Croissant Breakfast Casserole
This delicious Croissant Breakfast Casserole contains bakery croissants, eggs, ham, fresh herbs, and a delicious blend of cheeses. It’s quick and easy to put together, freezer-friendly so you can prep ahead, and is perfect for holidays and family gatherings.
“We LOVED this recipe! It had so much flavor and a great texture; smelled incredible!” – Whitney ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
About This Recipe
There’s so much to love about this breakfast casserole for a crowd!
- Complex Flavor: Only a small amount of key and perfectly proportioned ingredients make for one gourmet-tasting casserole.
- Crowd-Pleaser: Since this serves 12 smaller portions or 8 larger portions and is extremely delicious, it’s perfect for a Breakfast Potluck Idea (i.e. a work or church gathering).
- Easy: The prep time is only about 15 minutes. Another super easy recipes that’s similar is our 5-ingredient Breakfast Egg Muffins.
- Freezer-friendly: Like our High Protein Breakfast Casserole, this one can be baked immediately or prepped, frozen, thawed, and baked when desired.
Ingredients Needed
Here’s what you’ll need to make this casserole, which happens to work quite well for Easter Lunch, Christmas Morning Breakfast, or a Make Ahead Breakfast for busy mornings.
Ingredient Notes:
- Large croissants – Stale croissants may also be used in place of toasted croissants. The use of toasted croissants in the casserole adds a rich flavor and prevents them the casserole from getting soggy–even after freezing.
- Whole milk & heavy cream – This mixture of dairy ensures the casserole has some richness but isn’t too heavy or soggy.
- Fresh parsley and chives – The fresh herbs provide a beautiful pop of color to the casserole and differentiates it from our 5-Ingredient Breakfast Casserole with Hash Browns (which is also delicious!).
- Shredded Swiss cheese and shredded sharp white cheddar cheese – This cheese blend perfectly compliments the ham. If you are unable to find shredded Swiss or sharp white cheddar, you can buy a block and shred by hand or substitute either cheese with fontina, gouda, gruyere, or provolone. Yellow sharp cheddar can also be used place of sharp white cheddar, but may change the final flavor and appearance of the casserole.
- Diced ham – Like our Crockpot Breakfast Casserole, you can buy pre-diced ham, dice a ham steak, or use chopped deli ham. Substitutes for ham: chopped bacon, chopped turkey bacon, cooked breakfast sausage, diced Canadian bacon.
- Optional add-ins: thinly sliced green onions, sautéed onions, shallots, or peppers, chopped spinach, and sun-dried tomatoes.
How to Make Croissant Breakfast Casserole
1. Toast Croissants & Whisk Egg Mixture
Spread the cubed croissants on the prepared baking sheet and bake for 10-15 minutes until lightly golden and crispy. (Tip: Use this time to shred the cheese, mince the herbs, and then move on to Step 3.) Set aside to cool.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the milk, heavy cream, eggs, parsley, chives, salt, garlic powder, and black pepper.
2. Layer Casserole
Layer the cooled, toasted croissants, diced ham, and half of each cheese in the prepared 9×13” pan. Pour egg mixture over the ingredients in the pan. Sprinkle the pan with the remaining cheese.
3. Bake & Serve
Bake, uncovered, for 40-45 minutes (metal pan) or 50-60 minutes (glass pan), or until the center is set, the edges are pulling away from the sides of the pan, and the top is golden. (Note: Tent with foil if the top becomes too brown before the casserole is done.)
Rachel’s Testing Notes
We had four different members of our team test this recipe, some of us multiple times! We wanted to nail it for you. Here are a few extra notes from our team that might be helpful:
- Using butter to grease the pan makes clean up a lot easier than using cooking spray.
- Croissants: Stale or toasted croissants is important to avoid sogginess. Also, we found in our tests that each store-bought “large croissant” you’ll find might be a different size or weight, so I’d err on the side of buying a few extras. The important thing is to get the amount close, which is why we gave you so many details to consider in the recipe (ounces, cups, etc). The casserole will be fine as long as you’re close to our amounts and cube them like this.
- Shredded Cheeses: You may or may not be able to find the pre-shredded cheeses for this recipe. I just bought an 8-ounce block of each kind and grated it myself. I used about 3.5 ounces of each block and snacked on the rest.
- About the Ham: You can buy pre-diced ham, dice a ham steak, or use chopped deli ham. Substitutes for ham: chopped bacon, chopped turkey bacon, cooked breakfast sausage, diced Canadian bacon.
- Freezing Leftovers: While we provided freezer prep instructions in the recipe, you can also freeze slices of the leftovers and heated them up (thawed overnight) at 375°F for 15 minutes. They were wonderful frozen and reheated in one of our tests!
- Optional add-ins: Thinly sliced green onions, sautéed onions, shallots, or peppers, spinach, sauteed mushrooms, and chopped sun-dried tomatoes. We tried to keep this recipe pretty simple, but I think 1 teaspoon of Dijon mustard in the egg mixture could add some complexity and balance out the sweetness of the croissants, if you want to try it.
- Pan Size & Material: We tested this in a 9×13 metal pan. A glass pan will take 10-15 minutes longer to bake completely. You can also divide the recipe between two 8×8 inch pans, if you want to freeze one for later.
Freezer Meal Prep Instructions
This casserole can easily be prepped ahead of time and frozen until ready to bake. Here’s how:
Freeze for Later: Skip Step 1. Follow Steps 2-6, tightly wrap the casserole in plastic wrap or foil, and freeze.
Prepare from Frozen: Thaw completely. Bake as instructed in Step 5.
Recipe FAQs
It is important to toast the croissants so the casserole is not soggy. We did test it without toasting and it completely changed the texture of the casserole.
You could try substituting the cheese blend with shredded fontina, gouda, gruyere, and/or provolone. Yellow sharp cheddar can also be used place of sharp white cheddar, but may change the final flavor and appearance of the casserole.
Other add in ideas that might work well include thinly sliced green onions, sautéed onions, shallots, or peppers, spinach, sauteed mushrooms, and chopped sun-dried tomatoes.
We tried to keep this recipe pretty simple, but I think 1 teaspoon of Dijon mustard in the egg mixture could add some complexity and balance out the sweetness of the croissants, if you want to try that as well.
Croissant Breakfast Casserole
Ingredients
- butter (to grease the pan; sub: cooking spray)
- 6-8 large croissants (cut into 1-inch cubes; approximately 8-9 cups or about 13.5-15.5 ounces per batch)
- 1 3/4 cups whole milk
- 3/4 cup heavy cream
- 8 large eggs
- 1 tablespoon fresh parsley (finely chopped; sub: 1 teaspoon dried parsley)
- 1 tablespoon fresh chives (minced; sub: 1 teaspoon dried chives)
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1 cup shredded Swiss cheese (divided)
- 1 cup shredded sharp white cheddar cheese (divided)
- 1 1/2 cups diced ham (approximately 10-12 ounces; see Ingredient Notes)
Instructions
- Prep: Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease a 9×13-inch pan with butter or cooking spray and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Toast Croissants: Spread the cubed croissants on the prepared baking sheet and bake for 10-15 minutes until lightly golden and crispy. (Tip: Use this time to shred the cheese, mince the herbs, and then move on to Step 3.) Set aside to cool.
- Egg Mixture: In a medium bowl, whisk together the milk, heavy cream, eggs, parsley, chives, salt, garlic powder, and black pepper.
- Layer: Layer the cooled, toasted croissants, diced ham, and half of each cheese in the prepared pan. Pour egg mixture over the ingredients in the pan. Sprinkle the pan with the remaining cheese.
- Bake: Bake, uncovered, for 40-45 minutes (metal pan) or 50-60 minutes (glass pan), or until the center is set, the edges are pulling away from the sides of the pan, and the top is golden. (Note: Tent with foil if the top becomes too brown before the casserole is done.)
- Serve: Serve warm, garnished with extra parsley or chives, if desired.
Freezer Instructions
Notes/Tips
-
- Freezing Leftovers: You can freeze slices of the leftovers and heated them up (thawed overnight) at 375°F for 15 minutes. They were wonderful frozen and reheated in one of our tests!
- Croissants: We found in our tests that each store-bought croissant you’ll find might be a different size or weight. The important thing is to get the amount close, which is why we gave you so many details to consider. “Large croissants” is relative to the brand, so I’d err on the side of buying a few extras. The casserole will be fine as long as you’re close to our amounts.
- Shredded Cheeses: You may or may not be able to find pre-shredded cheese for this recipe. I just bought an 8 ounce block of each kind and grated it myself. I used about 3.5 ounces of each block and snacked on the rest.
- Pan: We tested this in a metal pan. A glass pan will take 10-15 minutes longer to bake completely.
- Ham: You can buy pre-diced ham, dice a ham steak, or use chopped deli ham. Substitutes for ham: chopped bacon, chopped turkey bacon, cooked breakfast sausage, diced Canadian bacon.
- Optional add-ins: Thinly sliced green onions, sautéed onions, shallots, or peppers, spinach, sauteed mushrooms, and chopped sun-dried tomatoes. We tried to keep this recipe pretty simple, but I think 1 teaspoon of Dijon mustard in the egg mixture could add some complexity and balance out the sweetness of the croissants, if you want to try it.
Nutrition
Photos and video by Whitney Reist of Sweet Cayenne.
Recipe Contributor: Rachel Walters
Pastry Chef Rachel Walters developed and rigorously tested this recipe for Thriving Home.
Rachel grew up in northern Michigan with a family that loved to cook and bake. She attended a career center for culinary and baking and pastry arts in high school and went to college at The Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York. She graduated in August 2023 with a Bachelor’s in Food Business Managment and Baking and Pastry Arts.
In her free time, she loves to read, listen to true crime podcasts, go on walks, travel, and spend time with her husband.
Find more of Rachel’s desserts here.
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