I love a good breakfast casserole, and croissants are one of my favorite types of bread. The buttery layers of a croissant are the best! This casserole is easy to make, and it’s always a crowd favorite. It's also great for make-ahead breakfast meal prep (more on that later - see "Storing and Reheating"). I'll often make one of these and freeze the slices to eat throughout the week.
While the recipe takes a little over a hour from start to finish, assembly is easy and most of the total time is the 40 minutes of cooking time. I love the simplicity of this recipe, but it can be easily customized and elevated with different meats and veggies. It also reheats well, so it's great for a make-ahead breakfast or brunch.
Looking for more breakfast or brunch recipes? Check out my Breakfast collection.
Croissant Breakfast Casserole Ingredients
- 6 large croissants (day-old recommended). Want to try making homemade croissants? This recipe by Jo Cooks is great for a batch of 6!
- Bacon (9-10 strips)
- Butter (or reserve enough bacon grease to grease a 9x13 baking dish)
- Cheddar cheese (block to hand-grate recommended)
- Swiss cheese (block to hand-grate recommended)
- 6 eggs
- Heavy cream
- Milk (2% or whole)
- Garlic powder
- Salt & pepper
- Fresh parsley or chives (optional, for garnish)
Croissant Breakfast Casserole Recipe Tips, Notes, and Variations
Grease the Baking Dish Well!
2 tablespoons of softened butter should be enough to grease the 9x13 inch baking dish. Use all of it! You should be able to see the butter on the dish. Stuck casseroles are no fun!
My favorite thing to do is use some of reserve some of the grease from cooking the bacon and use that to grease the casserole dish. I don't include that as the primary method for this recipe, though, because I know not everyone might not want to tap into my Southern roots with me.
Oddly, with this recipe I don't recommend parchment paper. I'm a huge parchment paper fan, but I find that it seems to promote excess moisture around the edges of this casserole.
Cheeses
This recipe calls for cheddar and Swiss. I recommend hand-grating the cheddar for the best melting experience. Pre-shredded cheeses have anti-caking agents, which can affect how they melt. Pre-shredded will work just fine, but you might find that the cheese is stringier than if you use pre-shredded.
I’m not a huge Swiss cheese fan, but Swiss works well in this recipe and and doesn't overpower everything else, so I usually stick with that. It balances out the cheddar. Gruyère or fontina cheeses would be good substitutes for Swiss. Provolone is another good choice.
The KitchenAid Fresh Prep Slicer/Shredder attachment for the stand mixer is my favorite way to quickly and easily shred or grate cheese.
Meat Variations
You can switch the bacon with breakfast sausage or ham. I’ve also made this with various combinations of all three. Cook and allow the fat to drain off of all meats before adding to the casserole. If you use a combination of meats, use no more than 1 to 1.5 cups of all meats combined.
Make it Vegetarian
Just leave out the bacon or swap with a plant-based meat substitute. You can also add veggies, such as some cooked bell peppers, onions, and mushrooms. If you add veggies, I recommend no more than 1 cup total. Add the veggies after the cheddar cheese.
Storing and Reheating Breakfast Casserole
Refrigerator: Store for up to 4 days in a covered container. Reheating in the oven is recommended, but you can also microwave.
Freezer: I recommend cutting the casserole into slices before freezing. To reheat one slice, microwave for 30 seconds to thaw. Transfer to a cold oven, then heat to 350. Remove from the oven once it reaches 350. Bake for longer if it is not warmed through.
Croissant Breakfast Casserole
Equipment
- 9x13 inch baking dish (glass or ceramic recommended)
Ingredients
- 5 to 6 large croissants day old recommended
- 9 strips cooked bacon chopped (about 1 cup)
- 2 tablespoon butter softened
- 6 eggs
- ¾ cup milk 2% or whole recommended
- ¾ cup heavy cream
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt use ½ teaspoon if using regular table salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese hand-grated recommended
- 1 cup shredded Swiss cheese hand-grated recommended
- fresh chives or parsley optional, for garnish
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350℉.
- Use the butter to grease the baking dish and set aside.2 tablespoon butter
- Whisk together the eggs, heavy cream, milk, salt, pepper, and garlic powder. Set aside.6 eggs, ¾ cup milk, ¾ cup heavy cream, 1 teaspoon kosher salt, ¼ teaspoon black pepper, ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- Break croissants into bite-sized pieces and cover the bottom of the baking dish with the pieces. Pack them in tightly so the whole dish is covered.5 to 6 large croissants
- Top the croissants with the chopped bacon and shredded cheddar cheese.9 strips cooked bacon, 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
- Pour the egg mixture evenly over the ingredients in the casserole dish.
- Top with shredded Swiss cheese.1 cup shredded Swiss cheese
- Bake for 40 minutes or until the eggs are set and the top of the casserole is golden brown. Rotate halfway through if your oven has hot spots.
- Let rest for 10 minutes before serving.
Notes
