Simple croissants stuffed with cheese, sausage, onion, and peppers are cooked with custardy eggs in this breakfast casserole. This is the perfect dish for a simple brunch or breakfast! Because it’s so simple to put together, I adore this Croissant Breakfast Casserole during the holidays.
This breakfast casserole makes a large amount of food, can be prepared ahead of time, and is excellent for Christmas brunch. All you need to do is put this croissant breakfast casserole in the oven in the morning and unwind—it’s prepared the night before!
The Best Croissant Breakfast Casserole
At our house, we really enjoy making breakfast casseroles ahead of time, like this croissant breakfast casserole! Whether it’s for a special Sunday brunch, a birthday, or a holiday, they make for stress-free mornings.
Loaded with buttery croissants, sausage, onions, peppers, and cheese, cooked with custardy eggs, is this croissant breakfast casserole. This filling breakfast dish is ideal for large gatherings and is especially tasty during the holidays. This dish can be described as a substantial sausage scramble with toasted croissant chunks.
Every Christmas, we have a brunch event where we prepare a whole feast. This year, the Croissant Breakfast Casserole, Homemade NY Style Bagels, Salmon Gravlax, Smoked Salmon Spread, and Cranberry-Almond Danishes are unquestionably on the list. Remember to bring the mimosas!
Because all of the aforementioned dishes are prep-friendly, the cook may enjoy a more laid-back Christmas brunch! This croissant breakfast dish is a huge hit and is very simple to tailor for your visitors.
Why You’ll Love this Recipe
Simple: Who wouldn’t desire a simple holiday breakfast? You need to always have a simple breakfast meal on hand because there is so much going on. This casserole of croissants for breakfast will make your holiday morning much easier!
Make Ahead Friendly: You may prepare this dish in advance and bake it right before your holiday feast. Prepare the night before you want to serve, and on the morning of the event, bake it. It doesn’t get any simpler than that to host!
Worthy of a Crowd There are eight to ten generous servings of this croissant breakfast casserole. This dish is so full and hearty that it’s usually a hit when we have guests.
How to Make Croissant Breakfast Casserole
I usually use a 9 x 13 glass or ceramic baking dish for this recipe. Aluminum foil is not recommended for baking the dish.
TOOLS NEEDED
INGREDIENTS AND SUBSTITUTIONS
- pastries. Purchase pre-baked petite croissants from the bakery aisle of your supermarket rather than straight from the tube.
- Pickles. Here, use your preferred breakfast sausage! Get the ground sausage instead of the sausage in a casing. You will need to take the meat out of the casings if it is.
- Onions & peppers. An iconic pair! Choose any color scheme you desire.
- hens. Utilize room temperature big eggs.
- Divided in half. Avoid switching to milk instead of half-and-half; the fat in it gives the eggs a lovely, custardy texture without becoming spongy.
- Cheddar. You may use any type of cheddar; I chose white!
- cheese cream. Cream cheese aids in the filling’s binding. Ensure that your cream cheese has reached room temperature.
- seasonings and spices. This Croissant Breakfast Casserole is very delicious because to the addition of paprika, hot sauce, dijon mustard, and everything bagel spice.
- Green onions. Before serving, sprinkle some sliced green onions on top.
THE PROCESS
- Sear the meat and vegetables. In a pan with a little oil, brown the sausage and break it up with a spoon while it cooks. Add the chopped onion and bell pepper after it’s mostly cooked, and continue cooking until the vegetables are tender. Allow to come down to room temperature.
- Blend the filler. The sausage combination, cream chese, cheese, paprika, and chopped green onions should all be combined in a bowl. Until smooth, stir.
- Prepare the pastries. Halve the croissants lengthwise. Grease a 9-by-13-inch baking dish lightly, then place the croissant bottom halves inside.
- Fill up. Spoon the sausage mixture into each of the bottom croissants, then cover with the top half. Put away.
- Gather the eggs. Blend the eggs, half-and-half, dijon, spicy sauce, salt, and pepper in a blender or a mixing bowl until extremely smooth. Make sure the eggs are uniformly smooth if whisking by hand.
- Fill and leave. Set aside 2 tablespoons of the egg mixture in reserve. Drizzle the leftover egg mixture over the croissants. For at least an hour or overnight, cover and let them soak.
- Roast. Brush the croissants with the egg mixture that was set out and sprinkle with the everything bagel seasoning before baking. Add a little extra shredded cheese on top. Bake, covered, for thirty minutes at 375 F. Once the eggs are set and no longer runny, uncover the croissant breakfast casserole and continue baking it for a further 15 to 20 minutes. Serve warm, garnished with more sliced green onions.
Tips for Making this Croissant Breakfast Casserole
Although making this croissant breakfast casserole is really simple, there are always ways to improve it! Here are all of my cooking shortcuts to ensure consistently delicious casseroles.
- Get your baking dish ready: Remember to use nonstick cooking spray to gently coat your 9 x 13-inch baking dish to prevent your croissant breakfast casserole from sticking!
- Make use of good croissants: It’s not the appropriate moment to pop and bake croissants. Medium to big croissants from the grocery store’s bakery area are what you want since they have more amazing flaky layers that the custard can hide in.
- Pour the custard over the croissants. Using your hands, carefully push the croissants down until the majority of them are submerged in the custard after you’ve poured the remainder of the custard to the casserole. It’s okay since the tops will be visible!
- Allow croissants to absorb. The croissants can soak up the eggy custard if they do this! Before baking, let this sit for about an hour. Alternatively, you can prepare the croissant breakfast casserole the night before.
- Don’t overbake. If you overbake this dish, it may get dry. Just bake the eggs until they are firm and no longer runny.
- Avoid planning too far ahead of time. I would prepare this dish no later than the evening before you want to serve it (10–12 hours ahead of time).
Storing and Reheating Croissant Breakfast Casserole
For up to four days, keep this croissant breakfast casserole refrigerated, wrapped securely or in an airtight container.
There are two methods for reheating leftover croissant breakfast casserole:
- Microwave: You can get individual pieces and fast gratification by using a microwave, but part of the crispness will be lost. Place each slice on a dish that is safe to use in the microwave, and cook for one minute. In order to heat through, keep heating in the microwave at 30 second intervals.
- Bakeware. The greatest results come from reheating leftover morning croissant casserole in the oven. Bake the casserole, covered with foil, for 20 minutes at 325 degrees Fahrenheit, or until well heated.
To freeze after baking:
- Let the casserole cool fully.
- Place the casserole tightly wrapped in plastic wrap into a freezer-safe ziplock bag. Prior to sealing, release as much air as you can to avoid freezer burn.
- For up to two months, freeze
- Thaw the casserole in the fridge overnight before cooking.
- Reheat for 20 minutes or until thoroughly warmed through at 325 degrees F in the oven.
Ways to Customize Croissant Breakfast Casserole
This recipe may be adjusted in so many different ways! Consider this Croissant Breakfast Casserole as a guide that you may modify based on your preferences and available ingredients. These are my top picks for adding variety:
Switch up your meat. Here, any ground beef would do! Breakfast sausage is my favorite, but you may use anything else. Another option would be to use finely chopped ham and bacon to make a dish that resembles Denver scramble.
Change out the cheese. While white cheddar is a staple, there are a ton of other varieties! Here, gruyere, sharp cheddar, Swiss, or even crumbled feta or goat cheese would be fantastic.
Add a few vegetables. This is an excellent opportunity to sneak in some veggies and add a little extra texture! Add some diced tomatoes, jalapeño, zucchini, mushrooms, sautéed spinach or kale, etc. There’s no ceiling here!
As part of our Christmas ritual, we adore making this croissant breakfast casserole, and I hope you’ll try it too. We adore this dish, and I’m sure you will too! It’s one of our favorites! Please let me know if you decide to give it a try! Please rate this with a comment below.
More Easy Recipes to Try
Croissant Breakfast Casserole
Ingredients
- 8 – 10 small/medium croissants stale
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 lb breakfast sausage
- 1/2 yellow onion diced
- 1 red bell pepper diced
- 4 oz cream cheese room temperature
- 2 cups white cheddar grated
- 3 green onions sliced
- 1/2 teaspoon paprika
- 10 eggs
- 1 1/4 cups half and half
- 1 tablespoon dijon mustard
- 2 tablespoons hot sauce like frank’s or tabasco
- 2 tablespoons everything bagel seasoning
- kosher salt
- freshly cracked pepper
Instructions
- Sear the meat and vegetables. In a pan with a little oil, brown the sausage and break it up with a spoon while it cooks. Add the chopped onion and bell pepper after it’s mostly cooked, and continue cooking until the vegetables are tender. Allow to come down to room temperature.
- Blend the filler. Mix the sausage mixture, cream cheese, paprika, 1 1/2 cups shredded cheese, and chopped green onions together in a bowl. Stir until all ingredients are fully combined.
- Prepare the pastries. Halve the croissants lengthwise. Grease a 9-by-13-inch baking dish lightly, then place the croissant bottom halves inside. Spoon the sausage mixture into each of the bottom croissants, then cover with the top half. Put away.
- Gather the eggs. Blend the eggs, half-and-half, dijon, spicy sauce, 1/2 tsp salt, and 1/2 tsp pepper in a blender or a mixing bowl until very smooth. Make sure the eggs are uniformly smooth if whisking by hand.
- Fill and leave. Set aside 2 tablespoons of the egg mixture in reserve. Drizzle the leftover egg mixture over the croissants. Once covered, allow them to soak for a minimum of one hour at room temperature or overnight in the refrigerator.
- Preheat an oven to 375 F.
- Roast. Brush the croissants with the egg mixture that was set out and sprinkle with the everything bagel seasoning before baking. Add a little extra shredded cheese on top. Bake for thirty minutes with a foil cover. Once the eggs are set and no longer runny, uncover and continue baking for a further 15 to 20 minutes. Serve warm, garnished with more sliced green onions.