Cut down on the stress of Christmas Day with a pre-made breakfast casserole like this Simple Breakfast Strata. This recipe is can be prepared the night before (or up to 3 months ahead and frozen) and put in the oven on Christmas morning for a no-fuss, delicious breakfast for Christmas morning. No need to get up early to prepare breakfast, sleep in a little. We all want to make Christmas morning special for our families but it is not the time to be cooking in the kitchen, it is time to be with your family.
This is a sponsored post for the Ohio Poultry Association.
Christmas Simple Breakfast Strata
The Ohio Poultry Association’s recipe for Simple Breakfast Strata is easy to prepare ahead the night before to be popped in the oven on Christmas morning. This hearty breakfast will delight your family with the ingredients of eggs, Canadian bacon, cheese, and hearty bread. With 22 grams of protein per serving, it may even keep them from snacking on cookies and sweets through the morning too! Eggs offer high-quality protein that will keep you fuller longer and energized all day long, giving your kids enough energy to open all their Christmas presents and play all day! 🙂
| Servings |
- 4 slices dense white OR whole grain bread
- 4 eggs
- 1/2 cup Milk
- 1/2 leaves tsp. dried thyme OR oregano
- 6 slices Canadian-style bacon chopped
- 1/2 cup shredded Cheddar cheese 2 oz.
Ingredients
| |
- Place bread in single layer in greased 8-inch square baking dish.
- Beat eggs, milk and thyme in medium bowl until blended; pour over bread.
- Sprinkle with bacon.
- Refrigerate, covered, at least 30 minutes or as long as overnight.
- Heat oven to 350°F. Remove strata from refrigerator; uncover and let stand while oven heats. Bake in center of 350°F oven 30 minutes.
- Sprinkle with cheese. Bake until puffed, golden and firm in center, about 5 minutes longer.
Like I said, this recipe is easy. Simply place 4 pieces of hearty, dense bread in your 8×8 casserole dish. I used multi-grain wheat bread but any works. Even day-old, slightly dried out bread is good for this recipe. Next, beat together the 4 eggs, milk, and thyme. Use oregano if your kids are not fans of thyme.
My family loves egg casseroles (or any egg recipe for that matter!). I cook with eggs a lot because they are loaded nutrition. Did you know that just 1 egg offers 13 essential vitamins and minerals, high-quality protein, unsaturated fast, and antioxidants for just 70 calories? It is also a good way to get Vitamin D that is much needed in the winter.
Next, place the dish in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes to all the bread to absorb the egg mixture. I suggest you prepare this dish the night before so you can pop it in the oven on Christmas morning. Or, you can make it ahead of time and freeze it for up to 3 months. Just be sure to allow time in the refrigerator the day before to thaw. Or, you can bake it ahead of time and just rewarm when you are ready to serve.
When you are ready to enjoy, bake the Simple Breakfast Strata in a preheated 350° oven and bake for 30 minutes. Add the cheddar cheese and bake for another 5 minutes, until everything is golden on the outside and firm on the inside. The beauty of this strata is that it can be prepared ahead of time and enjoyed on even the busiest of days like Christmas with no fuss. Another thing that I like is that you can add anything you’d like to the dish including veggies and other breakfast meats like sausage and crumbled bacon. You can also top this strata with fresh herbs, sour cream, salsa, and hot sauce.
This Simple Breakfast Strata recipe is delicious as-is. Not only is does it make a delicious breakfast for Christmas morning but it is also a very easy and crowd-pleasing dish for potlucks, brunches, and parties. It is made versatile with eggs. There is a good chance the eggs you use are from an Ohio egg farm too, another thing I enjoy about cooking with eggs. 
Ohio is the 2nd largest egg farming state in the country, providing over 9 Billion eggs a year. Where are all of these egg farms?! LOL Meet the Lochtefeld family from Mercer County, Ohio.
This family farm keeps this mom and her husband busy, especially during the winter months when consumers eat more eggs than any other time of year – including Easter! That is because eggs are the one of the most indispensable ingredients in recipes adding moisture, color, flavor, and nutrition to so many recipes.
I hope you will try the Ohio Poultry Association’s Simple Breakfast Strata this Christmas with your family.
Learn more about Ohio eggs and poultry as well as more recipes perfect for Christmas on the Ohio Poultry Association website. Get social with Ohio Poultry Association on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram and YouTube.