The best brunch ideas for hosting at home follow one rule. Cook one hot dish and serve everything else cold or at room temperature. Set the table the night before, put the drinks where guests can pour their own, and invite everyone for 10:30.
Our definition of the perfect brunch is short. The host eats while the eggs are still hot.
Most brunch ideas online are recipe lists. Thirty-odd lovely dishes, and not a word about how one person with one oven gets four of them to the table at eleven.
So this is the other half. You'll find fifteen brunch ideas sorted by how much work they are on the morning, three full menus, the quantities for six and ten guests, the mimosa maths, and a timeline you can stick on the fridge.
Pop the kettle on and we'll walk you through it.
Why brunch is the kindest meal to host
Brunch is finished by one o'clock, and the afternoon is yours again. Half the food is meant to be eaten cold. Eggs, bread and fruit cost a good deal less than a roast and the wine that goes with it.
And small children are at their sweetest before midday, which every parent at your table will thank you for.
Australians took his plea and ran with it. Bill Granger opened bills in Darlinghurst in 1993 with avocado on toast on the menu. He later said he'd been wondering what to make "as a breakfast snack to go with a Bloody Mary.”
These days we each eat 259 eggs a year and 4.74kg of avocados. Your guests have been in training for this.
The one hot dish rule
Pick one dish that needs heat on the morning. Make, buy or assemble everything else ahead, and serve it cold or at room temperature.
A home kitchen has one oven and one of you. Poach eggs to order for eight people and you'll spend forty minutes at the stove with your back to the party. One hot dish goes in the oven or one wide pan, comes out all at once, and you carry it to the table yourself.
Good hot dishes for a crowd are baked eggs in one pan, a French toast bake, a frittata or a tray of oven bacon. Each of them cooks without you standing over it.
Buy the rest without a flicker of guilt. The bakery makes better croissants than we do, and we've made our peace with that.
And skip the hollandaise. It's the hardest sauce on any brunch menu, and it's made with raw egg.
The Food Safety Information Council advises against serving raw egg dishes to pregnant women, small children, older people and anyone with a weakened immune system. At most tables, that's somebody. Leave the eggs Benedict to the café down the road.
15 brunch ideas, sorted by morning effort
Every idea below is one we'd serve. Read the third column first, because it tells you how much of your morning each dish will take.
| Brunch idea | Make ahead | On the morning |
|---|---|---|
| Fruit board with lime and mint | Cut melon and pineapple the night before | Add berries and arrange, 5 minutes |
| Bakery croissants and danishes | Buy the day before | Warm for 5 minutes at 160°C |
| Yoghurt and granola cups | Homemade granola keeps in a jar | Spoon and serve |
| Bircher muesli | Soak overnight | Top with fruit |
| Banana bread | Bake up to two days ahead | Slice |
| Smoked salmon and bagel board | Slice the cucumber and onion, mix the cream cheese | Lay it out, 10 minutes |
| Jammy eggs | Boil for 7 minutes and peel the day before | Halve and salt |
| Frittata | Bake the night before | Serve at room temperature |
| Cold brew coffee | Steep for 12 to 18 hours | Pour over ice |
| Mimosa bar | Chill the bottles and juice overnight | Open and pour |
| Avocado on toast | Nothing, avocado browns | Smash, season and toast, 10 minutes |
| Corn and zucchini fritters | Fry the day before | Reheat for 8 minutes at 180°C |
| Oven bacon | Line the tray | 20 minutes at 200°C, no turning |
| Baked eggs in spiced tomato | Sauce keeps for two days in the fridge | Reheat, crack in the eggs, 8 minutes |
| French toast bake | Assemble the night before | 45 minutes in the oven, hands off |
The last four rows are your hot dishes. Pick one, or two if they share an oven, and fill the rest of the table from the rows above.
Three brunch menus, each built for six
Menu one: baked eggs in one pan
The savoury one, for the friends who'd take chilli over maple syrup.
On the table: baked eggs in spiced tomato, warm Turkish bread, a fruit board, yoghurt and granola.
Up to two days ahead, make the sauce. Soften 1 diced brown onion and 1 diced red capsicum in 2 tablespoons of olive oil for 8 minutes.
Add 3 crushed garlic cloves, 2 teaspoons of ground cumin and 2 teaspoons of smoked paprika, and stir for a minute. Tip in two 400g tins of chopped tomatoes and a teaspoon of salt, then simmer for 15 minutes until thick. Cool it and refrigerate.
On the morning, reheat the sauce in your widest frying pan until it bubbles. Make 8 dips with the back of a spoon and crack an egg into each.
Put the lid on and cook over low heat for 6 to 8 minutes, until the whites have set and the yolks still wobble. If anyone at the table is pregnant, give their eggs a few more minutes until the yolks are firm.
Crumble 100g of feta over the top, add a handful of coriander, and carry the whole pan to the table. A STYLD.Chop™ board underneath will protect the timber.
Menu two: the board brunch, no cooking
For a hot morning, or a week that got away from you.
On the table: smoked salmon, bagels, cream cheese with dill and lemon, cucumber, capers, red onion, jammy eggs, tomatoes, a fruit board and bakery pastries.
For six you'll want 300g of smoked salmon, 8 bagels, a 250g tub of cream cheese and 6 eggs. Boil the eggs for 7 minutes the day before, cool them in iced water, then peel and refrigerate.
Lay everything out on boards and let people build their own. Our STYLD.Chop™ boards measure 37cm by 24cm and come as a set of two for $79.95, so one takes the savoury side and one takes the fruit and pastries.
The spill-capture rim keeps the juice from cut tomato and melon on the board and off your runner. They're food-grade silicone and dishwasher safe, which takes care of the washing up.
For the build order and how to fill the gaps, our guide to the perfect grazing board works the same way at 11am as it does at 6pm.
Menu three: the French toast bake
The sweet one, and our pick of the birthday brunch ideas, because the candles go straight into the dish.
On the table: French toast bake with berries, oven bacon, thick yoghurt, maple syrup and a fruit board.
The night before, tear 500g of brioche or day-old croissants into a buttered 30cm by 20cm baking dish. Whisk 6 eggs with 500ml of milk, 200ml of thickened cream, 60g of caster sugar, 2 teaspoons of vanilla and 1 teaspoon of cinnamon. Pour it over the bread, press everything down, cover and refrigerate.
On the morning, scatter over 150g of berries. Frozen ones are fine. Bake at 180°C (160°C fan-forced) for 40 to 45 minutes, until golden and set in the middle. Slide a tray of bacon onto the shelf below for the last 30 minutes.
Let the bake sit for ten minutes before you serve it. That's your window to pour yourself a drink.
How much food and drink per person
These are the numbers we shop to for a two hour brunch with one hot dish. Round up if your crowd includes teenagers, and count each child as half an adult.
| Per adult | For 6 | For 10 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Eggs | 1 to 2 | 8 | 14 |
| Bread, bagels or toast | 2 pieces | 12 | 20 |
| Pastries | 1 | 6 | 10 |
| Prepared fruit | 150g | 900g | 1.5kg |
| Yoghurt | 100g | 600g | 1kg |
| Smoked salmon, if serving | 50g | 300g | 500g |
| Bacon, if serving | 2 rashers | 12 | 20 |
| Avocado, if serving | Half | 3 | 5 |
| Coffee | 300ml | 2 litres | 3 litres |
| Sparkling wine for mimosas | A third of a bottle | 2 bottles | 4 bottles |
| Juice | 350ml | 2 litres | 4 litres |
| Still and sparkling water | 500ml | 3 litres | 5 litres |
The mimosa bar, and what to pour for everyone not drinking
A mimosa is chilled sparkling wine and orange juice. The classic ratio is equal parts. We lean towards two parts sparkling to one part juice, which tastes drier and less like breakfast cordial. Pour the sparkling first and top with juice, and you won't need to stir.
The mimosa maths
A 750ml bottle of sparkling makes 10 mimosas at equal parts in a 150ml flute, or 7 at two to one. For a two hour brunch, one bottle for every three guests is plenty.
A full bottle of sparkling at 12% holds 7.1 standard drinks. So an equal-parts mimosa is about 0.7 of a standard drink, and a two-to-one pour is close to one. Handy to know when someone's driving home at one o'clock.
Skip the good champagne. Juice flattens the detail you paid for, and a dry Australian sparkling or a prosecco does the job.
The glass
Our Sweetheart Celebration Flutes hold a 150ml pour, and the sculpted heart is a pour guide, so guests can mix their own without anyone measuring. They're $54.95 for a set of two, in Petal, Rose, Butterbloom, Cloud Blue, Midnight Mist and Seamist.
They're silicone too, so they're unbreakable. Brunch tends to happen alfresco, on pavers, with a toddler doing laps of the table. A dropped flute bounces and you go on with your story.
Set it up so people pour their own
Put the bar away from the food, on a bench or a side table, so the crowd spreads out. Stand the open bottle in a bowl of ice. Decant orange and pink grapefruit juice into jugs, plus a peach nectar if you like. Line the flutes up beside them.
Alfresco, our Baby, Let's Go Outside™ Cooler Bag sits beside the table with the second bottle and the spare juice inside, which saves you a walk back to the fridge every twenty minutes. It holds 9 litres and it's $89.95.
For everyone not drinking
Use the same bar. Sparkling water or a zero-alcohol sparkling goes with the same juices, in the same flute, at the same ratio. The guest who's driving or pregnant holds the same drink as everyone else.
We wrote three jug mocktails into our baby shower table guide if you'd like something with more going on.
Coffee for a crowd
Make cold brew the night before and you won't be running a café at 10:45. Stir 125g of coarse-ground coffee into 1 litre of cold water, cover, and leave it in the fridge for 12 to 18 hours. Strain it, then serve over ice with equal parts water or milk. One batch makes about six tall glasses, so double it for a bigger crowd.
Pour it into Bubble Gin Cups, which hold 300ml and take ice without complaint. They're $39.95 for a set of two.
Hot coffee goes in your own mugs, with a plunger on the bench. Allow 60g of ground coffee for every litre of water and give it four minutes.
How to set a brunch table the night before
Set your brunch table the night before, all of it. Silicone and melamine don't mind sitting out, and if the cat walks the length of the table at 2am, nothing ends up on the floor in pieces.
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Clear the table and lay a runner. If you're alfresco, skip the cloth. A breeze will have it in the fruit by eleven.
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Put your boards down empty. Space them where the food will go, and leave one clear spot in the middle for the hot dish.
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Stack the plates at one end. Brunch is a help-yourself meal, so a stack with serviettes and cutlery beside it beats a set place. Our melamine plate sets come as four 22.5cm plates and go in the dishwasher afterwards.
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Give everyone a water glass. A Bubble Goblet holds 400ml, which covers water, juice or a spritz later on. They're $54.95 for a set of two.
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Add one low thing in the middle. A bowl of oranges and lemons is our favourite brunch table decor, because half of it ends up in the drinks.
- Set the drinks station somewhere else. A bench or a sideboard will do.
Mornings can carry brighter colourways than evenings. Lemonchello and Fairy Floss look right in ten o'clock light. Hold to two colourways and one neutral, and the table stays calm. If you'd like a formula, our three object table is the one we use.
The timeline for a 10:30 brunch
Invite people for 10:30. It's late enough that nobody sets an alarm and early enough that you'll have the afternoon back.
| When | What you're doing |
|---|---|
| Two days before | Shop. Make the tomato sauce or the banana bread. |
| The night before | Set the table. Assemble the French toast bake. Start the cold brew. Chill the sparkling and the juice. Cut the melon. |
| 9:30 | Shower and get dressed. The oven can wait for you. |
| 9:45 | Oven on. Build the fruit board and cover it. |
| 10:00 | French toast bake in, if that's your hot dish. Bread and pastries onto the boards. |
| 10:15 | Ice in the bowl, first bottle in, juice into jugs. Bacon into the oven. |
| 10:30 | Guests arrive. Point them at the drinks. Salmon, yoghurt and eggs come out of the fridge now. |
| 10:45 | Bake out to rest. For baked eggs, reheat the sauce and crack the eggs in. |
| 11:00 | Hot dish to the table. Sit down. |
| 12:30 | Coffee, the last of the pastries, and people start to drift. |
How long brunch food can sit out
Food Standards Australia New Zealand wrote the 2-hour/4-hour rule for food businesses, and it's the clearest guide we know for a home table too. It covers food that lives in the fridge, like eggs, dairy, smoked salmon and cut melon, once it's sitting between 5°C and 60°C.
- Under 2 hours in total, eat it or put it back in the fridge.
- Between 2 and 4 hours, eat it now. It can't go back in the fridge.
- Over 4 hours, bin it.
The time adds up, so the half hour on the bench while you built the board counts.
A two hour brunch fits inside the rule when the cold food comes out as the doorbell goes. On a 30 degree morning, put the salmon and yoghurt out in two smaller rounds and keep the second half in the fridge or the cooler bag until the first is gone.
Brunch party ideas for every kind of morning
A birthday brunch
Cook menu three, put the candles in the bake, and set the table in the birthday person's favourite colourway.
A brunch where nobody's drinking
For Mother's Day or a baby shower, lead with the zero-alcohol bar and the cold brew. Our baby shower table guide has the rest.
A brunch with small children
Juice goes in a Bubble Gin Cup, which is the one we put on the kids' table because it bounces. Fruit and toast go on a Chop board as a plate. There's more in how to host a kid-friendly party.
A brunch somewhere else
Menu two packs into the cooler bag and travels to the park or your mum's verandah. Our summer picnic guide covers what else to take.
Frequently asked questions
What time should brunch start?
Between 10:30 and 11am. That's late enough that guests haven't eaten breakfast twice and early enough that the meal finishes by 1pm. Invite people for 10:30 and put the hot dish on the table at 11.
What do you serve at a brunch at home?
One hot dish, such as baked eggs or a French toast bake, plus cold food made or bought ahead. That means fruit, pastries, yoghurt and granola, bread, and a board of smoked salmon or cheese. Add coffee, juice and a mimosa bar.
What are easy brunch ideas for a crowd?
The easiest brunch ideas for a crowd cook in one tray or one pan without you. A French toast bake assembled the night before, baked eggs in tomato sauce, oven bacon and a frittata each feed eight or more from a single dish.
What brunch food can you make the night before?
French toast bake, frittata, bircher muesli, banana bread, jammy eggs, cold brew coffee, the tomato sauce for baked eggs and cut melon. Leave avocado, berries and anything toasted until the morning.
How much food do you need for brunch for 10 people?
About 14 eggs, 20 pieces of bread or bagels, 10 pastries, 1.5kg of prepared fruit and 1kg of yoghurt, plus 500g of smoked salmon or 20 rashers of bacon. For drinks, allow 3 litres of coffee, 4 bottles of sparkling and 4 litres of juice.
What is the best mimosa ratio?
Equal parts chilled sparkling wine and orange juice is the classic. Two parts sparkling to one part juice tastes drier. Pour the sparkling first, then the juice, and don't stir.
How many bottles of sparkling do you need for mimosas?
One 750ml bottle for every three guests at a two hour brunch. A bottle makes 10 equal-parts mimosas in a 150ml flute, or 7 at two parts sparkling to one part juice.
What do you serve at brunch instead of alcohol?
Sparkling water or zero-alcohol sparkling mixed with the same juices as the mimosa bar, served in the same flute. Cold brew coffee over ice and one jug of mocktail cover everyone else.
How do you keep brunch food warm?
Hold hot dishes in a 100°C oven, covered with foil, for up to 30 minutes. Better still, choose a dish that's happy at room temperature, like frittata, or time one hot dish to come out as guests sit down.
How long can brunch food sit out?
Under the 2-hour/4-hour rule from Food Standards Australia New Zealand, chilled food like eggs, dairy and smoked salmon can sit out for up to 2 hours and still go back in the fridge. Between 2 and 4 hours, eat it. After 4 hours, throw it away.
How do you set a brunch table?
Lay a runner, place serving boards where the food will go, and stack plates, serviettes and cutlery at one end. Give each guest a water glass, add one low centrepiece and set the drinks up on a separate surface.
How long should a brunch last?
Two to two and a half hours. Guests arrive at 10:30, eat at 11 and start to leave between 12:30 and 1pm.
What should a guest bring to brunch?
A bottle of sparkling, a carton of good juice, pastries from a bakery or a bunch of flowers. Ask the host first, because the fridge will be full.
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