This is by far my favorite holiday recipe.
This easy overnight breakfast casserole has lots of bacon and cheese in an easy strata style dish.
It’s perfect for brunch, holiday mornings, or lazy Sundays!
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An Easy Overnight Breakfast Casserole
I have a hard time choosing between hashbrowns breakfast casserole and this one which my mom always made for Christmas morning!
- This overnight breakfast casserole recipe preps fast the night before and bakes fresh and delicious in the morning!
- This recipe reheats and freezes well for meals throughout the week.
- Think beyond breakfast; it makes a great lunch or dinner, too.
- Get a jumpstart on holiday meals, this recipe can be prepared up to 4 days ahead of time.
Ingredients in Overnight Breakfast Casserole
- Eggs – Use large eggs or a carton of liquid eggs and any milk.
- Bread – I use white sandwich bread, but you can use any leftover bread, dinner rolls, or hamburger buns!
- Bacon – This casserole tastes best if you cook and drain a pound of bacon but to keep it easy, real bacon bits, pre-cooked bacon, or ham are all great too.
- Vegetables – Bell peppers add flavor but you can add other veggies like cooked onions or mushrooms.
- Cheese – I love sharp cheddar cheese in this breakfast casserole; pre-shredded cheese works just fine in this recipe. You can replace it with Monterey Jack or a cheese blend.
How to Make Overnight Breakfast Casserole
- For the custard, whisk eggs, milk, and seasonings.
- Layer the bread and other ingredients in a baking dish.
- Pour egg mixture over the top, cover, and refrigerate overnight.
- In the morning, bake (per recipe below) until a knife in the center comes out clean.
Tip for Crispy Topping: Place the casserole under the broiler for about 3 minutes until the topping is golden brown and the cheese is bubbly.
Make Ahead for Best Results
This is a make-ahead breakfast casserole and needs to reset at least 3 hours to let the bread soak up the egg mixture. Once assembled, this casserole can be refrigerated for up to 48 hours before baking.
Freeze the casserole, either cooked or uncooked, for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator before baking or reheating.
Short on Time?
- Slice up cooked breakfast sausage links instead of frying bacon.
- Use frozen peppers and/or onions instead of dicing up fresh!
Need to bake it now? Toss the prepared bread cubes with the egg mixture (Step 2) and let it soak while you prepare the rest of the casserole. Then very gently layer half the soaked bread cubes on the bottom of the casserole dish, half the ingredients, more soaked bread cubes, and the remaining half. Bake as directed.
More Make Ahead Favorites
Did your family love this Overnight Breakfast Casserole? Leave us a rating and a comment below!
Equipment
Ingredients
- 12 slices thick sliced bread cubed, about 14 cups
- 12 slices bacon cooked and crumbled, or 1 cup diced ham
- 3 green onions thinly sliced
- ½ red bell pepper finely diced
- 4 cups shredded cheddar cheese
- 6 large eggs
- 3 cups milk
- ½ teaspoon dry mustard powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
Instructions
- Cube bread and leave it out overnight or place in the oven at 300°F for about 10 minutes to dry slightly. (Do not brown or toast it).
- In a large bowl, whisk together eggs, milk, mustard powder, salt, and pepper.
- Grease a 9×13 baking dish. Layer half of the bread cubes in the prepared dish. Top with half of the bacon, green onions, red peppers and cheese. Repeat layers one more time.
- Pour the egg custard mixture over top of the casserole, ensuring all of the bread is moistened. Cover and refrigerate for at least 3 hours or overnight.
- Remove from fridge and let sit at room temperature while preheating the oven to 350°F.
- Bake the casserole covered with foil for 45 to 55 minutes or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean. (If you are baking 2 pans, increase cooking time to 60-80 minutes).
Video
Notes
Nutrition Information
Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.
Course Breakfast, Casserole
Cuisine American© SpendWithPennies.com. Content and photographs are copyright protected. Sharing of this recipe is both encouraged and appreciated. Copying and/or pasting full recipes to any social media is strictly prohibited. Please view my photo use policy here.
These photos are amazing. I don’t do meat or dairy but my sister is always looking for new recipes to try on Christmas. I’m going to forward this to her asap. Thanks for sharing.
Thank you Deborah! If you do eat eggs, leaving out the meat and using a non-diary milk would be great too, this recipe is very forgiving!
This is a fantastic idea for a new take on breakfast!
Thanks Molly, I hope you love it as much as we do!
Going to try this –do you think I can use muffin tins ?
I have only made this recipe as written. You may love to try Veggie Egg Muffins and Make Ahead Egg Muffins to make breakfast in a muffin tin.
Hey, would I be able to make this 5ish days ahead, stick it in the freezer and then defrost it in the fridge on Christmas eve night?
I haven’t tried freezing this uncooked and thawing overnight. That being said, it can be prepared and refrigerated up to 3 days ahead of time.
Great recipe
Thank you!
Sounds great. Will have to try it Shared it to Twitter and pinned it
Sounds great and I pinned it too. Will have to try it
Thank you for Pinning the recipe Toni!
How many servings does this recipe make?
This recipe makes 12 servings.
Can this recipe be doubled??
Yes, but make sure your pan is large enough to accomodate Bonnie!
Holly, would this Mexicans Egg Casserole work well in a Dutch Oven?
What modifications would you suggest?
Oven temperature? Duration of cooking time?
Thank you.
John
While I haven’t tried this particular recipe in the oven, I do make a similar one in the oven. I bake it at 350 for 1 hour (covered with foil for the first 30 minutes). I would suggest checking it for doneness after 45 minutes by inserting a knife in the center. If the knife comes out clean, the casserole is done.
Double checked my recipe but took 1 1/2 hours at 350F and center still not coming clean with knife. Any suggestions why it would not set? I used 1 cup of ham. I put both the ham and diced red pepper in a baggie with a paper towel to absorb any extra liquid before putting together. Used whole milk and extra large eggs.
Did you put this casserole in right from the fridge or did you let it sit out for a little bit?
Do you cook the bacon first?
Yes, the bacon is cooked first.
I wonder if leftovers can be frozen? I’ve a foodsaver vacuum sealer, so it can be tightly sealer.
Absolutely! That would make for a super yummy and fast breakfast another day!
Simply amazing. I love it. Thank you for all the effort made.
Built this tonigh, but had to make a few changes…
No onions, peppers or onions in the kitchen. So I opened a jar of salsa!! Also using ham not bacon. Looking forward to morning!!
Yum!! I’ve made it 3 times this week so far with different additions. I love the idea of adding salsa, thank you for sharing!
Have you tried it with bacon and sausage for a meatier casserole? Or would the sausage be to greasy?
Yes, I actually made a version with sausage (and mushrooms) this morning and it was delicious! I precooked the sausage and drained well before preparing and it wasn’t greasy at all.
This looks so easy and delicious, and all that gooey cheese is seriously dreamy!
I have been going through all this good food for awhile.There are a lot I would like to “pin” only I have no idea what I am doing lo .Please help thank you very much.
Hi Vivian,
You will need to ensure you have an account at Pinterest first (it’s free).
Once you have an account you can hover any photo on my site to “Pin” it which will save it to your Pinterest account. When you’d like to view a recipe you can go to your Pinterest account and look at all of the photos you have saved. Clicking the photos will bring you back to the recipe.
I hope that helps!
Is the temperature degrees Celsius or Fahrenheit?
Fahrenheit.
Would like to know if this has been done in the slow cooker… I will try it anyway!! Looks and sounds awesome
I haven’t cooked this particular recipe in the slow cooker but I love that idea! Please let me know how it works out for you!
I made this tonight for my daughter and I in the morning. I used red onions instead of green and it looks really good
this sounds marvelous I will make it soon