Make-Ahead Breakfast Casserole
Make Ahead Breakfast Casserole (or overnight breakfast casserole) is perfect for the holidays! The secret is to butter the bread before laying in the pan!
Happy Holiday, Friends! Ready for an easy breakfast to serve this week? I love this Make-Ahead Breakfast Casserole because it’s EASY! Today I’m resharing this delicious recipe that has been on my blog since 2014.
Choosing Joy & Make-Ahead Breakfast Casserole
This is the week for me in December when things get hectic, pile up, overwhelm me, and I start to get a little grumpy! So, I’m reminding myself of this quote from my favorite author, Henri J.M. Nouwen:
“Joy does not simply happen to us. We have to choose joy and keep choosing it every day.”
Ingredients for make-ahead breakfast casserole
Gather these easy ingredients:
- Loaf of bread
- Cheese and favorite meat (sausage, bacon, ham)
- Mushrooms, diced chilies, eggs and milk
- Spices: paprika, basil, salt, pepper, dry mustard
Other overnight breakfast recipes to try:
You might also want to try this Pepperoni Roll Breakfast Strata or Overnight Blueberry Almond Oats. Then there is my Overnight Monte Cristo Breakfast Casserole and Baguette Ham Overnight Breakfast Casserole that is really good!
Unmet expectations
Yes, I want each day this holiday season to be magic, with sparkly lights and nights {fun movies with the fam}, good food on the table, gifts wrapped, cards done, relaxing and spreading holiday cheer.
But that’s not quite reality for most of us.
I tend to be unhappy, disappointed and let down when I can’t get everything on my list accomplished, or when my expectations are not met. I hate it when this happens, so this is when I reach deep within and pull out a little JOY.
It’s a peace that is experienced when the mental chatter of the mind is silenced–expectations, negative thoughts, worry, doubt, perfectionism—the things that rob us!
It takes a little focus, so this is where “choosing joy” comes in!
It’s the simple things that always involve others, like cooking for others, giving small gifts, sending out cards. And hosting a few holiday meals!
Reach for joy
So when I feel stressed, I reach for joy. Joy also comes from being grateful, feeling filled with connection (which is why we show hospitality a lot over the holidays), truthfulness, radiating love, and that twinkle of inspiration from remembering the Reason for the season. Joy settles deep.
Joy comes when our joy cups are filled up — filled with connection.
It’s the sharing of our lives over the holidays that brings joy!
It’s such a simple concept, yet so many of us miss out on the one thing that can fill our hearts with love!
Make Ahead Breakfast Casserole
A few years back, when we lived in southern Oregon, we had a tradition on Christmas to have my Dad and his wife over for either brunch or dinner.
In the past I either made Cornish Game Hens recipe (yum!), or Pepper Crusted Prime Rib, or Ginny would bring our family-favorite Make Ahead Breakfast Casserole for brunch.
The secret for the best flavor
The secret to the flavor? Butter the bread before you lay it in the pan!
You can make the dish vegetarian or add your favorite meat.
Make up a day or two before you need to serve it. I know why breakfast casseroles are so popular.
It’s for the “cooks” who want to be prepared!
Happy hosting!
Get the Recipe:
Make-Ahead Breakfast Casserole
Ingredients
- Loaf of sliced bread, white or wheat or sprouted wheat work, crusts trimmed off
- 2 cups grated sharp cheddar cheese
- 1 lb. pre-cooked sausage, bacon or ham
- ½ lb. fresh sliced mushrooms
- 1 can diced chiles
- 2 cups grated jack cheese
- 6 eggs
- 2 cups milk
- ½ tsp. paprika
- ½ tsp. basil
- ½ tsp. pepper
- ¼ tsp. onion salt
- ¼ tsp. dry mustard
Instructions
- Place buttered, trimmed, bread slices in the bottom of a 9 x 13 pan, overlapping each other – butter side up. Layer the grated sharp cheddar cheese, meat(s), mushrooms, chilies, and jack cheese.
- Mix in a separate bowl the eggs, milk, paprika, basil, pepper, onion salt, and dry mustard.
- Pour egg mixture over the layered ingredients. Cover with foil and chill overnight.
- In the morning, remove the foil and bake at 325° for 1 hour, or until center is firm and does not jiggle. Depending on your oven, you may need to cook an additional 5 mintues.
- Let stand 10-15 minutes before serving.
Notes
Hello and welcome to my home and table!
I’m Sandy—lover of food, family, cooking, THE BIG BOARD, travel, and bringing people together. Through great recipes and connection around the table, we become better, stronger, and more courageous people. Feasting on Life is real, and every time we do it, we grow a little more. Read more...
I’m a newer follower, new to blogs in general. Yours by far, has been my favorite!! Simply bringing real food together in beautiful, easy arrangements and bringing family-style back into day to day meals. Love it!! As a single mom, I have a lot of go-to’s thanks to your tips when I need to feed more than two :)
Do you think it is possible to divide this into three small glass pie plates and freeze two unbaked for future use?
I haven’t tried that, but I bet it would work!
Sandy, I simply LOVED this post! What a great reminder for us, thanks for the quote! This recipe looks more substantial and a bit healthier with the chilis and mushrooms… I bet sauteed onions would be a great addition, too. I’m looking forward to going through your blog now that I have found it!
It’s really delicious. Thanks and happy New Year, Donna!
no need to cut off crusts ……and just an FYI this dish is called Strata .
When is the shredded jack cheese added? It’s not in the instructions.
Similar to questions above, is the bread just a loaf of white sandwich bread with crust on?
White, wheat, or even sprouted wheat works (crusts trimmed off).
Is this just regular white sandwich bread? And with crusts trimmed?
I have the same questions as above. Is the buttered side up or down? And is it the whole loaf, or just one layer of bread? Thanks!
Hi, Jenny. Overlapping and butter-side up! :)
I have the same question as the gal before me. Is it one layer of bread or the whole loaf?
Is there only 1 layer of bread and is the butter side up or down
I often feel overwhelmed and exhausted by the holidays… so this is a wonderful reminder to keep things relaxed and surround ourselves with warm, happy people.
This menu looks super delicious!
Great Post, great recipe! Thank you!
A few of my family members do not like mushrooms. Is it okay to leave those out of this recipe?
I love the chilis in this casserole!! I need to kick my usual recipe up a notch!
This message really hit home with me today. Thank you for that. I really needed to hear this today.
Sandy,
Thanks so much for sharing your challenges on this week before
Christmas. I thought I was the only one that got overwhelmed, frustrated that I wasn’t doing things perfectly, and losing my Joy. And there is always Something that is unexpected that pops up to put me
to the test. By forcing myself to make the decision to ‘live in the moment’ and enjoy what is at hand ……cooking, calling a distant friend as my verbal Christmas card, wrapping gifts, cleaning, etc…..to just decide to enjoy it and lay down the perfectionism….the peace returns.
Thanks so much for the honest open sharing. You are a blessing.
You’re so right. We often lose our sense of joy when dealing with all the extra expectations of the holidays. Truer words were never spoken.
YUM! Looks so good and a great post and reminder. Thank you! To keep a joyful attitude I just simply remember the simplicity of life and that it is not about getting caught up in all the chaos that can surround me. I think of my family. I remind myself that if I’m running around trying to do things at the last minute, that it was my choice, so there’s no reason to be uptight.
Wonderful post, Sandy. And I can’t wait to make this breakfast casserole!
Another great post. Love make ahead breakfasts.
Recipe looks great. And I love the quote “Joy doesn’t just happen to us. We have to keep choosing it every day”. Great thought!