This crowd-pleasing Cheesy Egg Breakfast Casserole with Biscuits is my new favorite! Use store bought or homemade biscuits to make a moist and delicious brunch for your guests. Try it with ham, bacon, or sausage. Top it all off with Hollandaise Sauce for an incredible holiday breakfast!Â
The other day Eric was taking Charlotte to her piano lesson. He sent me a picture of her in the back of the car with her lesson book open, moving her fingers over a pretend keyboard. Just getting that last little bit of practice in!
Eric said “The tradition continues!” because I’ve told him before about how when I was a kid, I would go the entire week not touching the piano and then try to “practice” in the car on the way to my lesson. You know, air-piano. Like air-guitar. That’s a thing right?
The difference is that Charlotte is about 10 times more responsible than I was as a kid. She practices her lessons on a Real Actual piano every single day. Parenting humble brag of the day right here folks.
Who’s all prepped and ready for Christmas?? We did most of our shopping on black Friday, and the delivered boxes are just piling up in the corner of our bedroom. I don’t even have the energy to open them anymore. Then you just have to take the time to either hide it well or wrap it immediately, and who’s got time for that? I mean if we wrapped it all ahead of time, what would we even DO until 1am on Christmas Eve??
(Gimme all the crispy edges. YUM.)
Well aside from last minute wrapping, I know what else I’m going to be doing on Christmas Eve. Prepping this amazing egg breakfast casserole with biscuits!!
Christmas Breakfast Casserole
I swear I could eat breakfast casserole every day. There’s something about that cheesy egg combo that’s just so good.
This version is a fun twist because we’re using chopped up biscuits instead of hash browns. The biscuits bubble up and get all huge and puffy in the pan, I love it! So satisfying. The eggs and cheese get together and make this amazingly delicious eggy-cheesey-biscuity bottom layer. Chunks of flavorful smoked ham are spread throughout the whole thing. It’s so good!
This should be good enough, but last second I decided to drizzle the whole thing with this 5 minute easy Blender Hollandaise Sauce. YES this was the right choice. Is there anything better than a bright buttery sauce to serve with your casserole? Nope.
How to make Breakfast Casserole with Biscuits
First we’re starting off with some easy homemade biscuits. This is a simplified version of my Ultra Flaky Buttermilk Biscuits. If you don’t have time for this, you can totally use store bought biscuits! See notes below the recipe.
Start by cutting some butter into a simple flour mixture. You want to have pea-size pieces of butter when you are done cutting it in.
Add in the buttermilk (or you can use cream, but I like the tang that buttermilk adds) and bring it together with a spatula. Then knead a few times with floured hands to form a ball.
Roll it out into a rectangle and then fold it up like a business letter. That’s how we get those flaky layers! Mmm.
Slice into strips and then cut into squares. You can skip this whole process by buying a can of refrigerated biscuits (like Pillsbury) and cutting each biscuit into quarters. I prefer the flavor of homemade biscuits and think it’s worth the time investment to make it from scratch, especially for a holiday meal. But sometimes you just have to get er done! I totally get it! No one is judging you. You do you.
Layer the ham with the biscuits, then top with a bunch of cheese. Any kind you like is fine, I love to use cheddar and Monterey Jack. You could try mozzarella, provolone, gouda, a 3 cheese blend, or pepper jack to make it spicy. Whatever cheese you like is going to be delicious! I think it’s tastiest to use at least 2 kinds.
Make ahead breakfast casserole: refrigerate overnight (and get more sleep!)
At this point you can toss it in the fridge until morning! Once you have assembled the entire casserole and have poured the egg mixture over the top (through step 11 in the recipe below), cover tightly and refrigerate overnight. The next morning get the casserole out of the fridge and let sit at room temperature while the oven preheats, 10-15 minutes. Bake as directed, allowing for an extra 5-10 minutes to get fully baked. This is the BEST option for holidays. Nobody wants to get up at the crack of dawn on Christmas!
Can you freeze breakfast casserole?
Yes! This is great if you want to bake one ahead for a rainy day or for a friend. Bake the casserole as directed and cool. Cover tightly, making sure it’s totally sealed. Freeze for up to 2 months. When you are ready to bake, you can either let it thaw in the fridge for 1-2 days and then bake as directed, or you can bake it straight from frozen: cover the casserole with foil and bake at 300 for about 45-60 minutes. You are just rewarming the casserole, so as soon as it is heated through you can serve it.
If you have already dug into your casserole but have a ton of leftovers, you can section the baked casserole in individual portions in tupperwares or ziplocks, freeze, and microwave on a plate to reheat. I don’t know why I don’t do this more often! Eat like a king on a random Thursday morning! It only takes a couple minutes to microwave.
Happy Christmas prepping everyone! Get those presents wrapped and casseroles prepped!
More breakfast casseroles you are going to love!
- Cheesy Overnight Hash Brown Breakfast Casserole << the top breakfast casserole on my site!
- Overnight Bacon and Egg Breakfast Casserole << the second most popular breakfast casserole on my blog. Classic!
- Asparagus, Tomato, and Goat Cheese Quiche << bad photos. BEST QUICHE. Trust me.
- Overnight Bacon and Asparagus Breakfast Casserole << I’m telling you, asparagus for breakfast is legit.
- Cherry Tomato Leek, and Spinach Quiche << Leeks. So underrated!! This is a great vegetarian option.
- Overnight Biscuits and Gravy Casserole << Here is my other favorite breakfast casserole with biscuits!
- Eggs Benedict Casserole << bring on the hollandaise!
- Sausage and Cream Cheese Crescent Casserole from Plain Chicken
- Overnight Breakfast Strata from Chunky Chef
- Low Carb Bacon Egg and Spinach Casserole from Stay Snatched
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Cheesy Ham and Egg Breakfast Casserole with Biscuits
Ingredients
For the homemade biscuits:**
- 2 cups flour, spooned and leveled
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons sugar
- 1 tablespoon + 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 cup butter, cold (1 stick)
- 3/4 cup cold buttermilk OR cream***
For the egg mixture
- 9 large eggs
- 1 & 2/3 cups cream*** OR evaporated milk
- 1 teaspoon seasoned salt, I like Lawry's
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon dry mustard powder
- 1/4 teaspoon onion powder
To assemble
- 2 & 1/2 to 3 cups smoked ham, chopped*
- 3 cups cheese, shredded (I used cheddar and Monterey Jack)
Garnishes
- chopped parsley
- chopped green onions
- 1 recipe of Blender Hollandaise Sauce, to serve with
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a deep 9x13 inch casserole dish with nonstick spray or rub with oil or butter.
- Begin by making the biscuit dough. (See note for how to use store bought biscuits!) In a medium bowl, add 2 cups flour, 1 teaspoon salt, 2 teaspoons sugar, and 1 tablespoon + 2 teaspoons baking powder. Whisk together.
- Add 1/2 cup of cold butter. Use a pastry cutter to cut the butter into the flour mixture. If you don't have a pastry cutter you can use a butter knife. Keep cutting the butter until the mixture has mostly come together, with some butter pieces up to the size of a pea. See photos.
- Add 3/4 cup cold buttermilk. Use a spatula to stir the liquid into the flour mixture until a shaggy dough has formed. Flour your hands and knead the dough in the bowl 3-5 times until the mixture has formed a ball. See photos.
- Turn the dough out onto a flour surface. (I love to use my pastry cloth.) Roll the dough out to about a 10x12 inch rectangle. Sprinkle with flour as necessary. It doesn't need to be perfect.
- Fold the short ends of the dough in by thirds, like you're folding a business letter. See photos. Flip the dough over so that the seam side is down, and pat it flat with your hands, or roll the rolling pin over it a couple times to seal the dough together. (We are doing this folding to get flaky layers in our biscuits.)
- Use a serrated knife, scissors, or a pizza cutter to slice the dough into 1 inch strips. Cut each strip into 3 squares. See photos. Each square of dough should be about 1x1 or 1x2 inches. It doesn't have to be perfect!
- Meanwhile, prepare the egg mixture. In a large bowl or stand mixer, beat together 9 eggs, 1 and 2/3 cup cream, 1 teaspoon seasoned salt, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon pepper, 1/4 teaspoon dried mustard, and 1/4 teaspoon onion powder. (The seasonings can be adjusted to your taste)
- To assemble: sprinkle half of the ham over the bottom of the prepared casserole dish. Spread all of the biscuit squares over the top of the ham. Spread the remaining ham over the top of the biscuits.
- Top with 3 cups of shredded cheese. You can use pretty much any kind of cheese you like, I'm partial to cheddar. I did 2 cups of cheddar and 1 cup of Monterey Jack. You could also try a Mexican blend, shredded mozzarella, or pepper jack if you want to make it spicy.
- Pour the egg mixture over the top of the casserole, making sure everything gets wet.
- (At this point you can cover tightly and refrigerate overnight!)
- Bake at 350 for about 38-40 minutes. The casserole is done when the top is golden and the center of the pan doesn't wobble much or look liquidy when you shake the pan.
- Remove from the oven and serve immediately! Garnish with chopped parsley, chopped green onions, and/or Blender Hollandaise Sauce, if desired. The hollandaise sauce is optional, I think it's delicious served with or without!
Cooked for 40 minutes ….. beautiful golden brown ….. but ….. the dang biscuits were not ALL COOKED. I used Pillsbury Grand Flakey because that’s what I had. I’d make again; but I’ll use tater it’s next time.
This looks yummy! Do you know if it can be made in the crockpot overnight?
Hi Stacy! I haven’t tried this in the crockpot, sorry!
This may have to happen. It is just our little family this year so I’m trying to make it as special as possible.
Us too Misty! It’s our first time not traveling for Christmas! I’m nervous about it feeling lame! How can you compete with cousin time?? Breakfast casseroles do help :)