Jalapeño Breakfast Casserole for a Crowd

Indulge in the delicious flavors of jalapeño poppers with this easy jalapeño breakfast casserole recipe. Designed for a large group, it's perfect for special occasions like Christmas, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Easter, baby and wedding showers, or when hosting guests! Plus it's gluten-free!

This easy-to-prepare dish combines the flavors of jalapeño poppers - for breakfast! It's a great make ahead breakfast casserole making it a perfect dish for those busy mornings, a great addition to any brunch table, or a great casual dinner option when paired with a fresh green salad and artisan french bread.

This recipe yields 15 generous pieces. If you need to serve more, just use the 2x or 3x button in the recipe card to easily adjust the number of servings for larger gatherings.

Jump to:

• Main ingredients
• Let's talk about hot peppers
• Difference between an egg casserole, quiche, frittata, and strata?
• How to make an egg casserole for a crowd
• Equipment We Used
• Our Favorite Riffs
• Make ahead tips
• How to serve this casserole
• Saving Leftovers
• Other favorite breakfast recipes
• Some common FAQ's
• 📖 Recipe
• 💬 Comments & Reviews

Main ingredients

For a full list of ingredients and quantities see the recipe below.

• Jalapeños. We use fresh jalapeños for this recipe. This would also work with roasted jalapeños. ¾ of one fresh jalapeño pepper is sliced and placed on top of the casserole while the remaining is diced and mixed into the eggs.
• Eggs. Since this is loaded with bacon and cheese we plan about 1 egg per serving.
• Cream. The cream helps achieve a creamier texture when baking eggs in the oven. You could also use half-and-half or milk.
• Cheese. We use cream cheese here but this is also delicious with goat cheese, shredded cheddar, or gruyere.
• Bacon. This is a key to any jalapeño popper recipe - lots of crispy bacon.

Try one of our favorite breakfast breads with this dish.
Blueberry Coffee Cake.

Let's talk about hot peppers

A Little History on Peppers and Heat

Capsaicin is the main chemical that makes hot peppers spicy hot and Wilbur Scoville, an American pharmacist, found a way to measure the amount of capsaicin in peppers. The level of spicy heat is measured in Scoville Heat Units (SHU) and there is a HUGE difference in the heat level of peppers.

• Bell peppers are at the bottom with a rating of 0 SHU (meaning no heat).
• Jalapeño peppers, commonly used in cooking, rate 2500-8000 SHUs.
• Ghost peppers, which most of us have heard of, measures 800,000 - 1,000,000 SHUs. THAT'S HOT!
• Pure Capsaicin is at the top of the scale with a rating of 15,000,000 SHU - Umm, NO - JUST NO!!

Cooking with hot peppers

We recommend using gloves when cutting and seeding hot peppers, like jalapeños, especially if your hands are sensitive to the oils in hot peppers. Never touch your face or eyes when cutting hot peppers (we've been there and done that and it is NOT FUN)!

Since the heat in jalapeños varies with some quite hot and others not as hot, the number of jalapeños may need to be adjusted. In general, roasting jalapeños reduces the heat in them. For this recipe, we like leaving them raw, but you can definitely roast the jalapeños before adding to the egg mixture if you want. If you are sensitive to hot foods (yet still love these flavors!) use half of the diced jalapeño peppers or use anaheim peppers instead. If you like HOT dishes add another jalapeño or throw in a serrano pepper (which have a slightly highter SHU rating than jalapeños)!

Difference between an egg casserole, quiche, frittata, and strata?

These dishes are all VERY similar. They can all have additional ingredients like veggies, cooked meats, and cheese in them. Here are the main differences between each.

• Breakfast egg casseroles are assembled, put into a casserole dish, and then cooked completely in the oven. Veggies might be roasted or sautéd before adding to the egg mixture, but the eggs are cooked entirely in the oven.
• Quiche has a crust (like a pie crust) on the bottom. The egg mixture, which can sometimes be more custard like, is poured into the crust and baked.
• Frittatas start cooking on the stove top when the eggs are poured into the hot skillet over the sautéd meat and veggies. It is then placed into the oven to finish cooking. Frittatas cook much faster than casseroles, quiches, or stratas.
• Strata recipes usually have a layer of bread on the bottom of the dish with the egg mixture poured over the top and then baked.

How to make an egg casserole for a crowd

Easy breakfast casseroles are one of our favorite go-to dishes for larger groups or company. They are fast and easy to put together, versatile (add the ingredients you like), and delicious!

First. If not using leftover, cooked bacon, you'll need to cook the bacon. When cooking bacon just for this casserole, we dice it into pieces, place it in a baking dish, and bake in a 425°F oven until crispy. This usually takes about 20 minutes. Drain and set aside until ready to assemble casserole.

PRO TIP: We like to meal-prep bacon (cook large batches of bacon and store in the fridge) to use in recipes all week long. Try one of our other favorite recipes using bacon during the week: Cheddar Bacon Croquettes, Bacon Spinach Cheese Dip, Bacon Deviled Eggs, Bacon Blue Cheese Asparagus, or Corn and Tomato Pizza with Bacon & Gruyere.

Second. Whisk the eggs, cream, salt, and pepper together.

Third. Add the diced jalapeños and pieces of cream cheese to the egg mixture and stir to combine (image 1 & 2 below). If necessary, use a fork or knife to break up cheese into smaller pieces so it is throughout the egg mixture. Add chopped, crispy bacon to mixture and stir until well mixed (image 3 & 4 below).

Next step - assembling and baking casserole.

• Melt the butter in a casserole dish and carefully move the dish around until the dish is covered with the melted butter. REMEMBER - the dish is hot so use hot pads when touching the dish.
• Add the egg mixture to the buttered dish.
• Place sliced jalapeños on top of the egg mixture.
• Place in the oven, cover, and bake.

Baking the egg casserole

Covering the baking dish prevents the top of this breakfast casserole from getting over-browned. If you like the top nice and brown then leave uncovered. Less brown, leave covered longer.

PRO TIP: We don't like using single use items (like foil or plastic wrap) in the kitchen. Whenever possible we use a cookie sheet as a cover for baking dishes instead of foil. It doesn't have to fit tight, just cover the top.

Equipment We Used

We strongly recommend using a glass or ceramic baking dish for baking this casserole, we used a 13 x 9 inch glass baking dish. Eggs can react with aluminum pans, causing them to turn green over time. An aluminum pan is okay if the eggs are going to be baked, cut, and served on a platter. However, if the eggs will sit in the baking pan for any length of time it's best to avoid using aluminum to avoid any discoloration. If you do use an aluminum pan and the eggs do turn green, they are still safe to eat, although they may not look as appealing.

Scaling up this breakfast casserole recipe? Use multiple pans or one larger pan. If you opt for a larger baking dish, ensure that it's not just deeper, as you want a maximum thickness of 1 ½ to 2 inches for the uncooked egg mixture. Anything thicker needs more time to bake and could potentially cook unevenly in the center of the dish. Keep in mind that the baking time may vary based on the size of pan you use and thickness of egg mixture, so be sure to check it periodically.

Make ahead tips

This is a great make ahead breakfast casserole recipe. There are a few options for making in advance, select the option that works best for you.

• Fully bake the casserole. Let the egg casserole cool completely, store in an airtight container in the refrigerator up to 3 days or freeze up to 2 months. Reheat to serve. NOTE: If time is of the essence in the morning, this would be the fastest morning option.
• Mix the casserole the night before, cover and place in the refrigerator before baking. Remove baking dish from the fridge in the morning and let it come to room temperature while the oven heats up. Bake according to recipe instructions. Serve. If the casserole is still chilled, the baking time may need to increase slightly. 
  NOTE: Do not place a cold dish - especially glass or ceramic - into a hot oven, as the temperature difference can cause the dish to break.
• Prep each step of the recipe but don't assemble the casserole until morning. Place each component; whisked eggs and cream, crispy bacon, diced cream cheese, and jalapeños (diced and sliced), in individual airtight containers and store them in the fridge. In the morning simply turn the oven on to preheat, remove each individual component from the fridge, assemble the casserole and bake for the recommended time. This approach eliminates concerns about placing cold dishes in a hot oven and it ensures the cooking time stays consistent with what's specified in the recipe.

How to serve this casserole

Cutting

This casserole yields 15 generous sized pieces. It can be cut into whatever size you like. We have cut it into the following:

• 15 generous sized pieces (3" x 2.5" ish)
• 18 good sized pieces (2.25" x 2+" ish)
• 24 pieces (2" x 2" ish)
• 48 pieces for appetizer buffets (1" x 1" ish)

Side dishes

This is great for breakfast, brunch, lunch, and even dinner. Add some easy biscuits, coffee cake, muffins, scones, mixed green salad, or fresh fruit for a satisfying meal.

Other favorite breakfast recipes

Some common FAQ's

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📖 Recipe