With this casserole, which uses leftover buns or rolls for a quick, make-ahead crowd-pleaser, you can be a big shot at brunch. (With the extra time, you can either sleep in or have another cup of coffee.) Freshly sliced fruit in a large bowl is the ideal side dish.
| Prep Time: | 20 mins |
| Cook Time: | 40 mins |
| Additional Time: | 8 hrs |
| Total Time: | 9 hrs |
| Servings: | 6 |
| Yield: | 6 servings |
Ingredients
- 6 Ball Park® Hamburger Buns
- 2 tablespoons butter, or more if needed
- 1 cup chopped yellow onion
- 2 cups sliced mushrooms
- 3 teaspoons dried Italian herbs
- 2 teaspoons garlic granules
- 2 teaspoons sweet paprika
- salt and pepper to taste
- 3 cups coarsely chopped fresh spinach
- 6 slices bacon – cooked, drained, and chopped
- 1 ½ cups shredded Cheddar-Monterey Jack cheese blend
- 6 eggs, beaten
- 2 cups milk
Instructions
- Place the bun tops, top down, in a buttered, 13- x 9-inch casserole dish. Set aside the bun bottoms.
- In a large skillet, melt butter over medium-high heat, until sizzling.
- Add onion and saute until they’re just softening. Add mushroom slices and stir, reducing heat to medium. Cook for about 5 minutes.
- Stir in herbs, garlic, paprika and salt and pepper to taste, then add spinach and cook another 3 minutes, stirring to wilt the spinach. Remove from heat.
- Spoon half the vegetable mixture evenly over the bun tops in the casserole dish. Scatter half the bacon and cheese evenly on top.
- Place the bun bottoms, with cut side up, in the casserole to form the top layer.
- Spoon the rest of the vegetable mixture, bacon and cheese over the top layer of buns.
- In a bowl, stir together eggs and milk until blended.
- Pour the mixture evenly over the casserole. Using a spatula, press down firmly on each of the buns to submerge in the liquid. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate 8 hours or overnight.
- In the morning, let casserole sit at room temperature for about 30 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes or until firm at the center and a toothpick inserted comes away clean. Serve warm.
- You can switch smoked ham or crumbled breakfast sausage for the bacon, if you like. Try a mix of cheeses like mozzarella and Parmesan or Swiss and Gouda.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 443 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 35 g |
| Cholesterol | 238 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 3 g |
| Protein | 25 g |
| Saturated Fat | 12 g |
| Sodium | 733 mg |
| Sugars | 6 g |
| Fat | 24 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
Liked it ; took me more time to prepare than it says.
Yes it was fabulous! I used Italian bread and no bacon; we had Fontina cheese so I used it with five other cheeses. Seriously delicious.
We liked the flavor of this casserole, but did find the texture to be a bit on the mushy side. I love the concept and base and the addition of the delicious sauteed veggies! Such a great way to use up those extra buns you might have after a cookout!
I thought this was delicious. My subs.. my favorite turkey bacon and I used egg whites instead of whole eggs. I didn’t have any issues with dryness . This is a great use of leftover buns instead of tossing them in the freezer.
Ok, so review is lower rated but can’t be sure it’s recipe since I made some changes. I subbed ham for bacon and Swiss cheese instead of stated cheese. However notes by author of recipe suggested such changes could be made. I omitted mushrooms out of preference. Per other reviews I cut rolls into pieces instead of whole buns. I think for us the Italian seasoning isn’t something we are used to in stratas. No issues with consistency here though. Custard part was spot on.
This recipe was our breakfast for dinner tonight. I did substitute Country Chicken sausage for the bacon and added sage to complement the mushrooms and chicken. The Ball Park Buns made this recipe easy to prepare, however as an organic bread baker it was a little hard to swallow some of the ingredients listed on the bun package. Flavor of the dish was great and will definitely will make again, but with my own bread.
My family really liked this recipe. I thought keeping the buns whole was a big strange when putting it all together, but I really pushed them down with a spatula. They turned out great! Next time I might try cutting them into smaller pieces like some of the other reviewers did, but the whole pieces worked out for me. The flavor was great, it was easy to put together. I will definately make it again!
Loved this with a tweek or two. Cut buns into square pieces, mixed in vegetables/bacon put into pan then poured egg mixture over. Did lessen the Italian seasoning to one teaspoon. Great dish idea for Easter or any brunch.
I agree with a previous reviewer, tearing the buns into smaller pieces would incorporate the buns into the egg mixture better. I found this to be tasty but with a little too much bread. I will make again with this change.
This had great flavor (the herbs/spices used make it remnescent of similar casseroles made with stuffing base) and was easy enough to throw together, but the texture was a bit off, for me (mushy). The bacon gets lost (which was fine for me), so if you want a more protein forward plate, increase the bacon (or sausage would fit the flavor profile well, too). I chose to cut each side of the in in thirds and thirds again and mix all of the ingredients together before topping with the eggs/milk. I didn’t measure my veg, using 1/2 a good sized onion, an entire box of sliced baby bellas, and a container of baby spinach. While I wouldn’t go out of my way to make this again, I definitely WOULD make it when we have buns that are “use ’em or lose ’em”. THANKS for the recipe, BallPark!
This casserole is super tasty. I used Bella Mushrooms because those are our favorite. The only thing that I would change is instead of having the layers of buns, I would break them up and mix everything together. That way the bottom layer isn’t soggy. A perfect recipe for “Breakfast for Dinner”!
Delicious!!! Wonderful flavor. I realized that I was out of bacon when it was too late for me to run to the store so I used ham diced small and sautéed along with mushrooms and onions. Will definitely make this strata again! I halved the recipe and still ended up with 6 good-size servings. I did end up upping the temp to 375 and increasing the bake time to firm it up.
This had good flavor and we liked all the ingredients. I do think that the sturdiness of the Ball Park Buns may have worked against this particular recipe because the bread part didn’t turn out as well as sliced bread does. I would try doing what others have suggested by tearing up the pieces of the buns. Also it’s hard to cut down the sizes of the recipes because the numbers don’t quite work out. Thanks for a good breakfast!