Our Ham and Cheese Breakfast Casserole is filling, easy to make and it can be made the night before! Perfect for Christmas morning!
I love breakfast casseroles that can be made the night before and kept in the refrigerator all night so that it is ready to bake in the morning. Especially on Christmas!
I always try to make a special breakfast for Christmas, but the last thing I want to be doing on Christmas morning is spending all my time in the kitchen! The solution to this problem is the breakfast casserole – one that can be made the night before so that all you have to do is pop it in the oven and let it bake while everyone is opening their presents. By the time all the gifts are opened, breakfast is ready to serve! The red peppers and parsley add the perfect splash of festive holiday colors too!
What is Ham and Cheese Breakfast Casserole?
It’s an easy breakfast casserole recipe that everyone can enjoy. Whether you choose to make it for the holidays, special occasions, or for a filling weekday breakfast – it’s always a big hit! Making this overnight ham and egg breakfast casserole is a great way to reduce time in the kitchen in the morning, which is even better on those busy days. The casserole is made with diced ham, roasted red peppers, sourdough bread, gouda cheese, whipping cream and a few other flavorful ingredients.
Ham and Cheese Breakfast Casserole Ingredients
Ham: The recipe calls for 1 cup of diced ham. You can use a package of diced ham or you can chop up leftover ham if you have it on hand.
Roasted red peppers: A cup of diced red peppers adds color and flavor. You can find these jarred in an aisle in your grocery store or roast peppers yourself at home.
Parsley: You can use 1 tablespoon of minced fresh parsley or 1 tablespoon of dried parsley.
Onions: We need 1/2 cup of minced onion. This is about 1/2 a small sized onion. If you want to save even more time, use frozen chopped onions. I always keep a stash in the freezer so I never have to chop onions!
Sourdough bread: You will need a loaf of sourdough bread. Once the crust is removed, slice the bread into 1-inch thick cubes.
Gouda cheese: The recipe calls for 3 cups of shredded Gouda cheese. If you’ve never tried Gouda, you really should – it is a mild cheese but gives this casserole a unique flavor that is amazing. You can swap this out with gruyere, muenster, provolone or cheddar if you prefer.
Eggs: Yes, you need a dozen eggs!
Milk: You will need a cup of milk to thin out the whipping cream. Any type of milk will work well.
Heavy whipping cream: A cup of whipping cream adds richness and creaminess to the casserole.
Spices: A little bit of salt, ground black pepper, ground nutmeg, and cayenne pepper add a lot of flavor to the breakfast casserole.
How to Make Ham and Cheese Breakfast Casserole
Grease a 9×13 baking dish.
ASSEMBLE THE CASSEROLE LAYERS
In a small bowl, combine the ham, peppers, parsley, and onions.
Place half of the bread cubes into the bottom of the baking dish and then layer half of the ham mixture on top of that.
Sprinkle half of the cheese on top and then repeat the layers again.
POUR THE EGG MIXTURE ON TOP
In a large bowl, mix together the eggs, milk, cream, salt, pepper, nutmeg, and cayenne.
Pour the egg mixture over the top of the assembled casserole.
REFRIGERATE OVERNIGHT
Cover the baking dish with a lid or aluminum foil and place it in the fridge overnight.
In the morning, remove the pan from the fridge and preheat your oven to 350°.
BAKE AND SERVE THE CASSEROLE
Bake uncovered for 45 minutes or until a knife can be inserted and come out clean.
Let the casserole stand for about 10 minutes before cutting and serving.
HAM AND CHEESE BREAKFAST CASSEROLE
Ingredients
- 1 cup diced ham
- 1 cup roasted red peppers diced
- 1 Tbsp minced fresh parsley I used about 1 Tbsp dried parsley
- ½ cup diced onions
- 1 loaf sourdough bread crust removed and cut into 1-inch cubes
- 3 cups Gouda Cheese shredded
- 12 eggs
- 1 cup milk
- 1 cup heavy whipping cream
- 1 tsp salt
- ¼ tsp ground pepper
- ⅛ tsp ground nutmeg
- ⅛ tsp cayenne pepper
Instructions
- In a small bowl, combine the ham, peppers, parsley and onions.
- Place half of the bread cubes in a greased 9 X13 pan.
- Layer half of the ham mixture on top of the bread and then sprinkle half of the cheese on top of that. Repeat the layers one more time.
- In a large bowl, mix the eggs, milk, cream, salt, pepper, nutmeg and cayenne.
- Pour over the top and then cover and refrigerate overnight.
- Remove from the refrigerator before preheating the oven to 350.
- Bake uncovered for about 45 minutes or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Let stand for about 10 minutes before cutting and serving. Enjoy!
Video
Notes
Nutrition
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Variations on Overnight Ham and Cheese Breakfast Casserole
Some other fun ideas for adding to this casserole would be switching out the red peppers for sun dried tomatoes. Fresh parsley will add a more noticeable green color to the casserole for that holiday red and green effect! Spinach would also work great for that as well.
You can add any veggies you have on hand and you can swap out the bread if you prefer to use wheat bread or french bread instead of sourdough.
Would another cheese taste good in this recipe?
The best substitutes for Gouda cheese are Muenster, Gruyere or Havarti. Monterey Jack, cheddar, or a nice mixture of cheese blends could also work great in this recipe. This casserole is pretty versatile so most cheeses will work well.
Need some new Breakfast Ideas? Here are several more Breakfast recipes:
Savory Breakfast Ideas:
- Protein Breakfast Wraps
- 3 Cheese Breakfast Casserole
- FLAKY HAM & CHEESE SLAB PIES
- Loaded Breakfast Burrito recipe
- Bacon, Egg & Cheese Breakfast Pockets
- Best Ham & Cheese Scrambled Eggs
- Easy Breakfast Nachos
- Easiest Way to Cook Bacon
- Savory Breakfast Rolls
- Fiesta Egg Bites recipe
Sweet Breakfast Recipes:
- Easy 15-Minute Maple Bars
- Baked Oatmeal Cups
- Best Blueberry Muffin recipe
- Nutella Banana Muffins
- Apple Bread Pudding
- Berry Protein Pancake Bites
- Oatmeal Waffle recipe
- Cinnamon French Toast Casserole
- Cinnamon Roll Breakfast Cake recipe
- One Hour Orange Rolls
- Easy 15 Minute Donut Recipes
- Vanilla Butter Syrup recipe
- Perfect Crisp Belgian Waffles
This Ham and Cheese Breakfast Casserole is a breakfast that can be assembled the night before for easy baking in the morning. Delicious breakfast casserole that is perfect for Christmas morning!
Becky VanGinkel says
I'd love to try the Three Havarti Grilled Cheese Recipes!! I'd love to try it because my 3 kiddos LOVE grill cheese, but we eat it so much that I'm starting to dread it.. this puts a new spin on it that I think would get me back to loving Grilled Cheese and it would get my kiddos to step out of their comfort zone and try something new too 🙂 Thanks for the chance!!<br /><br /> http://
Nicole Millheim says
This looks like such a delish recipe ~ KairaWolfie@aol.com<br />http://www.pinterest.com/pin/79516749646281355/
Barbara says
http://www.pinterest.com/pin/48765608440729254/ My husband and I love patty melts and pimento cheese can't wait to make these for us
Nancy Connolly says
I love grilled cheese<br />http://www.pinterest.com/pin/194006696423294877/
Anne Ardoin says
I would love to try this Green Bean and Gouda Crescent Bundles! They look delicious http://www.pinterest.com/pin/79516749646281355/
Nellie says
We definitely are not intending to deceive anyone. We regularly revisit old recipes and update the posts with new pictures and sometimes a few revisions to the recipe based on comments from readers, etc. We then publish those posts as new content. Many of our readers are new and have never seen the content before, so for the majority of people receiving the emails, this is a new recipe they have never seen before. You must have an amazing memory – I definitely don’t remember recipes I looked at 9 years ago!