A pairing for the 1985 classic “The Breakfast Club” is already in the movie’s title: a breakfast take on a club sandwich.

Our vegan, gluten-free breakfast club recipe makes 2 sandwiches.

Ingredients
6 slices square-shaped gluten-free, vegan bread
2 tablespoons vegan chipotle mayonnaise
2 vegetarian sausage patties
4 slices vegan cheddar cheese
2 vegan egg patties
4 slices vegan, gluten-free bacon
1 medium tomato, sliced
2 ounces arugula

Instructions
Toast the bread.

After it’s toasted, spread the mayonnaise on the inside of the two bottom pieces of toast and put them on plates next to your stovetop. We used chipotle mayo, but you can really use whatever mayo or spread you like on an egg sandwich.

Heat the sausage patties in a skillet over medium heat. Once they’re cooked, put them on top of the prepared pieces of toast.

Add the cheddar slices over the top of the sausage.

Spread more mayo on both sides of the middle pieces of toast and put them on top of the cheese.

Use the same skillet to heat your vegan eggs. Put them on top of the middle slice of bread along with an additional slice of cheese for each sandwich.

Fry the bacon in your skillet.

Top the second slice of cheese with the bacon, arugula and tomato slices (we were lucky to have an amazing juicy heirloom tomato for our first recipe test pictured above). Then spread the remaining mayo on one side of the top toast pieces then place them on the sandwiches.

Depending on how big your bread is, slice the sandwich into 2 pieces.

Serve and eat on its own or with your favorite breakfast potatoes. We went without potatoes for our recipe tests.

The Easy Route
You could do a couple things to make this one a little easier:
1. Buy pre-sliced tomatoes.
2. Cook the sausage, eggs and bacon in the microwave.

Of course, the easiest option is to buy a premade vegan, gluten-free breakfast sandwich, which you might be able to find at a grocery store (check the frozen section) or a restaurant.

The Pairing
Like most elder millennials, I grew up on the films of John Hughes: “The Breakfast Club,” “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off,” “Some Kind of Wonderful,” “Christmas Vacation,” etc.

As a writer and director, Hughes was an expert at coming-of-age stories that centered on life in the Midwest. Growing up in the region, I especially loved his tales of teenagers, including “The Breakfast Club.”

While some aspects of the movie are definitely dated and cringe-inducing, I think its overall message still resounds: There is more to life than high school and the singular label you might be given like jock or geek.

If you haven’t seen or heard of “The Breakfast Club,” it centers on five very different high school students who find themselves together in Saturday detention. Andrew (Emilio Estevez) is the jock, Brian (Anthony Michael Hall) is the geek, Claire (Molly Ringwald) is the “princess,” Bender (Judd Nelson) is the serial bad boy, and Allison (Ally Sheedy) is the so-called “basket case.”

This whole cast is just perfect in their roles, but I always find Estevez to be so mesmerizing as he breaks down and releases some of the toxic masculinity that has been ingrained in his life.

I rewatched the movie in preparation for this blog post a couple months ago, and I was delighted to see the David Bowie quote from his song “Changes” at the beginning, something I didn’t remember from previous viewings. It is just a perfect pairing with the movie’s themes.

If you decide to make this sandwich and/or watch “The Breakfast Club,” let us know! Tag us in your Instagram posts & stories, threads, tweets or TikTok videos: @veg_out_recipes