3 Make-Ahead Breakfast Casseroles for Busy Families

While everyone loves Sunday morning pancakes and loaded omelets, that can mean hours in the kitchen if you're feeding a crowd. Breakfast casseroles to the rescue! Whether you're looking to feed your family or want to meal prep for the week, these healthy-ish morning spins on the classic dinner casserole can be savory or sweet, and customized to fit your family's needs. Like their suppertime cousins, these one-pan meals come together quickly, lean on a handful of ingredients, and can be made ahead of time. Read on for how to make strata, frittata, and even baked oatmeal part of your family's breakfast routine.

Breakfast Casseroles to Make Now

Ready to enter the delicious (and easy!) world of breakfast casseroles? Use these four tips and the three recipes below to get started.

1. Get Creative: Think of breakfast casseroles like a blank canvas. Thanks to their simplicity, they offer the perfect opportunity to experiment with your favorite flavor combinations like peppers and sausage, mushrooms and cheese, or ingredients you love in cuisines like Mexican or Chinese.

2. Use Your Leftovers: Got a little bit of shredded cheese left over? Throw it in a frittata. Have some leftover rotisserie chicken from the night before? Add it to a strata. Those berries from the market looked so appealing, but now they're on their last leg, so throw them into baked oatmeal. Whatever breakfast casserole you make, you can sneak in whatever leftovers you have on hand to not only add flavor, but to also cut down on waste in the kitchen.

3. Make it Ahead: Breakfast casseroles come together in minutes, but they can also be made ahead for easy low-stress mornings. A strata can sit overnight in the fridge and be baked off in the morning, while you can prepare all the components of a frittata the night before.

4. Reheat Right: Whenit comes to reheating your breakfast casserole, you can always microwave individual portions. To reheat an entire casserole, it's best to opt for the low and slow method. To prevent the casserole from drying out, make sure to wrap it in foil before popping it in the oven. Set it in the oven at 300˚F until warmed through, which should take about 25 to 30 minutes.

Spinach, Potato, and Feta Frittata

Serves 8 to 10

Ingredients

• Cooking spray
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 medium Yukon gold potatoes, cubed into ½-inch pieces
• 1 large yellow onion, finely chopped
• 10 ounces spinach
• 2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 12 large eggs
• 1 cup whole milk
• 1½ cups crumbled feta

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350˚F. Spray a 9x13-inch baking dish with cooking spray.
2. Heat the olive oil in a large pan over medium-high heat. Once the oil begins to shimmer, add the potatoes and cook, stirring occasionally, until golden brown, about 5 minutes.
3. Add the onion to the pan and cook until softened, about 3 minutes. Add the spinach and cook until wilted, about 2 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.
4. In a large bowl add the eggs and milk and whisk until the mixture is smooth. Add the potato mixture and crumbled feta and stir to combine.
5. Transfer the egg mixture to the greased baking dish. Bake until the top of the frittata is just set and golden brown, about 35 to 40 minutes.
6. Let the frittata cool for 5 minutes before serving.

Caprese Strata

Serves 8 to 10

Ingredients

• Cooking spray
• 9 large eggs
• 2¾ cups whole milk
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 2 cups cherry tomatoes, halved
• 1½ cups mozzarella pearls
• 8 cups challah bread, cubed
• ½ cup loosely packed basil leaves, roughly torn

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350˚F. Spray a 9x13-inch baking dish with cooking spray.
2. In a large bowl, whisk the eggs, milk, garlic, salt and pepper. Add the tomatoes, mozzarella, and challah and stir to combine.
3. Pour the egg mixture into the greased baking dish. Bake until the bread is golden brown and the mozzarella is melty, about 45 minutes.
4. Let the strata cool for 10 minutes and sprinkle with the basil before serving.

Baked Oatmeal

Serves 8 to 10

Ingredients

• Cooking spray
• 2½ cups old-fashioned oats
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon kosher salt
• 1½ cup pecans, roughly chopped
• 1 cup raisins
• 2¼ cups whole milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 large eggs, beaten
• ½ cup maple syrup, plus more to serve

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 375˚F. Spray a 9x13-inch baking dish with cooking spray.
2. In a large bowl, add the oats, cinnamon, baking powder, salt, pecans, and raisins, and stir to combine.
3. Add the milk, vanilla, eggs, and maple syrup and stir to combine.
4. Carefully pour the mixture into the greased baking dish and transfer to the oven. Bake until puffed and golden brown, 35 to 40 minutes.
5. Serve with maple syrup.