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Your easy Brunch menu savior: Overnight Breakfast Casserole. Prepare to dive into a savory ham, cheese, and egg custard topped with an irresistible buttery corn flake topping. This is one of the best make-ahead breakfast recipes to have in your repertoire!
Assemble this recipe the night before, and while everyone’s fast asleep, the bread soaks up the herb and egg custard and softens into savory, stuffed French toast like breakfast casserole.
Come morning, the only thing left to do is add the corn flake topping, pop it in the oven, and brew some coffee. And if it’s a holiday, perhaps add a Bloody Mary Bar or Mimosa Bar, too?
Table of Contents
Recipe ingredients
At a Glance: Here is a quick snapshot of what ingredients are in this recipe.
Please see the recipe card below for specific quantities.
Ingredient notes
- English muffin bread: Different from actual English muffins, English muffin bread is hearty and chewy and perfect to stand up to all the layers of this casserole. If you can’t find it, don’t despair; any soft, coarse-textured white sandwich bread (or even buttery croissants cut in half lengthwise) will work.
- Cheese: I love the flavor combination of Swiss and cheddar, but feel free to use a combination of any melty cheeses.
- Deli ham: Or opt for thin slices of leftover ham from your holiday roast.
- Dried mustard: Powdered mustard gives a little savory kick to the egg custard. To use yellow or Dijon mustard, substitute an equal amount and add it to the blender with the eggs.
- Corn flakes: Similar to dinner casseroles that call for crushed Ritz crackers or bread crumbs on top, these add a breakfast-appropriate, delightfully crunchy element to the top of this casserole.
Step-by-step instructions
- Coat a 9-inch by 13-inch baking dish with nonstick spray. Spread butter on one side of each bread slice and lay half (about 6 slices) face up in prepared baking dish. Top with Swiss cheese, ham slices, and cheddar cheese.
- Sprinkle with parsley, dill, mustard, ½ teaspoon salt, and ¼ teaspoon pepper. Top with a second layer of bread, butter-side up. Combine milk and eggs in a blender and process for 30 seconds (or whisk vigorously in a large bowl by hand). Pour evenly over the top of casserole.
- Cover with foil and refrigerate at least 8 hours or overnight. The next day, preheat oven to 275 degrees. Bake covered casserole for 30 minutes. While the casserole is baking, combine corn flakes and butter and mix well to combine. Remove casserole from oven. Increase oven temperature to 350 degrees. Remove foil and spread topping.
- Return to oven and bake, uncovered, for 45 minutes. Let stand 15 minutes before serving.
Recipe tips and variations
- Yield: This Overnight Breakfast Casserole recipe makes 12 brunch entree-sized servings. Scale up or down as desired; this is a very forgiving recipe and can take a lot of improvisation. Just increase the egg and milk mixture to cover what you’re making.
- Storage: Store leftovers covered in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
- Make ahead: This recipe is designed to be mostly assembled the night before; no make-ahead variations required. Build it up to a day ahead of time and bake when you’re hungry.
- Or make it with another meat: Instead of ham, consider slices of cooked bacon, Canadian bacon, or cooked breakfast sausage.
Recipe FAQs
Loaf-style English muffin bread is a little different than the craggy, chewy round toaster muffins in the narrow, rectangular boxes, but it’s every bit as good. Look for these brands: Country Hearth, Thomas, Wolferman’s, Franz, or Master.
Mimosa Bar
Get the brunch party started in just 5 minutes with a round of brunch cocktails! A Mimosa Bar stocked with a variety of fruit juices and plenty of sparkling wine is a low-stress way to…
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Overnight Breakfast Casserole
Ingredients
For the casserole:
- 1 loaf English muffin bread sliced (see note 1)
- 1/2 cup butter softened (1 stick)
- 2 cups shredded Swiss cheese (see note 2)
- 6 slices deli ham (see note 3)
- 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
- 1 tablespoon fresh parsley or 1 teaspoon dried parsley
- 1 tablespoon fresh dill or 1 teaspoon dried dill
- 1 teaspoon dried mustard (see note 4)
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 3 cups milk
- 10 large eggs
For the topping:
- 1 1/2 cups corn flakes (see note 5)
- 3 tablespoons butter melted
Instructions
To make the casserole:
- Coat a 9-inch by 13-inch baking dish with nonstick spray. Spread butter on one side of each bread slice and lay half (about 6 slices) face up in prepared baking dish.
- Top with Swiss cheese, ham slices, and cheddar cheese. Sprinkle with parsley, dill, mustard, ½ teaspoon salt, and ¼ teaspoon pepper. Top with a second layer of bread, butter-side up.
- Combine milk and eggs in a blender and process for 30 seconds (or whisk vigorously in a large bowl by hand). Pour evenly over the top of casserole. Cover with foil and refrigerate at least 8 hours or overnight.
To bake the casserole:
- Preheat oven to 275 degrees. Bake covered casserole for 30 minutes. While the casserole is baking, combine corn flakes and butter and mix well to combine.
- Remove casserole from oven. Increase oven temperature to 350 degrees. Remove foil and spread topping. Return to oven and bake, uncovered, for 45 minutes. Let stand 15 minutes before serving.
Notes
- English muffin bread: Different from actual English muffins, English muffin bread is hearty and chewy and perfect to stand up to all the layers of this casserole. If you can’t find it, don’t despair; any soft, coarse-textured white sandwich bread (or even buttery croissants cut in half lengthwise) will work.
- Cheese: I love the flavor combination of Swiss and cheddar, but feel free to use a combination of any melty cheeses.
- Deli ham: Or opt for thin slices of leftover ham from your holiday roast.
- Dried mustard: Powdered mustard gives a little savory kick to the egg custard. To use yellow or Dijon mustard, substitute an equal amount and add it to the blender with the eggs.
- Corn flakes: Similar to dinner casseroles that call for crushed Ritz crackers or bread crumbs on top, these add a breakfast-appropriate, delightfully crunchy element to the top of this casserole.
- Yield: This Overnight Breakfast Casserole recipe makes 12 brunch entree-sized servings. Scale up or down as desired; this is a very forgiving recipe and can take a lot of improvisation. Just increase the egg and milk mixture to cover what you’re making.
- Storage: Store leftovers covered in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
Nutrition
Meggan Hill is a classically-trained chef and professional writer. Her meticulously-tested recipes and detailed tutorials bring confidence and success to home cooks everywhere. Meggan has been featured on NPR, HuffPost, FoxNews, LA Times, and more.
I have not made this yet, but it looks to be a sure winner (so I will rate it a 5!) I’m always looking for savory French Toast like recipes and this one seems to fit the bill. I do some Christmas cooking for various groups who offer a free breakfast buffet, and serving something not dripping with sugar is something I aim for. The flexibility of this recipe is what I like about it, as I can change the protein given the audience that I intend to feed! I applaud your use of fresh ingredients (I love parsley and dill)!!