Bacon, Ham, and Cheese Breakfast Casserole

Who likes to eat Breakfast Casserole (raises hand), who likes to quickly, and easily serve breakfast for a crowd (raises both hands)? Well, friends here you go, a Bacon, Ham, and Cheese Breakfast Casserole.

So I live in Omaha, and frequently I have guests here for the weekend. Most of the time it is my family. Omaha is a half-way point and we all seem to congregate here, which I am NOT complaining about, I love it actually. Hosting has been something I have enjoyed even before I had anywhere to host anything! But anyone who has ever hosted a house full of guests, or maybe you have a house full of kids daily, knows that everyone wakes up at different times and eats on their own schedule. That is exactly why Breakfast Casseroles (of any kind) are the perfect solution. You can whip them up the night before and pop them in the oven in the morning, or what I do, is cook the meat ahead and assemble in the morning, THEN pop in the oven 🙂

I recently had a Ham and Cheese Croissant at McLain’s Bakery in Kansas City, MO, and that is what inspired this casserole. I wanted something that tasted like the warm, homey, flavors of a ham and cheese sandwich, but in a casserole- then my sister made a very good point…everything is better with BACON!

So here it is my Bacon, Ham, and Cheese Breakfast Casserole!

Start by cutting the bacon in pieces, this is most easily done with kitchen shears. If you don’t have kitchen shears it can be done with a knife. However, I highly recommend getting a good pair of shears- I use mine all the time, they are great for a number of things in the kitchen. If you are like me you need to remember these are kitchen shears for FOOD so don’t use them to cut tags off of your latest clothes shopping haul or to cut open various items the FedEx man delivered- but lucky for me, nothing a run through the dishwasher can’t fix. 🙂

Once all of your bacon is cut into pieces, cook in a skillet on medium heat until cooked. The process is slow at the start, but once the bacon breaks down and the grease comes out the cooking will speed up! Remove the from the pan and drain. Cooking the meat the day before is what I prefer, and it will make your crazy morning a little easier. You can also cut corners further and use the Real Bacon bits in the fridge section. These are fully cooked and already broken down. I still prefer to cut and cook my own because I can get little bigger pieces.

At this point you should also dice up the ham (if using leftovers, hello! day after Thanksgiving idea!), and set aside. If you are using the diced ham in vacuumed sealed package, like I am in here, you should rinse and drain it. Pat dry as much as you can. This will get rid of the excess salt.

POP open that can of ‘pop-tube’ biscuits, aka refrigerator biscuits and cut into small pieces. I used the Grands and cut each biscuit into 8 pieces.

*Tip- Use a pizza cutter to make this process extremely easy! It’s also a bonus to be able to use one of your kitchen tools for more than one purpose!

Spread the biscuits out evenly on a greased 9×13 pan.

In a bowl or stand mixer, crack your eggs and add in milk. Beat well. Then add in the pepper, and beat for about 15 seconds longer.

Finely dice onion, and stir into the beaten egg mixture. Then stir in 1 1/2 cups of cheddar to the onion/egg mixture.

*If you want to spice it up and add finely diced and seeded jalapeños, this is when you add that as well.

Top the biscuits with the ham and bacon. You want the bacon and ham to be evenly dispersed so everyone gets goodness in their bite!

Then pour over the egg mixture over the biscuits, bacon, and ham. The onion and cheese will layer at the top and the egg will fall to the bottom.

Cover with foil and pop in the oven for 30 minutes. Remove, sprinkle the remaining cheese over the top, and put back in the over for an additional 30 minutes until eggs are set and biscuits are cooked.

LOOK AT THAT CHEESE!!!! Cut up some green onion, again, I did this with my handy kitchen shears- SO HANDY! Sprinkle over the casserole, cut and serve!

Another good thing about breakfast casserole is that it reheats perfectly. This is good for day two of a weekend with guests or if you have some late risers rolling down into the kitchen at 11am looking for some breakfast! I hope you enjoy this twist on the normal breakfast casserole!

Recipe