Christmas morning breakfast should be the easiest meal of the year, and it usually is not: someone ends up at the stove while everyone else opens presents. The twelve ideas below are all made, or at least assembled, the night before, so the only job on the morning itself is turning on the oven.
Quick Take: Twelve make-ahead Christmas breakfasts, sorted from the easiest (a board you set out) to the most work (a quiche from scratch), each with how much you can do the night before. Most of them bake in the time it takes to open the first round of presents. If you only make one, make the overnight French toast at number 01.
The 12 breakfasts at a glance
What’s Inside
- 01. Overnight French Toast Casserole
- 02. Make-Ahead Cinnamon Rolls
- 03. Sausage and Egg Strata
- 04. Spinach and Tomato Quiche
- 05. The Christmas Morning Board
- 06. Sheet Pan Pancakes
- 07. Monkey Bread
- 08. Baked Oatmeal With Cranberries
- 09. Gingerbread Waffles
- 10. Yogurt and Cranberry Parfait Bar
- 11. Hash Brown Breakfast Casserole
- 12. Cranberry Spritzers and the Coffee Pot
- The Christmas Breakfast Mistakes To Skip This Year
- Frequently Asked Questions
- The Last Word on Christmas Morning Breakfast
In my family the rule is simple: whoever hosts Christmas does not cook on Christmas morning. Everything here is built around that rule. The night before, you assemble; in the morning, you bake, pour the coffee and sit down.
The spec line on each tells you how much is done the night before and how long it takes in the oven. Anything with eggs goes in the fridge overnight, covered, and comes out about thirty minutes before baking.
Why Christmas Morning Breakfast Is Changing This Season
Breakfast has turned into the relaxed half of Christmas. Instead of a plated, sit-down brunch, more hosts are setting out one baked dish, one board and a pot of coffee and letting people eat between presents. It is less work and a better morning.
The one thing that does not change is food safety, because most make-ahead breakfasts are egg dishes. FoodSafety.gov lists 160°F as the safe internal temperature for egg dishes such as a frittata or quiche, and 165°F for casseroles with meat. A cheap instant-read thermometer is the best gift a Christmas host can give themselves.
The best Christmas breakfast is the one that was finished before anyone woke up.
01. Overnight French Toast Casserole
Assembled at 10 p.m., Baked at 8 a.m.
Night before: assemble · Morning: 45 minutes in the oven
Who else has stood at the stove flipping French toast while everyone else opens presents? This fixes it. Cube a day-old brioche or challah into a buttered dish, pour over eggs whisked with milk, cream, cinnamon, vanilla and a little maple syrup, cover it and leave it in the fridge overnight. In the morning, scatter brown sugar and pecans on top and bake at 350°F until puffed and golden.
Stale bread is the secret, because it soaks up the custard without falling apart. Take the dish out of the fridge while the oven heats so it bakes evenly, and check the center reaches 160°F.
It is the one I make every year, and the dish always comes back empty.
02. Make-Ahead Cinnamon Rolls
The Smell Is Half the Point
Night before: shape and refrigerate · Morning: 1 hour to rise and bake
Make the dough the day before, roll it with butter, brown sugar and cinnamon, slice the rolls into a pan and refrigerate them overnight. In the morning, let them sit on the counter for about forty-five minutes while the oven heats, then bake until golden and spread the icing on while they are warm.
If homemade dough is too much on December 24, store-bought refrigerated rolls baked in a cast-iron pan with a little extra cream poured over them are a very good shortcut.
Nothing says Christmas morning like the smell of these in the oven.
03. Sausage and Egg Strata
Night before: assemble · Morning: 1 hour in the oven
Layers of cubed bread, browned breakfast sausage, cheddar and green onion with an egg and milk custard poured over, refrigerated overnight and baked until set. Because it has meat, it needs to reach 165°F in the center; a knife in the middle should come out clean.
This is the savory dish for the people who skip the sweet ones.
04. Spinach and Tomato Quiche
Bake It the Day Before
Day before: bake fully · Morning: 15 minutes to warm
A store-bought crust, eggs, cream, Gruyère, wilted spinach and a few slices of tomato on top. Quiche is one of the few breakfast dishes that is better made a day ahead, because it slices cleanly once it has rested.
Bake it on December 24, cool it, cover it and refrigerate it. On Christmas morning, warm it at 325°F for fifteen minutes, or serve it at room temperature, which is how it is eaten in France anyway.
I make two: one with ham, one without.
05. The Christmas Morning Board
Set It Out and Walk Away
Night before: wash and slice · Morning: 10 minutes to arrange
A big board with mini quiches or croissants, clementines, berries, pomegranate seeds, yogurt, a few slices of ham and a small bowl of jam. It needs no cooking at all and fills the gaps while the baked dish finishes.
Wash and slice the fruit the night before and keep it in containers in the fridge. In the morning, arrange it in clusters rather than rows; it looks fuller and people can reach everything.
Compared with a hot breakfast, it is the one that keeps everyone happy for hours.
Planning the whole day, not just breakfast? Our Christmas hosting timeline works backward from dinner.
06. Sheet Pan Pancakes
Night before: mix the dry ingredients · Morning: 20 minutes
Pancake batter poured into a buttered sheet pan, scattered with berries or chocolate chips and baked at 425°F for about fifteen minutes, then cut into squares. One pan feeds eight people, and nobody has to stand at the stove flipping.
Kids love choosing their own square.
07. Monkey Bread
Night before: assemble · Morning: 40 minutes
Pieces of biscuit dough rolled in cinnamon sugar, layered in a Bundt pan with melted butter and brown sugar, covered and refrigerated overnight. Bake it in the morning and turn it out onto a plate so everyone can pull pieces off.
It is the most fun thing on the table, and the stickiest.
08. Baked Oatmeal With Cranberries
Night before: assemble · Morning: 40 minutes
Oats, milk, eggs, maple syrup, cinnamon, dried cranberries and chopped pecans stirred together in a baking dish and left in the fridge overnight. It bakes into something between a cake and a bowl of oatmeal, and it is the lightest option here.
Serve it with a spoonful of yogurt and a drizzle of maple.
09. Gingerbread Waffles
Night before: make the batter · Morning: 30 minutes
Waffle batter with molasses, ginger, cinnamon and cloves, made the night before and kept in the fridge. Cook them in the morning and keep them warm in a 200°F oven on a rack until everyone is ready. Whipped cream and a few pomegranate seeds on top make them look like Christmas.
This is the one to make if you only want one sweet thing.
10. Yogurt and Cranberry Parfait Bar
Night before: make the compote · Morning: 10 minutes
A big bowl of Greek yogurt, a jar of cranberry-orange compote made the night before, granola and chopped nuts, with glasses and spoons so people can build their own. It is the fresh, light corner of the table.
Make the compote with leftover cranberries from Thanksgiving if you froze some.
11. Hash Brown Breakfast Casserole
Night before: assemble · Morning: 1 hour
Frozen shredded hash browns, diced ham, cheddar, eggs and milk layered in a dish and refrigerated overnight. It bakes into a crisp-edged, cheesy casserole that is very hard to stop eating. Like the strata, it has meat, so check that it reaches 165°F.
This is the dish the teenagers will finish.
12. Cranberry Spritzers and the Coffee Pot
Drinks Count as Breakfast Too
Night before: chill and prep · Morning: 5 minutes
Cranberry juice topped with sparkling water or sparkling wine, a few fresh cranberries and a sprig of rosemary in each glass. Set up the coffee maker the night before so someone only has to press a button, and put out milk, cinnamon and whipped cream for anyone who wants it dressed up.
Keep a pitcher of the non-alcoholic version for kids and anyone driving later in the day.
A red drink on the table makes even a simple breakfast look like an occasion.
The Christmas Breakfast Mistakes To Skip This Year
- Cooking to order. Pancakes one at a time means the cook eats last and cold. Bake one big dish instead.
- Trying a new recipe on the day. Do a test run on a weekend in December, not at 8 a.m. on Christmas.
- Leaving the egg dish out all morning. Perishable food should go back in the fridge within two hours.
- Forgetting the oven schedule. If dinner needs the oven by noon, choose breakfasts that bake early or not at all.
The cooking temperatures are from FoodSafety.gov’s safe minimum temperature chart and the two-hour rule from the USDA. For the rest of the season, the Christmas cookies for a crowd fill the afternoon and the Christmas table decor ideas set the table.
Frequently Asked Questions
What can I make the night before Christmas for breakfast?
Overnight French toast, a strata, a hash brown casserole, baked oatmeal and monkey bread can all be assembled the night before and baked in the morning. Quiche can be baked fully the day before and warmed.
How long can a breakfast casserole sit in the fridge before baking?
Assemble it no more than about 24 hours ahead, keep it covered in the fridge and take it out about thirty minutes before it goes in the oven.
What temperature should an egg casserole reach?
FoodSafety.gov lists 160°F for egg dishes and 165°F for casseroles that contain meat. Check the center with an instant-read thermometer.
What is an easy Christmas breakfast for a crowd?
One baked dish, such as overnight French toast or a strata, plus a board of fruit and pastries and a pot of coffee. It feeds ten people with almost no work on the morning.
Before the guests arrive
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The Last Word on Christmas Morning Breakfast
The best Christmas morning breakfast is the one that lets the cook sit down. Pick one baked dish, add a board and a drink, do all the work on December 24 and let the oven handle the rest while the presents get opened.
If I had to choose one, it would be the overnight French toast, because it smells like Christmas and asks nothing of you in the morning. Real talk: nobody remembers the breakfast menu, only that everyone was in the room together.
Real Talk. Delivered. XOXO
Photos by Bella F, By Caroline and Jessica Mariella via Dupe, photos by cole yap, Giordano and Timur Weber via Pexels, featured photo by Gustavo Fring via Pexels
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xoxo, Edina
The girl behind Can We Talks — I test the recipes, wear the trends and plan the parties so you don’t have to guess. More about me
