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Overnight Brunch Egg Bake

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By Pillsbury Kitchens
Updated Mar 9, 2024
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Our overnight brunch egg bake recipe is top rated with good reason. It is a simple and comforting way to enjoy a leisurely breakfast or brunch that’s hot, hearty, and satisfyingly scrumptious! This easy make-ahead recipe lets you assemble it the night before, so in the morning, all you have to do is pop it in the oven and enjoy!
The delightful combination of ingredients this recipe has makes it a very popular choice to make not only breakfast or brunch, but equally ready to be devoured for lunch or dinner. The pretty ham, green onions, bell pepper and mushrooms layered in the dish with cheese. Eggs are mixed with a few other ingredients and poured over the top to make a delightful egg-based casserole everyone can agree is delish.

This is a great recipe to make when you have overnight dinner guests, to serve for a brunch spread or to use up leftover holiday ham. And if you have any leftover, they make a terrific hot lunch the next day!

Delicious Overnight Egg Bake Add-ins

With this easy breakfast egg bake recipe, you can change up an ingredient or two, and vary the flavor to suit the occasion or your family’s taste preferences. Try any of these egg bake ideas:
Change Up the Cheese: Rather than use Colby-Monterey Jack cheese, try shredded Swiss, Italian, Mexican cheese blend, cheddar, to change the flavor. What do you have on hand? Here is a fantastic way to use it up!

Change the Veggies: Use those veggies in the refrigerator that are waiting for some love or mix and match your favorites, for a brand-new egg bake. You will want to cook them first until they are tender, before adding them to the baking dish. Try any color bell pepper, fresh mushrooms, fresh spinach leaves. Start with about 2 1/2 cups of veggies total before cooking. Or skip the cooking by adding leftover cooked veggies, drained chopped green chilies, or sliced, pitted ripe black, Kalamata or green olives, drained, chopped sun-dried tomatoes in oil or drained chopped marinated artichoke hearts.

Change the Herbs: Instead of parsley, you can add chopped fresh basil leaves, dill weed or cilantro.

Change the Meat: Instead of ham, use drained cooked and crumbled breakfast sausage, chorizo, or Italian sausage, sliced pepperoni, or chopped cooked prosciutto or chicken sausage (any flavor).
Or combine some of the most popular flavors into one recipe, with our Cheesy Bacon and Broccoli Egg Bake recipe. Looking for more easy overnight egg bakes? Check out this collection for even more inspiration.

How to Make an Overnight Egg Bake

Breakfast egg casseroles are a smart way to enjoy a delicious, hot, and homemade dish in the morning, without having to prep the recipe with only one eye open!
All the prep happens the night before, giving the ingredients a chance to mingle and give even more flavor to the hearty meal. It’s a layering of ingredients with unique flavors that blend into one fluffy, egg casserole.

Shredded cheese…and even more cheese get layered with veggies cooked in butter and ham, for rich, satisfying flavors that are just sprinkled in the casserole.

Eggs are mixed with flour, parsley and milk and poured over the other ingredients in the dish. The entire concoction is then refrigerated overnight for the best flavor (or you could also bake it right away, if you didn’t get a chance to prep it ahead).

Cut into squares, the cheesy eggs with ham and veggies become a hearty and fluffy egg dish you will love to serve, and everyone will gobble up in no time.

What to Serve with a Ham and Cheese Egg Bake

This overnight egg bake is a hearty dish to serve on its own, but it also is nice to serve with other dishes, depending on when you enjoy it!
Breakfast or Brunches: Serve it with fresh or canned fruit that add additional color and interest to the overnight egg casserole, such as green or red seedless grapes, fresh strawberries or blue berries or canned mandarin oranges. Add a delicious breakfast bread, like freshly baked Pillsbury™ Banana Bread Batter, ™Pillsbury Cinnamon Rolls, Toaster Strudel™ or any of these delicious muffins or scones.

Lunch Ideas: Let this savory easy egg casserole take the place of a sandwich or wrap at lunchtime! Serve it with a slurpable soup recipe or a crunchy salad recipe, for a satisfying change of pace from the typical sack lunch.

Dinner Ideas: If you are going to enjoy the ham and cheese egg bake for dinner…you can go two ways with it. Make it breakfast for dinner, adding any of the delicious sides with it, like mentioned above. Or keep it on the savory dinner theme and serve it with your favorite soup or chili, for a comforting meal that’s perfect for a chilly evening.

More About This Recipe

  • Egg bakes or egg casseroles, whichever you call them, are a great solution to enjoying a hot, homemade breakfast or brunch without having to get up early and cook before you have had a chance to fully caffeinate! We love how making an overnight egg casserole sets you up for a leisurely breakfast or brunch! For more amazing breakfast or brunch recipes, check out this wonderful collection of our favorite recipes!

Frequently Asked Questions

How to store and reheat egg bake casserole?

For the freshest flavor and fluffiest texture, it’s best to make and enjoy our easy egg casserole the morning after preparing it the night before. You can store and reheat egg bake casserole in individual pieces, if you like, for a quick meal without any extra effort!
Refrigerator Storage: Wrap and refrigerate any leftover egg bake for up to 4 days. Only store egg bake that has not been sitting on the table for more than 2 hours. If your egg casserole has been sitting out longer than that, it is best to discard it, rather than have it cause any food borne illness from improper handling.

Reheating Egg Bake: Place an individual serving on a microwavable plate; cover loosely with plastic wrap. Microwave on Medium-High (70%) 1 to 3 minutes or until instant-read thermometer reaches at least 165°F when inserted in the center of the piece.

Freezer Storage: Freezing either unbaked or baked ham and cheese egg casserole is not recommended.

Can I add potatoes to this egg bake recipe?

This egg casserole recipe has the perfect proportions of ingredients to fill the casserole dish without spilling over. It is best to use a recipe that was tested with potatoes in it, to be sure they get done as well as the other ingredients. We have many amazing egg and potato recipes to try. Overnight Tex-Mex Egg Bake or Overnight Country Sausage and Hash Brown Casserole are a few of our favorites!
If you try adding potatoes to this Overnight Egg Bake Recipe, let us know how it turns out!

Try any of our other egg bake recipes for leisurely weekend breakfast or brunch.

Egg bake, Breakfast casserole, frittata: What’s the difference?

Egg bakes and breakfast casseroles typically are names for the same type of dish. Since the egg mixtures are baked in a casserole, both names have become synonymous in describing these easy, make-ahead dishes. Frittatas on the other hand, are a separate way to serve eggs, that is more like an omelet. Frittatas have finely chopped veggies and other ingredients folded into the egg mixture before it is cooked, whereas omelets typically fold other ingredients inside the cooked eggs “wrap.” Both omelets and frittatas are cooked on a stovetop, rather than in a casserole, like an egg bake. They are typically much thinner than an egg bake, so they take less time to cook and are a lighter egg option than an egg casserole. Isn’t it “egg-citing” there are so many delicious ways to enjoy eggs?

Overnight Brunch Egg Bake

  • Prep Time 30 min
  • Total 9 hr 35 min
  • Ingredients 12
  • Servings 12
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Ingredients

  • 6 cups shredded Colby-Monterey Jack cheese blend (24 oz)
  • 2 tablespoons butter
  • 1/3 cup sliced green onions
  • 1/2 medium red bell pepper, chopped
  • 1 jar (4.5 oz) sliced mushrooms, drained
  • 8 oz cooked ham, cut into thin bite-sized strips
  • 8 eggs
  • 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
  • 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
  • 1 3/4 cups milk
  • Chopped red bell pepper, if desired
  • Chopped fresh parsley, if desired

Instructions

  • Step 
    1
    Spray 13x9-inch (3-quart) baking dish with nonstick cooking spray. Sprinkle half of cheese evenly into sprayed baking dish.
  • Step 
    2
    Melt butter in medium skillet over medium heat. Add onions, 1/2 medium bell pepper and mushrooms; cook until onions and bell pepper are tender. Arrange vegetables over cheese in baking dish. Top with ham strips. Sprinkle remaining cheese over ham.
  • Step 
    3
    Beat eggs in large bowl. Lightly spoon flour into measuring cup; level off. Add flour, parsley and milk to eggs; blend well. Pour over mixture in baking dish. Cover; refrigerate 8 hours or overnight.
  • Step 
    4
    To serve, heat oven to 350°F. Uncover baking dish; bake at 350°F. for 55 to 65 minutes or until mixture is set and top is lightly browned. Let stand 10 minutes before serving. To serve, cut into squares. Garnish with red bell pepper and fresh parsley.

Nutrition

350 Calories
25g Total Fat
24g Protein
7g Total Carbohydrate
3g Sugars

Nutrition Facts

Serving Size: 1/12 of Recipe
Calories
350
Calories from Fat
230
Total Fat
25g
39%
Saturated Fat
14g
71%
Trans Fat
1/2g
Cholesterol
195mg
65%
Sodium
700mg
29%
Potassium
240mg
7%
Total Carbohydrate
7g
2%
Dietary Fiber
0g
0%
Sugars
3g
Protein
24g
% Daily Value*:
Vitamin A
20%
20%
Vitamin C
6%
6%
Calcium
50%
50%
Iron
8%
8%
Exchanges:
1/2 Starch; 0 Fruit; 0 Other Carbohydrate; 0 Skim Milk; 0 Low-Fat Milk; 0 Milk; 0 Vegetable; 0 Very Lean Meat; 0 Lean Meat; 1 1/2 High-Fat Meat; 1 Fat;
Carbohydrate Choice
1/2
*Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.

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