Writing about Midwestern food can feel at times like a hard sell—the modern equivalent of those 19th-century advertisements luring homesteaders to the Plains. Lately, I’ve fantasized about a billboard of my own: “PASTA OR POTATOES? IN THE MIDWEST, YOU DON’T NEED TO CHOOSE.”

I’m thinking here of my childhood comfort meal: Midwestern chicken and noodles. In Iowa, where I grew up, this did not mean soup. It meant juicy hunks of chicken coated in a roux-thickened gravy (often augmented with milk or cream) simmered with chewy, homemade egg noodles, all served over fluffy mashed potatoes. 

My health-minded mom would often leave out the mashed potatoes—feeling, as you might imagine, that two starches was gilding the lily. In my view, a little gilt is good.

Like a lot of homespun dishes, the origins of Midwestern chicken and noodles are murky. You’ll find recipes labeled “Amish,” “Midwestern,” or “Hoosier,” depending on the source. In 1984, the Indianapolis Star declared chicken and noodles the “one dish you always find on the table of a true Hoosier.” Thirty-some years later, the Iowa City Press-Citizen decreed it a “classic Iowa dish that conjures up images of farms and fields.” 

I’ll let the “I” states duke it out. Meanwhile, I’ve eaten chicken and noodles at roadside cafes across Missouri and Kansas and swapped childhood memories of the dish with my Ohio-native husband, fellow Serious Eats writer Jed Portman.

The Basics for Great Chicken and Noodles

The uniting principles of great chicken and noodles are the same everywhere: simplicity, seasoning, and a farm-worker’s lust for readily available carbohydrates. That simplicity is one reason why I’ve jettisoned common aromatics in this recipe. Carrots, celery, and onion are fine friends for a soup, but chicken and noodles should taste foremost like super-savory roast chicken. The only seasonings are salt and more black pepper than you think you need. 

Given that simple flavor profile, you might expect dark meat chicken for its extra fat and flavor. Not so. Early on, I tested recipes using whole chickens or chicken thighs, but the dark meat shredded less evenly and made the already-heavy dish taste greasy and limp. Bone-in split chicken breasts were the answer for juicy, substantive hunks of white meat. The bones help protect the breast from overcooking by partially insulating it from direct heat, ensuring tender morsels of chicken in each bite.

I almost always prefer my chicken breasts skin-on, but not for this dish. Since the skin is eventually removed, you'd just be throwing away flavor by browning it first. By removing the skin before cooking, that browned flavor develops on the breast meat itself and stays in the pot, not the trash can. 

Nailing the Noodles

With a dish this simple, every component has to be great. Which means: You really do need to make the egg noodles from scratch. Today, many Midwestern home cooks reach for frozen egg noodles, but to me, the convenience isn’t worth it. In blind tests, I could immediately pick out the store-bought noodles, which tasted wan and pasty next to fresh, chewy egg noodles with their brilliant golden hue. 

If you’ve never made homemade pasta before, this is a low-stress way to try it. You don’t need a pasta roller for this recipe, and you don’t even need a particularly steady hand. The recipe I landed on is effectively Niki Achitoff-Gray’s excellent recipe for fresh pasta, with a couple of changes. First, my dough uses only egg yolks (that said, don’t toss the whites: Niki has ideas for what to do with leftover egg whites). All-yolk doughs are crumblier and less elastic than doughs made with some proportion of egg whites, meaning they’re admittedly harder to work with and require extra kneading. But that extra bit of upfront fuss is well worth it for super tender, vibrant yellow noodles that retain their shape during cooking. 

The second difference is that I’m asking you to roll out and cut the noodles by hand. Homestyle egg noodles are meant to be thicker and more rustic than a delicate Italian pasta. The extra heft is another reason to forgo egg whites in the dough—in my tests, noodles made with any proportion of whites swelled further during cooking. 

Simmering the noodles directly in the sauce helps thicken the gravy, resulting in a glossy, silky chicken and noodles with the perfect proportion of chicken to pasta in each bite. 

Don’t Forget the Mashed Potatoes (Or Do)

That just leaves the lily-gilding. I haven’t included a separate mashed potato recipe here, because I don’t think you can do better than Kenji’s ultra-fluffy mashed potatoes for this purpose (tl;dr: Russets, Rinse, Ricer). That said, you can sub in leftover mashed potatoes as long as they’re not the custardy, creamy sort—the potatoes should be a scaffolding, not just a starch. No matter what you use, don’t skimp on seasoning. A blank canvas doesn’t have to be bland.

Of course, you can leave the potatoes out entirely—it’s what my mom would do. But you’d be missing the ultimate Midwestern comfort of carbs on carbs.

For the Noodles: On a clean, dry work surface, pile flour into a large mound. Make a well in the center of mound and pour in egg yolks. Add salt and beat with a fork, gradually incorporating more flour from the mound until a sticky dough forms.

Using a bench scraper, fold and press remaining flour into the dough until a dry, crumbly dough forms. Add water, 1 teaspoon at a time and kneading after each addition, until dough comes together into a tight, smooth ball (you may need up to 2 tablespoons). At this stage, dough will feel quite firm and not very pliable. Wrap dough tightly in plastic wrap and let rest at room temperature for at least 30 minutes or up to 4 hours.

After the rest, divide dough into 2 equal pieces. Set 1 piece of dough on a lightly floured work surface and keep the other piece covered to prevent drying. Using a rolling pin, roll dough out to a 12-inch round. Cut round in half to form two semicircles, then cut each semicircle crosswise into 1/4 -wide strips. Toss cut noodles with a small amount of flour to prevent sticking and set aside until ready to use.

For the Chicken and Gravy: In a large Dutch oven, heat oil over medium-high heat until shimmering. Season chicken generously with salt and pepper on both sides. Add chicken, breast-side down, and cook without moving until chicken is deeply browned and releases easily from pan, about 7 minutes. Flip chicken and cook until the underside of breasts is also deeply browned, adjusting heat as needed to avoid scorching, about 5 minutes. Transfer chicken to plate and set aside.

Add butter to now-empty Dutch oven and heat until melted and foaming subsides, about 30 seconds. Add flour and stir until fully incorporated and raw flour smell has cooked off, about 30 seconds longer. While whisking constantly to avoid lumps, slowly add chicken broth and water in a thin stream. Bring gravy to a boil, then return chicken and any juices to pot and lower heat to a gentle simmer. Cook, flipping chicken halfway through cooking, until the thickest part of the chicken breast reads 150°F (65°C) with an instant-read thermometer, 20 to 25 minutes. Remove pot from heat. Using tongs, transfer chicken from gravy to a large heat-proof bowl.

Using 2 forks, shred chicken and discard bones. Return pot to medium-high heat and add noodles. Simmer, stirring occasionally to prevent clumping, until noodles are tender, 10 to 15 minutes.

Return chicken to pot, stir to combine, and remove from heat. Thin with up to 1/2 cup (120 ml) additional broth, if needed, to achieve a thick, velvety gravy that coats the chicken and noodles. Stir in cream and season to taste with salt and pepper. To serve, spoon a generous portion of chicken, noodles, and gravy over plates of mashed potatoes.

Special Equipment

Bench scraper, large Dutch oven, instant-read thermometer, rolling pin

Make-Ahead and Storage

Leftover chicken and noodles can be refrigerated in an airtight container for up to 4 days. Reheat in a Dutch oven over medium heat on the stovetop, stirring occasionally, until warmed through. Thin with additional water, if needed, to restore the thick, gravy-like texture.

On weekday mornings, breakfast typically means something like toast or a bagel that I can eat with one hand in between sips of protein-infused coffee while I work on my laptop. Sadly, working from home doesn't necessarily translate to more time for breakfast (or lunch, for that matter). But on the weekends or on those rare weekday mornings when I actually get up before my alarm, I like to make myself a worthwhile breakfast—by that, I mean something I can sit down and savor.

Below, I've rounded up some of my and the Serious Eats teams' breakfast favorites for those days when we want more than just a quick protein smoothie, a bowl of granola, or toast. You'll find plenty of sweet and savory options—from tender, fluffy pancakes and bakeshop-worthy muffins and pastries to a nostalgic Hong Kong–style breakfast sandwich and regional comfort classics like Cincinnati goetta and Southern red-eye gravy. So, whether you're breakfasting solo or entertaining a group of friends, these 18 breakfast recipes guarantee a happy start to your day.

Hong Kong-Style Breakfast Sandwich

There's no denying the appeal of a well-made, simply constructed breakfast sandwich, which is why this Hong Kong tea café staple of scrambled eggs and savory fried Spam sandwiched between slices of toasted, crustless white bread is such a classic. To achieve the signature silky scramble texture, we whisk a slurry of potato or tapioca starch and half-and-half into the eggs to prevent the egg proteins from binding and cooking too quickly.

Banana Bread Pancakes

While I love a fat slice of banana bread to go with my morning coffee, banana bread in pancake form is simply a chef's kiss. For tender, lofty pancakes with a sweet, robust banana flavor, we mash the banana with an egg to convert the fruit’s starches to sugar and add a bit of buttermilk.

Hong Kong-Style French Toast

Another Hong Kong tea café breakfast staple with a special place in my heart is this French toast, shallow-fried until golden and crispy on the outside, oozing with peanut butter on the inside, and generously drizzled with sweetened condensed milk. Dried, enriched milk bread is best for soaking up all the egg batter, ensuring a custardy texture and velvety bite.

Apple Pie Pancakes

For a luxurious breakfast that's perfect for entertaining, these apple pie–inspired pancakes are a guaranteed crowd-pleaser that's also fairly easy to make. We toss grated apples with brown sugar before folding them into the batter, which softens the fruit so it becomes almost custard-like within the pancakes. Pumpkin-pie spice provides a depth of flavor basic apple-pie spice simply lacks.

Goetta (Cincinnati Breakfast Meat Loaf)

Like Pennsylvania scrapple, this Cincinnati breakfast staple is a cross between sausage and meatloaf. Though traditionally made with a blend of meat scraps and offal, our version uses bone-in pork shoulder and steel-cut oats for goetta with a deeper flavor and a rich, gelatinous texture. The finished loaf is sliced and crisped slowly in a skillet so the pork and oats caramelize to a crunchy brown finish.

Breakfast Sopes With Refried Beans, Queso Fundido, Poached Eggs, and Salsa

Looking for a savory, filling, showstopping breakfast to impress your guests? These crispy sopes are loaded with hearty refried beans smothered in a bacon and fresh chile-loaded queso fundido. Each sope has a perfectly poached egg nestled on top, accented with a spoonful of spicy and acidic xnipec to cut through the richness of the cheese and refried beans. It's a dish with a gorgeous array of colors and it tastes just as beautiful.

Buttermilk Vanilla Waffles

This remarkable one-bowl recipe produces what I would call the platonic ideal of waffles—eggshell-crisp exterior and incredibly fluffy interior. On mornings when you roll out of bed with a sudden urge to fire up the waffle iron, this is the one you want to make: no whipped eggs, no wet ingredients here, dry ingredients there, no foaming, no folding, and no sifting. Topped with butter, maple syrup, fruit, or even fried chicken, every bite is pure bliss.

Red-Eye Gravy with Country Ham

Pan-fried country ham and red-eye gravy made from pan drippings and coffee is the kind of rib-sticking "welcome home" breakfast you make for family and friends in the South. Be sure to use bone-in ham slices, which are untrimmed and fattier, so there are enough drippings to make the rich mahogany gravy—and have plenty of fluffy cathead biscuits on hand to soak it all up.

Biscuits and Gravy

All you need are a handful of ingredients and a well-seasoned cast-iron skillet to make this Southern breakfast staple. We cook the sausage in its own fat, adding onion to provide a savory counterpoint to the sweet elements in the sausage, and use a ratio of one tablespoon of all-purpose flour to one cup of milk for a thick, homogenous, silky gravy that's perfect for topping biscuits.

Savory Turmeric Masala Oats

To give an otherwise bland morning oatmeal a bold, savory makeover, we turn to tadka—a traditional South Asian cooking technique of frying spices in oil or ghee to release their fragrant flavors—to infused each bite with the earthy flavors of cumin, black mustard seeds, coriander, red pepper flakes, and turmeric. You can add other vegetables along with the tomato and bell pepper, such as mushrooms, carrots, and peas, to give the oats more color, flavor, and texture.

Eggs in Purgatory

Eggs in purgatory, or "uova in purgatorio," is an easy Southern Italian dish that's perfect for breakfast, brunch, or "breakfast for dinner," served with plenty of crusty bread to sop up the spicy tomato sauce. Add the eggs off the heat so they poach at an even rate and use canned whole tomatoes for a consistent, flavorful sauce year-round.

Homemade Beignets

Louisiana-style beignets, like those from the famed Café du Monde in New Orleans, are best enjoyed hot and fresh out of the fryer, liberally doused with powdered sugar. Unlike other beignet recipes, ours is made with bread flour to produce a lighter crumb and open texture and buttermilk to give it a slight tang. Let the dough proof overnight in the fridge to achieve a puffed and airy interior when you fry up the beignets in the morning.

Morning Glory Muffins

Studded with pecans, dried fruit, carrots, apples, and coconut, these hearty breakfast muffins will certainly make your morning glorious indeed. They’re moist and tender, not cloyingly sweet, with wonderful woodsy, spiced notes of cinnamon and ginger. An orange glaze adds a finishing touch that's next-level.

Bostock

Think of bostock as luxe toast disguised as a French pastry that tastes just like an almond croissant. We slather sliced brioche with fragrant, buttery almond cream, top it with sliced almonds, and bake it until puffy and golden brown. A layer of marmalade between the brioche and almond cream adds a bittersweet citrus flavor.

New Jersey Crumb Buns

Our recipe pays tribute to the hyper-regional New Jersey classic crumb bun, with a tender yeasted dough topped with a soft, cohesive, thick layer of melt-in-your-mouth crumbs. Cut into squares and showered with powdered sugar, these buns will transport you to the Garden State—no Turnpike or Parkway tolls required.

Cheese Danish

I would argue that the only Danish worth having with my morning coffee is a freshly baked one, preferably full of buttery, flaky layers—and our cheese Danish delivers on all counts. We streamlined the lamination process, using the rough puff pastry (or blitz puff pastry) method to achieve ultra-flaky layers. We also chill the dough between folds to allow the gluten to rest and give the butter time to become cold again, to produce a finished product infinitely better than any store-bought version.

Cheesy Sausage Breakfast Casserole

We love a breakfast dish that can be prepped up to 24 hours ahead. Sauté the sausage and vegetables so they're fully cooked before adding them to the casserole to help remove excess moisture. The addition of shredded Gouda cheese, sour cream, and half-in-half to the eggs makes for a rich custard-like filling.

Make-Ahead Bacon and Cheese Egg Bites

Who wouldn't want a great, low-effort, perfectly portioned breakfast option that can be easily made in advance at home? For our version of the popular Starbucks egg bite, we employ a similar sous-vide method to cook them at a temperature significantly lower and more stable than baking to produce a silky, custard-like texture. Loaded with savory bacon and nutty Gruyère cheese and cooked in individual mason jars, these egg bites can be enjoyed right out of the jar or popped out onto a plate for serving.