Nana’s famous egg dish
This egg casserole is perfect for any brunch or holiday celebrations. It freezes beautifully to make ahead, and tastes amazing with pico de gallo salsa. Check out the recipe + a video, and also the creme brûlée French toast in this post. 🙂
Hi friends! Hope you’re having an amazing day. I have a ton of moving stuff to check off the list today, so I hope you don’t mind this blast from the past post. It has some adventures from our Easter in San Diego, when P was in my belly and Liv was itty bitty, and two AMAZING recipes you could definitely add to your brunch rotation for the upcoming Easter or any holidays or brunches you have ahead. Nana’s famous egg dish also has a video now, so I hope you’ll check it out below! I’ll back back in blogging action tomorrow.
Easter 2015:
It was a great Easter this year. <3 I remember last year, when we had just moved here and had yet to meet anyone. We had a blast with friends (and were so thankful to them for taking us under their wings), but at the same time, we definitely missed our families. This year, it was so nice to have some Tucson visitors in the house, and our cousins who recently moved here. When we lived in Tucson and Valdosta, we had parties at the house allllll the time. It’s one of my goals for this year to get back into it and have friends over more often! It felt so good to break out some of the serving ware and have a full table again. 🙂
Madre and I had a cooking extravaganza, and made deviled eggs, Nana’s famous egg dish, creme brûlée French toast, fruit salad, rosemary potatoes, vegan banana pudding, a cheese board, and picked up a ham from Honeybaked Ham.
The spread:
(Recipes at the end of this post!)
I always love celebrating Easter, or any holiday with the fam, and holidays are 102938x more fun with a little one. Liv was so excited that the Easter bunny made a stop (though she was very concerned that a large rabbit would be coming into the house. We promised her that we would open the door for him and let him out after he’d left her little treats.).
We also had the necessary egg hunt in the backyard, sugar buzz for days, and awesome time spent together.
After brunch, we chilled for naptime and I took Bella on a long Easter walk to the dog beach. (Caro was snoring peacefully haha.) We explored Coronado, made a stop to shop in Old Town, and watched movies here at home. PS HAVE YOU SEEN INTERSTELLAR? It was so, so good, but in pure Christopher Nolan fashion, I am confused about a few things. Randomly throughout the day, I’ve texted the Pilot questions about the plot line haha.
Time to get ready for spin and then we’ll be watch the National Championship (though I am cheering for no one). 😉
Have a lovely night!
xoxo
Gina
The Best Egg Casserole for Easter Brunch
Nana’s beloved egg dish recipe is HEEEEEERE. It’s been one of my favorite holiday and brunch dishes for as long as I remember, and it was always one of those, “Don’t question what’s in it, just eat it and love it” type things. I must say that if you are looking for a healthified or dairy-free/gluten-free version of this recipe, check out this one I made recently. Otherwise, make it exactly as described below, serve with fresh pico de gallo salsa, and you will never go back.
Nana’s Egg Casserole
The BEST egg casserole for your Easter brunch!
Ingredients
- 10 eggs
- 1/2 C. flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 C. Cottage cheese
- 1 pound Monterey Jack cheese, or 1/2 lb. Monterey Jack & 1/2 lb Cheddar cheese, shredded
- 1/2 C. butter, melted
- 2 4-oz. cans diced green chilies
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350
- In large bowl, beat eggs
- Add remaining ingredients and mix well
- Pour into a greased 9 X13 baking dish
- Bake for 35 min or until firm
CREME BRULEE FRENCH TOAST WITH DRUNKEN STRAWBERRIES
Creme Brûlée French Toast with Drunken Strawberries
- Prep Time: 1440
- Cook Time: 40
- Total Time: 24 hours 40 minutes
Ingredients
For the French Toast
- 1 loaf Challah or Brioche Bread (I use sour dough), sliced into 1 1/2 inch slices
- 1/2 Cup Butter, (1 stick)
- 1 Cup Brown Sugar
- 2 Tablespoons Corn Syrup
- 5 Large eggs
- 3/4 Cup Heavy Cream
- 3/4 Cup Milk
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla
- 1/4 teaspoon Salt
- 2 teaspoons Grand Marnier
- Powdered Sugar (optional)
For the Drunken Strawberries
- 1 QT. Strawberries, sliced 1/4 inch thick
- 1/4 C. sugar
- 1/4 C. Grand Marnier.
Instructions
- Butter a 9 X 13 baking dish
- In a small pot, melt butter with brown sugar & corn syrup
- Stir until sugar is completely melted
- Pour mixture into baking dish
- Place bread slices on top of the mixture
- Squeeze the edges slightly to make the bread fit.
- In a bowl, whisk together the eggs, cream, milk, vanilla, salt & 2 teaspoons of Grand Marnier
- Pour this mix over the sliced bread
- Cover and refrigerate for 8 hrs. or overnight.
- Bake at 350 for 30 or 40 minutes, until French toast is golden and puffed.
For the Drunken Strawberries
- Mix all ingredients together
- Cover and refrigerate overnight
- Serve hot with drunken strawberries & powdered sugar sprinkled on top.
38 Comments
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I’ve made this same egg casserole for years!! It’s my favorite and SO SO good 🙂 I can’t make it for myself, only for gatherings or I eat the entire pan in about a day or two!!
Thanks for sharing! I haven’t seen Interstellar, most notably bc I know it will make me cry and I have to be adequately prepared for those things haha. Good to know it’s a good movie though!
Everything’s better with butter! Recipes look amazeballs.
I’n so excited to make this egg casserole!! I’ve been hoping you would post the recipe!
Thanks for sharing your nana’s recipe!! I’m so excited to make it!!
And it looks like you had a wonderful Easter!
All of these recipes sound divine!
Thanks for sharing your recipes! We had a honey baked ham too with my husband’s side of the family and I missed the lamb that my side of the family usually served. It was also my husband’s bday on Saturday and my mother-in-law’s on Sunday, so it was a fun-filled weekend indeed!
I can’t wait to be able to do an egg hunt for future children one day! Looks like you all had a wonderful time surrounded by family!
Your Easter looks yum! We were away this Easter and it was super fun! We actually saw Christ the Redeemer, which was super cool!
I’m not a big French toast fan but I love the idea of this one w/ drunken strawberries! I also love that you shared your Nana’s casserole recipe – so special and it looks amazing.
That pic of you, Liv & Bella hunting for eggs is adorable.
Thank you, thank you, thank you for sharing those recipes! They sound amazing!
My grandma always makes a similar green chile egg dish for Christmas brunch. It’s SO delicious! The photo of your Nana’s egg dish makes me very nostalgic 🙂 Thanks for sharing!
Must try the egg casserole and the French toast (even though typically I’m not a FT fan, this looks delish!) My mom makes a chile rellenos casserole for special occasions. It’s my favorite!
Oh goodness these recipes look SO good!! I want to try the egg dish and the healthified one too 🙂
Please send thanks to your nana for the recipes!
I cannot believe it’s been a year since you moved there! Crazy. I’m sure it feels good to look back and realize how settled you now are 🙂 Sounds like you had a wonderful Easter!
The egg dish sounds great. I normally don’t like egg casserole because of the greasy potatoes, so I like that your version doesnt have the grease factor!
OMG. Your Nana wins the internet this week. I know what I’ll be cooking this Saturday morning 😀
I usually don’t comment but for this I just HAD too, I made that Egg Casserole last night for hubs and I to take for breakfast this week and OMG it is absolutely DELICIOUS!! I followed the recipe exactly and it turned out perfectly. I’m thinking I might be able to reduce the amount of butter since I can taste it pretty well but I’m not sure if it’ll change the consistency.
Either way, thanks for the quick and simple recipe!!
YESSS! so glad you loved it, too!!!
Gina- your nana is amazing! The egg casserole was out.of.this.world. (Made as stated with 1/2 jack and 1/2 cheddar)Thank you thank you for sharing. This is a perfect make ahead breakfast to grab n go on busy mornings! Can’t wait to try the French toast!!
that makes me so happy to hear! and yes, she is amazing 🙂 xoxo
Hi Gina! Looking forward to making your nana’s egg casserole for Christmas breakfast – do you think I could make it tonight and keep it in the fridge until I bake it in the morning? thank you!
hmm i know you can pre-bake it and heat it up in the morning! i hope you love it!
Yum, these all look so good, brunch is the best 🙂
Love this beautifulness!
You know I am living in Japan when I was thinking first thing that egg needs to be topped with kimchi! 😉
Thank you for posting this! I remember seeing this recipe a while back, wanting to make it, and then forgetting. I am definitely going to give it a try this time. Looks awesome!
Oh I LOVE brunch recipes and french toast was always a favorite growing up!
Good luck with packing! I so glad to finally have this egg casserole dish ready. Anything that I can serve in one pan is a win! Plus, nothing is better than a handful of chocolate Easter eggs to round out the meal #fact
That sounds delicious, healthy or not.
The egg casserole is my favorite. Thanks for sharing
This recipe reminds me of my grandmother. Every time we visited her in the village, it was the fast food for the welcome.
I made your Nana’s egg dish a couple of days ago and it is amazing!! It is sooooo good! My husband agrees and said it is definitely a keeper! I think we will have it for breakfast on Christmas morning! Thank you for sharing!
so so happy to hear! we’re having it on christmas morning, too 🙂
finally made this for the first time today! loved it! I think next time I could decrease the amount of butter & cheese and still have it turn out just as delicious. just a note to others – i had to keep mine in the oven for almost an hour at 350. I checked it at 35 minutes and it was still really jiggly. I ended up turning up the oven to 375 to get it cookin a bit faster.
Can I make the casserole the night before and then reheat or will that not work? Also have you ever left out the chiles so not too spicy for kiddos?
Gina- if you see an influx of page views to this recipe, it’s me lol. I seriously make this weekly. And you know cottage cheese is having a moment! You should make your Nana’s casserole into it’s on post. I have also healtified it a little with much less butter and less flour and use whole wheat! Thank you and Nana for this delicious make ahead casserole I eat all week and my kids gooble up too!
ahh i love this so much! so so happy to hear you enjoy it as much as we do. it’s the best!!