With the Holiday Season over, sometimes the best recipes are those that taste delicious but don’t eat up half your day to cook. A brunch casserole is definitely this kind of dish. This perfect dish for a crowd is so easy to make: Just follow these few steps, and you’ll have a scrumptious brunch casserole to enjoy with family or friends for sunday.
1. Select your bread
Cut bread into 1 inch cubes to make approx. 6 cups. Choice is yours, be creative!
- Baguette
- Country white
- Rye bread
- Semolina, without crusts
- Sourdough, without crusts
- Hot dog buns
- Hamburger buns
- Milk buns
- Vienna bread
- Potato bread
- Challah
- Croissants
2. Choose your cheese
Shred or crumble 2 cups total.
- Fontina
- Emmenthal
- Munster
- Goat cheese
- Pepper jack
- Comte
- Tome
- Swiss
- Cheddar
- Monterey jack
- Edam
- Gouda
3. Time for veggies
Prepare 11⁄2 to 3 cups. Feel free to mix the flavors.
- Cherry tomatoes, seeded and chopped
- Zucchini, chopped and sautéed
- Leeks, julienned and sautéed
- Butternut squash, peeled, chopped and roasted
- Onions, sliced and caramelized
- Shallot, sliced and sautéed
- Broccoli, blanched and chopped
- Cauliflower, blanched, chopped (and sautéed)
- Bell peppers, chopped and sautéed
- Mushrooms, sliced and sautéed
- Kale, chopped and sautéed
- Spinach, chopped and sautéed
- Collard greens, chopped and sautéed
4. Meat
This step is optional. Prepare 1 to 11⁄2 cups (choose 1).
- Bacon
- Smoked turkey
- Sausage
- Ham
- Roast chicken
5. Prepare the custard
Combine 10 eggs in a large bowl with 3 cups half-and-half and 1/2 tablespoon coarse salt. Whisk in half a cup of any of the following:
- Grated parmesan
- Diced green chiles
- Olives, pitted (be careful with marinated olives, they can be very salty)
- Sun-dried tomatoes
- Chopped herbs: chives, cilantro, parsley, basil
- Chopped spring onions
6. And finally, bake the casserole
- a. Line a buttered 9×13 inch baking dish with bread.
- b. Top with 11⁄2 cups of cheese of your choice.
- c. Add the veggies, meat and remaining bread.
- d. Finish by pouring the custard on top.
- e. Cover with plastic wrap and let rest for 30 minutes. Meanwhile preheat your oven to 325 ̊F (160°C).
- f. Remove the plastic wrap and sprinkle with the remaining cheese.
- g. Bake until slightly puffed and the center comes out clean when inserted with a knife, 40 to 50 minutes. Let rest 10 minutes before serving.
