Ham and Cheese Croissant Breakfast Casserole

by Sabrina Snyder

Published on

9 Comments

5 from 4 votes
12 servings
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 50 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 5 minutes
Jump to Recipe

This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy.

Ham and Cheese Croissant Breakfast Casserole will be your new go-to breakfast bake perfect for holidays, brunch, or even dinner. Ready in about an hour!

What would you get if our Breakfast Casserole met our Chocolate Chip Croissant Bake? This delicious, hearty Breakfast Recipe that can feed a crowd in no time.

Ham Cheese and Egg Croissant Casserole

HAM AND CHEESE CROISSANT BREAKFAST CASSEROLE

This breakfast croissant casserole is a rich, savory bake that is inspired by a coffee shop staple, the Ham and Cheese Croissant. These buttery, delicious sandwiches get turned into a dish loaded with cheesy, crispy eggy goodness in every bite.

To make this egg bake, we used day old croissants that were from the bakery. You want to make sure you get the large ones, the kind they make sandwiches with. If you use smaller ones, use more and keep the pieces chunkier. While we definitely love them for so many other recipes – do not use crescent rolls for this dish!

This is one of those great recipes using what I have on hand. I love creating a delicious meal that is low stress using leftovers because we get to enjoy every bite of whatever delicious recipe I made the day or two before. This dish is a perfect way to keep enjoying your Baked Ham on Christmas Morning or for Easter Brunch.

If you want to make this dish a brunch centerpiece, pair it with a side dish like crispy Hash Browns and garnish with scallions and crème fraîche (or sour cream). While this dish really doesn’t need a sauce, it’s so rich, you can always serve it with Honey Mustard or a cheese sauce.

Ham and Cheese Croissant Breakfast Casserole doesn’t just have to be for breakfast though. You can make this dish for a lunch or dinner. We love to serve a big slice of the bake with with a fresh salad and soup, like Tomato Bisque. It’s like bringing a cafe right into your dining room. 

Can this be made ahead of time?

Like a French Toast Bake, Ham and Cheese Croissant Breakfast Casserole can easily be made ahead of time. Just refrigerate overnight in the casserole dish and bake the next morning. You may need to add about 5 minutes to the cook time since it will be going into the oven cold.
MORE BREAKFAST RECIPES FOR A CROWD

HOW TO MAKE HAM AND CHEESE CROISSANT BREAKFAST CASSEROLE

  • Make The Custard: Add in all the custard ingredients and whisk well.
  • Croissants: Make sure you’re using old croissants. 
  • Ham: Dice your ham into bite-sized pieces. 
  • Mix well: Mix them all together well.
  • Bake: Add to the baking dish, bake covered and uncovered until custard is set and croissant topping is crispy.

 

Ham and Egg Croissant Casserole in brown baking dish

VARIATIONS ON HAM AND CHEESE CROISSANT BREAKFAST CASSEROLE

  • Meat: Use ham steak, deli ham, or leftover Baked Ham for the best hammy flavor. If you are craving even more pork, add some crispy, thick bacon that has been diced into big chunks. 
  • Cheese: Pile on more cheese or swap out the cheddar for your favorites. We like to use Swiss, mozzarella, or gruyere (or a combination of cheeses) depending on what we have on hand.
  • Vegetarian: Leave out the meat and substitute some roasted veggies like bell peppers and zucchini to make this vegetarian. If you want to add veggies plus the ham, mushrooms and Swiss would taste delicious together!
  • Bread: If you don’t have croissants on hand, you can substitute a loaf of brioche bread or french bread. The important thing is to make sure it’s been dried out for a day (or try our oven hack) so that it stays firm baking in the custard.
  • Spicy: Mix your favorite hot sauce or some cayenne pepper into your egg mixture to give this dish some heat. You can also add a can of diced jalapeños or green chiles. Make sure to drain the peppers before adding.

Slice of Ham Cheese and Egg Croissant Casserole on small white plate

HACK TO DRY OUT BREAD FOR STUFFING OR BAKES

If you don’t have day old bread for stuffing or breakfast bakes like this Ham and Cheese Croissant Casserole, don’t worry! Simply chop up your bread pieces and add them to a 250 degree oven for 15-20 minutes until they’re dried out. Voila!

HOW TO MAKE IN A SLOW COOKER

Make this even easier by tossing it in your crockpot. It will have a bit more of a bread pudding texture, but still absolutely delicious! Grease your slow cooker and prepare the egg mixture as usual, adding ham and cheese but not bread. Place your croissant pieces evenly on the bottom of the slow cooker. Pour egg mixture over all the bread pieces. Cook on high for 2 ½ to 3 ½ hours, or on low for 4 to 5 hours.

MORE DELICIOUS BREAKFAST RECIPES

HOW TO STORE HAM AND CHEESE CROISSANT BREAKFAST CASSEROLE

  • Serve: This casserole is okay for up to 2 hours at room temperature and then should be stored.
  • Store: Tightly cover your casserole and keep in the fridge for up to 1 week.
  • Freeze: This dish will freeze well for up to 3 months. Cool completely before storing in an airtight container.

 

Slice of Ham Croissant Casserole cut out of baking dish

Pin this recipe now to remember it later

Pin Recipe
Dinner, then Dessert

Ham and Cheese Croissant Breakfast Casserole

Ham and Cheese Croissant Breakfast Casserole will be your new go-to breakfast bake perfect for holidays, brunch, or even dinner. Ready in about an hour!
Yield 12 servings
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 50 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 5 minutes
Course Breakfast
Cuisine American
Author Sabrina Snyder
Slice of Ham Croissant Casserole cut out of baking dish
PrintRate

Ingredients
 

  • 8 large eggs
  • 1 1/2 cups whole milk
  • 2 teaspoons ground mustard
  • 2 tablespoons brown sugar , packed
  • 1 teaspoon Kosher salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon coarse ground black pepper
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
  • 2 cups cheddar cheese , shredded
  • 2 stalks green onions sliced
  • 6 large croissants , cut into 1" cubes
  • 2 cups cooked ham , diced

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees and spray a 9x13 baking dish with vegetable oil spray.
  • Whisk together the eggs, whole milk, mustard, brown sugar, Kosher salt, pepper, nutmeg, cheese and green onions in a large bowl.
  • Add in the croissant pieces and toss gently but until the mixture is well combined.
  • Add half the mixture to your baking dish then sprinkle in half the ham pieces.
  • Add the rest of the croissant mixture and top with the remaining ham.
  • Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes.
  • Remove foil and bake 20 minutes to brown the croissants and finish cooking the custard filling.

Nutrition

Calories: 323kcal | Carbohydrates: 20g | Protein: 17g | Fat: 19g | Saturated Fat: 10g | Cholesterol: 200mg | Sodium: 752mg | Potassium: 209mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 8g | Vitamin A: 711IU | Vitamin C: 5mg | Calcium: 209mg | Iron: 2mg

Want to save this recipe? Create a free account to easily save your favorite recipes

Ham, Egg and Cheese Croissant Casserole 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. Read my disclosure and copyright policy. This post may contain affiliate links.

Categories

Leave a comment & rating

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Comments

  1. How do you reheat the french toast bake once it’s been frozen? Will the same method work with the ham and cheese croissant breakfast casserole?
    We’re having a 90th birthday brunch for my mom in June and I’m trying to make ahead as much as possible so all I’ll have to do is reheat the day of the party!
    Thanks for your help!

    Reply

    1. Freeze: This dish will freeze well for up to 3 months. Cool completely before storing in an airtight container.

      Reply

  2. I used bacon instead of the ham and skipped the mustard and brown sugar. It was so good! My dad wanted a little syrup on his. Almost like a french toast with bacon casserole but with cheese!

    Reply