There is nothing better than waking up in the morning knowing that you have overnight bacon breakfast casserole already made and ready to go in the oven.
We make some sort of breakfast casserole for the morning of every major holiday.
Whether it be our slow cooker hash brown casserole or our favorite French toast casserole, we always start our holiday off right!
But one of our absolute favorite recipes is overnight bacon breakfast casserole.
It is super easy to make and because it is made with common breakfast ingredients, it is a family favorite.
Make It The Night Before
But the best part about this recipe is that all of the preparation for breakfast is done the evening before.
We know the mornings can get rather hectic, especially on the morning of a holiday.
There isn’t time to spend an hour or two in the kitchen preparing breakfast to everyone’s liking.
That is exactly why this is one of our favorite recipes.
This breakfast casserole is prepared the evening before and left to sit in the refrigerator overnight.
All you have to do in the morning is pull it out of the refrigerator while the oven heats up.
When the oven is ready, simply put it in and walk away. This will leave you with plenty of time to enjoy your family or to time get ready for a busy day.
In less than an hour, breakfast is served!
What Type of Bread Is Best For Breakfast Casserole?
When we make this recipe, we use whatever ingredients that we have on hand.
Most of the time we use standard sandwich bread. But if we happen to have a specialty bread in the cupboard, we will use that as well.
In fact, the last time that I made this breakfast casserole, I used Texas Toast.
I had made grilled ham and cheese sandwiches with the bread and instead of letting it go to waste, I used it for this recipe.
However, even though the recipe calls for 12 pieces of bread, I used only half of that because of the thickness of Texas Toast.
But the key isn’t the type of bread that you use. It is how you prepare it.
Preparing The Bread
In order for this bacon breakfast casserole to set up properly, your bread must not be soft and pliable.
You want the bread to be slightly dried out. But not toasted!
If you are one that plans way ahead of time, you can cube your bread and let it sit out in the open air overnight.
I typically don’t remember to do that. Instead, I place the cubes of bread on a baking sheet and let it dry out in the oven.
This gives the bread the perfect texture to tolerate sitting in the egg and milk mixture overnight.
Customize Your Breakfast Casserole
I know this sounds weird, but just because it is called overnight bacon breakfast casserole, it doesn’t mean that you have to use bacon in the recipe. Although making Air Fryer Bacon is super easy!
Of course, then it would just be called overnight breakfast casserole, but that isn’t the point.
Every individual and every family has their own preference in what should be included as a breakfast ingredient.
Some prefer bacon, and others prefer sausage or ham. Add in whatever protein that you prefer.
Or don’t add any meat at all! The choice is up to you.
The same goes with the vegetables. Sometimes I will add in green peppers, mushrooms, spinach and even jalapenos.
I basically use whatever I have in the refrigerator and customize it to whoever I am serving it for.
One quick note about mushrooms. This is the only vegetable that I saute before adding it to the casserole.
Mushrooms put out a lot of water when cooked. If put in raw, the casserole will become too watery.
But if you put them in after sauteing, they add great flavor and texture to the dish.
However you chose to make your Overnight Bacon Breakfast Casserole, I am sure both you and your family will enjoy it just as much as we do!
Enjoy!
Mary and Jim
Jim and Mary Competti have been writing gardening, DIY and recipe articles and books for over 15 years from their 46 acre Ohio farm. The two are frequent speakers on all things gardening and love to travel in their spare time.
As always, feel free to email us at thefarm@owgarden.com with comments, questions, or to simply say hello! You can sign up for our free email list in the subscribe now box in the middle of this article. Follow us on Facebook here : OWG Facebook. This article may contain affiliate links.
Overnight Bacon Breakfast Casserole
Quick and easy breakfast casserole that is made the night before and ready to cook when you wake up in the morning.
Ingredients
- 12 slices bread, cubed
- 12 slices crispy bacon crumbled
- 1/2 medium onion, finely diced
- 1/2 red bell pepper, finely diced
- 4 cups shredded Cheddar cheese
- 6 eggs
- 3 cups milk
- 1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon fresh ground pepper
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 300°F.
- Cube bread and place on a rimmed baking sheet. Bake in oven for approximately 10 minutes to dry out. You do not want to brown or toast the bread.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, dry mustard, salt and pepper.
- In a greased 9 x 13 pan, layer 1/2 of the dried bread cubes and top with 1/2 of the bacon, onions, red peppers and cheese. Repeat the layers in the same order.
- Pour egg mixture over top. Cover with foil and refrigerate overnight.
- Remove from fridge and let sit on the counter while preheating the oven to 350° F. Bake covered with foil 45-55 minutes or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean.
- You can substitute ham or sausage instead of bacon if desired.
Notes
Substitute 6 pieces of Texas Toast instead of 12 pieces of bread.
Recipe courtesy of Old World Garden Farms
Nutrition Information:
Serving Size:
1 gramsAmount Per Serving: Unsaturated Fat: 0g