This easy Tex-Mex Vegetarian Breakfast Casserole is made with layers of bread, onion, and pepper jack cheese before being covered in a spiced egg and milk mixture. Customize it with your favorite toppings!
Aren’t breakfast casseroles the best?
I’m a total sucker for anything that I can serve to guests that doesn’t require me to get up at the crack of dawn.
Wait, who am I kidding? The only time I have guests over is when one of my friends gets too drunk to go home, and even then we all just go out for bloody marys and greasy bar food the next morning.
Okay, so more realistically, this recipe is for someday when I grow up. Or as an awesome breakfast-for-dinner option, which as you all know is starting to become a problem in my life (ahem…savory dutch baby, huevos motulenos, and shakshuka).
Don’t get me wrong; you could certainly get up at the crack of dawn to make this, and it would be worth it, but it’s much better to make this the night before and have a nice lie-in the next morning.
That’s kind of the beauty of the strata, which is what I based this recipe off of. Let me give you the low-down:
This easy vegetarian breakfast casserole recipe is simply layers of cubed bread, sauteed onions, and pepper jack cheese all drenched in a mixture of eggs and milk.
The dish sits overnight (or for a minimum of two hours) so the bread can soak up all the delicious egg mixture.
Then, pop it in the oven and busy yourself making coffee and reading the newspaper buzzfeed cat articles on your phone.
This meatless breakfast casserole comes out of the oven all beautiful and brown and bubbly and… well, those are the only words I can think of that start with the letter b and describe this dish.
You can, of course, make yourself a traditional-style strata (refer to my easy cheesy overnight italian strata), but I like to get weird with food fusion and made this breakfast strata vegetarian dish.
I spiced things up with some cumin and cayenne added to the egg mixture, using pepper jack cheese, and topping it all with some freshly made pico de gallo.
I ate it just like this for lunch, but when it came time for dinner we also added sour cream and Tabasco (which was an amazing idea).
I highly recommend customizing your own toppings on this veggie breakfast casserole. Pickled red onion and jalapeno are also good on pretty much everything.
I’d love for you to keep in touch! You can enter your email address below to get new recipes sent to you. Join me on Facebook and Pinterest.
Tex-Mex Vegetarian Breakfast Casserole Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 1 medium yellow onion - chopped
- 2 cloves garlic - minced
- 1 pound loaf Italian bread - cubed
- 4 ounces pepper jack cheese - grated
- 10 large eggs
- 3 cups whole milk
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- 1/8 teaspoon cumin
- 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- Toppings: pico de gallo - sour cream, and hot sauce.
Instructions
- Heat the olive oil in a medium skillet set over medium heat. Add the onion and saute until softened and translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and saute for 30 seconds. Remove pan from heat.
- Layer half of the cubed bread into a buttered 3-quart oven-safe dish. Scatter half of the onion mixture on top of the bread, followed by half of the grated cheese. Repeat with a second layer of bread, onion, and cheese.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, salt, cumin, and cayenne pepper. Pour the egg mixture over the bread layers. Use the back of a wooden spoon or spatula to press the bread down until entirely submerged under the egg mixture. Cover and chill for two hours, or overnight.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Bake, uncovered, for 60 to 75 minutes, until the eggs have set and the top is brown and bubble.
- Serve with pico de gallo, sour cream, and hot sauce.
Nutrition
