Cheese, Sausage, Bacon, Eggs, and Bread (well, garlic croutons in this case) all form the basis for this quick, easy, and delicious breakfast.
You can make in minutes…seriously. I use a bag of already cooked sausage and bacon crumbles, but if you prefer a specific brand or flavor, by all means, use that. Sometimes my kids request maple sausage and bacon instead of the pre-cooked stuff, so I make it for them. Otherwise, aside from beating some eggs and half-and-half together, this recipe is easy-peasy. In fact, this is a great recipe to get your kids into the kitchen and help cook.
I usually have a bag of croutons in my pantry. This is the kind we like to use. You don’t have to use these particular type of croutons (use your favorite), or croutons at all for that matter. If you have extra crusty bread on hand, use that. I don’t recommend using regular sandwich bread for this recipe, however. Regular sandwich bread would soak up all of the liquid quickly, and because this recipe cooks QUICKLY, the cooking time is not long enough to cook the soaked bread. Using croutons ensures you don’t get soppy breading at the bottom.
Pour the entire bag of croutons into the bottom of a 9×13 pan.
Crack the eggs into a medium sized mixing bowl.
Add the half-and-half (you can use cream instead, if you’d like).
Use a whisk to mix the eggs and half-and-half together. You don’t need to whisk this for very long; mix just enough to break the yolks apart and mix up the whites so you don’t have any large globs of egg.
You can mix in some black pepper to this too. DO NOT add any salt…the croutons, meat and cheese add enough sodium to this recipe.
Pour the egg mixture over the croutons.
Sprinkle the sausage and bacon mixture over the top of the pan.
This is the brand of sausage I buy. It comes fully cooked, and this particular brand includes bacon. You can use breakfast sausage if you prefer (since this IS a recipe for breakfast casserole), but I’m usually pressed for time most mornings, and this helps move things along in my house. 🙂
Okay, back to business. Sprinkle some shredded cheese all over the top. I used a mixture of grated mozzarella and cheddar cheese.
You can add other ingredients to this as well. I think the next time I make this I’ll add chopped sun-dried tomatoes and maybe some diced bell pepper and onions.
Bake at 425 degrees for 20 minutes.
Cut into 12 pieces, serve, and ENJOY!
THM NOTE:
For any THMs reading this, this is still an S meal despite the croutons. This particular brand of croutons has only 5g of total carbs per serving, which is about the amount in one serving of this casserole (the size of the photo above). The casserole makes about 12 servings.
- 1 bag garlic flavored croutons
- 6 large eggs
- 2 cups half-and-half
- 1 bag sausage and bacon crumbles
- 2 cups shredded cheese
- Layer the croutons on the bottom of a 9x13 pan.
- Mix the eggs and half-and-half together. Pour over the croutons.
- Sprinkle the sausage and bacon crumbles evenly on top of the crouton-egg mixture.
- Top with shredded cheese.
- Bake at 425 degrees for 25-30 minutes.