Overnight Breakfast Casserole

The following is a guest post by Jamie of Love Bakes Good Cakes and is in partnership with the California Olive Committee.

For fuss-free mornings, this Overnight Breakfast Casserole comes together quickly the night before and is baked in the morning! This recipe is also a great base to easily customize to your family’s preferences.

Although we’re not necessarily traditional when it comes to holiday meals (we’ve been known to eat soup and sandwiches for Christmas!), we do enjoy a special breakfast for special days like birthdays, Christmas, Thanksgiving, and Easter. One of my favorite holiday (or weekend) breakfast dishes is this Overnight Breakfast Casserole. It’s so easy to put together the night before, then all you have to do is just bake it in the morning! I’m fond of this particular recipe because it is sooooo easy to customize to what your family likes—or whatever ingredients you have on hand! I like to load ours up with lots of veggies and California Ripe Olives for ample flavor. It’s such a hit in our house that we’ve even made it for nights when we’ve craved breakfast for dinner. For a Mexican twist, we like to top our casserole with salsa, sour cream, and extra black olives. Mmmmmm!

If you have picky eaters in the house, you know how hard it can be to get them to try new things. I have my own picky eater—our four year-old will only eat a few things with chicken, rice and black olives being her favorite things to eat—and probably the only things she would eat if we let her! Since I know those are ingredients she likes, I try to incorporate them in other dishes she might be hesitant to try, just like this Overnight Breakfast Casserole with all of its hidden veggies!

California Ripe Olives are one of the most versatile ingredients in our pantry. They add texture, flavor and color to any dish—and in my case, help persuade picky eaters to try new dishes. We keep several cans of California Ripe Olives in our pantry at all times. Call them a staple in the Love Bakes Good Cakes house! With Mother’s Day coming up, not only will be enjoying olives in this Overnight Breakfast Casserole, but I’ll be including an assortment of California Ripe Olives with our crudités platter. My grandma always rounded out her veggie platters with olives for the holidays and that is one tradition I gladly carry on. I guess you could say loving olives runs in the family!

Overnight Breakfast Casserole

Prep Time: 15 minutes + chilling

Cook Time: 1 hour

Yield: 8-12 servings

Ingredients

½ lb. (8 oz.) breakfast sausage
2 tbsp. olive oil
4-5 cups chopped veggies (I used bell peppers, onions, mushrooms)
½ cup sliced California Ripe Olives
2 cloves garlic, minced
Salt and pepper, to taste
1½ cups day-old bread, torn into small pieces
10 large eggs, beaten
½ cup milk
1 cup Cheddar cheese, shredded
Salsa, sour cream, and additional sliced ripe olives, for serving (if desired)

Instructions

Cook and crumble sausage in a large skillet over medium-high heat until no longer pink. Drain. Set aside.

In the same skillet, heat olive oil over medium-high heat. Add veggies, olives, salt, pepper, and garlic. Cook, stirring frequently, until the veggies are tender, about 6-8 minutes. Set aside.

Spray or generously grease a 9×13 baking pan. Place the torn bread pieces in the bottom of the pan in an even layer.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk the eggs and milk together. Stir in the sausage, veggies and cheese. Pour the mixture over the bread.

Cover casserole with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 4 hours or overnight.

Before baking, allow casserole to come to room temperature – about 20-30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 375°F. Bake, uncovered, for 45-50 minutes, or until the top is golden brown and the eggs are cooked through. Allow to set for 5-7 minutes before slicing and serving.