The perfect breakfast casserole to serve a crowd! This delicious Vegetarian Breakfast Strata is great for preparing overnight. With soft luscious egg-soaked bread bites, veggies and cheese. Easy to adapt and great for entertaining!
If you’re looking for more easy breakfast ideas for holiday entertaining, check out my Bagel Breakfast Casserole, Baked Pumpkin Oatmeal and Kale & Feta Egg Bake
What is Strata?
Strata is a layered casserole dish mainly made with eggs, milk, bread and cheese. They’re easy to make and very customizable! This is a great vegetarian breakfast, but you can easily change some of the ingredients around to suit your tastebuds and preferences.
Strata Ingredients
- baguette – or use a french bread loaf. Just make sure the bread is slightly stale, or simply toast it in the oven before using in this recipe.
- olive oil – for cooking
- onion and garlic – flavor!
- vegetables – bell pepper, mushrooms and kale
- large eggs & milk – to soak up all of the bread and provide a soufflé like texture! You can use the milk of your choice, with whole milk providing the richest texture, and non-dairy milk keeping this recipe a little lighter.
- salt & pepper – to enhance flavor.
- parmesan cheese & sharp white cheddar cheese – I love the strong cheese flavor here, but you could use another variety as well.
Recommended Tools
- 9×13 casserole dish
- large bowl
- non-toxic frying pan
- whisk
How to Prepare Breakfast Strata
Making breakfast strata is very easy! It requires just a few steps, then you mix it all together and let it sit overnight (or at least for a few hours).
Bake it in the morning and breakfast is served!
Here’s a quick step-by-step of the process, with the full recipe in the recipe card below (just keep scrolling).
Sauté Vegetables
First saute the vegetables. We’re using red bell pepper, mushrooms and kale here. I love the heartiness of kale, but feel free to sub in spinach.
Cube Bread
While the kale is wilting and the vegetables finish cooking, cube up the bread, or rip into pieces and place in a greased baking dish.
Whisk Egg Mixture
Whisk together the eggs, milk and salt and pepper.
Layer in ingredients
Add vegetables to the top of the cubed bread, sprinkle on some cheese, add egg-milk mixture and finish off with more cheese.
Cover & Refrigerate
Cover the casserole dish and refrigerate overnight (up to 12 hours).
Short on Time?
If you need to make this breakfast strata in a hurry here are a couple tips.
- Place 1″ baguette slices on a large baking sheet and toast at 300ºF for 5 minutes.
- Cover and refrigerate for 4 hours (instead of overnight). This breakfast casserole is best when the bread has enough time to soak up the eggs and liquid. While 8 hours is ideal, 4 hours is the minimum amount of time I’d suggest.
Flavor Variations
If you’re looking for more flavor ideas, different vegetables or even some meat options, here are some ideas:
- Sun-dried tomato, sausage & mozzarella
- Bacon & cheddar cheese
- Southwest with chorizo, cotija and serve with avocado
Storing and Reheating
This breakfast casserole will keep in the fridge, as long as you don’t mind reheated eggs. It’s best used within 3-4 days.
To reheat, I recommend the toaster oven if you have one, or the microwave works too. About 30-45 seconds per piece.
More Holiday Breakfast Ideas
- Baked Berry French Toast Casserole
- Fluffy Banana Cinnamon Rolls
- Everything Bagel Breakfast Strata
- Kale Goat Cheese & Sun-Dried Tomato Egg Bake
Let me know if you make this recipe by leaving a comment and rating below! It helps others learn more about the recipe too! Xx Ashley
PrintVegetarian Breakfast Strata
This Vegetarian Breakfast Strata is the perfect overnight casserole. Serves a crowd, great for entertaining and the vegetables can be customized to your liking. Luscious egg-soaked baguette bites and cheese – you can’t pass this up!
- Prep Time: 4 hours
- Cook Time: 50 minutes
- Total Time: 4 hours 50 minutes
- Yield: 12 1x
- Category: Breakfast
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Vegetarian
Ingredients
- 1 (14 ounce) day old baguette, cubed
- ½ tablespoon olive oil, for cooking
- 1 small onion, diced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 red bell pepper, diced
- 1 package baby bella mushrooms, sliced
- 1 small bunch of kale, finely chopped, about 2” pieces (equal to about 4 cups),
- 12 large eggs
- 3 cups milk
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- ½ cup shaved parmesan cheese
- 1 cup sharp white cheddar cheese
Instructions
- Grease a 9×13 casserole dish with butter and set aside.
- Slice day old baguette into 1” cubes and place in bottom of baking dish. If bread is not stale, just slice into 1” slices and toast in oven at 300ºF for 8 minutes.
- In a large skillet over medium heat, add oil, minced garlic and onions. Cook for about 3-4 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add in diced bell pepper, mushrooms and kale, cooking down for another 4-5 minutes, until kale is wilted. Remove from heat and set aside.
- In a large bowl, whisk together eggs, milk, salt and pepper.
- Add the skillet veggie skillet mixture over top of the cubed bread, tossing to evenly combine. Sprinkle on ½ cup of the white cheddar cheese.
- Pour egg mixture over bread and veggies, add parmesan cheese and rest of white cheddar cheese. Making sure all bread pieces are fully coated in mixture. Cover and refrigerate for at least 4 hours (up to 12 hours max).
- Remove casserole from fridge and preheat oven to 375ºF. Re-position bread and make sure all pieces are coated still. Bake uncovered for 45-55 minutes, until edges are golden, strata has puffed up
Notes
Refer to post for more flavor variations and ideas.
Keywords: breakfast strata, vegetarian breakfast casserole, christmas breakfast ideas
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