Breakfast Casserole

A hearty protein-rich breakfast, this Breakfast Casserole recipe can be assembled up to 12-hours ahead, making it great for entertaining and morning potlucks.

There was a time when my offices at work were doing a LOT of breakfast potlucks. Working with very few women, those potlucks ended up being a lot of bagels, donuts, and other carb and/or sugar-heavy store-bought goods. And so, I set out on a quest to find something higher in protein, and many with a little veggies or fruit in there.

Enter this Breakfast Casserole. I love it because, while end-to-end, it takes about 90 minutes to make, it can be prepared up to 12 hours ahead of time, making it perfect for morning potlucks. I make and assemble the night before, and toss in the oven when I get up in the morning. The casserole cooks while I shower and and get ready. I then toss a lid on the Pyrex, tuck it in the carrying case with a hot pack (see Amazon affiliate link below), and go!

This Breakfast Casserole recipe is super flexible, so have fun with it. Mushrooms, onions, and breakfast sausage are my preference but this would also be great with bacon, peppers, and tomatoes. I don’t make this often, but whenever I do, it gets polished off quicker than I’d imagine.

Print

Breakfast Casserole

A hearty protein-rich breakfast, this Breakfast Casserole recipe can be assembled up to 12-hours ahead, making it great for entertaining and morning potlucks.

Course Breakfast

Cuisine American

Prep Time 30 minutes

Cook Time 1 hour

Total Time 1 hour 30 minutes

Servings 12

Author Liz

Ingredients

• 1 package Jimmy Dean pork sausage
• 10 eggs lightly beaten
• 3 c. milk
• 2 tsp. dry mustard
• 1 tsp. salt
• 6 c. cubed bread
• 2 c. cheddar cheese
• 1 ½ tsp. black pepper
• ½-1 c. sliced or diced mushrooms
• ½-1 c. diced onions

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 325°F.

2. Butter a 9x13 inch baking dish and set aside.

3. Cook sausage in a skillet until browned. During the last few minutes of cooking, add onions. Cook onions until translucent and slightly browned. Set aside to cool.
4. Combine eggs, milk, mustard and salt. Whisk together.
5. Spread out half of bread in the baking dish. Sprinkle with half the pepper, half the cheese, half the sausage, half the mushrooms, and half the onions. Repeat.
6. Pour egg and milk mixture over top of casserole.

7. Bake uncovered for 55-60 minutes, or until eggs are set. Serve immediately.

Recipe Notes:

• Use whatever bread you have on hand. My preference, if I have it, is to use a sturdier, bakery bread – day old French bread, a whole grain baguette, a combination of a couple types of leftover bread. If you use sandwich bread, the texture will be a bit softer than if you use a bakery-style bread. I’ve done both, and there’s certainly no wrong answer!
• The casserole can be assembled and refrigerated up to 12 hours before baking.
• This recipe was originally adapted from a 2007 recipe on JimmyDean.com. As of January 2019, the link to the recipe had broken. An updated link was unable to be identified by searching the site.

This post was updated (photos and format) in July 2018.

[amazon_link asins=’B00683J86K’ template=’ProductCarousel’ store=’booksncooks-20′ marketplace=’US’ link_id=’fb7975d9-8a83-11e8-a951-f59e499cda17′]