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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Hi Jenn, if I need to prep this on Friday morning for Sunday afternoon, do you recommend I bake it on Friday and reheat on Sunday or should I keep assembled but uncooked in the fridge for 2 full days?
Hi KJ, It’s fine for this to be refrigerated overnight or even for 24 hours, but because you plan to assemble it more than two days before serving it, I would suggest baking it on Friday and reheating on Sunday. Hope everyone enjoys!
In Australia we have a metric system – have you a metric version of the recipe? Thanks
Hi Olga, I just added metric measurements for this recipe. To view them, scroll down to the recipe and immediately under the recipe title on the right side, you’ll see a little toggle. If you move it from “cup measures” to metric, you’ll see measurements that will work for you. Hope you enjoy!
Jenn,
You make the best recipes on the internet! Thanks
Can I half the spinach and cheese strata since we are only two at home?
Awww, thanks Barbara! 💕
Yes, halving this should work. Hope you enoy!
Can fresh spinach be used?
Yes, Lois, fresh spinach will work here; you’ll need about 1.5 lbs. Just make sure you drain it like you would with the frozen spinach. Hope you enjoy!
Another winner! The changes I made were that I added a sauteed red bell pepper and 1 lb mild sausage and I used a little less bread. Everyone loved it and had seconds. Will do this one again for sure.
Can you use fresh baby Spinach? If not, how many boxes of frozen Spinach? We don’t get frozen spinach by the bag.
It’s fine to use fresh baby spinach; just be sure to cook first and squeeze all the liquid out.
I made this as part of our Christmas morning breakfast. It was delicious! The gruyere cheese is an important ingredient, that really pushed the dish over the top!
Excellent!!!! Followed the recipe exactly. Was a bit nervous when making the layers because the onion/spinach layers seemed so scant. But just trust the recipe. Thank you for making our Christmas breakfast delicious!!!
Made this strata and your strawberry orange fruit salad for Christmas breakfast this morning.
My SIL said this is the best strata I’ve made so far. Every Xmas I try a new strata recipe. He said this is worthy of repeat!
I did add a lb of sweet Italian sausage and no additional salt.
Also use Challah bread.
The fruit salad was light and refreshing, perfect with the strata.
Excited to try some of the recipes from your new cookbook. I haven’t purchased a cookbook in years, but yours I could not pass up.
Once Upon A Chef and Cooks Illustrated are my go to for cooking.
Thank you for your invaluable blog and fabulous cookbook.
❤️
This is very good and my family liked it a lot. Mine came out a bit drier than I liked. I think next time, I might try using a little less bread so it’s not so stiff and is more creamy, soft.
This sounds amazing!
If I use fresh spinach, should I still squeeze out liquid after sauteeing with the onion?
Hi Elaine, I’d actually cook the spinach separately and squeeze out the liquid, then add it to the onions.