Sourdough Breakfast Casserole

A delicious make ahead breakfast casserole featuring sourdough bread and sourdough starter, along with ground sausage, vegetables and eggs. A wholesome savory breakfast casserole that's big on flavor with minimal fuss.

Course Breakfast, Dinner

Cuisine American

Keyword Sourdough Bread, Sourdough Discard

Prep Time 25

Cook Time 45

Resting Time 1

Total Time 2 10

Servings serves

Calories 385kcal

Equipment

Baking Dish (9" x 13")

Ingredients

500 g Sourdough Bread (approx. half a loaf, cubed - see notes)
20 g Olive Oil
500 g Ground Pork Sausage (casings removed - see notes)
1 teaspoon Rosemary (or Italian Seasoning)
100 g Yellow Onion (one small onion, diced)
2 cloves Garlic (minced)
300 g Bell Peppers (yellow, green, red - diced)
12 Eggs
100 g Sourdough Starter (or sourdough starter discard)
1 teaspoon Salt
1 teaspoon Pepper
160 g Milk (whole milk or half n half)
120 g Cheddar Cheese (shredded)

Instructions

Before you start, grease a 9" x 13" baking dish with cooking spray, butter or oil. Set this aside.
Cube up your sourdough bread and arrange in the base of the baking dish. Allow to sit while you organise the rest of the ingredients.
Heat a frying pan over high heat. Add the olive oil and fry the ground pork sausage and rosemary together. Use a wooden spoon to break up the sausage as it cooks. Make sure it's getting nice and brown as you break it up.
Once the sausage has browned, add the onion, minced garlic and bell peppers to the pan and fry off until the onion and pepper start to soften a little.
Once the sausage and vegetable mixture is cooked through, carefully tip it over the sourdough bread cubes and spread it out evenly. Set this aside while you make the egg mixture.
In a batter jug, add 12 eggs, sourdough starter, salt, pepper, milk and shredded cheddar cheese (I've add a little extra Italian seasoning here too). Whisk vigorously until the ingredients are well combined.
Tip the egg mixture over the sourdough bread and vegetable mixture in the baking dish.
Now, cover the dish in aluminum foil and place into the fridge for up to 24 hours (minimum 30 minutes).
When you're ready to bake the sourdough breakfast casserole, preheat the oven to 200C (400F) and allow the breakfast casserole to sit out of the fridge for around 30 minutes. Take the aluminum foil off the baking dish and place into the oven to bake until golden brown for around 45 minutes.
Once baked, remove from the oven and allow it to sit for around 30 minutes before serving.

Notes

Sourdough Bread - I've used half a loaf or 500g of cubed sourdough bread. I did not toast the bread before I used it, as you would normally do because I find that the sourdough bread absorbs the egg mixture just fine, whether it's fresh or stale. You can toast it though if you prefer.

Ground Pork Sausage - I've used a 500g packet (1 pound) of ground pork sausage with the casings removed. If you can't get pork sausage, you can use beef sausage or just plain pork mince. Add extra seasoning if you are using unseasoned pork mince.

Resting Time - I think it's a good idea to allow this sourdough breakfast casserole to rest for a minimum of 30 minutes before baking. You don't have to, but I find that you'll get a better result if you do. The casserole can be made up to 24 hours ahead and placed in the fridge until you're ready to bake it. This makes it a great make ahead dish for Thanksgiving and Christmas mornings.

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