The Only Make-Ahead Breakfast Casserole You’ll Want This Holiday Season

Elevate Your Breakfast Casserole

As beloved as breakfast casseroles are, they can get into a rut. Sausage, cheddar cheese, perhaps a few token vegetables. If you’d like to shake things up, here’s a sophisticated yet simple breakfast casserole that’ll grab everyone’s attention in the most delightful way.

Adding chopped frozen spinach, Parmesan cheese, and creamy mascarpone elevates this casserole practically to dinner party fare. English muffins stand in for the bread cubes, making for a stunning presentation. Serve it for brunch, a luncheon, or any occasion where you want to impress but don’t want to labor in the kitchen.

Make Ahead for Convenience

You’ll need to allow an hour for the assembled casserole to rest before you bake it. Use that to your advantage; you can assemble and refrigerate the casserole up to 12 hours before baking.

How to Prepare the Spinach Florentine Casserole

To prepare this Spinach Florentine Breakfast Casserole, start by squeezing out as much liquid as possible from the thawed and drained frozen chopped spinach. In a large skillet, cook the onion and garlic until translucent and then add the spinach. Let it cook until it looks dried out. In a separate bowl, combine the spinach mixture with mascarpone cheese, Parmesan cheese, salt, and black pepper.

Next, whisk together eggs, half-and-half, crushed red pepper, the reserved spinach mixture, Parmesan cheese, salt, and black pepper in a large bowl. Grease a baking dish and layer the English muffins, topped with the spinach-mascarpone mixture. Pour the egg mixture over the casserole and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour or up to 12 hours.

When ready to serve, preheat the oven and bake the casserole until set and the tops of the English muffins are golden brown. Let it cool before serving.