Apple Cheddar and Sausage Breakfast Strata
Apple, Cheddar and Sausage Breakfast Strata is the perfect holiday morning breakfast. It is an unforgettable savory and sweet make-ahead breakfast casserole. You’re going to love it!!
Table of contents
Why We Love This Recipe for Sausage Strata
A while back I used to work at a beautiful 10-bedroom inn called the Williard Street Inn. One of the chefs I worked with used to make this delightful breakfast casserole, and it was especially popular around the holidays. The guests at the Inn always fawned over it!
It was this breakfast casserole of sorts with lots of eggs and cheese and it was studded through with sausage and apples. It was rich and festive and the sweet and savory combination was simply irresistible. I must admit (if you can’t already tell), it’s what inspired me to develop this apple cheese casserole recipe.
Honestly, I make it throughout the year, but it’s perfect for special holidays like Christmas, Mother’s Day, and Easter. You can easily make it ahead which helps reduce the usual holiday meal time stress. You can pop it in the oven and let it bake while organizing the rest of the prep!
More Make Ahead Brunch Recipes
Key Ingredients for This Recipe
Sausage
Choose any variety of pre-cooked sausage for this recipe such as chicken sausage. This is always good with traditional breakfast sausage too, just make sure to cook it first.
Apples
Apple and sausage are an iconic pairing, and if you don’t know what I mean, you definitely will once you’ve tried this recipe. Opt for apples that are on the more red and sweet side.
Cheddar cheese
My favorite cheddar cheese comes from Cabot Creamery. I especially love the sharp and extra sharp. If you can’t get your hands on Cabot, any sharp cheddar will do. The tanginess and creaminess lends itself well to the other components of this sausage strata.
Additional Ingredients
- 8 large eggs
- 1 cup non-fat or low-fat milk
- 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
- 2 teaspoons chopped sage
- 1 ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground white pepper
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1 pound sourdough sandwich bread crusts removed and cubed
Step by Step Instructions to Make This Apple Breakfast Strata
Step 1: Whisk egg mixture
Beat to combine the eggs, milk, mustard, sage, salt, pepper and nutmeg in a large bowl. Coat a large 9×13-inch baking dish with nonstick cooking spray.
Step 2: Assemble
Layer half of the cubed bread into the casserole dish. Top with half each of the apple, sausage and cheese. Top with the remaining bread, apple and sausage. Reserve the remaining cheese in the refrigerator for step 4.
Step 3: Chill
Pour the egg mixture evenly over the casserole. Cover with aluminum foil and refrigerate 8 to 12 hours.
Step 4: Bake & serve
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Bake the apple cheese casserole, covered, until it is steaming hot and the center is starting to puff, 50 minutes to 1 hour. Remove the foil, top with the reserved cheese and continue baking until the cheese is melted and the top is golden, 10 to 15 minutes. Let cool 10 to 15 minutes before serving.
FAQs and Expert Tips
If you want to make this dish ahead of time, I recommend preparing all the components beforehand, and baking it right before serving. You can also let the unbaked strata chill in the refrigerator for longer than 12 hours, and assemble it a whole day before if you’d like.
Absolutely. If you’re gluten free because of an allergy or sensitivity, you can swap out the sourdough for gluten free bread.
If you want to make this vegetarian, you can skip the sausage altogether. Ham also works well if you are looking for an alternative to sausage.
Store any leftovers, covered, in the fridge for up to 2 to 3 days. However, since it’s an egg component, it’s best eaten within the first day or so.
Additional Breakfast & Brunch Recipes
- This Cranberry Apple Christmas Breakfast Casserole is another great make-ahead casserole for a brunch.
- Try our Spinach Egg Bake or our Broccoli Egg Bake for a low-carb alternative.
- This Chard and Egg Bake is another one of my favorite breakfast bakes. It’s healthy and the whole family loved it.
- If you’re looking for a low-carb breakfast, try my Baked Denver Omelet.
- Breakfast Pitas are the best! Such a fun way to switch up the weekly breakfasts.
- If you want a sweeter breakfast, try my Whole Wheat Crepes. You won’t even notice the difference.
- Breakfast hashes are the best and so easy to throw together, including this Sweet Potato Breakfast Hash!
At Healthy Seasonal Recipes, we specialize in cooking with fresh veggies and creating weeknight meals. Sign up HERE to get more produce-forward dinner ideas for FREE! If you make this recipe, please come back and leave a star rating and review. I would love to hear what you thought! Happy Cooking! ~Katie
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Apple Cheddar and Sausage Breakfast Strata
- Total Time: 9 hours 30 minutes
- Yield: 10 servings 1x
Description
Apple, Cheddar and Sausage Breakfast Strata is the perfect Christmas morning breakfast. It is an unforgettable savory and sweet make-ahead breakfast or brunch casserole for the Holidays!
Ingredients
- 8 large eggs
- 1 cup non-fat or low-fat milk
- 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
- 2 teaspoons chopped sage
- 1 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon ground white pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1 pound sourdough sandwich bread crusts removed and cubed
- 2 apples peeled, cored and finely diced
- 1 12– ounce package Vermont Smoke & Cure Cider Bratwurst cut into half rounds
- 8 ounces sharp cheddar cheese shredded and divided
Instructions
- Beat eggs, milk, mustard, sage, salt, pepper and nutmeg in a large bowl. Coat a large 9 by 13 baking dish with cooking spray.
- Layer half the cubed bread into the casserole dish. Top with half the apple, half the sausage and half the cheese. Top with the remaining bread, apple and sausage. Reserve the remaining cheese in the refrigerator for step 4.
- Pour the egg mixture over the casserole trying to moisten evenly. Cover with aluminum foil and refrigerate 8 to 12 hours.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees Bake casserole, covered, until it is steaming hot and the center is starting to puff, 50 minutes to 1 hour. Remove foil, top with the reserved cheese and continue baking until the cheese is melted and the top is golden 10 to 15 minutes. Let cool 10 to 15 minutes before serving.
Notes
Make Ahead:
If you want to make this dish ahead of time, I recommend preparing all the components beforehand, and baking it right before serving. You can also let the unbaked strata chill in the refrigerator for longer than 12 hours, and assemble it a whole day before if you’d like.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 1 hour
- Category: Breakfast
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1/10th casserole
- Calories: 388
- Sugar: 5 g
- Sodium: 896 mg
- Fat: 19 g
- Saturated Fat: 9 g
- Carbohydrates: 28 g
- Fiber: 2 g
- Protein: 22 g
I am having trouble finding the Vermont Hard Cider Bratwurst. Any suggestions for a substitution?
Hi Barbara, You can use Chicken Apple Sausage. I like this one https://applegate.com/products/dinner-sausage/category . Or if you prefer a pork sausage, you could cook and crumble breakfast sausage instead.
Hello, what apples do you recommend using with this recipe? Making it for Christmas morning in just one week? Thanks, Dylan
That’s great! I recommend golden delicious apples. Another variety that would work are Mutsu (though they are usually so large you would want to use one and a half.) Ginger gold are also good for this recipe. Please let me know how it comes out Dylan and Merry Christmas!
This breakfast strata looks so cozy and delicious! I love that it’s a make ahead breakfast. Perfect for the holidays that will be here before we know it!
It’s never too early to start planning! Ha ha. Thanks for coming by Lindsay.
This is the perfect weekend breakfast! Love making this for a houseful of people!
I love your story, it’s so well-written! And I’m intrigued by the apples in the dish. Definitely bookmarking!
Sounds so yummy!! I just put this together for breakfast tomorrow, and it looks beautiful, and smells so comforting .
Hi Katie,
Mary Fisher here from Kimball Brook. I love the sound of this recipe, definitely want to do it for Christmas morning. One son is gluten free, can you recommend a substitute for the bread? Or if I should just not put any bread in. Would love your thoughts.
Merry Christmas,
Mary
Hey Mary! So glad you stopped by. You should totally make this. You def need bread to soak up all that good egg custard, so you’ll need a bread. I have not tried it with a GF bread though, so you’ll have to be my gf cross-tester. 😉 I tested with La Panciata and another sourdough sandwich bread, so whatever approximates that I guess. There used to be a great fresh GF sandwich bread from a place in Winooski. Do you know it? I think you slice it yourself, and there were oats on top…. Sorry I don’t know the exact details. Not sure if they still make it since I haven’t bought GF bread in years. They had it at Healthy Living. So I would ask there. And if they don’t have that exact one they will surely have something that should work just fine. When you’re ready to make it, be sure to weigh your bread with a scale to get the proportions right.
LOL Brunch Spice – I freaking love it.
Ha ha, glad you like that Sherrie. So funny to think back to that time in my life.
I love the flavours going on in this dish – my sister has already requested it for brunch on boxing day!
I hope you enjoy it!
Brunch Spice has got to be the most awesome nickname ever! You should probably have banners and pageant sashes printed out! And I can see why, because this is a kick-ass casserole!
OMG, lol, good idea. That was a great nickname. At that restaurant everybody had nicknames, it was such a fun crew to work with.
Would any type of bread work for this? My daughter doesn’t like sourdough unfortunately. Thank you. I can’t wait to try this.
You can use another firm sandwich bread. Keep in mind that squishy bread is not ideal.
this IS the perfect christmas morning treat! I am a sucker for fruit with savory, and this apple cheddar sausage mix sounds just divine.
Hi Betty! Thank you for coming by today. I love fruit with savory too! Dishes with that combo are always what I order if given the option!
I love the flavor combinations you have going on here! This looks and sounds awesome!
Thank you Debi, though I have to give the credit to Winnie after all. 🙂
I’ll bet this is all kinds of tasty! Love it!
Thank you Suzy! Hope you’re doing well.
This looks and sounds like breakfast heaven. My hubby would go gaga over this recipe!
Thank you so much!
Apples, sausage and cheddar! These ingredients all compliment each other so well in this easy dish!
Thanks so much! Have a great day!