This delicious Bacon & Egg Strata is the comfort food of breakfast.
There’s just something about a strata. As much as a bread pudding is the comfort food of desserts, a strata is the comfort food of breakfast.
Because we have chickens here on the homestead, we always have a supply of fresh, pastured eggs.
Of course, I do sell eggs to those who would like to purchase my excess, but the primary reason for raising pastured chickens is to have our own supply of healthy, fresh eggs. This recipe is a great way to put some of them to use.
Although this is a “breakfast or brunch” recipe, we will often have recipes like this a couple times a week for supper. And there’s nothing wrong with that.
Note: If you make this recipe with turkey (or beef) bacon to be biblically clean like I now do, you may need to add additional oil/fat as alternative bacons are very lean. See this recipe at Wholesome Skillet: How to Make Crispy Turkey Bacon
Did you Make this Recipe? I’d love for you to give me a 5 star rating in the recipe card below. If you share it on Instagram, please tag me!
Bacon & Egg Strata
Ingredients
- 4 – 5 slices bacon, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
- 1 Tb all-purpose flour
- 1/2 c chicken broth
- 6 eggs
- 3/4 c half & half
- 1/4 c freshly grated Parmesan cheese
- 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1 teaspoon dry basil
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic paste
- 1 loaf crusty bread, 16 oz, such as ciabatta bread, French bread, or a baguette
- 4 oz Swiss cheese, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
Instructions
- To begin, preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
- In a 10-inch cast iron skillet (or other oven-safe skillet), sauté the bacon pieces over medium low heat until the bacon is golden and crisp.
- With a slotted spoon, scoop the cooked bacon to a plate lined with paper towels, leaving the drippings in the skillet.
- To the drippings, whisk in the flour and cook for 1 minute over medium-low heat.
- Whisk in the chicken broth. Stirring continually, cook until the broth begins to bubble and the sauce thickens. Remove from heat and set aside for a moment.
- In a mixing bowl, beat the eggs and half & half together until frothy. Add in the Parmesan cheese, salt, black pepper, garlic paste, and basil. Stir this together.
- While whisking briskly, pour the thickened sauce from the skillet into the egg mixture and combine well. Set it aside a moment.
- Wipe your skillet clean with a paper towel.
- Take your loaf of bread and cut or tear it into half inch slices or torn pieces and layer this all inside the skillet, filling the skillet evenly. If you are slicing the bread, you can layer it in a nice pattern, but this will taste fantastic whether you take that extra step or not. Just make sure the bread is evenly distributed in the skillet.
- Sprinkle the cooked bacon all over the top.
- Pour the egg mixture over all of it.
- Top with the diced Swiss cheese.
- Bake this for 25-30 minutes, or until the center of the strata is set and puffy.
- Enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
If nutritional values are provided for this recipe, they are an estimate and will vary depending on the brands of ingredients you use. The values do not include optional ingredients or when ingredients are added to taste or for serving. If nutritional values are very important to you, I suggest using your favorite nutritional calculating tool with the brands you use.
I just pulled some strata out of my freezer to have for dinner tonight too. Nothing wrong with that! Your version looks delicious!
Wow that looks absolutely delish. Breakfast food goes so good all times of the day to so this is a great all around recipe!
How good does this sound. So good! I love breakfasts like this!
So simple and perfect for a Sunday Brunch!!! We love strata (always finding new things to add in!).
I love strata! It’s so delicious and great with all sorts of combinations. This looks lovely!
I am all about breakfast for dinner! And I love your Grandma’s egg basket. So pretty full of all those eggs. I miss having my own chickens.
This looks like a breakfast made for royalty! It looks delicious and lucky you to have the fresh eggs! What a great way to start the day or end it as you’ve suggest;) I’ll give it a try soon!
this looks amazing and is perfect for a lazy breakfast, I can stick it in the oven and relax and then when its ready eat it while watching some tv or maybe hanging with the fam on a sunday
Oh wow!!! I’ll take free range chicken eggs everyday over the regular ones, we did that when I was growing up and they were the best. This meal looks like its filled with flavor and delicious!
It sounds wonderful and I’d also be eating this for dinner or maybe Saturday lunch. I haven’t ever made a strata before and think it must be a great way of preparing a one pot breakfast!
I am a total “breakfast for dinner” person. Having fresh eggs would be awesome. This is perfect for the weekend brunch…and easily would feed a crowd. Love using my cast iron skillet….and this is another reason to pull it out!!