Have you tried any of the recipes featured in the Cereal Killers post? I’ve been trying (and enjoying!) many of them. I don’t always have all of the necessary ingredients on hand, so sometimes I improvise. That’s precisely how I came up with this recipe for mini stratas. These savory bites are affordable and can be reheated quickly on busy mornings.
Ingredients
- The heels of a loaf of wheat bread (or two slices of bread)
- ½ cup chopped ham
- ¼ cup shredded cheddar cheese
- ¼ cup shredded Swiss cheese
- ¼ cup chopped onion
- 1 teaspoon minced garlic
- Dash of salt & pepper
- 6 eggs
- ¼ cup milk
- Snipped chives (optional)
Instructions
Spray a muffin tin with nonstick spray. Cut the bread into cubes and evenly distribute the cubes into the muffin cups (about 3 cubes per cup).
Combine the ham, cheeses, onion, garlic, salt, and pepper in a medium bowl.
Stir in the eggs and milk. Fill the muffin cups with the egg mixture and sprinkle with snipped chives.
Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes or until set. Enjoy once they’ve cooled for about 10 minutes or freeze for another day. Yield: 12 mini stratas.
Notes
These easy stratas are tasty and filling. The ingredients for the stratas cost only $2.61, which is $0.22 per mini strata (this price includes everything but the garlic and salt and pepper, which are staples in my house). We eat two at a time, so this brings the cost to $0.44 per serving. Generic cereals cost about $0.16-$0.24 per serving, so these stratas are comparable in cost to cereal. However, I happen to think the stratas are much more delicious and filling than cold breakfast cereal!
What foods have you been enjoying for breakfasts lately?
Shared on the following link-ups:
Weekend Potluck, Frugal Days, Sustainable Ways, Monday Musings, Essential Fridays & Saturday Show & Tell.
Sounds like a good “on-the-go” breakfast. My boys don’t like Swiss cheese, so I’d just double the cheddar. Thanks for the idea.
Hi Rosie,
You can certainly use any cheese you prefer. You could also use other breakfast meats and add other veggies.
Sounds yummy! Since it is just me, I am wondering if it will freeze well…I’m going to try it and will let you know!
Yes, they’ll freeze just fine. I’d freeze them in a single layer or put waxed paper between layers if you stack them. The texture is best if you let them thaw before reheating them (instead of heating them from a frozen state).
Yum, these look so good!!
Thanks for sharing at Essential Fridays. Blessings
Mel from Essential Thing Devotions
Shannon….this is a recipe my family would love. And I like that I can make them ahead and they can be reheated the next day. Thank you for sharing this recipe at WJIM. I’m glad you did.
These are excellent to have for a go the go breakfast…thanks for sharing!
You’re welcome! I love having them on hand to reheat quickly for an easy, warm breakfast.
These look great. We sometimes make a version of this in a big pan, but I love the idea of mini ones. I agree that this would be so much better than cereal. Also who only eats one serving of cereal and is not hungry again in an hour. Thanks for the great idea!
Yes, I’m always hungry after eating cereal! The protein in the eggs really takes care of the hunger for me.
Good recipe! I’m using this as a jumping-off-point for my recipe. Planning to do similar but intended for my baby! The mini strata will be the prefect hand-held size for her and I can make it nice and healthy, like you did with brown bread. Will likely add some spinach and squash to get some colours in.
They’d be great with spinach and squash! Unfortunately, my husband wouldn’t touch them if prepared that way. 🙁
That sounds like a great food for your baby.
Thanks, Shannon for the recipe. I made them yesterday and blogged my version. Baby LOVED them and I downed a couple myself.
Um, any good advice for cleaning the muffin tins after or just got getting the eggs to weld themselves to the pan?
They look great!
Sometimes I hesitate to use muffin tins for this reason! I soak them in warm, soapy water for 5 minutes before scrubbing. You could always use the liners made for muffin tins.
So speaking of make ahead breakfasts — I like to have breakfast burritos on hand in the freezer or fridge. . . .fill with scrambled eggs, onion, spinach (any leftover vegetable chopped up and added to the eggs), hash browns or tater tots, sausage or ham, leftover taco meat, shredded cheese, or leftover nacho cheese sauce. . . .whatever your family likes. It only takes a minute or two to thaw them or heat them up in the microwave, and the kids can eat them on the way to school if they have to. Yum!
Hi Susan,
Breakfast burritos have always been a favorite of mine! I like your idea of using leftover veggies, taco meat, or cheese sauce.