This breakfast strata is one of my favorite dishes to make for Christmas morning. I prep it the night before, soak it in the fridge all night and then pop it in the oven just before the Christmas morning chaos begins. In about 75 minutes - you'll have deliciously hearty breakfast. The best thing is, you won't miss any of the holiday morning fun.
Course Breakfast
Cuisine American
Keyword breakfast casserole, Strata
Prep Time 25 minutesminutes
Cook Time 1 hourhour5 minutesminutes
Refrigerated Time 8 hourshours
Total Time 9 hourshours30 minutesminutes
Servings 8servings (from 7"x 11")
Author JoElle @ A Crafty Composition
Ingredients
INGREDIENT MEASUREMENTS FOR 7"x 11" CASSEROLE DISH
Base Ingredients for 7"x 11" Dish
7-8slicessourdough or other sturdy bread
6x-largeeggs
1.5 cupsWHOLE milk
Suggested Meat Options for 7"x 11" Dish (choose one or two to TOTAL 1 cup of meat)
1cupCOOKED: Bacon, Chorizo, Ham, Pancetta, or Ground Sausage
Suggested Vegetable Options for 7"x 11" Dish (choose any combination to TOTAL 1.75 cups vegetables)
1.75cupsArtichokes, Broccoli, Bell Peppers (red/yellow), Garlic, Kale, Mushrooms, Onions, Shallots, Spinach, Tomatoes (fresh or sundried), Zucchini
Suggested Cheese Options for 7"x 11" Dish (choose one or a combination to TOTAL .75 cup of cheese)
.75cupFontina, Gouda, Gruyere, Jack, Mozzarella or Provolone
Suggested Herbs & Spices for 7"x 11" (choose one or a combination to TOTAL 1 to 2 TBSP of herbs)
1-2TBSPFresh Basil, Chervil, Chives, Parsley, Thyme or Tarragon
.50tspsalt
1tspfresh ground pepper
.50tspcourse ground mustard seed OR .25 tsp mustard powder
INGREDIENT MEASUREMENTS FOR 9"x 13" CASSEROLE DISH
Base Ingredients for 9" x 13" Dish
15slicessourdough or other sturdy bread
10x-largeeggs
3.25cupsWHOLE milk
Suggested Meat Options for 9" x 13" Dish (choose one or two to TOTAL 1.75 cups of meat)
1.75cupsCOOKED: Bacon, Chorizo, Ham, Pancetta, or Ground Sausage
Suggested Vegetable Options for 9" x 13" Dish (choose any combination to TOTAL 2.25 cups vegetables)
2.25cupsArtichokes, Broccoli, Bell Peppers (red/yellow), Garlic, Kale, Mushrooms, Onions, Shallots, Spinach, Tomatoes (fresh or sundried), Zucchini
Suggested Cheese Options for 9" x 13" Dish(choose one or a combination to TOTAL 1.5 cups of cheese)
1.5cupsFontina, Gouda, Gruyere, Jack, Mozzarella or Provolone
Suggested Herbs & Spices for 9" x 13" Dish (choose one or a combination to TOTAL 2 TBSP of herbs)
2TBSPFresh Basil, Chervil, Chives, Parsley, Thyme or Tarragon
1tspsalt
1.5tspfresh ground pepper
.75 tspcrushed mustard seed OR .25 tsp mustard powder
Instructions
Dish Prep
Using non-stick spray or butter, lightly grease the bottom and sides of your casserole dish
Base Ingredients
Cut or tear each slice of bread into 4 or 5 pieces and set aside
Whisk eggs and milk in a LARGE bowl and set aside
Meat Ingredients
Cook if necessary and drain as much of the grease as possible, patting with a paper towel to remove excess grease.
Cool and cut or crumble into large bite-size pieces
Add to egg/milk mixture
Vegetable Ingredients
Cut into large bite-size pieces
I recommend you extract some of the water from your vegetables by either salting for 15 minutes on a paper towel or quick roasting for about 6 minutes. For more details on these two methods and why they are important, click this link: www.acraftycomposition.com's blog post, "Christmas Breakfast..."
Add vegetables to egg/milk mixture
Cheese Ingredients
Add the shredded or diced cheese to your egg/milk mixture and stir
Herbs & Spice Ingredients
First, reserve about 1/4 of your finely chopped herbs to sprinkle on the top of your strata
Add the remaining herbs and spices to the egg/milk mixture and stir
Construct the Strata
Add the bread pieces to the egg/milk/everything mixture and give it a quick toss or two with a spatula. Work quickly and gently.
Pour everything into the prepared casserole dish and gently press down with spatula.
Cover with plastic wrap and place in fridge overnight (recommend time is 7-10 hours)
Baking the Strata
Pull the Strata out of the fridge and remove the plastic wrap
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees
Line a large cookie sheet with aluminum foil. Set the casserole dish of Strata on the cookie sheet for baking. Move your oven racks so that the Strata can sit on the middle rack and have at least 4" of clearance ABOVE THE TOP of the casserole dish.
Bake in the oven. 60 to 65 minutes for 7" x 11" dish, 70 to 75 minutes for 9" x 13" dish.
Let sit for 15 minutes before cutting and serving.