Breakfast it the most important meal of the day, especially when it’s BOLD!
This Bacon and Cheese Breakfast Strata takes that idea to an entirely new level. My breakfast strata is like a savory bread pudding piled high with gooey tangy cheddar, crispy bacon, and topped of with fresh herbs. Held together by a rich eggy custard, this strata takes all the best parts of breakfast: the egg, bacon and toast, and transforms it into one of the boldest breakfasts you’ve ever had!
What is a strata?
Similar in flavor to a quiche, a strata is a savory bread pudding, and just like bread pudding, my breakfast strata starts with good bread and an egg custard.
I like to use slightly stale crusty bread as this really helps to absorb the custard, creating a lovely soft spongy texture to the strata after baking. The egg custard mixture is where things get exciting, though, as I not only add the traditional cream — but I add lots of cheese, cooked bacon, and green onion. All of this both flavors the strata and holds it together.
[ Savory needs sweet! How about my No-Knead Cinnamon Rolls? ]
After soaking and baking, the result is a gorgeous savory looking pie perfect for slicing and feeding a big crowd. Whoever you share this with will surely be coming back for seconds and thirds!
Can a strata be made ahead?
Since the custard need to time to soak into the bread and marry with all the other flavors, this is a great option for a make ahead breakfast. You can assemble the strata a night in advance and allow it to soak and set up in the fridge. This makes this a great make-ahead breakfast. Instead of worrying about fussy scrambled eggs or omelets I highly suggest you give this a try for your next special brunch occasion!
1st time making it and it turned out amazing! Was a total hit for Mother’s Day brunch. Such an easy to follow recipe and I look forward to making it with different fillings in the future
Do you want to become your mother’s favorite child? Well, if you make this for her, she’ll be the one buying you the #1 child mug. When my mom and I watched this video together, we both instantly turned to my dad (the chef of the house) in unison and demanded him to make this. And if he wasn’t going to make it–I declared as I stood up from the couch (probably in a superhero pose)–that I will make it myself! Eggs…. bread… cheese… and bacon!? How could this recipe be any less than delicious! With some help from my… Read more »
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Hi Gemma,
I tried this recipe last night. We don’t have baguette and bacon so instead we have an Arabic bread left so i replaced the baguette with Arabic bread (flat round bread) then since i wasn’t able to buy beef bacon, i used chicken luncheon meat. i added onion powder and garlic powder to taste along with salt and pepper. i was planning to add coriander instead of parsley as that’s what is available in the fridge and in the end i forgot the coriander. it thus tastes good and hubby likes it. thanks for this.
What type of bread were you using in the video?
Thanks!
Liz
Sorry, Gemma, but confusion reigns supreme! In the video, you’re adding the majority of the chopped parsley directly into the strata. In the recipe card, it’s just a garnish, and in the narrative, you used green onions instead. The video has us using a parchment lined 9″ springform pan – the recipe card says an 8″ greased pan. And although using a larger pan in the video, the bake time was longer, which seems counterintuitive, as a llarger, thinner “batter” should require LESS bake time, right? So…could I safely use the instructions from the video, with the ingredient quantities from… Read more »
Love it be and all your easy to follow recipes too. Thank you, from Fermanagh
Hi
What can we use instead of bacon?
And can we also use croissants instead of bagget? Thanks
I am going to modify the recipe. I am going to substitute the bacon with shredded chicken, substitute the cheddar cheese with Swiss cheese and the parsley with a bit of tarragon…wish me luck
Hi Gemma,
I love all your recipes and they have never let me down. I just wanted to check if I can substitute boiled chicken for bacon to make it a healthier?