We made Chrissy Teigen’s Everything Bagel Cream Cheese Breakfast Bake and you should too. You’ll enjoy every bite of this perfectly savory brunch recipe filled with eggs, cheese and veggies.
Everything bagel seasoning has become a kitchen staple in recent years. But if you love everything bagels, you might not want to eat a whole bagel with so many carbs in one meal. A delicious solution is Chrissy Teigen’s Everything Bagel Cream Cheese Breakfast Bake. In this recipe, she cleverly spreads out chunks of everything bagels along with protein and veggies for a balanced casserole you will definitely be craving.
This unique breakfast recipe is perfect for feeding a hungry family on the weekend or making ahead if you are having guests over for brunch. And it’s a fantastic way to use up old bagels. If you don’t have any on hand, most bakeries will sell their day old bagels at a discount – budget-friendly score!
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We love that Chrissy’s recipes are so tasty and comforting, and they usually will please both the adults and the kids in the house. Chrissy Teigen’s Everything Bagel Breakfast Bake is one of those recipes that will be a hit with the whole family. It’s hearty and full of cheesy flavors – you’ll be very happy you made this dish. The recipe is from her second cookbook, “Cravings: Hungry for More,” which you can buy here on Amazon.
Some important things I learned when making Chrissy Teigen’s Everything Bagel Breakfast Bake:
- Definitely use a 12×9 or 13×9 baking dish, preferably a deep one. The eggs will puff up slightly as they bake, so you want to have some room in the dish to account for this. I used this 4 quart Le Creuset baking dish, which was perfect for the amount of ingredients.
- The recipe can be very flexible, depending on what your family likes to eat. If someone is vegetarian, you can substitute vegetarian sausage or just add more veggies and it still tastes wonderful. If you’d prefer fresh spinach over frozen, you can substitute with sauteed spinach and it will taste even better. If you can’t find good fresh tomatoes, sun dried tomatoes would also be delicious in this casserole.
- This recipe has a good amount of servings, so it’s fantastic to meal prep on a weekend for a ready-to-eat eat breakfast during the week. Or it can be great to make ahead, and then pop in the oven if you are having guests over for a weekend brunch. But it’s probably too time consuming to make for a weekday breakfast or “breakfast for dinner” meal.
- The dish is extremely delicious and you will want to keep eating more!
Chrissy Teigen’s Everything Bagel Breakfast Bake Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons butter, plus more to grease baking dish
- 1 large onion, thinly sliced
- 1 (10 ounce) package frozen spinach, thawed
- 3 day-old everything bagels, halved and cut into big chunks
- 2 large tomatoes, cut into chunks
- ¼ cup fresh basil, chopped
- 1 cup finely grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
- 1 and ½ cups grated Swiss or Gruyere cheese
- 1 and ½ cups grated cheddar cheese
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 8 eggs
- 2 cups milk
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
- ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1 (8 ounce) brick cream cheese, cold and cut into 14 cubes
- 1 pound breakfast sausage links (optional)
*If you want to make this casserole vegetarian, you can omit the breakfast sausage and add another tablespoon of butter and another half of a package of spinach. Or you can use a vegetarian sausage substitute.
Chrissy Teigen’s Everything Bagel Breakfast Bake Recipe Steps
In a skillet over medium-low heat, melt the butter then add the sliced onions. Cook for about 9 minutes, stirring occasionally, until they get translucent and golden. While the onion is cooking, place the spinach in a large kitchen towel and ring out the water from the spinach over the sink or a bowl. I wanted to use fresh spinach instead of frozen. So once the onions were cooked, I removed the onions and sauteed a 5 oz bag of fresh spinach in the same skillet.
In a large bowl, add the onions, spinach, bagels, breakfast sausage, tomatoes, basil, Parm, 1 cup of the Swiss, 1 cup of the cheddar, 1 teaspoon of the salt and ½ teaspoon of the pepper. Set aside the rest of the cheese – ½ cup of Swiss and ½ cup of cheddar – in a small bowl and place in the refrigerator for later. Toss everything together with a spoon or your hands (hands are easier).
In a separate bowl, crack the 8 eggs, and whisk them together. Then whisk in the milk, cream, mustard, cayenne and remaining salt and pepper.
Grease a 9×13 inch baking dish with butter and arrange the bagel mixture evenly in the dish. Then, pour the egg mixture over the bagels and press down to make sure the bagels are covered and absorbing the liquids.
Then nestle the cream cheese cubes all over the mixture – if some are peeking out that’s ok. Cover the dish and place in the refrigerator for a minimum of 1.5 hours, and maximum of 12 hours. The longer you let it soak, the more moisture the bagels will soak up.
When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Uncover the dish and sprinkle the remaining cheddar and Swiss cheese over the top. Bake for 15 minutes, then turn down the heat to 350 degrees, and bake for 50 minutes to 1 hour, until the cheese is melted and golden brown and the eggs are cooked and set in the middle. Let cool for 5-10 minutes before serving.
