30% Of People Couldn't Live Without This Classic Breakfast Food

For many people, breakfast may have once been a fleeting moment: a granola bar on the train, an egg sandwich from a drive-thru, or even a smoothie downed at a desk. For many people, that's changed, and according to a recent Acosta report, 44 percent of Americans are eating breakfast at home every day compared to 33 percent pre-pandemic. With these new breakfast habits in mind, Mashed wondered: what classic breakfast food could people not live without?

Mashed conducted a survey of 656 people online, and the votes are in: this is apparently the most important part of the most important meal of the day. People seem to love their protein — so much so that scrambled eggs, yes, the humble egg — was the winner by a landslide. According to the survey, 30.34 percent of respondents said they couldn't live without this wobbly go-to egg dish, among the decidedly carb-heavy options of pancakes, French toast, oatmeal, hash browns, and cereal.

These breakfast items are very important to people

Eggs, however, weren't the only surprise. The runner-up to scrambled eggs was French toast, with 13.26 percent of the vote. How fancy! Apparently, people do have a lot more time on their hands. It really is hard to beat custardy French toast infused with cinnamon, topped with a dusting of powdered sugar, and drizzles of syrup. After this excuse to eat dessert for breakfast came the breakfast side of hash browns, with a solid 13.11 percent. This was followed by cereal, with 10.67 percent. People seemed far less attached to their oatmeal, which got under 10 percent of the vote, and waffles, which got under seven percent of the vote.

Some people really revealed themselves in the "other" category. One of the more popular write-in responses was bacon, which — of course. One person got literal, with the note, "I can live without all of them from above." Okay, we know technically all of us could survive on a desert island without French toast, Mr. Obvious. One person just wrote "Alanis," which ... is that a food? Are we talking about the hit '90s singer? Another said simply, "That isn't fair." Actually, though, all's fair in love and breakfast.