Ham & Cheese Breakfast Strata

At our home, breakfast on Christmas morning is always filled with excitement & joy. After checking our stockings by the fireplace, opening our presents that are under the tree & taking photos of our daughter, it’s usually a mad dash for me or my husband to make some pancakes, eggs & other assorted breakfast items. So this year I decided to change it up a bit & make an egg casserole dish ahead of time that can be popped into the oven as soon as I wake up on Christmas Day.

I had first heard about strata while watching the movie The Family Stone many years ago. There’s a hilarious scene involving Sarah Jessica Parker’s character while she is making a Christmas breakfast strata. I usually watch this movie at least once a year, right after Thanksgiving…and every year I think about making it. So I finally decided that this would be the year that I finally make it!

Here’s my breakfast plate from Christmas morning, complete with strata, mini quiche & chocolate chip muffin. It was a cheese & carb-filled morning, which I thoroughly enjoyed!

Make-Ahead Breakfast Strata

Prep time: 25 minutes

Refrigerate time: 12 hours minimum (Note: you can refrigerate this for up to 24 hours ahead of time)

Cook time: 50 minutes

Serves: 8

Ingredients
9 slices of bread, torn into bite size pieces
½ cup diced fresh mushrooms
4 oz. diced green chiles
16 oz. grated Cheddar cheese
½ cup chopped onion
8 eggs
2 cups milk
2 cups cubed cooked ham*

*I used Spam & cut it up into small pieces. Although I’m a California girl, my parents were born & raised in Hawaii. So I grew up eating AND loving Spam!

Directions
Grease or use non-stick cooking spray on a 13×9 casserole dish. Then set aside.
Layer half of the torn bread in the bottom of the dish.
Sprinkle the mushrooms & green chiles evenly over the bread layer.
Sprinkle with half of the cheese, about 8 oz.
Layer the remaining bread pieces.
Add a layer of onions & the cut-up pieces of ham (or Spam).
Sprinkle with the rest of the shredded cheese.

Whisk together the eggs & milk. Then pour (slowly) over the entire pan.
Cover with aluminum foil & refrigerate for 12 to 24 hours.

When you are ready to bake the strata, preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Bake covered for 35 minutes.
Remove foil & bake for an additional 15 minutes. Then enjoy!

This is a great dish for Sunday brunch. Since all of the prep time can be done 12-24 hours in advance, you may even want to make it for New Year’s Day brunch. I mean who doesn’t want a warm, comforting breakfast dish after staying up all night ringing in the New Year?!?  🙂

Disclosure: No monetary compensation was received for this post. I purchased all of the ingredients & simply wanted to share this recipe with my readers. All images & opinions are 100% my own.