Everything Bagel Breakfast Casserole

by Sabrina Snyder

Published on

13 Comments

5 from 5 votes
12 Servings
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 40 minutes
Total Time 50 minutes
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Everything Bagel Breakfast Casserole has all the taste of your favorite New York bagel baked into an easy make-ahead breakfast for a crowd. 

We love Breakfast Recipes like this one that combine two popular dishes. This one takes the famous everything bagel and combines it with an easy Breakfast Casserole. It’s perfect for a holiday breakfast or family reunion where you have a lot of mouths to feed.

Small slice of Everything Bagel Casserole on plate

EVERYTHING BAGEL BREAKFAST CASSEROLE

If you’re a fan of everything bagels, then you’re sure to love this breakfast bake. It’s all the best bagel toppings baked into an easy casserole. You’ll love how easily the bagels, red onion, everything bagel seasoning, and cream cheese come together. Then you top it with some tomatoes and can even put out lox for the ultimate everything bagel breakfast. It’s the perfect way to serve your favorite bagel as a brunch recipe for a big group.

This recipe uses a flavorful egg custard for the bagels to soak up. The custard helps the whole dish bake together into one bake where you get all the flavors in every bite. It’s similar to how Sausage Egg and Cheese Croissant Breakfast Casserole turns croissants into a breakfast bake.

This breakfast casserole is perfect for the holidays, a family reunion, or big brunch. When you’re craving bagels, but there’s way too many people in the house to make getting individual bagels practical, this is the simple and delicious solution. The breakfast casserole is easy for everyone to serve up themselves with no mess. You can even double up the recipe if you have a really big group to feed.

ASSEMBLING YOUR EVERYTHING BAGEL BREAKFAST CASSEROLE

When you put your breakfast casserole together, you want to make it so each bite will have all the taste of the perfect everything bagel. Here’s the easy step-by-step guide to layering:

  1. Start by whisking together the eggs, milk, and pepper for your custard.
  2. Add the chopped bagels, onion, and everything bagel seasoning to the egg mixture. Toss the ingredients together so the bagels start to absorb the egg custard and the bagel seasoning coats everything.
  3. Make sure to prep your baking dish with cooking spray so the casserole doesn’t stick. Add half of the bagel mixture to the bottom of the baking dish.
  4. Dot with half of the cream cheese. Arrange the cream cheese bits evenly along the top.
  5. Add the remaining bagel mixture, then top with the rest of the cream cheese.
  6. Top the whole thing with another tablespoon of everything bagel seasoning.
  7. Bake until it’s golden brown (about 40 minutes).
  8. Once you take it from the oven, top it with chopped cherry tomatoes. Serve with lox if desired.
Everything Bagel Casserole before baking

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Can you make Bagel Breakfast Casserole ahead of time?

Yes! One of the things that makes this breakfast so great is that you can prep it ahead of time. If you put together the casserole the night before, then all you have to do in the morning is pop it in the oven. There will be less cleanup time, and you don’t have to worry about waking up extra early.

Whisk together the egg custard as usual. Combine the bagels, onions, and seasoning in the egg custard and toss them together. Layer the bagel mixture with cream cheese, and sprinkle the remaining seasoning on top. Instead of putting the casserole dish in the oven, cover it tightly with tin foil and put it in the fridge overnight.

Bake as usual in the morning.

What if my bagels aren’t old or stale? How do I dry them out?

It’s best to use bagels that are a little older for this breakfast bake. If the bagels are slightly stale they’ll do a better job absorbing the egg custard. If you only have fresh bagels try leaving them out overnight to dry out. You can also put them on a baking sheet and lightly toast them in the oven before add them to the egg mixture. 15 minutes at 250 degrees should do the trick.

MORE EASY BREAKFAST RECIPES FOR A CROWD

Cross section of Everything Bagel Casserole

VARIATIONS ON EVERYTHING BAGEL BREAKFAST CASSEROLE

  • Bagels: Although plain bagels work well in this recipe, you can try using different kinds of bagels for some added flavor and texture. Whole wheat, pumpernickel, or poppy seed could be a nice way to change up the recipe.
  • Meat: If you want to add some protein, feel free to use your favorite breakfast meat. Try sausage, bacon, turkey bacon, or ham. Be sure to brown the meat before putting it in the casserole to make sure it cooks through.
  • More add-ins: You can add more of your favorite bagel toppings to this dish. Some good ones to try might be chopped bell pepper, garlic powder, sun-dried tomatoes, cheese, and pesto. You could also top your casserole with sliced avocado along with the tomato before serving.

MORE DELICIOUS BREAKFAST RECIPES

HOW TO STORE EVERYTHING BAGEL BREAKFAST CASSEROLE

  • Serve: Don’t leave your casserole out at room temperature for more than 2 hours.
  • Store: Allow to cool completely then store your casserole for up to a week in the fridge. Cover the casserole dish or put the casserole in an airtight container.
  • Freeze: You can store your Everything Bagel Casserole in the freezer for up to 3 months. Defrost the casserole in the fridge before reheating it.
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Dinner, then Dessert

Everything Bagel Breakfast Casserole

Everything Bagel Breakfast Casserole has all the taste of your favorite New York bagel baked into an easy make-ahead breakfast for a crowd. 
Yield 12 Servings
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 40 minutes
Total Time 50 minutes
Course Breakfast
Cuisine American
Author Sabrina Snyder
cross section of Everything Bagel Casserole with tomatoes on top
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Ingredients
 

  • 8 large eggs
  • 2 cups whole milk
  • 1/2 teaspoon coarse ground black pepper
  • 4 bagels , (stale) chopped
  • 1/4 red onion , chopped
  • 3 tablespoons everything bagel seasoning , divided
  • 8 ounces cream cheese , cubed (24 cubes)
  • 1 cup grape tomatoes , quartered

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees and spray an 8×10 baking dish with vegetable oil spray.
  • In a large bowl whisk the eggs, milk and pepper together until smooth.
  • Add in bagels and red onion and 2 tablespoons of the everything bagel seasoning.
  • Toss gently to combine.
  • Add half the mixture to the baking dish and dot with half the cream cheese.
  • Add the remaining bagel mixture to the pan and dot with the remaining cream cheese.
  • Sprinkle over the remaining 1 tablespoon of everything bagel seasoning.
  • Bake for 40-45 minutes or until golden brown and egg custard is set.
  • Top with chopped tomatoes to serve.
  • Optional – serve with lox.

Video

Nutrition

Calories: 210kcal | Carbohydrates: 23g | Protein: 11g | Fat: 8g | Saturated Fat: 4g | Cholesterol: 138mg | Sodium: 538mg | Potassium: 214mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 4g | Vitamin A: 454IU | Vitamin C: 2mg | Calcium: 100mg | Iron: 1mg

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Everything Bagel Casserole Collage

Photos used in a previous version of this post.

Everything Bagel Casserole ingredients in metal bowl
Everything Bagel Breakfast Bake collage

About the Author: Sabrina Snyder

Sabrina is a professionally trained Private Chef of over 10 years with ServSafe Manager certification in food safety. She creates all the recipes here on Dinner, then Dessert, fueled in no small part by her love for bacon.

Sabrina Snyder is a professionally trained personal and private chef of over 10 years who is the creator and developer of all the recipes on Dinner, then Dessert.

She is also the author of the cookbook Dinner, then Dessert – Satisfying Meals Using Only 3, 5 or 7 Ingredients, published by Harper Collins.

She started Dinner, then Dessert as a business in her office as a lunch service for her coworkers who admired her lunches before going to culinary school and becoming a full time personal chef and private chef.

As a personal chef Sabrina would cook for families one day a week and cook their entire week of dinners. All grocery shopping, cooking and cleaning was done along with instructions on reheating. As a private chef she cooked for private parties and cooked in family homes in the evenings for families on a nightly basis after working as a personal chef during the day.

Sabrina has been certified as a ServSafe Manager since 2007 and was a longstanding member of the USPCA Personal Chef Association including being on the board of the Washington DC Chapter of Chefs in the US Personal Chef Association when they won Chapter of the year.

As a member of the community of food website creators Sabrina Snyder has spoken at many conferences regarding her experiences as a food writer including the Indulge Food Conference, Everything Food Conference, Haven Food Conference and IACP Annual Food Professionals Conference.

Sabrina lives with her family in sunny California.

See more posts by Sabrina

Dinner, then Dessert, Inc. owns the copyright on all images and text and does not allow for its original recipes and pictures to be reproduced anywhere other than at this site unless authorization is given. If you enjoyed the recipe and would like to publish it on your own site, please re-write it in your own words, and link back to my site and recipe page. Read my disclosure and copyright policy. This post may contain affiliate links.

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Comments

  1. My family loves this recipe . Even requests it for dinner . I always cut it in half . Which makes it perfect us . I cut way down on the cream cheese and have even used Boursin Bites in place of the cream cheese and used ham before also . We absolutely love this recipe .

    Reply

    1. Boursin Bites sound amazing! Great ideas. So glad Bagel Breakfast Casserole works so well for your family and thank you Susan for the 5 star rating!

      Reply

  2. It took me an extra 30 minutes to cook but tasted great! Next time I will use a 9×13 pan.

    Reply

  3. My first time making a breakfast casserole. I made it up Christmas Eve and let it rest overnight before cooking in the morning. As it was just me, I cut the recipe in half (I maybe used a little less cream cheese than called for) used homemade sourdough bagels and mixed in a few slices of cooked and diced bacon. I used an 8X8 pan. Oh so good! It kept well in both the refrigerator and freezer (defrost overnight and then reheat in the micro). Will definitely make this again – maybe for New Year’s morning and probably the week after that!

    Reply

    1. I found it at Trader Joe’s but most grocers have it in their spice aisle now. You can even find it on Amazon for convenience. Enjoy!

      Reply