Bagel Breakfast Strata

Sure, it’s a bit of effort, but very tasty, and the leftovers were a great way to get a full meal in, even on busy mornings.

This year... we came up with another option that serves basically the same purpose: a campfire easy breakfast strata recipe!

It’s a savory bread pudding that’s also a make-ahead dish, that makes for GREAT leftovers. Basically, we’ll assemble it one afternoon or evening, then just chill it overnight.

The best thing is how customizable it is. If we can’t find Everything Bagels, we’ll use whatever savoury bagels we can get... or another bread.

You can also change out the cheese or the meats, giving you all KINDS of options when it comes to the final flavour and texture profile. You can even add vegetables, if you want.

Another great thing is that it has almost a “special occasion” feel to it. It’s not particularly fancy - fairly basic, as far as breakfast egg casseroles go - but it FEELS special!

The one we photographed for this post felt extra special, just on account of where we were - Neys Provincial Park.

We couldn’t resist taking the pan out to Prisoner’s Cove for some food photography, before having breakfast and heading out to the next campground.

Anyway, let’s look at what you’ll need to have on hand, to make a bagel strata of your own!

Ingredients

This recipe uses really simple ingredients - you won’t have any trouble finding everything you need, even in small grocery stores on the road.

As always, I have some ingredient notes for you:

Bagels

I like to use Everything Bagels when making breakfast stratas, as they have a lot of flavour built right in.

Traditionally, though, breakfast stratas are made bite-size pieces of stale bread.

So, if you don’t happen to have bagels on hand, feel free to sub in different breads... just aim for slightly drier ones. You’re aiming for about 3 ½ - 4 cups of bread cubes.

Breakfast Sausage

We generally make this with breakfast sausage links that we’ll cook up a few hours before assembling the bagel breakfast casserole.

That said, whatever you’d like in a breakfast sandwich, you can use in this recipe - just cook it first, and break it down into bite sized pieces.

Italian sausage works well, as does bacon. I’ll just cook them through and chop them relatively small before using them.

Shredded Cheese

We generally use Old / Sharp Cheddar Cheese when making this, as we tend to have it on hand. You can definitely play with that, though.

Monterey Jack, Pepper Jack, and Swiss cheese are other great options.

While I wouldn’t do Parmesan cheese for ALL the cheese, it works well when it’s part of the cheese - we’ll usually add a little as the final layer.

Milk

You can use whatever type of milk you have on hand, as long as it’s not sweetened and/or flavoured.

We’ll usually use unsweetened almond milk for this, as that’s what we have on hand.

Everything Else

Rounding out this recipe, you will need:

Cooking spray (You can use olive oil or melted butter)
Large Eggs
Ground Black Pepper
Salt

... I just don’t have anything else to add, as far as these last few ingredients go. Pretty simple stuff!

Optional: Vegetables

While I don’t want to overly complicate the actual recipe here, I should mention that you CAN add vegetables if you like - I’d aim for about 1- 1 ½ cups of COOKED vegetables, tops.

Cooked is the important thing here - this egg bake doesn’t cook long enough to soften raw veggies. Even if it was, you’d end up with water coming out of those veggies and diluting the egg mixture.

Who wants a soggy bagel bake?

Anyway, in terms of vegetable mixture to add... sautéed onions, sautéed spinach, and/or sliced mushrooms are kind of our go-tos for breakfast inclusion, whether in this breakfast strata, an omelette, or whatever.

Bell peppers work well also - just chop up some green or red peppers and sautee them soft before adding them.

In terms of technique, I’ll usually layer them in with the meat.

How to Make a Campfire Bagel Strata

The full recipe is in the printable recipe card at the end of this post, here is the visual walk through:

Prepare the Bagel Strata

Chop the cooked breakfast sausages into bite sized chunks, place the chopped bagel pieces in a large bowl, set aside.

In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the egg custard - milk, eggs, salt, and pepper - until well combined.

Arrange half of the bagel slices in a single layer in the pan. Scatter half of the chopped breakfast sausage over top of the bread, then half of the cheese.

Repeat layering one more time, ending with a cheese layer on top.

We’ll generally do an overnight, and cook it the next morning.

To Cook the Strata

Remove strata from fridge or cooler. I like to let the strata sit on the counter for 20 minutes or so, to take the chill off it.

Get a medium fire going or get your charcoal on the go. You can cook your bagel strata over a charcoal grill, a BBQ, or on a grill plate over a campfire.

Reduce your heat source to low, if you can. When we’re cooking over charcoal, we’ll close the side dampers. When cooking over fire, you can spread your wood out a bit to kill the flames a bit, and when cooking over a grill, you can use a cooler side / set your pan on a higher rack.

Either way, set your covered pan over the lowered heat, and cook for about 15-17 minutes, or until the eggs are almost set and the edge starts to look golden brown.

Slice into 4-5 wedges, serve hot!

Leftovers

Once cooled to room temperature, leftover strata can be transferred to an airtight container (we’ll usually package individual portions) and stored in the fridge for up to 3 days.

Best served reheated.

More Camping Breakfast Recipes

Looking for some more easy - and tasty - camping breakfast ideas? I've got you covered:

Apple Fritter Bread Pudding
Apple Fritter French Toast
Bacon, Cheddar, and Broccoli Frittata
Banana Protein Pancakes
Campfire Banana Bread
Campfire Breakfast Skillet
Coffee over a Campfire
Gingerbread Protein Pancake Mix
Hobo Eggs
Homemade Camping Pancake Mix
Pumpkin Protein Pancake Mix
Traditional Bannock

Be sure to check out our other Camping Recipes, including Camping Desserts, Camping Snacks, Make-Ahead Camping Mix Recipes, and a ton of delicious Camping Main Dish Recipes!

Also, we had SO much fun designing gourmet jerky recipes for our camping trips, we started a whole new blog for them! Check out Dried & Tasty for all kinds of fun recipes to make in your food dehydrator!