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This make ahead healthy breakfast casserole is flavorful, cheesy, packed with protein and much lighter than traditional breakfast casseroles. Perfect for brunch and serving a crowd!
Just in case you needed a reminder… Mother’s Day is this weekend!! Yup, it’s officially time to mark your calendar and start planning something special. If breakfast in bed or brunch is on your agenda, I have the perfect healthy breakfast casserole filled with eggy, cheesy goodness for you.
It’s easy peasy, can be made ahead of time and is sure to delight mom.
The idea for this dish started over Easter. We spent the weekend with Alyssa and her family at their house in North Carolina. Her mom had sausage strata planned for Easter brunch so Alyssa and I helped make them the night before. We made two, one with regular bread and one with gluten-free bread.
I’ve made baked egg dishes before, but never a strata so I was intrigued and excited to try it. We let the casseroles sit in the fridge overnight and then baked them up the next morning after church. I had the gluten-free version and holy moly, it was so good! Since Easter I’ve been wanting to make a version to share with you all and decided now would be the perfect time given Mother’s Day is this weekend.
I’m a big fan of egg dishes in general, but I love the little bread chunks in this type of strata — especially the pieces on top that stick out of the egg mixture and get a little toasted and crunchy. You know how I feel about crunchy things!! <3
I used this easy sausage strata recipe as a guide and came up with a healthy vegetarian and gluten-free version that tastes amazing! To keep this casserole on the lighter side, I used Almond Breeze almond milk (only 30 calories per cup!) and a blend of cottage cheese and feta instead of the traditional cheddar cheese. Both feta and cottage cheese are lower in calories and fat when compared to cheddar and feta has a robust flavor so it’s easy to use less while still getting lots of flavor.
And just in case you’re not a huge cottage cheese fan, I feel the need to mention that you CAN NOT taste or tell that cottage cheese is used in this casserole — promise!
Of course I added some fresh veggies (broccoli, onion, garlic and parsley) to boost the flavor and give the casserole a little color.
As I mentioned, this recipe perfect for serving multiple people because you prepare it ahead of time — one hour to 24 hours in advance. This allows the egg mixture to soak into the bread and it gives you time to hang out with company rather than spending all morning in the kitchen prepping breakfast. I don’t know about you, but I love recipes like this when I’m hosting a meal!
So there you have it, your Mother’s Day breakfast is planned. Grab the ingredients this week and surprise your special lady with this healthy breakfast casserole! I highly recommend pairing it with this mixed berry fruit salad for a colorful and delicious meal.
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Just what I needed to inspire a dish from our leftovers while on vacation. We had bread, eggs, seasonings, shredded cheese and veggies. Super easy to adapt! Thanks!
So glad you loved this casserole, Crystal! Thanks for the review. I so appreciate it!
Thanks for sharing this great recipe, it really looks great. Can’t wait it to try this tomorrow morning.
I’m so glad you enjoyed this breakfast casserole, Nina! Thanks for the review and star rating. I so appreciate it!
I made this recipe with frozen home fries potatoes instead of bread and it tasted delicious!! Keeps great and will yield lots of leftovers. Didn’t change anything else. Thank you!!
So glad this casserole was a hit, Tory! Thanks for the review. I so appreciate it!
How can I make this into a freezer meal?
Great! I am on a diet so I used non fat cheese, milk and used only egg whites. It tasted amazing. However, I will say there were too many onions for my taste. Next time I will do 1/4 and cook them down before I mix them in. Thank you for your recipe!