Overnight Croissant Breakfast Casserole with Easy Sausage Gravy

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.

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

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.

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.

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:

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.

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).

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:

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.

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.

Other yummy breakfast meal recipes:

• Freezer Breakfast Cupcakes
• Easy Breakfast Casserole
• Easy Breakfast Pizza

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