Difference: different food, different countries
Difference 1: different food
American breakfast includes fruit or juice (grapefruit juice, tomato juice, orange juice, pineapple juice), cereal (corn, oats and other pre-cooked cereals, eaten with milk and sugar to taste), eggs, bread, beverages, a more substantial breakfast.
A continental breakfast consists of: bread, coffee or tea, and juice. It is simpler.
Difference 2: Different countries used
American breakfast: Britain, the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, etc., the native English-speaking countries are in this category.
Continental breakfast: Germany, France and so on.
Expanded Information:
American breakfast contains the following three meanings:
Firstly, western breakfast in star hotels is generally divided into "continental breakfast" and "American breakfast", here the American breakfast, has its fixed items, between the hotels, because of the different star and grade, breakfast content varies, but in general is similar;
Secondly, the United States of America in various regions of the traditional breakfast, these breakfasts may only be popular in some parts of the United States;
Thirdly, the United States of America breakfasts served in residential neighborhood restaurants.
Traditional American Breakfast:
The United States is a country of immigrants, so the American breakfast is a collection of breakfast elements from the United Kingdom and continental European countries, with a wide range of items.
For example, there are boiled oatmeal, sausage, fried hash browns, cookies, sliced bread, soft pancakes, waffles, sweet bagels, slices of French fried bread, English muffins, croissants, Danish bread. Coffee, milk, tea, and juice are generally a must.
In the last decade, cold cereals, i.e., precooked puffed cereals, including: rice krispies, shredded wheat, whole-wheat cones, corn flakes, oatmeal, etc., with milk or yogurt, have become very common. The uniquely American cutlets and egg burgers are seldom seen in Europe and are generally only available in American fast food restaurants.
There are regional breakfasts of country-style gravy, corn soups, quesadillas, tacos, pork rolls, and fish fillets that are related to the source of the population in the region, and which are not popular in other parts of the United States.