Christmas Breakfast Sausage Casserole
A family favorite Christmas breakfast casserole that is full of flavor and simple to make.
A family favorite Christmas breakfast casserole that is full of flavor and simple to make.
- Carbohydrate 13.9624243146393 g
- Cholesterol 169.650312560072 mg
- Fat 29.3370247604468 g
- Fiber 0.54185418621699 g
- Protein 21.9817235826582 g
- Saturated Fat 12.9217703546813 g
- Serving Size 1 1 serving (188g)
- Sodium 734.480805954622 mg
- Sugar 13.4205701284223 g
- Trans Fat 2.53694162711506 g
- Calories 411 calories
Step-by-step
- Crumble sausage into a medium skillet. Cook over medium heat until evenly brown; drain.
- In a medium bowl, mix together mustard powder, salt, eggs and milk. Add the sausage, bread cubes, and cheese, and stir to coat evenly. Pour into a greased 9x13 inch baking dish. Cover, and chill in the refrigerator for 8 hours, or overnight.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
- Cover, and bake 45 to 60 minutes. Uncover, and reduce temperature to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Bake for an additional 30 minutes, or until set.
Will the bread turn to mush before the eggs solidify? This nagging question plagues anyone assembling a bread-and-egg bake ahead of time, because standard white sandwich bread acts like a sponge when submerged in liquid for eight hours. Standard baking dishes trap steam, leading to uneven cooking where the edges dry out while the center remains unpleasantly wet.
Controlling moisture is the primary mechanism for success here. Toasting the six bread slices until they are dry and rigid creates a structural barrier that resists total dissolution, allowing the cubes to absorb the seasoned milk and beaten eggs while retaining distinct pockets of texture. Browning the ground pork sausage thoroughly over medium heat and draining off excess rendered fat prevents greasy puddles from pooling on the surface during the baking phase.
Baking requires a precise two-stage thermal approach to balance internal coagulation with exterior browning. Covering the ninety-three square inch baking dish during the initial forty-five to sixty minutes at three hundred fifty degrees Fahrenheit traps gentle steam that helps the eggs expand evenly throughout the bread matrix. Removing the cover and dropping the oven temperature to three hundred twenty-five degrees for the final thirty minutes encourages moisture evaporation and cheese browning.
Testing doneness without a probe thermometer relies entirely on visual and tactile cues. Gently shake the baking dish to observe the center; if the custard ripples like water, it needs more time, but if it jiggles uniformly like firmly set gelatin without any liquid pooling on top, the casserole is finished. Swapping the mild cheddar for sharper varieties alters the flavor profile, though moisture levels remain stable provided the dairy fat percentage stays comparable.
