Does everyone have a favorite go-to breakfast casserole? I do. And for whatever crazy reason I only make it on Christmas morning. (Kinda like I only roast a turkey on Thanksgiving Day). I have made our family breakfast casserole for YEARS. It’s probably the same one you make.

You know the one…cut the crust off of white bread slices, layer with sausage, eggs, milks cheese… That one.

Well there may be a new casserole in town this year. I made the Everything Bagel Cream Cheese Breakfast Bake from Chrissy Teigens’s Cravings Hungry for More cookbook and man it’s good. Like really good. I will have to admit though that the hubs didn’t give it his highest marks because he thought it was too bready. But he’s a traditionalist. You could definitely cut back on the amount of bagels that you include in the recipe and it would still be good.

I highly recommend making this recipe. If you are going to a breakfast or brunch get together this would be a good one to make and take. And it looks beautiful when it bakes. Did I mention your kitchen will smell soooo good? If you give this one a try let me know.

Ingredients

1 pound breakfast sausage links* (optional)
2 tablespoons butter, plus more for the baking dish
1 large onion, thinly sliced
1 (10-ounce) package frozen spinach, thawed
3 day-old everything bagels, halved and cut into big chunks
2 large tomatoes, cut into chunks
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil
1 cup finely grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
1 and 1/2 cups grated Gruyère or Swiss cheese
1 and 1/2 cups grated cheddar cheese
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
8 eggs
2 cups milk
1 cup half-and-half
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 (8-ounce) brick cream cheese, cold, cut into 14 cubes
**If you want to keep this veggie, omit the sausage, increase the butter for sautéing the onions by 1 tablespoon, and add another half of a 10-ounce package of thawed frozen spinach.

Directions

Melt the butter in the skillet over medium-low heat, then add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until lightly golden and translucent, about 9 minutes. While the onion is cooking, pile the thawed spinach into the center of a big clean kitchen towel and roll up the towel.

Over a bowl or the sink, twist the ends toward each other and keep twisting until you wring out as much liquid as humanly possible. (Or make someone else do this.)

Transfer the spinach to the bowl with the sausage and add the onion, bagel chunks, tomatoes, basil, Parm, 1 cup each of the Gruyère and cheddar, 1 teaspoon of the salt, and ½ teaspoon of the pepper. Toss it all together with your hands or a spoon. In a separate bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, half-and-half, mustard, cayenne, and the remaining 1 teaspoon salt and ½ teaspoon black pepper.

Grease a 9 × 13-inch baking dish with butter and arrange the bagel mixture in the dish. Pour the egg mixture over the top, pressing down on the bagels so they soak up the liquid. Nestle the cream cheese chunks in all around the pan (they can be peeking out). Cover and refrigerate for at least 1½ hours and up to 12 hours. (The longer you soak, the moister the inside will be.)

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Uncover the dish and sprinkle with the remaining ½ cup each Gruyère and cheddar.

Bake for 15 minutes, reduce the temperature to 350 degrees F, and bake until the top is golden and the center is set, 50 minutes to 1 hour.

Recipe reprinted from “Cravings: Hungry for More.”