This overnight croissant breakfast casserole with sawmill gravy can be made the night before so all you have to do the next morning is pop it into the oven!

I don’t know about you, but I would really rather not be spending all of my special occasion mornings in the kitchen!

You see, for years I’ve been waking up early on holiday mornings to make sausage gravy and biscuits. While this is a delicious breakfast and a great tradition, it takes quite some time to make. I realized that a make-head holiday recipe would be the perfect solution, so I came up with this delicious Overnight Croissant Breakfast Casserole with Easy Sausage Gravy.

Overnight Croissant Breakfast Casserole with Easy Sausage Gravy

This is a really simple recipe to put together the night before so all you have to do the next morning is pop it into the oven.

Ingredients for casserole

Here is what you need:

1 tablespoon olive oil
½ cup finely chopped onion
1 pound roll of breakfast sausage
4 large croissants or 8 small croissants, torn or chopped into 1-inch pieces
½ cup grated Monterrey jack cheese and ½ cup grated cheddar cheese
6 large eggs
½ cup heavy whipping cream
1½ cups whole milk, divided
Dry mustard powder, paprika, garlic powder, salt, black pepper
1 tablespoon butter
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
 
Night before- saute onion and sausage.

The night before serving:

Step 1: In a large skillet, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the onions and sauté until translucent. Crumble the sausage into the skillet and cook, stirring often, until browned. Scoop the cooked sausage and onions into a large mixing bowl with a slotted spoon. Reserve 1 tablespoon of the drippings in the pan; set aside.

Place sausage, cheese and bread in casserole dish.

Step 2: To the cooked sausage and onions in the bowl, add the torn croissants, Monterrey jack cheese and cheddar cheese; stir well. Scoop the mixture into a 3-quart glass or ceramic casserole dish, then set aside.

Pour milk and egg mixture over sausage, bread and cheese mixture.

Step 3: In a medium mixing bowl, combine the eggs, heavy whipping cream, ½ cup of the whole milk, the dry mustard, paprika, garlic powder, ½ teaspoon salt and ½ teaspoon black pepper; beat with a whisk until well combined. Pour evenly over the sausage and croissant mixture in the casserole dish.

Step 4: Cover the breakfast casserole with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight, or at least 8 hours.

To make the sawmill gravy:

Make the sawmill gravy.

Step 1: To a large skillet, add the reserved tablespoon of sausage drippings and 1 tablespoon butter. Heat over medium heat until melted. Add 2 tablespoons of flour and whisk to combine. Allow the flour and fat mixture to cook for 1 minute, then add 1 cup of whole milk. Whisk until smooth.

Cook gravy down.

Step 3: Allow the gravy to reach a slow simmer, stirring constantly, then reduce the heat to low and continue to stir until the gravy reaches your desired thickness (Note: if the gravy becomes too thick, simply thin with a small amount of milk or cream).

Add cream or milk to gravy and add pepper to taste.

Step 4: Season the gravy with salt and ground black pepper to taste. Pour the gravy into a small food storage container and store it in the refrigerator overnight.

In the morning:

Bake casserole in the morning.

Step 1: Preheat the oven to 350°F. Remove the casserole dish from the refrigerator to allow the dish to warm up to room temperature a bit before placing it into the oven. Bake the breakfast casserole uncovered at 350°F for 45-50 minutes until browned and bubbly.

Serve with sawmill gravy.

Step 3: Scoop the gravy into a microwave-safe dish and heat in the microwave in 30-second increments, stirring between each cooking interval, until hot. Serve the breakfast casserole hot with gravy ladled over top of each serving. Garnish with ground black pepper or paprika if desired.

I hope you enjoy this delicious Overnight Croissant Breakfast Casserole with Easy Sausage Gravy and I hope it gives you a lot less time in the kitchen, and a lot more time with your family in the morning.

Overnight Croissant Breakfast Casserole with Sawmill Gravy

Most of the work of this easy to make breakfast is done the night before and now you can relax and enjoy your breakfast with family and friends.

Course Breakfast
Cuisine American
Servings 8
Author Carrisa Shaw

Ingredients

  • 1 TBSP olive oil
  • ½ cup finely chopped onion
  • 1 lb. roll of breakfast sausage
  • 4 large croissants or 8 small croissants, torn or chopped into 1-inch pieces
  • ½ cup Monterey jack cheese
  • ½ cup grated cheddar cheese
  • 6 large eggs
  • ½ cup heavy whipping cream
  • cups whole milk divided
  • ½ tsp. dry mustard powder
  • ¼ tsp. paprika
  • ¼ tsp. garlic powder
  • ½ tsp. salt plus additional to taste
  • ½ tsp. ground black pepper plus additional to taste
  • 1 TBSP butter
  • 2 TBSP all-purpose flour

Instructions

The night before serving:

  1. In a large skillet, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the onions and sauté until translucent. Crumble the sausage into the skillet and cook, stirring often, until browned. Scoop the cooked sausage and onions into a large mixing bowl with a slotted spoon. Reserve 1 tablespoon of the drippings in the pan; set aside.

  2. To the cooked sausage and onions in the bowl, add the torn croissants, Monterey jack cheese and cheddar cheese; stir well. Scoop the mixture into a 3-quart glass or ceramic casserole dish, then set aside.

  3. In a medium mixing bowl, combine the eggs, heavy whipping cream, ½ cup of the whole milk, the dry mustard, paprika, garlic powder, ½ teaspoon salt and ½ teaspoon black pepper; beat with a whisk until well combined. Pour evenly over the sausage and croissant mixture in the casserole dish.

  4. Cover the casserole with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight, or at least 8 hours.

To make the sawmill gravy:

  1. To a large skillet, add the reserved tablespoon of sausage drippings and 1 tablespoon butter. Heat over medium heat until melted.

  2. Add 2 tablespoons of flour and whisk to combine. Allow the flour and fat mixture to cook for 1 minute, then add 1 cup of whole milk. Whisk until smooth.

  3. Allow the gravy to reach a slow simmer, stirring constantly, then reduce the heat to low and continue to stir until the gravy reaches your desired thickness (Note: if the gravy becomes too thick, simply thin with a small amount of milk or cream).

  4. Season the gravy with salt and ground black pepper to taste. Pour the gravy into a small food storage container and store in the refrigerator overnight.

In the morning:

  1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Remove the casserole dish from the refrigerator to allow the dish to warm up to room temperature a bit before placing it into the oven.

  2. Bake the casserole uncovered at 350°F for 45-50 minutes until browned and bubbly.

  3. Scoop the gravy into a microwave-safe dish and heat in the microwave in 30-second increments, stirring between each cooking interval, until hot.

  4. Serve the casserole hot with gravy ladled over top of each serving. Garnish with ground black pepper or paprika if desired.

Other yummy breakfast meal recipes:

PIN FOR LATER:

This overnight croissant breakfast casserole with sawmill gravy can be made the night before so all you have to do the next morning is pop it into the oven! Perfect for the holidays (or anytime)! #recipes #breakfastrecipes #holidayrecipes #makeaheadrecipes #breakfastcasserole

Carissa Shaw
Carissa Shaw is the creator of Mom Needs Chocolate, a food and lifestyle blog. She is married to Joshua and mother to Willow and they live together with their spoiled Miniature Schnauzer in Ohio. Find her at MomNeedsChocolate.com or on Pinterest where she spends too much of her free time.
Carissa Shaw

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