator. Let me know how it goes, and best of luck with your sister’s birthday brunch. Very thoughtful of you to plan it!

      Reply

  49. Janis says

    March 24, 2019 at 1:40 pm


    Oh, A.N.D., how I miss you…

    Thanks, Cadry, for recreating this delicious dish. EVERYONE, vegan or not, loved them! Perfect!

    Reply

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