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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Made this for breakfast this morning and it was really good! I had some bacon in the freezer so I chopped that up and cooked it, then cooked the onions, garlic, and spinach in some of the bacon grease. I also had a random mix of cheeses to use up what I had (fontina, cheddar, and mozzarella). Definitely a keeper!
Served this for a brunch. My husband said it was much to “bread-y”. I liked it but also felt it was a little dense and could have used a little more liquid. I was unable to find Italian sandwich bread in the bread aisle of our local Walmart. Ended up purchased an whole, unsliced loaf of Italian bread in the bakery department. I used my Salter-brand electronic kitchen scale to weigh out 12 ounces of bread cubes so I’m not sure what happened. Perhaps I squeezed the spinach too dry or the type of bread I ended up using was dryer than normal. I did enjoy the flavor of the spinach and my 3-cheese selection (gruyere, cheddar and Parmigiano Reggiano) in the casserole. Next time I think I will add a little pre-cooked breakfast or Italian sausage as well. Hopefully I can find a sliced Italian sandwich bread as well.
This was terrific. I used milk instead of half and half just to count calories. Still wonderful.
How could I substitute egg whites for some of the whole eggs? Thank you!
Hi Kat, I believe that 1 large egg is the equivalent of 2 large egg whites, so you’ll want to make sure you have enough eggs. And glad to hear you are only going to do this for some but not all of the eggs in the recipe as I think you’ll get a better result with some full eggs.
Hi Jen,
I making the strata for a family dinner but I’m afraid that some of guests do not like spinach, can I substitute it for some other vegetable?
Thanks!
Definitely! Broccoli or mushrooms would both work well. Just be sure to cook them first before adding them.
Jen, your recipes have really kicked up my cooking! Your site is the first place I go for menu planning each week and literally every single dish I’ve made has been raved about by my family. Thanks for making me look so good!
I made this for Mother’s Day brunch and was a huge hit! I made it the night before and then popped it in the oven the next morning which allowed me to spend time with my son and family rather than in the kitchen. I bought a 10oz bag of spinach as I wanted to add some other veggies. I diced red pepper and sliced some mushrooms and cooked them with the onions and it worked out perfectly. My audience ranged in age from 2 to 75 and everyone cleaned their plate! I served it with a garden salad and homemade buttermilk ranch dressing (recipe from this site) and it was a light, delicious meal.
? Yay!
I was literally in a grocery store parking lot when I received a text invitation to brunch the following day and needed to bring something for 6 people. It was late in the day and I didn’t want to go all the way home to rummage through recipes and couldn’t think of anything significant without some guidance. I pulled up this recipe on my phone, got the ingredients, made that night and served the next morning. WOW, WOW, WOW! Rave reviews from everyone, funny that all thought I’d worked so hard at something so delicious. This is SUPER easy, great for company and simply DELICIOUS!
I made this Spinach & Cheese Strata for Easter, and it was a HUGE hit! I will also be making this for an upcoming ‘girls weekend’ at the beach. As suggested by another reviewer, I used the Cheddar/Gruyere Melange (sp?) from Trader Joe’s and it was perfect!. I also love your spinach quiche!
How many ounces spinach do you use? Can I use a 10 ounce box?
Sharon
16 ounces (And I’d recommend sticking with that instead of a 10 oz box). Hope you enjoy!
Jenn,
May I use less eggs for this dish.
Thank you,
Beya
Hi Beya, if you want to use fewer eggs, I’d cut the other ingredients back accordingly too.