This Easy Bacon Breakfast Casserole has a creamy, cheesy custard base and a topping filled with crisp, smoky bacon, mushrooms, and onion. Easy to assemble, it can be prepared just before serving or made ahead the night before. This casserole is a favorite for weekend brunches, breakfast for dinner, or holiday breakfasts.
What we love about this Bacon Breakfast Casserole
This summer, while on vacation in Northern Arizona, we stopped by an antique store and I picked up a cookbook called “Good Montana Morning” by Betsy Cox, a cookbook filled with recipes from the Good Medicine Lodge in Whitefish, Montana. If you know me, you know I love a good cookbook, and this book had some delightful breakfast recipes. This recipe is based on a breakfast casserole recipe shared in the cookbook. I changed some seasonings, did not add blue cheese, and made a few alterations, but this recipe is inspired by the recipe there.
I love the smoky bacon, mushroom, and onion topping on the casserole, combined with the cheesy, creamy custard base. The custard bottom has chunks of bread covered in a seasoned egg mixture that puffs as it bakes, making a fluffy, creamy base. The Colby Jack cheese and cottage cheese add to the delicious and creamy flavor and texture, then everything is topped with onion, mushroom, and crisp bacon, making the breakfast casserole so rich and flavorful.
This breakfast casserole is easy, a little bit of chopping, mixing, cooking the bacon, and then piling everything in a casserole dish. It can be made just before eating, or you can make it the night before and bake it in the morning. This is a great dish for a weekend brunch, a breakfast dinner, or a holiday breakfast.
Looking for some other breakfast ideas? Try our Orange French Toast, our Cream Cheese Puff Pastry Danish, or our Spinach Bacon Quiche, all of which are huge family favorites and delicious for brunch or holiday breakfasts..
What you need to make this Breakfast Casserole with Bacon
You will need the following ingredients:
- French bread
- Colby Jack cheese
- Eggs
- Milk
- Cottage cheese
- Garlic powder
- Ground mustard
- Salt
- Onion
- Mushroom
- Bacon
Bacon Breakfast Bake Substitutions
I know what it’s like when you don’t have everything on hand, and the last thing you want to do is run to the store and pick something up. Here are a few ideas to substitute items on the ingredients list if needed:
- You could use a different bread other than French Bread. Try challah or an artisan bread. I have used a gluten-free baguette (Schar’s brand) and made this gluten-free as well.
- You substitute the Colby Jack cheese with cheddar cheese, cheddar jack cheese, or a different cheese of your choice.
- Scallions could substitute for the onion.
- If you don’t like mushrooms, feel free to substitute with a vegetable of choice. Chopped sweet pepper might be a good choice here.
- I really like the flavor of the mushrooms here. If you are a vegetarian, you could substitute more mushrooms for the bacon or add additional vegetables in place of the bacon.
Step-by-step Instructions
Step 1. Spread bread cubes in an even layer at the bottom of the pan. Spread one cup of cheese over the bread.
Step 2. In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, garlic powder, ground mustard, salt, and pepper. Stir in the cottage cheese. Pour the egg mixture over the cheese and bread.
Step 3. In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, garlic powder, ground mustard, salt, and pepper. Stir in the cottage cheese. Pour the egg mixture over the cheese and bread. Spread the remaining cheese over the egg mixture.
Step 4. Sprinkle the onion, mushrooms, and cooked bacon over the top.
Step 5. Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes. Remove the foil and bake an additional 25-30 minutes until the center of the casserole is cooked through. Let rest for 10 minutes after removing from the oven, sprinkle with chopped chives if desired, then serve immediately.
Tips
- This casserole can be prepared right before serving or the night before. If you are preparing it the night before, bring it to room temperature for at least 30 minutes before baking and increase the baking time by an additional 10-15 minutes until the center is cooked through. The increased baking time will slightly brown the sides and bottom of the casserole more.
Frequently Asked Questions
| How to store and reheat this Easy Bacon Breakfast Casserole? |
| a. Cover the casserole tightly with aluminum foil or plastic wrap once it has cooled to room temperature. Breakfast casseroles can be stored, covered, in the fridge for 3-4 days and in the freezer for 2-3 months. b. Reheat in a 350-degree oven, covered with foil, for about 15-20 minutes. You can also reheat individual portions in the microwave until warm. c. To reheat from frozen, thaw in the refrigerator overnight and reheat at 350 degrees, covered with foil, for 20-30 minutes or until heated through. |
| What to serve with Bacon Breakfast Casserole? |
| Common sides for breakfast casseroles include: fruit, yogurt, juice, scrambled eggs, hashbrowns, roasted potatoes, sausage, ham, or other breakfast meats. Sweet breads like muffins, cinnamon rolls, scones, quick breads, or other breads like biscuits, and toast are also traditional sides. |
Easy Bacon Breakfast Casserole
6
servings20
minutes55
minutes1
hour15
minutesThis Easy Bacon Breakfast Casserole has a creamy, cheesy custard base and a topping filled with crisp, smoky bacon, mushrooms, and onion. Easy to assemble, it can be prepared just before serving or made ahead the night before. This casserole is a favorite for weekend brunches, breakfast for dinner, or holiday breakfasts.
Ingredients
4 4 packed cups of cubed French bread
1 1 ½ cups shredded Colby Jack cheese, divided
8 8 eggs
2 2 ½ cups milk
⅔ cup cottage cheese
¾ teaspoon garlic powder
¾ teaspoon ground mustard
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper
1 cup 1 chopped onion
6 ounces 6 sliced mushrooms
10 pieces 10 bacon, cooked and chopped
Optional: chopped chives
Directions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and grease a 9×13 pan.
- Spread bread cubes in an even layer at the bottom of the pan. Spread one cup of cheese over the bread.
- In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, garlic powder, ground mustard, salt, and pepper. Stir in the cottage cheese. Pour the egg mixture over the cheese and bread.
- Spread the remaining cheese over the egg mixture. Sprinkle the onion, mushrooms, and cooked bacon over the top.
- Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes. Remove the foil and bake an additional 25-30 minutes until the center of the casserole isn’t jiggly and is cooked through.
- Let rest for 10 minutes after removing from the oven, sprinkle with chopped chives if desired, then serve immediately.
Notes
- This casserole can be prepared right before serving or the night before. If you are preparing it the night before, bring it to room temperature for at least 30 minutes before baking and increase the baking time an additional 10-15 minutes until the center is cooked through. The increased baking time will slightly brown the sides and bottom of the casserole more.
This is the best breakfast casserole I have made in a long time. Thank you for sharing your recipe
I love hearing that! I am so glad you enjoyed it, it is a favorite here. Thanks for taking the time to stop by and let me know!
This is the perfect breakfast! I love all the flavors in this!
This casserole looks so delicious! I’m gonna have to check out the “Good Montana Morning” book.