This breakfast egg casserole is great to make ahead for a weekend breakfast or holiday brunch. Fresh eggs, bacon, sausage, veggies, cheese, and hearty sourdough bread chunks come together in a savory, easy breakfast casserole that’s even better when you make it the night before!
If you’re looking for another easy way to use up a carton of eggs, try my quiche Florentine.
This breakfast egg casserole is a great way to prep ahead for your next get-together. It’s simple to make but loaded with flavor thanks to fresh eggs, crispy bacon, sausage, veggies, and melted shredded cheese. Big chunks of fluffy sourdough in this egg casserole remind me of a savory, eggy breakfast stuffing. It’s hearty and filling, and great for feeding a crowd during the holidays, and any other time of the year, too.
Make-Ahead Breakfast Casserole- Anyway You’d Like
- Easy to customize. This breakfast egg casserole comes packed with meats, veggies, cheese, and bread. It’s everything you’ll find on a well-stocked breakfast or brunch table, baked in a casserole dish. You can customize this with any variety of filling you’d like.
- Make it ahead (or don’t). I always recommend this recipe as a make-ahead breakfast casserole, as it gives the ingredients time to soak overnight. That being said, this egg casserole is also delicious if you choose to bake it the same day. It takes only 20 minutes to prep.
- Sourdough bread is best. Crusty sourdough bread chunks soak up the flavor and make for thick, sliceable servings. It’s an easy add-in, and it makes this brunch casserole even more satisfying, like a savory version of my French toast casserole.
Recipe Ingredient Notes
These are some of the noteworthy ingredients in this breakfast casserole recipe. For the printable recipe with amounts, scroll to the recipe card below the post.
- Sourdough Bread – Cut into 1” cubes. If not sourdough, substitute a high-quality, crusty bread loaf like Italian ciabatta or French baguette. You could also use croissants or bagels. If you use bagels, refrigerate them overnight as they’re quite dense.
- Bacon – Diced. This can be streaky bacon, back bacon, thick-cut, or any kind you’d like. You can also substitute diced ham or pancetta.
- Breakfast Sausage – I use ground breakfast sausage in the 1-pound tube. If you buy link sausage, remove the casings. You could also break up pre-made raw sausage patties before you brown the meat.
- Onion – Yellow, white, or red onion can be used. We used yellow.
- Bell Pepper – Red bell pepper is sweeter and milder than green pepper, but any color works. You’ll also need freshly minced garlic.
- Eggs and Milk – You’ll need a dozen large eggs, along with whole milk or half-and-half to make the creamy egg filling.
- Cheese – I like shredded cheddar cheese, but you can use Colby Jack, Pepper Jack, Monterey Jack, or another type of cheese, like crumbled feta or grated parmesan.
- Herbs – Thinly sliced green onions and freshly chopped parsley. You can swap in any fresh or dried herbs you’d like.
How to Customize The Recipe
- Add veggies. Just about any vegetable you’d add to an omelet or quiche would taste great in this egg casserole. Make sure to use pre-cooked veggies, like sauteed broccoli, sauteed mushrooms, wilted spinach, or fresh asparagus. Fresh vegetables will make the casserole watery.
- Different protein. Change up the type of sausage. Use pork, chicken, turkey sausage, or even spicy sausage, like chorizo, whichever you prefer.
Quick Step-By-Step Instructions
Before you make this sausage and egg breakfast casserole, read through the steps followed by my recipe tips below. Scroll to the recipe card after the post for printable instructions.
- Toast the bread. Even if you’re not baking your casserole right away, you’ll need to toast the bread cubes. Preheat the oven to 400ºF, and then toast the bread cubes on a baking sheet for 10-12 minutes so they’re brown and crispy. Meanwhile, use room temperature butter to grease a 9×13” baking dish.
- Cook the bacon, sausage, and veggies. First, cook the bacon in a skillet. Move the bacon to a paper towel-lined plate, and use the same pan to sauté the sausage, onion, bell pepper, and garlic. Break up the sausage while it browns.
- Prepare the filling. Afterward, whisk the eggs and milk with salt, pepper, cheese, green onion, and parsley.
- Assemble the casserole. Start by arranging the toasted bread cubes at the bottom of the greased baking dish. Next, add the sausage and veggies, then the bacon, and finally, pour the egg mixture over the top.
- Refrigerate. Cover the breakfast casserole tightly with plastic wrap and place it in the fridge overnight. I recommend making this recipe ahead of time so the bread has time to soak up the egg custard. However, if you’re pressed for time, you can absolutely assemble and bake it on the same day.
- Bake. When you’re ready to bake, remove the plastic wrap and cover the casserole with foil. Bake at 400ºF for 30 minutes. Afterward, remove the foil and bake for another 10-15 minutes, until the casserole is browned at the edges and reaches 160ºF in the middle.
- Serve. Cool the casserole on the counter for 10 minutes, then garnish with green onion and more parsley before serving.
Serving Suggestions
I can’t tell you how amazing our house smells when I pop this breakfast egg casserole in the oven before a family brunch. I’ll serve it with crispy lemon potatoes or hashbrowns, sweet rolls or buttermilk biscuits. It’s also a great casserole to make ahead for special occasions, and no holiday breakfast is complete at our house without Grandma’s homemade cinnamon rolls!
Storing and Reheating Leftovers
- Refrigerate leftovers. Store any leftovers covered tightly in the fridge for up to 3 days.
- Make-ahead. Freeze the baked and cooled egg casserole in a freezer-safe baking dish, wrapped tightly in plastic wrap, then a layer of foil. Thaw the casserole in the fridge and then reheat it in a 350ºF oven.
- Reheat. Reheat the full casserole in the oven at 350ºF. You can reheat individual servings in the microwave for 10-20 seconds until they’re warmed through.
More Brunch Recipes
Breakfast Egg Casserole
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 45 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour 5 minutes
- Yield: 8 servings
- Category: Breakfast
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: American
Description
This easy breakfast egg casserole recipe is a great way to prep ahead for your next weekend brunch. Make it the night before with fresh eggs, bacon, sausage, sourdough bread, veggies, and cheese. All you need to do in the morning is bake!
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon salted butter, room temperature
- 3 heaping cups sourdough bread, cut into 1”cubes
- 6 strips bacon, diced
- 1 pound ground breakfast sausage (in plastic roll package)
- 1 cup onion, diced
- 1 small red bell pepper, diced
- 2 cloves garlic, pressed or minced
- 12 Large eggs
- 1 ½ cups whole milk or half & half
- 1 ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1 ½ cups shredded cheddar jack cheese *see notes
- 2 green onions, thinly sliced, plus more for garnish
- 2 tablespoons fresh parsley, minced, plus more for garnish
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400℉. Grease bottom and sides of a 9×13” baking dish with the room temperature butter, set aside. Add cubed bread to a large rimmed baking sheet and toast in the preheated oven, about 10-12 minutes, until bread is lightly brown and crispy.
- In a large sauté pan, cook bacon over medium low heat until crisp, remove to a paper towel lined plate, drain all but 1 tablespoon of the grease. Increase to medium high heat, add in the sausage, onion, red bell pepper and garlic. Cook, breaking up the sausage, until sausage is cooked through and veggies are crisp tender, about 5 minutes.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, salt, pepper, cheese, green onion and parsley.
- Add the toasted bread to the baking dish, followed by the sausage mixture, bacon, and the egg mixture. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight (recommended), or bake right away. Bake casserole covered with foil for 30 minutes, remove foil and continue to bake until the center is set and has reached 160°F, about 10-15 minutes. The edges should be golden brown.
- Allow to cool for 10 minutes, or cool completely and serve room temperature. Garnish with green onion and parsley before serving if desired.
Notes
Customizations
- Add up to a cup of: Sauteed broccoli, sauteed mushrooms, wilted spinach, fresh asparagus, or any other veggies you like. Make sure to use pre-cooked veggies, like sauteed broccoli, sauteed mushrooms, wilted spinach, or fresh asparagus. Fresh vegetables will make the casserole watery.
- Other cheese options: Colby jack, sharp cheddar, white cheddar, pepper jack, monterey jack, feta, parmesan.
- Meats or no meats: Any type of cooked protein works well here, or eliminate it all together as needed.
Storing and Reheating
-
- Refrigerate leftovers. Store any leftovers covered tightly in the fridge for up to 3 days.
-
- Make-ahead. Freeze the baked and cooled egg casserole in a freezer-safe baking dish, wrapped tightly in plastic wrap, then a layer of foil. Thaw the casserole in the fridge and then reheat it in a 350ºF oven.
- Reheat. Reheat the full casserole in the oven at 350ºF. You can reheat individual servings in the microwave for 10-20 seconds until they’re warmed through.
