Breakfast Around the World, 10 Traditional Morning Meals

Key points

• The graphic shows ten national breakfasts, one per country: the United States, England, Japan, France, India, Mexico, Australia, Turkey, Israel and China.
• Eggs appear in four of the ten descriptions (England, Mexico, Turkey and Israel), while rice is the base of the breakfasts shown for Japan, India and China.
• Each panel pairs a photo of the dish with a skyline silhouette of the country, a dish name and a one line description.
• The graphic was made by Lulu Wild, a restaurant at The Waters Edge in Brindleyplace, Birmingham, whose guide carries a recipe for each of the ten breakfasts [1].

The breakfast around the world infographic in text

Title: Breakfast Around The World, set in an arch over a pink world map on a dark green, chalkboard style background. The introduction, summarised here, presents breakfast as the first meal of the day and runs from “the fluffy pancakes of the United States to the comforting congee in China”, the dishes it says “power billions of people every morning”. It ends by calling breakfast around the world “a feast for the senses”.

Below a plate and cutlery icon, the countries sit in a two column grid of five rows. The descriptions are quoted as printed.

Country	Dish	Description on the graphic
United States	Pancakes	Fluffy, sweet pancakes often served with a drizzle of maple syrup and a side of bacon, providing a mix of sweet and savory to start the day.
England	Full English Breakfast	A hearty meal consisting of eggs, sausages, bacon, baked beans, and toast, designed to fuel a long day of work.
Japan	Traditional Japanese Breakfast	A balanced meal of grilled fish, steamed rice, miso soup, and pickled vegetables, reflecting the importance of variety in Japanese cuisine.
France	Croissant and Coffee	A light, flaky croissant paired with a strong coffee, encapsulating the French love for simple yet elegant flavors.
India	Idli and Sambar	Steamed rice cakes (Idli) served with a tangy lentil soup (Sambar), very popular South Indian breakfast.
Mexico	Chilaquiles	Crispy tortilla chips smothered in green or red salsa, topped with cheese and cream, often accompanied by eggs or beans, showcasing Mexican culinary vibrancy.
Australia	Avocado Toast	Freshly toasted bread topped with ripe mashed avocado, a popular and quick breakfast down under.
Turkey	Turkish Breakfast	An array of cheese, olives, tomatoes, eggs, and bread, signifying the Turkish custom of starting the day with a feast.
Israel	Shakshuka	Eggs poached in a spicy tomato sauce, a North African dish popular in Israel, providing a warm, hearty breakfast.
China	Congee and Youtiao	A rice porridge (Congee) often served with deep-fried dough sticks (Youtiao), a comforting meal that’s light yet satisfying.

Footer: Lulu Wild, Unit 7 & 8 The Waters Edge, Brindley Place, Broad Street, Birmingham B1 2HP, with the address luluwild.co.uk and the line “On the blog accompanying the infographic we will have recipe for each of the breakfasts.”

What goes into each breakfast

Full English. A full breakfast is a substantial cooked meal made across Great Britain and Ireland, with regional names such as full English, full Scottish, full Welsh and Ulster fry. Its typical ingredients are bacon, sausages, eggs, black pudding, tomatoes, mushrooms and fried bread or toast. Baked beans and hash browns are common modern additions. Large cooked breakfasts became popular in the Victorian era [2].

Japan. The standard Japanese style breakfast is steamed white rice, miso soup and Japanese pickles, often with grilled fish and green tea. Many households eat it mainly at weekends, with Western style breakfasts on working days [3].

France. The croissant is a crescent shaped pastry made from laminated yeast dough. It was inspired by the Austrian kipferl, and the modern croissant was developed by French bakers in the early 20th century [4].

India. Idli are South Indian rice cakes made by steaming a fermented batter of rice and hulled black lentils, and are popular as a breakfast food [5]. Sambar is a lentil based vegetable stew cooked with pigeon peas and tamarind, from South Indian cuisine [6].

Mexico. Chilaquiles are pieces of corn tortilla that are fried, then cooked with green or red salsa and topped with cheese, crema and onion. Beans, eggs and avocado are often served alongside. The dish is typically eaten for breakfast or brunch and began as a way to use up stale tortillas [7].

More dishes from the graphic

Australia. Avocado toast is toasted bread topped with mashed avocado. The dish is documented in Brisbane as early as 1929, and Sydney cook Bill Granger may have been the first to put it on a modern café menu, in 1993 [8].

Turkey. The Turkish breakfast, kahvaltı, means “before coffee”. It is a spread of many small dishes such as cheeses, olives, vegetables, bread, eggs and pastries, served with Turkish tea, and at weekends it can last for several hours [9].

Israel. Shakshouka is a Maghrebi dish of eggs poached in a sauce of tomatoes, peppers, onion and garlic. Maghrebi Jewish migrants brought it to Israel in the 1950s, where it was widely adopted [10]. This matches the graphic’s description of a North African dish popular in Israel.

China. Congee is a savoury rice porridge, and in some cultures it is eaten mainly as a breakfast food [11]. Youtiao are long, deep-fried strips of wheat dough, normally eaten at breakfast with congee or soy milk [12].

A second chart, breakfast around the world in 50 dishes

This breakfast around the world infographic by Kulick’s Pancake Recipes shows one traditional morning dish for each of 50 countries, from medialunas in Argentina and vegemite in Australia to menemen in Turkey and arepas in Venezuela. Every card names the dish and says briefly what goes into it.

• The graphic shows one traditional breakfast for each of 50 countries, ordered alphabetically from Argentina to Venezuela, with India split into north and south.
• Each card has an illustration, the dish name and a one or two sentence description.
• Kulick’s Pancake Recipes, which made the graphic, counts seven entries besides the American breakfast that are a kind of pancake: banchan (jeon), baghrir, jajecznica, canjeero, pannkakor, syrniki and arepas.
• Several dishes are tied to particular days, such as Nigeria’s ogi and akara on Saturdays and Swiss zopf at Sunday brunch.

Notes on this infographic

• Mexico skyline. The silhouette above the Mexico banner is the same Paris skyline used for France, with domed buildings, the Eiffel Tower and Notre-Dame. The dish name and description for Mexico are correct; only the skyline artwork is repeated.
• Full English ingredients. The graphic lists eggs, sausages, bacon, baked beans and toast. Tomatoes, mushrooms and black pudding are also traditional, while baked beans are a common modern addition rather than a traditional one [2].
• Recipes. The footer promises recipes on an accompanying blog. Lulu Wild’s guide, written by Elly Sun and dated 24 August 2023, gives ingredients and a method for all ten breakfasts [1].
• Spelling. The graphic uses US spellings (“flavors”, “savory”). They are quoted as printed.

Sources

1. Lulu Wild (Elly Sun), Breakfast Around The World Infographic, 24 August 2023. Restaurant home page: luluwild.co.uk.
2. Wikipedia, Full breakfast.
3. Wikipedia, Breakfast by country, Japan section.
4. Wikipedia, Croissant.
5. Wikipedia, Idli.
6. Wikipedia, Sambar (dish).
7. Encyclopaedia Britannica (Laura Siciliano-Rosen), Chilaquiles.
8. Wikipedia, Avocado toast.
9. Wikipedia, Turkish breakfast.
10. Wikipedia, Shakshouka.
11. Wikipedia, Congee.
12. Wikipedia, Youtiao.
13. Kulick’s Pancake Recipes, Around the World in 50 Breakfast Dishes (Bruce Kulick and Lisa Lane Kulick, opened 30 October 2026).
14. Wikipedia, Jianbing (opened 30 October 2026).

Last reviewed 30 October 2026