13 Frozen Breakfast Foods That Disappeared From Stores

Few things evoke a feeling of nostalgia like food, and when it comes to breakfast foods, those feelings get even more intense. Virtually all of us have treasured memories of sitting around the kitchen table before we went to school, munching on a waffle or toaster strudel that came straight from the freezer. If you tried to recreate those memories, though, you may well be disappointed. Like frozen dinners of times gone by, many people's favorite frozen breakfast foods have disappeared from shelves, never to be seen again.

It's always surprisingly sad when a food item we know and love gets discontinued, and it's even sadder when we discover that it's usually just down to simple supply and demand. Many stores and manufacturers can be particularly brutal when it comes to discontinuing their items, leaving us hunting for replacements. Other discontinuations can be caused by the mere passage of time, with foods falling out of favor. Whatever the reason, we wanted to throw it back and check out all those frozen breakfast foods you'd probably forgotten about. Grab your morning cup of coffee, and let's take a trip down memory lane.

Eggo Waf-FULLS were once all the range. This waffle-sandwich mash-up was at the height of its popularity in the early 2000's, and was accompanied by a slightly psychedelic set of commercials, one of which involved a waffle with legs swallowing an anthropomorphic blob of jam (hey, it was a different time, people). However, despite the appeal of this frozen breakfast food, which stuffed a syrupy-sweet filling into an egg waffle, it wasn't long for this world. Eggo Waf-FULLS were eventually discontinued due to low sales, and while some customers clearly miss them, it doesn't look like they're coming back any time soon.

Luckily, while Eggo Waf-FULLS have been removed from shelves, Kellogg's still makes regular Eggo waffles in various different flavors. If you're craving a filled version, it's simple enough to make your own. Either take two classic Eggo waffles and smear some jam in between them, making a sandwich out of them, or slice a waffle open and tuck some jam or jelly inside. You may not get the authentic Waf-FULL experience, but it won't be far from the original product — and you won't have to have any nightmares about waffles trying to gobble you up, either. ‌

Pillsbury offers an impressive selection of toaster strudels in a wide array of flavors, from a simple strawberry filling to a delicious cinnamon roll version. One of its most-loved flavors, however, has been removed from its product line. The Pillsbury Boston Cream Pie Toaster Strudel was stuffed with a cream filling, and came with a packet full of chocolate icing. You simply toasted the strudel until the inside was piping hot, and then squeezed the chocolate icing on top, before chowing down.

Unfortunately, though, all good things must come to an end. The Boston Cream Pie Toaster Strudel was confirmed as discontinued by Pillsbury in an X comment in late 2021, in response to a fan asking the company if it was still making it. It's fair to say that the removal of the Boston Cream Pie flavor from its product line caused some serious distress — enough to start a petition, in fact. A disgruntled fan set up a Change.org page imploring the company to restart production, and as of July 2024 it's reached almost 1,700 signatures. Hey, we never knew there were that many people out there who loved these strudels, but it's a testament to how good these clearly were.

Smucker's is best-known for its line of peanut butter, fruit spreads, and syrups, but it's also branched out to other types of breakfast food. In 2011, it took an unprecedented leap into the frozen waffle world, and came out the other side with Snack'n Waffles. These waffles were created for the folks out there who didn't have time to mess around adding toppings to their breakfast, and instead had their individual flavors incorporated right into the waffle itself. All you had to do was pop your waffles in the microwave, heat them up, and eat them for your breakfast (or for a snack, as Smucker's were clearly suggesting by the name).

Although Snack'n Waffles did well, they didn't stand the test of time. In 2019, Smucker's confirmed that Snack'n Waffles had been discontinued due to "low support," in a post on X. Luckily, though, not all is lost. Folks who miss the discontinued Snack'n Waffles have another version out there, made by Arlington Valley Farms. This version has an identical name to the Smucker's product, and at first glance it looks like the original product has been brought back. In reality, though, the Arlington Valley Farms version has been in stores since the late 90s, making the Smucker's type the real copycat.

Products from the Pepsico-owned Aunt Jemima line used to be a familiar sight in stores, before the food brand changed its name in 2021 to Pearl Milling Company, acknowledging that the former branding was racially insensitive and based on a racial stereotype. Before this, though, you might have been able to find its frozen breakfasts in various stores. Aunt Jemima Frozen Breakfasts came in a range of different flavors and styles, from Cinnamon French Toast to Scrambled Eggs, Sausage, and Seasoned Roasted Potatoes. Frozen pancakes and waffles were also available in the product line.

However, in 2017, the entire range of products was discontinued in a pretty dramatic fashion. In May of that year, the frozen breakfast items in the product line were subject to a large recall, due to parent company Pinnacle Foods Inc. (who owned the brand before Pepsico) finding Listeria in its production facility. Just three days after the recall, it was announced that the facility in Jackson, Tennessee, was closing, with the company acknowledging that the products weren't making much of a profit. This didn't just result in the end of the product line, either — it also left hundreds of people out of work.

Promotional tie-ins with food items is nothing new, and for whatever reason, it's a particular popular strategy with breakfast food. Maybe it's because savvy marketers know that if you place a product on a brightly-colored box in front of a kid as they eat, eventually they're going to want to see whatever movie or toy that's being advertised. This was clearly the case when Kellogg's teamed up with Marvel in 2019, to produce Eggo Spider Man Mixed Berry Frozen Waffles.

As part of the marketing campaign for "Spider Man: Far From Home," these limited-edition waffles came in a spider-web shape, and were stuffed with various berries. The web, thankfully, had its gaps filled in with pastry, so that any syrup squirted onto them remained in the waffle itself, and didn't just dribble onto your plate. To be honest, if we were still kids, we'd be begging our parents for these: They look super fun! Unfortunately, they were short-lived. Like so many food-based advertising partnerships before them, these waffles were only ever intended to be a short-term promo product, and they soon web-slung their way into the history books.

For a long time, Swanson's was the undisputed king of frozen foods — and it didn't just stop at frozen entrées. While the company made its name with its TV dinners, by the 1990s it was covering meals for other times of the day, with its Great Starts breakfasts allowing folks to start their day off right. While these meals came in a range of combinations, most eye-catching was its Big Start Breakfast. Even the hungriest people would have been satisfied by the Big Start's combination of eggs, bacon, sausage, and pancakes, all packaged together in one box.

However, Swanson's story, and the story of its breakfasts, was soon to come to an end. The legendary brand started to face serious financial difficulties towards the end of the 20th century and start of the 2000s, and in 2001 it was bought by Pinnacle Foods. The move saved almost 1,000 workers from being fired when the purchase kept its factory in business, but it also signaled the start of the brand's decline. Swanson's meals still exist today, with the brand now owned by Con-Agra, but they're far from the iconic items the company made its name with.

Of all the stores that decide to discontinue its products without any warning, Trader Joe's has to be the most notorious. The retailer projects a laid-back image, but under the surface is a steely business-mindedness that will remove favorite products at a moment's notice. Frozen breakfast food lovers will vividly remember when this happened with its Banana Waffles, which were a fan favorite at the store. These wheat-free, gluten-free waffles were infused with a subtle banana flavor, and while some folks despaired at how holey they were, they were clearly a winner.

Back in 2009, however, this became another product Trader Joe's decided to pull the plug on. These waffles disappeared from its shelves, and have yet to make a re-appearance. TJ's still offers various frozen waffles in its product line, and it also has a tendency to roll out seasonal waffles (pumpkin flavor, anyone?), for those who like their breakfast with a theme. However, to recreate the flavor of Trader Joe's Banana Waffles, you'll have to make them yourself, or else just take the easy route and slice some fresh banana onto your regular brand.

We'll never stop marveling at the ability of food producers to mash-up various foods to make brand-new items. Case in point? Pillsbury Waffle Sticks, a combination of waffles and, well, sticks. We're kidding, of course — but these log-shaped waffles were kind of like elongated cookies that you could munch on the go as a quick breakfast. Pillsbury Waffle Sticks came with a dipping cup full of syrup, for you to coat your sticks with immediate flavor. The product was sold, in typical early 2000s fashion, with a fairly bizarre commercial accompanying it, depicting a man in a hospital bed dunking his waffle sticks into the syrup. Huh.

As was the fashion in the 2000s, Pillsbury didn't just stop at its regular waffle sticks, either. The company used the product as a promotional tie-in for films like Shrek 2, with its Shrek-inspired Waffle Sticks coming with a cup of lurid green syrup (yum!). However, like so many staple 2000s foods, Pillsbury Waffle Sticks were discontinued. After being introduced in 2003, they lasted a full four years before being ripped from the shelves. While there are folks out there who are still holding out hope that Pillsbury will bring them back, as of yet there hasn't been much movement. ‌

Trader Joe's Multigrain Waffles are the stuff of legend. This frozen breakfast item was a must-have for some folks whenever they visited the store. Promising the health of multiple grains with the crunchy-soft texture of a regular waffle, Trader Joe's Multigrain Waffles came in a box of eight pieces, and were just as good as the regular wheat kind when doused in syrup and topped with fresh fruit.

At some point down the line, though, Trader Joe's decided that it was done with all those pesky grains. The Multigrain Waffles were quietly phased out, and became a mere memory. In their place, Trader Joe's introduced a replacement product: Whole Grain Waffles. On the surface, these waffles look pretty much exactly the same as their predecessor, coming in the same shape and grid size. Unfortunately, the customers aren't convinced. Some people have pointed out that the new waffles taste different, and don't serve as an adequate replacement for the multigrain version. Trader Joe's does revisit old favorites on occasion, and so hope isn't completely lost for those who are missing the multigrain — but we wouldn't count on them being back any time soon.

Howard Johnson's is an American institution. The hotel chain operates more than 460 establishments across North America and international markets, and for a long time patrons could also dine in its restaurants, the last of which closed in 2022. The brand didn't stop there, though. For more than 40 years, Howard Johnson's produced frozen breakfast items based on their beloved restaurant dishes, so that diners could enjoy them at home. Arguably the most famous of these was its Toastees, frozen muffin cakes that you could pop into the toaster and heat up in a few minutes.

Toastees debuted in 1960 and came in two different flavors, a simple corn Toastee and a blueberry-studded version. These were designed with both adults and kids in mind, with the simple, accessible taste particularly appealing to young'uns. Although they were marketed as a breakfast item, they were also infinitely snackable, and their simplicity meant they could operate just as well as a dessert. However, Howard Johnson's didn't have an easy run of it in the 20th century, and what was once a booming restaurant strand to their business (with over 1,000 locations at one point) turned into a brand in decline. Just like its restaurants, its frozen breakfast line disappeared, and Toastees were discontinued in 2008.

If you don't remember the Downyflake brand, we wouldn't blame you. At one point, though, Downyflake rivaled Eggos in the waffle world, producing its own line of toaster waffles that they dubbed Hot-n-Buttery. The clue's in the name with this one: These waffles sought to remove the need to spread butter on top, and instead came "pre-spread," with an artificial butter emerging from the pastry and pooling in the waffle once cooked. We've gotta say that this raises some questions about cooking them in the toaster, where surely the butter would just leak to the bottom — but given that there waffles were in their heyday during the 1970s, we can't say for sure.

Regrettably, though, Downyflake's waffles and its other frozen breakfast items, which included French toast and pancakes, didn't make it to the 21st century. Its Hot-n-Buttery waffles were discontinued in the mid-1990s, and shortly after Downyflake was purchased by Pillsbury. Soon after, its new parent company decided that it didn't need the Downyflake name at all, and its items were incorporated under the Hungry Jack brand. Soon enough, these square-shaped waffles disappeared entirely, becoming a mere memory.

Plant-based alternatives of beloved meaty breakfast foods are usually a safe bet for retailers to put in their stores. So it was pretty surprising when Trader Joe's elected to get rid of its Meatless Breakfast Patties. Unless you knew they were meat-free, you'd likely have had a hard time telling these patties apart from their sausage-based cousins. With a deep-brown surface and a plump appearance, they had a rich flavor and a satisfying texture that was a far cry from the rubbery, chalky consistency that plant-based products sometimes suffer from.

However, a few years ago, Trader Joe's decided it was time to pull the plug on these patties, and they were quietly removed from stores. This move wasn't received well by customers: One thread over on Reddit attracted dozens of comments from people missing the patties, and imploring TJ's to bring them back. While some held out initial hope that it was just a supply issue, it soon became apparent that it was a business decision. Luckily, Trader Joe's did decide to make a new vegan version with its Meatless Breakfast Sausage Patties — but some folks have found that they just don't compare to the old version.

Some of the best frozen breakfast sandwiches can also be pretty unhealthy. Usually, these items are stuffed with high-fat, high-salt ingredients that may make them delicious, but which also tend to somewhat knock you out afterward. This is something that Kellogg's Special K tried to address with its Flatbread Breakfast Sandwich. While this sandwich, like so many others, included bacon, egg, and cheese, it clocked in at just 190 calories per serving and was encased in whole grain flatbread to give it a hint of healthiness.

Unfortunately, it soon became clear that the Kellogg's Special K Flatbread Sandwich wasn't a winner. Reviewers noted that the flatbread was pretty tough and chewy once it was blasted in the microwave, and overall the sandwich didn't have a particularly exciting flavor. It appears that after its initial punt on the Flatbread Breakfast Sandwich, Kellogg's kinda lost faith in the product. The item was quietly removed from the Special K website, and while it's still listed as an item on some online retailer platforms, it's no longer available.