Spinach & Cheese Strata
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Layered with spinach, cheese, and bread, and soaked in a savory custard, this make-ahead strata is ideal for entertaining.
A strata is a layered casserole made with bread, eggs, cheese, and sometimes vegetables or meat (strata means layers). Think of it as a savory bread pudding or breakfast casserole. This spinach version is richly flavored with Gruyère, Parmesan, and Dijon mustard. It’s the perfect vegetarian brunch dish to feed a crowd. You do all of the preparation the night before, let the strata rest in the fridge overnight, then pop it in the oven in the morning. As it bakes, it puffs up like a cheese soufflé, making it a real showstopper. The strata does fall a bit as it cools, but it’s still impressive. For an elegant brunch, serve the strata with bacon (for perfectly crispy bacon, learn how to cook bacon in the oven), a strawberry & orange fruit salad, and mimosas.
Table of Contents
What You’ll Need To Make Spinach & Cheese Strata
Before we get started, a few words about the ingredients. It’s important to use good quality cheese. The recipe calls for a combination of Gruyère and Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, but since they are both expensive, feel free to substitute other good melting cheeses with bold flavor, like extra-sharp cheddar. The recipe is pretty flexible, so you can play around with different sautéed vegetables depending on what you have on hand. Some cooked sausage or pancetta would be a nice addition; just be sure to reduce the salt in the recipe to a scant teaspoon or the strata will be way too salty.
Be sure to squeeze all of the water out of the spinach. Take your time; it’s important to get it all out or the strata will be watery.
Step-By-Step Instructions
Melt the butter in a skillet over medium heat.
Add the onions and cook, stirring frequently, until soft and translucent, about 5 minutes.
Add the spinach and garlic and cook a few minutes more.
Layer a third of the cubed bread in a buttered 3-quart or 9×13-inch baking dish.
Top with a third of the spinach.
Followed by a third of each cheese.
Repeat layering twice, ending with the cheese.
Make the custard by combining the whisked eggs, half-and-half-Dijon mustard salt, pepper and nutmeg.
Whisk evenly to combine.
Pour evenly over top of the strata, then cover and refrigerate for at least one hour or overnight.
Bake for about 70 to 80 minutes, until puffed, set and golden all over.
Note: My starting point for this recipe was this popular strata originally published in Gourmet magazine. I increased the spinach; amped up the flavor by adding garlic and increasing the salt; swapped the milk for half-and-half; and reduced the baking temperature from 350°F to 325°F for a creamier texture.
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Spinach & Cheese Strata
Layered with spinach, cheese, and bread, and soaked in a savory custard, this make-ahead strata is ideal for entertaining.
Ingredients
- 1 pound bag chopped frozen spinach, thawed and squeezed as dry as possible
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 large yellow onion, chopped (about 2 cups)
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 12 ounces (¾ pound) Italian sandwich bread, cut into 1-inch cubes (about 11 slices or 8 cups)
- 6 ounces (1½ cups) coarsely grated Gruyère
- 2 ounces (⅔ cup) finely grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
- 9 large eggs
- 2¾ cups half-and-half
- 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
- 1¾ teaspoons salt
- ¾ teaspoon black pepper
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
Instructions
- Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring frequently, until soft and translucent, 4 to 5 minutes. Add the garlic and drained spinach and cook 2 minutes more. Set aside.
- Butter a 3-quart or 9x13-inch baking dish. Spread one third of the bread cubes in the dish and top evenly with one third of spinach mixture. (Try to break it up as much as possible so there are no huge clumps of spinach.) Sprinkle with one third of each cheese. Repeat layering twice, ending with cheeses.
- In a large bowl, whisk the eggs. Add the half-and-half, mustard, salt, pepper, and nutmeg and whisk until well combined. Pour the custard mixture evenly over the strata. Cover the strata with plastic wrap and chill for at least 1 hour or overnight.
- Preheat oven to 325°F. Bake the strata, uncovered, until puffed, set and golden brown all over top, 70-80 minutes. Let stand 10 to 15 minutes before serving. It will settle a bit as it cools.
- Note: The cook time is based on the strata going immediately from the fridge to the oven. If it sits out at room temperature before baking, the cook time will be about 10 minutes less.
Nutrition Information
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- Per serving (8 servings)
- Calories: 483
- Fat: 30g
- Saturated fat: 16g
- Carbohydrates: 30g
- Sugar: 4g
- Fiber: 4g
- Protein: 25g
- Sodium: 1117mg
- Cholesterol: 280mg
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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For a special brunch gathering of childhood friends I made the Spinach and Cheese Strata accompanied by the French Grated Carrot Salad. Hadn’t made either before! I always follow a a first-time recipe exactly as written, although with Jenn’s recipes, I never need to alter. Always delicious and easy! Both were huge hits. I’m making the Strata again next week for my fundraising groups’ potluck to honor a member. Love every recipe I’ve tried. Thank you, Jenn.
Hi Jenn, this recipe looks awesome and I would love to cook it for my family. Do you think it would work if I substituted the cheeses with crumbled feta? If so, how much feta would you suggest? Thanks so much!
Hi Haley, Feta doesn’t melt nearly as well as Gruyere, so if you want something a little more evenly distributed through the strata, I’d stick with Gruyere. If you use feta here; it will be different but still good. Hope that helps!
Stellar dish! I followed it exactly and it came out perfectly. A recipe requiring no tweaks and results that impressed the crowd it was feeding. Your recipes always work!
Hi, Jenn –
I’m planning to travel on Thurs evening and plan to serve this strata on Saturday morning. I’ve cooked the spinach and onions, grated the cheese, and cubed the bread. Would you recommend that I keep these ingredients separate until Friday evening when I can put the strata together, or do you think it would be okay to layer the bread, spinach mixture and cheeses in the dish on Thursday afternoon before leaving, keeping it on ice in a cooler while traveling, then adding the 1/2 & 1/2 and eggs on Friday evening and storing it in the fridge overnight before baking?
Thank you so much for all of your wonderful recipes!
Hi Cindy, I think it would be okay to partially assemble it as you’ve described, and keep it on ice. Hope everyone enjoys!
added blended cottage cheese for the milk … it was divine! the 325 temp kept it from drying out and the combo of cheeses worked very well. there are a million egg strata recipes out there and i’ve made a bunch, this one is best!!
I have 2 questions: I want to make a spinach salad with fruit to go with a strata , so I don’t want to use spinach in the strata itself. Would asparagus work, or broccoli and what would be the correct amount? Last, can I add a protein, like turkey or chicken sausage , and , if so, how much?
Hi Joni, Yes, you could use a different veggie here. In fact, a number of readers have commented that they’ve swapped the spinach for broccoli. I’d recommend about 2 cups of cooked broccoli. And you could also add a protein. I think either sausage or bacon would be great. Hope you enjoy!
I made this for company brunch today. I intended to prepare it the night before but never got to it. Instead I prepped everything this morning, refrigerated the uncooked strata for 90 minutes. Then followed the exact directions for cooking and cooling. It came out of the oven looking like a million bucks!! Cut and tasted even better! This strata is a keeper. P.s. I made it with gluten free bread and one would never know!!
Thank you!!!