You don’t have to completely change the way you eat to make your breakfast a little healthier.
Sometimes it’s as simple as adding one ingredient.
Using flaxseed for breakfast is one of the easiest ways to add fiber, plant-based omega-3 fatty acids, lignans, and other nutrients to foods you’re probably already eating.
You don’t need a special flaxseed recipe, either. Ground flaxseed has a mild, slightly nutty flavor that works surprisingly well with oatmeal, yogurt, smoothies, cereal, pancakes, muffins, and plenty of other breakfast favorites.
Here are some of the easiest ways to make flaxseed part of your morning.
First, Grind Your Flaxseed
Before we start adding flaxseed to everything in the kitchen, there’s one important thing to know.
For nutritional purposes, flaxseed is generally better eaten ground rather than whole.
The outer shell of a flaxseed is tough enough that whole seeds can sometimes pass through the digestive system without being completely broken down. Grinding opens the seed and makes the nutrients inside more accessible.
That’s one reason we like starting with whole flaxseed and grinding it as needed. The intact seed naturally protects what’s inside until you’re ready to use it.
A small coffee grinder or spice grinder makes the job easy. You can also grind a small batch ahead of time and keep it tightly sealed in the refrigerator or freezer.
1. Add Ground Flaxseed to Oatmeal
This may be the easiest flaxseed breakfast of them all.
Prepare your oatmeal the way you normally would and stir in some ground flaxseed before eating.
Flaxseed’s mild nutty flavor works naturally with oatmeal and pairs especially well with common additions such as:
- Blueberries
- Strawberries
- Bananas
- Apples and cinnamon
- Walnuts or almonds
- Peanut butter
- Honey
- Maple syrup
Oatmeal already contains fiber, so adding flaxseed makes it particularly easy to build a fiber-rich breakfast from ordinary ingredients.
2. Mix Flaxseed Into Yogurt
If you don’t have time to cook breakfast, yogurt may be even easier.
Simply stir ground flaxseed into your favorite yogurt.
Add fresh or frozen berries, nuts, granola, or sliced fruit and breakfast is finished in a couple of minutes.
The moisture in yogurt also works well with ground flaxseed, which absorbs some liquid as it sits.
If you prepare breakfast ahead of time, you may notice that yogurt mixed with flaxseed becomes slightly thicker by morning.
3. Put Flaxseed in Your Smoothie
Smoothies make it extremely easy to incorporate flaxseed because the flavor blends into almost anything.
Try it with combinations such as:
- Banana and strawberry
- Blueberry and yogurt
- Peanut butter and banana
- Mango and pineapple
- Mixed berries
- Spinach, banana and berries
If you’re using pre-ground flaxseed, just add it along with the other ingredients.
If you have a powerful blender capable of thoroughly grinding seeds, you may also be able to add whole flaxseed directly to the blender. Just make sure the seeds are actually being ground rather than remaining whole in the finished smoothie.
4. Sprinkle Flaxseed Over Cold Cereal
Yes, it can be that simple.
If you’re having a bowl of cereal, sprinkle ground flaxseed over the top before adding milk.
It works particularly well with whole-grain cereals, granola, bran cereals, and cereals containing nuts or dried fruit.
This is a good example of why adding flaxseed to your diet doesn’t need to become a project. You’re simply adding a nutrient-dense ingredient to something you were going to eat anyway.
5. Add Flaxseed to Overnight Oats
Flaxseed is almost tailor-made for overnight oats.
Mix oats, ground flaxseed, milk or your preferred milk alternative, and whatever fruits, spices, nuts, or sweeteners you enjoy. Put everything in the refrigerator overnight and breakfast is waiting for you the next morning.
Because ground flaxseed absorbs moisture, it can also contribute to the thick texture people enjoy in overnight oats.
Try adding chia seeds as well if you like a particularly thick consistency.
6. Add Flaxseed to Pancakes and Waffles
You don’t have to give up Saturday morning pancakes to eat flaxseed for breakfast.
Ground flaxseed can be mixed directly into pancake or waffle batter.
The mild flavor means it generally doesn’t overwhelm the other ingredients, particularly when combined with fruit, cinnamon, vanilla, nuts, or other familiar breakfast flavors.
You can add flaxseed to homemade recipes or simply mix some into your favorite pancake or waffle mix.
7. Bake Flaxseed Into Muffins and Breakfast Breads
Muffins, quick breads, and other baked breakfast foods offer another easy place to use ground flaxseed.
Banana bread, blueberry muffins, bran muffins, zucchini bread, apple muffins, and similar recipes all work naturally with flaxseed’s slightly nutty flavor.
If you like preparing breakfast ahead of time, this can be particularly convenient. Bake a batch, freeze individual portions, and you have an easy breakfast available on busy mornings.
8. Mix Flaxseed Into Peanut Butter
This one doesn’t get nearly enough attention.
Ground flaxseed mixes very easily into peanut butter and other nut butters.
Spread it on whole-grain toast, an English muffin, or a banana. Add sliced fruit on top if you want something sweeter.
It’s quick, filling, and doesn’t require turning on the stove.
9. Sprinkle Flaxseed on Avocado Toast
Flaxseed doesn’t have to be paired with something sweet.
Ground flaxseed can be sprinkled over avocado toast along with whatever seasonings you normally use.
That gives you another option if your idea of breakfast is more eggs-and-toast than berries-and-yogurt.
10. Add Flaxseed to Scrambled Eggs
You can even add a small amount of ground flaxseed to scrambled eggs or an omelet.
This isn’t necessarily the first combination people think of when they hear flaxseed, but its mild flavor makes it surprisingly versatile.
You can also sprinkle ground flax over the finished eggs rather than cooking it into them.
How Much Flaxseed Should You Add to Breakfast?
You don’t need to bury your breakfast under flaxseed.
For many adults, one to two tablespoons of ground flaxseed per day is a practical amount that can easily be incorporated into normal meals.
If you aren’t accustomed to eating a lot of fiber, however, start smaller.
Try a teaspoon or two and gradually increase the amount as your digestive system adjusts.
It’s also important to drink adequate fluids when increasing the amount of fiber in your diet.
Why Is Breakfast Such a Good Time to Eat Flaxseed?
There isn’t anything magical about eating flaxseed at 8:00 in the morning rather than 2:00 in the afternoon.
The advantage of breakfast is routine.
Most people have a relatively small number of foods they regularly eat in the morning. If you already have oatmeal, yogurt, cereal, toast, eggs, or a smoothie most mornings, adding flaxseed becomes easy to remember.
And consistency is generally much easier when you attach a new habit to something you’re already doing.
What Does Flaxseed Add to Breakfast?
Flaxseed packs quite a bit of nutrition into a relatively small amount of food.
It provides dietary fiber along with protein and healthy fats. It’s particularly well known as a plant source of alpha-linolenic acid, or ALA, an essential omega-3 fatty acid.
Flaxseed is also unusually rich in plant compounds called lignans.
Eating the ground seed rather than consuming flaxseed oil alone also means you’re getting the fiber and other components naturally present in the seed.
Can Flaxseed Help Make Breakfast More Filling?
Fiber plays an important role in satiety, which is the feeling of fullness after eating.
Adding ground flaxseed to a breakfast that already contains foods such as oatmeal, yogurt, fruit, whole grains, nuts, or eggs can contribute to a more substantial meal.
That doesn’t mean flaxseed is a magic appetite suppressant. It’s simply another nutrient-dense whole food that can be incorporated into a balanced breakfast.
Can Kids Eat Flaxseed for Breakfast?
Ground flaxseed can be incorporated into many foods families already eat, including oatmeal, smoothies, pancakes, muffins, and yogurt.
Portion needs vary with age, however, so parents who have questions about appropriate amounts for young children should discuss them with their pediatrician or dietitian.
As with adults, introducing additional fiber gradually is generally more comfortable than making a dramatic change overnight.
Can You Prepare Ground Flaxseed Ahead of Time?
Yes.
Grinding flaxseed immediately before every meal isn’t necessary.
You can grind a small batch and store it in an airtight container in the refrigerator or freezer. This gives you the convenience of pre-ground flaxseed while limiting its exposure to heat, light, moisture, and air.
Or simply keep whole flaxseed on hand and grind what you need every few days.
Make Flaxseed the Easy Part of Breakfast
There are endless complicated diets telling us exactly what we should eat, what we shouldn’t eat, when we should eat it, and occasionally making breakfast sound more like a chemistry experiment than a meal.
Using flaxseed for breakfast doesn’t need to be complicated.
Keep some whole flaxseed in the kitchen. Grind a small amount. Add it to oatmeal, yogurt, cereal, smoothies, toast, pancakes, muffins, or whatever else you’re already eating.
The easiest healthy habit is usually the one that doesn’t require you to completely reorganize your life.
Start With Fresh Flaxseed
At Golden Flax, our flaxseed comes directly from our family farm in North Dakota.
Instead of wondering how long your flaxseed has spent moving through processors, distributors, warehouses, and store shelves, you can buy it directly from the people who grow it.
Keep the whole seed properly stored, grind it when you’re ready to use it, and breakfast becomes one of the easiest places to make flaxseed part of your everyday diet.
Tomorrow morning, you don’t need a new breakfast. Just try adding a little flaxseed to the one you already have.
