My favorite type of family gathering is brunch. My family loves to eat, and brunch is a great way to share great food and conversation. Brunch doesn’t have to be hard, in fact, the best brunches are low key and laid back. Below I’m sharing my favorite low key brunch recipes that are easy to pull off. Plus, I’m sharing a FREE recipe card printable towards the bottom of this post.
Low Key Brunch Recipes
The following recipes are not my own. I’m not very adventurous in the kitchen and I tend to stick to the pro’s recipes. I’m also terrible at taking photos of food, so the following photos are pulled from the original recipes (with links included). The great part about all of these recipes is they are versatile, easy to follow, and of course LOW KEY. Here’s what’s on the brunch menu:
- Vegetable Quiche
- Ham and Cheese Quiche
- Roasted Vegetables
- Beef Tenderloin
- Fruit Platter & Pastries
Vegetable Quiche
Our family gatherings usually include a healthy selection of vegetarian dishes. We have a few family members that are vegetarians. But beyond that, including a few vegetarian dishes is a good rule of thumb when you are hosting any type of gathering. That way – vegetarians or even just those with a lighter appetite – have plenty to choose from. My favorite vegetable quiche comes from one of my favorite cookbooks The New Basics Cookbook. It is full of classic recipes with very detailed instructions, which is exactly what I NEED in the kitchen – details!
Here is a similar vegetable quiche recipe. I haven’t made this specific recipe, but it looks like a winner. The key ingredients in both recipes are the pesto and the zucchini. My cookbook calls for diced zucchini, while this recipe calls for thinly sliced zucchini. I love how the sliced zucchini looks so lovely atop the quiche, but I wonder if diced zucchini is slightly easier to eat. Either way you slice your zucchini, I think you’ll find this vegetable quiche is just the right amount of veggie to appeal to all kinds of palates.
Ham and Cheese Quiche
Yep, it’s another quiche. I just love how simple quiches come together for brunch. You can even make them the night before – just be sure the quiche is completely cooled before putting it in the fridge.
Every time I make this ham and cheese quiche, it gets RAVE reviews. The photo of this quiche doesn’t do it justice. Every last CRUMB of this quiche is always gone. The only changes I make to the original recipe are 1. using pre-diced ham (because duh, what could be easier?) and 2. sauteing my own diced onion. If I happen to have ham leftover from another meal, I will use that instead.
Another trick I’ve found with quiches: the brand of pre-made pie crust matters. Pillsbury’s pre-made pie crust is AMAZING! You can usually find it in the freezer section. This is hands down the best pre-made crust. I don’t even bother making a quiche or pie without this crust. Unless I’m making the crust by hand, of course. Which happens maaaaaybe once a year. Here’s what you are looking for at the store:
Roasted Vegetables
I’m a huge fan of sheetpan cooking. Roasting vegetables is a great way to elevate a brunch gathering without much effort. I like to arrange roasted vegetables in a rainbow pattern on a large platter. My favorite veggies to serve are:
- Red onion
- Yellow peppers
- Red peppers
- Zucchini
- Asparagus
- Broccoli
Check out this article: how to roast any vegetable for a breakdown of different roasting methods. My favorite method is to roast in stages. If I’m serving beef tenderloin with brunch, I like to saute mushrooms and add them to the vegetable platter.
Beef Tenderloin
Our family is equally passionate about vegetables and meat, so our gatherings typically include a signature meat dish. Cooking expensive meat for a crowd makes me anxious, but this sous vide beef tenderloin recipe takes all the worry out of it.
Sous vide is a very slow and gentle cooking method that really takes care of itself. The biggest effort of this recipe is browning and slicing the beef. Say what? I know. It’s amazing. If you’ve never heard of or used a sous vide, don’t worry – the recipe I linked to also has a very thorough article explaining sous vide cooking.
Where to buy beef? I’ve had great luck with CostCo. It’s a quality cut and big enough to feed a crowd,. It’s so big that I end up cutting it in half so it will fit in my container.
Fruit Platter & Pastries
Assembling a fruit platter is an easy and elegant brunch dish. Putting fruit on a plate isn’t rocket science – in fact, throwing it all in a bowl would work just as well. But if you have some extra time (and determination), check out Martha’s tips for assembling an elegant fruit platter.
Pastries are another easy add to the brunch menu. I generally buy them pre-made from CostCo, my local grocery store OR for an extra special touch, I hit up our local French bistro. I like to get a selection of breads, muffins and danishes. If you are looking for a home-made option, a simple scone recipe or these raspberry sticky rolls would work well.
If you’re really feeding a crowd, a bagel bar with cream cheese and lox is an easy add-on to this menu.
Putting Brunch Together
Looking for a way to keep all these recipes in one place? Click the button below to get your free recipe card printable.
Serving the meal on time & warm is one of the trickiest parts of hosting. With just a little bit of planning ahead, these brunch recipes come together very easily. Here’s how I make it happen.
The night before Brunch
- Cut all veggies and fruit. If time allows, you can even roast the veggies the night before. The veggie platter doesn’t have to be warmed to be served – it is really a matter of preference.
- Assemble and bake one, if not both, quiches. They can be reheated in the morning.
- Gather tableware to set out and ensure serving platters are clean. Better yet, set out the tableware now. (Head to this post for brunch tablescape ideas.)
The morning of Brunch
- Get the tenderloin cooking in the sous vide. It takes 2 1/2 to 3 hours to cook, so time it to finish after your guests arrive.
- While the beef cooks, roast the vegetables first, then reheat the quiches. Remember the veggies can be served warm or cold, depending on your preference.
- Set out tableware and arrange pastries and beverages.
- Set out dishes with serve ware as they finish.
- Enjoy brunch!
If you enjoyed this post, you might want to check out this similar post about simple spring brunch tablescape ideas. Happy hosting!
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All of these sound delicious. I’m definitely gonna have to do the bagel bar. Great ideas!
If you are a smoked salmon fan, it’s definitely a fun one!