Croissant Breakfast Casserole - The BEST recipe | The Worktop (2024)

With buttery, flaky croissants, this croissant breakfast casserole is beautiful and so easy to make. You'll find that sausage, egg, and cheese croissant casserole is a decadent, filling recipe that’s perfect for brunch.

Croissant Breakfast Casserole is the perfect brunch recipe

I love big breakfast casseroles especially when having guests stay overnight, or having a brunch party.

Assembled quickly in the morning, all you have to do is pop this croissant egg bake in the oven once your guests arrive.

No standing over a hot stove or being cooped up in the kitchen. Instead, you’ll be free to chat while it bubbles away in the oven.

With just a few tips and tricks, this sausage egg and cheese croissant breakfast casserole is an easy yet impressive recipe to feed a crowd. Let me show you how!

How to make this Croissant breakfast casserole

While the addition of croissants may make it sound fancy and complicated, I promise you this croissant egg bake is so easy to make!Using croissants actually makes this brunch dish easier than ever to put together.

Ingredients for this breakfast bake

To start, you need a handful of ingredients, all of which can be found at most large grocery stores.

• Croissants
• Your favorite breakfast sausage(or use this quick homemade breakfast sausage recipe)
• Onion
• Lacinato kale
• Eggs
• Milk
• Cheese
• Salt, pepper, and cayenne
• Rosemary and dried sage (optional)

Croissants make this egg bake extra special

I'm always on the lookout for more croissant breakfast ideas to share on The Worktop with you.

Unlike regular bread, croissants are rich and buttery with an irresistible flaky texture. This makes them so delicious to add to breakfast and brunch recipes.

And by using croissants, this breakfast casserole feels extra special as it’s not only beautiful to look at, but also tastes wonderfully decadent.

You can see in the pictures, I like to show off the croissants by letting some of them poke through the top of this egg casserole so that they’re on full display.

Want a sweet croissant bake? Don't miss this Croissant Bread Pudding with Almond Butter Drizzle!

Use a breakfast sausage that you love

For the best flavor, make sure to use your favorite breakfast sausage.

Don’t like store-bought sausage meat? No problem! Make this Homemade Breakfast Sausage recipe instead. That way, you'll be free of nitrates, preservatives and other unwanted ingredients.

While there are several good brands of breakfast sausage out there, I tend to always make my own because it's so easy to do so.Plus, flavor-wise nothing beats homemade!

Add kale for flavor and color

Not sure what lacinato kale is? Sometimes labeled as Tuscan or dinosaur kale, lacinato kale is the one with flat, slightly bumpy leaves that have a blue-green hint to them.

I prefer it over other types of kale for this recipe as it’s less bitter and has a slight nutty flavor.

However, if you can’t find lacinato, red kale would be a good substitute or regular curly kale.

Herbs help to make this croissant egg bake more festive

Another great thing about this breakfast recipe is that you can easily adjust the flavors to fit the season.

For example, sage and rosemary add a wintery feel that’s perfect for Christmas brunch. Then in the spring, swap them out for thyme or parsley.

Croissant breakfast casserole tastes best assembled and baked the same day

Resist the urge to make this sausage croissant breakfast casserole the night before. Trust me, making it in the morning results in a better texture and is still quick to whip up before guests arrive.

Unlike other overnight breakfast casseroles, you want the texture and flakiness of the croissants to shine.So the key is not to over-soak the croissants. And those flaky, buttery bites are the best part of this casserole!

Below is a quick run down of the step-by-step process, with some tips added in. The full recipe is at the very bottom of the post.

Looking for a brunch to make the night before? Let me help you find a Make Ahead Brunch that you'll love.

To assemble the this casserole, start by cutting your croissants

I cut each croissant into fourths horizontally and then layer across the bottom of the baking pan. When arranging the pieces, make sure some croissant ends are sticking up.

You can see what I’m talking about in the picture below.

This way, your guests can tell it's a croissant casserole immediately by looking, as the top of the croissants aren’t fully buried in the filling or egg mixture.

Sauté the onion and kale

Is there a better smell than sautéing onions? If you’re family isn’t awake yet, this step will do the trick!

When cooking the onion, make sure to keep your heat low enough so that your onions have time to soften and not burn. I usually sauté mine on medium to medium-high, but every stove is just a little different.

TIP: Add a pinch of salt to help “sweat” your onions while they cook. It may sound odd, but the salt will help draw some of the moisture out, giving your onions a more concentrated flavor.

Once your onions are nice and soft, you’ll add in the sausage followed by the kale.

After that, all that’s left is to whisk together the egg mixture. See? I told you it goes fast.

There are a lot of eggs in this croissant casserole!

Yes, there are a lot of eggs in this croissant egg bake.

As I’ve made my fare share of big breakfast casseroles, the best tip I can give is to use a good big whisk.

I recommend this trusty 11-inch whisk that can handle mixing together 8 large eggs and 2 ½ cups of milk quickly and easily.

When assembling the croissant casserole, layering gives every guest a cheesy, sausage-filled piece

Another trick that I’ve learned from making so many breakfast casseroles is to be strategic in layering rather than just throwing it all together.Here's what I recommend:

• First, add in the cut croissant pieces
• Then, add the sausage and kale mixture on top and between the croissant pieces
• Next, cover with cheese
• Finally, pour the egg mix over everything

This way, every piece will be loaded with sausage, kale, croissant, and the cheesy egg mixture.

TIP: Arrange some of the kale by hand on top, so you get even dark green across the surface of the croissant casserole. The dark green contrasts beautifully against the golden croissants.

You can do some prep work for this croissant egg casserole the night before

For a head start, you can do the following prep work the night before:

• Cut the croissants
• Cook the sausage and kale mix
• Whisk the egg mix together

Store each piece separately in the fridge and then assemble in the morning.

What kind of croissant works best in this breakfast casserole?

Nothing fancy!

Personally, I recommend buying a big, cheap box from Costco. Of course, one’s from your local supermarket will work well too.

For size, it’s really hard to give a specific recommendation as croissants vary so much by brand. Instead, below is a picture of the croissants I used for reference. I also included the total weight of the croissants in the recipe.

Should I use leftover croissants?

Go for it! Both fresh and leftover croissants will work.

What you don’t want to use are frozen croissants, croissant dough, or uncooked croissants.

How to save leftover croissant casserole

Sometimes I make this big sausage, egg and cheese croissant casserole on the weekend so we have breakfast for the week. It's just so easy and convenient.

Simply store the croissant breakfast casserole in the refrigerator and heat up individual slices in the microwave throughout the week.

While it’s not quite as good as when it’s fresh out of the oven, it’s still very delicious -- especially for a lazy weekday breakfast.

Plus, it’s a quick way to have a savory breakfast that’s packed with meat, vegetables, and eggs to help keep you nice and full.

While it’s a bit of a splurge, I love this casserole dish that comes with a lid. It's great as I can cook, cool, and store this croissant egg bake all in the same dish!

This Sausage Egg and Cheese Croissant Casserole is a perfect dish for brunch parties

This is a great brunch party dish. I always recommend making a casserole to serve at brunch as they are quick to make and easy to share.

Here are some of my other hosting go-to’s:

• Set up a coffee station complete with milk and sugar options
• Have a brunch appetizer or two for guests to munch on
• Make brunch feel extra special with a signature co*cktail or fun mocktail

Looking for more tips? Be sure to check out my post Hosting Brunch Party Tips.

Other breakfast casseroles you may love

Clearly I’m a big fan of breakfast casseroles, which is why I have so many recipes on The Worktop.

Give one (or two) of these recipes a try at your next brunch party:

• Sausage and Egg Breakfast Casserole
• Overnight Bacon Breakfast Casserole
• Pumpkin Breakfast Casserole
• Ham and Cheese Breakfast Casserole with Tater Tots
• Challah French Toast Casserole

What I love most about big casseroles that they’re all so different in flavor and texture.

While one uses buttery brioche, another uses crunchy croutons. There’s also one with tater tots and a more traditional one with sourdough bread.

And then there’s this sausage, egg, and cheese croissant breakfast casserole, which is for those who love croissants.

Recommended equipment to make this sausage, egg and cheese croissant casserole

Villeroy & Boch Rectangular Baking Dish with LidOXO Good Grips 11-Inch Better Wire Whisk