Breakfast Casserole
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In need of a brunch dish that’s both delicious and easy? My breakfast casserole, brimming with sausage and Cheddar cheese, is your answer. Simply assemble it the night before and bake it to golden perfection in the morning!
If you’re looking for a crowd-pleasing, stress-free brunch option—perfect for weekend guests, Christmas morning, or any special occasion—this classic breakfast casserole recipe is the answer. Packed with savory sausage, tangy cheddar, and a creamy center topped with a golden crust, it’s as flavorful as it is easy to make. Best of all, you can assemble it the night before and bake it in the morning, leaving you free to enjoy time with your guests.
This recipe has a wonderful backstory: it came to me from my dear friend Kelly Santoro, who got it from her friend Corey, who got it from his mother—who first discovered it in an old spiral-bound church cookbook. Such is the path of a great recipe!
“It’s the perfect breakfast casserole. It’s quickly become my family’s go-to holiday or special event breakfast. So simple, so easy to prep, and so flavorful.”
What You’ll Need To Make The Breakfast Casserole
- Sweet or spicy pork sausage: During the holidays, many grocery stores offer sausage in bulk, eliminating the need to remove casings. Alternatively, you can easily remove the meat from its casings by squeezing it out or snipping the casing with scissors and peeling it away. Feel free to replace the pork sausage with chicken or turkey sausage for a lighter option; for a vegetarian version, try my spinach and cheese strata.
- Yellow onion: Provides a subtle sweetness and depth of flavor.
- White sandwich bread: Serves as the structure of the casserole, absorbing the egg mixture and giving body and texture to the final dish.
- Grated sharp cheddar cheese: Adds a rich, tangy flavor that complements the spices in the sausage, while also contributing to the casserole’s cheesy, creamy texture. I love cheddar here, but any good melting cheese such as Monterey jack, Colby jack, gouda, or Gruyère will work nicely.
- Fresh parsley: Lends color and fresh, herby flavor.
- Large Eggs: Bind the ingredients together, creating the custard-like base that solidifies when baked and gives the casserole structure.
- Half-and-half: Enhances the creaminess and richness of the egg mixture.
- Jump to the printable recipe for precise measurements
Step-by-Step Instructions
Start by cutting the bread into cubes. Set aside.
Melt 1 tablespoon of butter in a nonstick large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the sausage and cook, stirring with a wooden spoon to break the meat into small clumps, until browned, about 10 minutes.
Transfer the sausage to a large bowl, leaving the grease in the pan. Reduce the temperature to medium heat, then add the onions to the pan along with 1 tablespoon of butter. Cook the onions, stirring constantly, until soft and translucent, about 5 min.
Add the onions to the mixing bowl with the sausage, along with the bread cubes, grated cheese and parsley.
Stir well, then spread the mixture into an even layer in the prepared baking pan.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs, half-and-half, salt and pepper.
Pour the egg mixture evenly over the bread mixture.
Cover tightly with saran wrap and put in the fridge for at least a few hours or overnight. (At this point you can also freeze the casserole for up to two months.)
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Bake for about one hour, uncovered, until the dish has puffed up and the top of the bread is golden brown. Serve immediately.
Video Tutorial
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Breakfast Casserole
In need of a brunch dish that’s both delicious and easy? My breakfast casserole, brimming with sausage and Cheddar cheese, is your answer. Simply assemble it the night before and bake it to golden perfection in the morning!
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided
- 1 pound sweet or spicy pork sausage (casings removed)
- 1 medium yellow onion, chopped
- 1 loaf (18 slices) white sandwich bread, such as Pepperidge Farm, crusts removed and cut into 1-inch cubes
- 2½ cups grated sharp cheddar cheese
- ½ cup chopped fresh parsley
- 6 large eggs
- 2 cups half-and-half
- Scant teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- Grease a 9 x 13-inch baking dish with butter.
- In a large nonstick skillet, melt 1 tablespoon of the butter over medium-high heat. Add the sausage and cook, stirring with a wooden spoon to break the meat into small clumps, until browned, about 10 minutes. Transfer the sausage to a large mixing bowl, leaving the fat in the pan.
- Turn the heat down to medium, then add the onions to the pan along with the remaining 1 tablespoon of butter. Cook the onions, stirring constantly, until soft and translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the onions to the mixing bowl with the sausage, along with the bread cubes, grated cheese, and parsley. Toss well, then spread the mixture evenly into the prepared baking pan.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs, half-and-half, salt, and pepper.
- Pour the egg mixture evenly over the bread mixture. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours or overnight.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F and set an oven rack in the middle position. Bake for about one hour, uncovered, until puffed and golden brown. Slice into squares and serve immediately.
- Note: The cook time is based on cooking the bread pudding directly out of the refrigerator. If it's left to sit out at room temperature before baking, check for doneness after 45 minutes.
- Freezer-Friendly Instructions: To freeze the casserole before baking, assemble it according to the recipe, but don't bake it. Cover it tightly with plastic wrap and then aluminum foil. It can be frozen for up to two months. When you're ready to bake, thaw it in the refrigerator overnight, then bake as directed.
- Reheating Instructions: The best way to reheat the casserole is in the oven. Preheat your oven to 350°F (175°C), cover the casserole with aluminum foil to prevent it from drying out, and heat for about 20 minutes, or until warmed through. For individual portions, a microwave can be used, heating in 30-second intervals until hot.
Nutrition Information
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- Per serving (8 servings)
- Calories: 669
- Fat: 44 g
- Saturated fat: 20 g
- Carbohydrates: 37 g
- Sugar: 8 g
- Fiber: 3 g
- Protein: 32 g
- Sodium: 1098 mg
- Cholesterol: 251 mg
This website is written and produced for informational purposes only. I am not a certified nutritionist and the nutritional data on this site has not been evaluated or approved by a nutritionist or the Food and Drug Administration. Nutritional information is offered as a courtesy and should not be construed as a guarantee. The data is calculated through an online nutritional calculator, Edamam.com. Although I do my best to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures should be considered estimates only. Varying factors such as product types or brands purchased, natural fluctuations in fresh produce, and the way ingredients are processed change the effective nutritional information in any given recipe. Furthermore, different online calculators provide different results depending on their own nutrition fact sources and algorithms. To obtain the most accurate nutritional information in a given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe, using your preferred nutrition calculator.
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Hi I have left over raw breakfast sausage from Thanksgiving stuffing recipes. Can I use it for baked ziti?.
Sure, Autumn, that should work. Enjoy!
Could you add sautéed mushrooms? Thanks!
Hi Barbara, I haven’t tried it, but it sounds like a good addition. Enjoy!
Can you recommend a salad or something green to add to this dish for brunch? I am dying to make this for brunch, but my husband says we need something “green” to offset all of the starch I am serving..
Hi, You could use a fruit salad which would be nice for brunch. This one would work nicely. Or if the peaches and berries still look good near you, this would be a good option. For something green, this would work well. Hope that helps!
Can I use 2 percent milk instead of half and half?
Hi Lisa, If you’d like to go with milk, I’d recommend whole milk. Hope you enjoy!
Thank you so much! I ended up making a spinach and arugula salad with fennel, orange and grapefruit slices with balsamic dressing. The bread pudding was FANTASTIC!! I cut the recipe in half as we were 4 people. Not a single piece leftover! Looking forward to the holidays for an excuse to make again (and again!) and no halving! Just perfect, thanks again.
What size pan should I use?
Hi Diane, You’ll need a 9 x 13-inch baking dish. Hope you enjoy!
Thank you for your recipes. Making this for Valentines Day brunch
Hi Jenn, I’ve made this dish before and it was a hit!
If I bake it the night before (I need to transport it somewhere else) at what temperature do you recommend that I reheat it? Thank you.
Hi Miranda, Glad you like it! I’d reheat it at 325 degrees. I’d keep it covered with foil and then remove the foil for the last few minutes to crisp up the top. Hope that helps!
Would this work with pumpernickel and white bread mixed together?
Sure, that should be fine. Enjoy!
Bought your cookbook for myself for Mother’s Day (“officially” from my family to me – I’m no rookie – this is how you get what you want), and prepped this yesterday for my Mother’s Day brunch with my husband and 21-year-old twins today. It was AWESOME! So delicious! I’ve made versions of this over the years, but everyone raved and said this recipe is the best one. We all thank you very much! Happy Mother’s Day to YOU!
Glad you “received” the Mother’s day gift you wanted! 🙂 Also nice to hear that you enjoyed the bread pudding. Hope you had a great Mother’s day!
Hello! This sounds delicious. My question is can you make this and refrigerate overnight, & bake in the morning? I would like to make this for a breakfast to share with my co-workers, however I have to be at work at 7am and wouldn’t want to get up extra early to make it but don’t mind getting up early to just throw it in the oven! Thanks!
Yes, that’s perfectly fine — hope your co-workers enjoy! 🙂
It’s the perfect breakfast casserole. It’s quickly become my family’s go-to holiday or special event breakfast. So simple, so easy to prep, and so flavorful. Only changes I make are occasionally reducing the amount of sausage and replacing what I took out with bacon, or sometimes I’ll add sauteed red and green bell peppers. But it is truly perfect as is.
Another success story, Jenn! Thank you, thank you! This made a beautiful and delicious cornerstone to our, socially distanced, Christmas Eve brunch with my mum. It certainly was a bonus, too, in that the dish could be prepared the afternoon before, and then simply popped in a hot oven. Thank you for recipes that allow us to cook and share with joy!