This ham and cheese strata contains layers of ham, cheese, and mushrooms with bread, eggs, and milk for a fabulous weekend or special occasion breakfast.
We all have recipes in our files that we fall back on time and time again, don't we? The ones that we know will always come out perfect and everyone requests over and over again. This Ham and Cheese Strata is one of my old reliables.
This strata is essentially a breakfast casserole, but it's so much more. I could, without much effort, even think of this as a savory bread pudding. Its layers of bread, cheese, ham, and mushrooms combine with the eggs and milk overnight into a glorious dish best enjoyed on a lazy weekend morning.
It's also the perfect centerpiece for a brunch. Everything, including the strata, can be prepared the night before providing you a delicious breakfast or brunch with very little to do in the morning.
Serve the strata with some mixed fresh fruit, buttery croissants, and nice, strong coffee alongside. Take it all out on the deck with some friends or just your sweetheart and the Sunday paper and simply relax. This old reliable recipe is good for any time of the year and often makes an appearance in our home on Christmas morning.
This ham and cheese strata contains layers of ham, cheese, and mushrooms with bread, eggs, and milk for a fabulous weekend or special occasion breakfast. Click To Tweet
How to Make Ham and Cheese Strata
Trim the crusts from five slices of bread, reserving crusts. Cut in half diagonally. Set aside.
Generously butter a 9-inch square baking dish.
Tear the remaining three slices of bread into pieces and place them in the baking dish along with the reserved crusts. Over the bread, layer the cheese, ham, mushrooms, and parsley. To make the recipe really easy, I use packaged grated cheese, an 8-ounce package of chopped baked ham and canned mushrooms. If you want to hand grate the cheese, cook up some ham and use fresh mushrooms please do so! However, I've found that the difference in taste is minuscule.
Arrange the bread triangles in two rows over the layers.
Combine the remaining ingredients and mix well. Pour the mixture evenly over the bread. Try to make sure that each bread triangle gets nicely saturated with milk. Cover the baking dish and chill for at least 8 hours, preferably overnight.
Bake at 325 degrees for 60 to 75 minutes or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean.
Let stand for 5 minutes before serving.
Enjoy!
More Breakfast and Brunch Recipes on Never Enough Thyme:
- Sausage Balls with Two Dipping Sauces
- Alpine Eggs
- Creamed Mushrooms with Poached Eggs
- Easy Weekend Breakfast Strata
Strata Recipes from Other Bloggers:
- We Are Not Martha's Spinach, Sausage, and Cheese Strata
- Gale Gand's recipe for Strata on House Beautiful's web site
- Ham and Cheese Strata on Food and Wine
- Smitten Kitchen's Spinach and Cheese Strata
Pin to Your Pinterest Brunch Board!
Ham and Cheese Strata
Ingredients
- 8 slices sandwich bread
- 2 cups sharp cheddar cheese grated
- 8 oz. baked ham chopped
- 4 oz. canned sliced mushrooms drained
- ¼ cup chopped parsley or 2 tblsp. dried
- 2 ¼ cups milk
- 4 eggs slightly beaten
- 1 tsp. salt
- ¼ tsp. dry mustard
- ⅛ tsp. paprika
- Dash of pepper
Instructions
- Trim the crusts from five slices of bread, reserving crusts. Cut in half diagonally. Set aside.
- Generously butter a 9-inch square baking dish. Tear the remaining three slices of bread into pieces and place them in the baking dish along with the reserved crusts.
- Over the bread, layer the cheese, ham, mushrooms and parsley. Arrange the bread triangles in two rows over the layers.
- Combine the remaining ingredients and mix well. Pour evenly over the bread. Cover and chill at least 8 hours, preferably overnight.
- Bake at 325 degrees for 60 to 75 minutes or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Let stand for 5 minutes before serving.
Notes
Nutrition Information
Nutrition information is calculated by software based on the ingredients in each recipe. It is an estimate only and is provided for informational purposes. You should consult your health care provider or a registered dietitian if precise nutrition calculations are needed for health reasons.
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Julie says
can you serve this cold?
Lana Stuart says
Julie - this recipe is meant to be served warm.
Lauren says
This says to cover it and chill for the 3 hours but do you bake it covered?
Lana Stuart says
Lauren, thanks for asking. You remove the cover before baking.
Lana says
Thanks, Sophia! I'll look into the breakfast casserole contest.
Fight the Fat Foodie says
I love making strata. Yours looks wonderful!
Lana says
That's a great low-fat strata! I'll be sure to try it soon.
Alta says
Oh, how evil! This looks so good.
sensiblecooking says
Looks like this is going to be my reliable go to dish as well.
Sandie {A Bloggable Life} says
Not only do I love your polka dotted casserole dish, I love your first photo too. That is one hearty, photogenic strata! Looking forward to the weekend so I can give it a whirl :)
Lana says
Thanks, Sandie. I like that dish, too. Found it at HomeGoods for $7.99!
lindaraxa says
Sounds divine. I particularly like the way you have arranged the bread slices on top.
Jennifer says
This sounds so good. Whenever I have people over on the weekends, I'm always looking for a good brunch dish. This sounds perfect!
Trissa says
I once saw a recipe for a bread and butter pudding but with ham and cheese - this was many years ago and I lost the recipe. Am sure glad I found this - it looks better and I'll make sure not to lose it this time!