4 Ideas for Serving Savory Waffles

How many ways are there to waffle?

It’s a hypothetical question to which there is no wrong answer, friend. You can top them with berries and whipped cream or maple syrup. Dunk them in chocolate or make them into ice cream sandwiches. You can do sweet. You can do savory. Or you can do both, on the same plate, because carpe diem!

For those of us who need breakfast or brunch to have a protein-centric, savory heft in order to feel full, here are four of our favorite ways to go whole-hog savory (starting with, ahem, bacon).

1. Bacon and Maple

Ebony and ivory. Simon and Garfunkel. Bacon and maple. There’s a reason this Platonic ideal of pairings finds a home in our roundup of heavy hitters. Bacon and maple syrup have always played nicely together, and with a slightly savory waffle as a foil? It’s a match made in heaven.

2. Eggs and Chiles

For many of us, it’s just not brunch without the humble egg making a cameo. And yes, sultry fried eggs spiked with a bit of heat dripping over a waffle is exactly what you need your next weekend morning, whether or not you have a hangover. Some culinary pros absolutely swear by fried eggs and syrup together, so it’s a combo accepted in the highest echelons of taste-making.

3. Fried Chicken

The ne plus ultra of savory breakfast combos, chicken and waffles are maybe unbeatable for how beautifully they combine savory and sweet. The crisp bird; the yielding but sturdy waffle; the savory and sweet boom of a maple syrup slick. There is nothing like this power duo for breakfast, and with that wallop of protein, it should also power you up for a walk afterwards.

4. Lox

Why should bagels get to have all the fun? Take a cue from New York City and bedazzle your waffle with lox, dill, red onions, cucumbers and dill. Let the sour cream be a placeholder for whipped cream. Appreciate how umami a waffle can taste. Feel nostalgic for Manhattan even if you’ve never been. Next stop, Statue of Liberty. This is what breakfast can do.