Bacon and cheese strata is the perfect make ahead breakfast dish for a crowd. Throw it all together and pop it in the fridge ready to bake the following morning with accolades from your guests for being such a clever host that breakfast is ready with no cleaning up to do.
If you’ve never made a strata before you’re in for a treat. Stratas are a cousin of the quiche. It’s basically a bread pudding, soaked in a mixture of eggs and milk and flavoured with whatever you fancy.
This simple strata recipe solves the problem of cooking up individual bacon and eggs with toast for your guests.
the beauty of this recipe is everything is thrown into a bowl mixed and your ready to bakehow to make bacon and cheese strata
First up you fry off some bacon till it’s golden. While that’s frying tear up some preferably 2 day old bread and whisk together eggs, milk, salt and pepper till blended. Throw the bread into the custard mix along with the bacon, cheese and chives and give it all a good mix. Your hands are the best tool for this job.
this strata is so easy, mix everything together in a bowl and bakeMix till everything is soaked in the custard and put it in a well buttered springform pan. Sprinkle some cheese and uncooked bacon pieces over the top and cover with foil.
Pop it in the fridge for at least an hour, but preferably overnight and you’re ready to bake away while you pop the cork on some bubbles to serve with fresh orange juice. So easy, and you’re good to go!
use a good strong bread
Using a good strong bread for the strata is important. A thin sandwich style bread is not strong enough to soak up all the eggy custard. You will end up with a wet mess and no one wants that!
Go for a good strong ciabatta, sourdough or Turkish bread that’s preferably a couple of days old. so that some of the breads moisture has dried out allowing the bread to soak up more of the custard.
sprinkle reserved bacon and cheese on topmake your own strata combinations
You can easily ring the changes when making a strata. Just keep the bread, milk and egg quantities the same and have fun coming up with flavour combinations that will deliver.
Pairing flavours is a little like selecting a pizza combination. Just think what works together.
once the strata is ready cover with foil and refrigerate for at least 1 hour, preferably overnightStratas are a good way to clean out the fridge of bits and pieces. Think leftover roast veggies, mushrooms, spinach, semi dried tomatoes, olives, leftover cooked chicken…..you get the picture!
Watch How To Make Bacon and Cheese Strata
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check out some more winning strata recipes
click on the link for the recipe…..Smoked Salmon Strata
Smoked salmon strata is the perfect breakfast, or brunch dish to make when you have overnight guests for a hands free meal. It’s ridiculously easy to put together, and the best thing is it can be prepared the day before and baked the next morning.
Loaded with smoked salmon, sourdough bread, cheese, herbs, capers along with some mustard and grated nutmeg and doused with a milk and egg custard. There’s no denying it’s rich, but isn’t that what holiday eating is all about.
It’s a crowd pleasing dish that we love to prepare when we have guests over the holidays. Whip up mimosas with some Italian Prosecco and fresh squeezed orange juice to serve with it, and you’re in fine dining heaven.
click on the link for the recipe…..Breakfast Strata
Breakfast strata is super easy. The perfect prep ahead dish for entertaining. Filled with chargrilled peppers, semi dried tomatoes, bacon, pesto, onion and of course cheese. Breakfast strata is held together with an eggy custard infused with basil pesto.
Once the breakfast strata is baked the sides become all golden and crunchy and the flavours meld together. A winning dish for breakfast, brunch or supper with all the prep done. Pat yourself on the back!
We would love to hear from you in the comments below when you make this delicious bacon and cheese strata.
Bacon and Cheese Strata
This easy bacon and cheese strata is quick to put together, and is perfect for serving a crowd.
Ingredients
- 350g (12 ounces) streaky bacon, diced - reserve 2 rashers for the top
- 6 large eggs
- 1 1/2 cups full cream milk
- 1/3 cup chives, finely sliced
- 2 cups cheddar cheese, grated - reserve 1/3 cup for the top
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- freshly milled black pepper to taste
- 7 cups strong bread (not soft sandwich bread) preferably 2-3 days old
Instructions
- generously butter a 22cm (8 1/2 inch) springform pan
- fry off bacon till golden - dont forget to reserve some bacon for the topping
- slice then tear your bread into roughly 2 1/2cm (1 inch) pieces
- in a large bowl whisk milk, eggs, salt and pepper
- add bread, cheese (don't forget to reserve some cheese for the topping), chives and bacon and give it all a really good mix - your hands are the best tool for this job
- tip mixture into buttered springform pan
- sprinkle with reserved cheese then the reserved bacon
- cover with foil
- refrigerate for at least an hour but preferably overnight
- preheat oven to 180c (350f) on bake, not fan
- bake strata for 25 minutes then remove foil and bake for a further 20 minutes or until a skewer comes away clean i.e not wet
- run a knife around the inside of the springform pan and release the side (it helps to place the pan on a tin so the side drops away)
- slice and serve!
