Easy Breakfast Casserole - The Yummy Bowl (2024)

Breakfast Casserole - layers of delicious fluffy bread soaked in milk and egg mixture and then baked with crispy bacon & cheese until perfection.

A perfect casserole dish for breakfast or weekend brunch! Serve it along with a simple salad or a smoothie.

Why It's Yummy

• It's a clever recipe for reusing day-old bread or vegetable scraps and leftovers.
• Overall, the breakfast egg casserole hits all the marks - fast prep, make-ahead potential, fridge cleanup, customizable, and kid-friendly nutrition. No wonder it's such a popular breakfast dish.

Ingredients

• Cheese - Cheddar cheese, Monterey Jack, or mozzarella, Havarti, Fontina. Gruyere. For extra flavor add parmesan, crumbled feta, goat, or cotija cheese for garnish when the breakfast casserole is ready.
• Bacon - or ham, ground chicken, turkey or chopped breakfast sausage without casing.
• Bread - Baguette, challah, ciabatta, sourdough, buns, and most of the gluten-free options will work here too.
• Milk - makes the casserole rich and creamy. The fat in whole milk binds with the egg proteins to give a custard-like consistency that can't be achieved with non-fat or low-fat milk.
• Vegetables - mix & match! Bell peppers, spinach, kale, mushrooms, asparagus, tomatoes, onions. To prevent sogginess, pre-cook/saute the veggies lightly on the stove before hand.

How To Make Breakfast Casserole

STEP 1: In a large bowl, whisk together eggs, milk/cream, salt, pepper and Italian seasoning.

Set egg mixture aside.

• 7 large eggs
• ¾ of a whole baguette or sourdough (gluten free if needed), about 6-7 cups, sliced into 1-2 inch thick pieces, see notes
• 10-12 ounce bacon, diced
• 2 teaspoon Italian seasoning, Herbs de Provence
• 1 ¼ cups milk (full cream or low fat), or heavy cream for custard like texture
• salt and black pepper, to taste
• 2 ⅓ cups cheddar cheese, grated
• 2 tablespoon parsley
• 2-3 tablespoon green onion, chopped
• butter for greasing the casserole
• olive oil for cooking

• In a large bowl, whisk together eggs, milk/cream, salt, pepper and Italian seasoning. Set egg mixture aside.

• Cook bacon in a skillet over medium heat until crispy. Drain on paper towels. Add to egg mixture, reserving 2-3 tablespoons bacon for garnish.

• Stir bread, green onions, and cheese (reserve about ½ cup for later) into egg mixture. Refrigerate 1+ hour until bread absorbs liquid.

• After 1 hour. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit (180°C) and grease a casserole dish with butter.

• Transfer soaked bread-egg mixture to prepared dish. Top with reserved cheese and bacon. Bake covered 20-25 mins. Uncover and bake 15 mins more until set (test with toothpick) and top is crispy golden brown.

• After removing from the oven, let the strata sit for 15-20 minutes. For serving, add parsley, green onions and more bacon on top. We love shredded parmesan too. Enjoy!

• Baguette sizes vary, when cut into pieces my bread made about 6-7 cups.
• To check doneness, insert a knife in the center. If it comes out clean, the strata is ready. Be careful not to overcook or the dish will dry out.
• Day-old or stale bread with a firm texture will work best for breakfast casserole. French bread like baguette, Italian Ciabatta, sourdough or whole grain are all great options here. If the bread is too fresh and overly soft the casserole will turn too soggy too fast.
• If you only have fresh bread … in this case leave the bread to dry out. First, cut or tear the bread into the size pieces you need. Then spread the pieces on a baking sheet and let them sit uncovered at room temperature for a few hours or up to overnight. As the bread sits, the surface will become dried and hardened from evaporation.
• To Store. Leftover strata keeps 4-5 days refrigerated in an airtight container. To reheat, bake at 300F for 10-20 minutes until warmed through. You can also reheat individual slices in the air fryer at 350F for 5-10 minutes.

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