Sausage breakfast strata is all about layers—flavor, texture, and comforting goodness. With egg-soaked brioche, savory antelope breakfast sausage, and plenty of cheese, it’s a hearty breakfast perfect for weekends or holidays. Best of all, you can prep it the night before and simply bake it in the morning!
Recipe Highlights
Savory & Flavorful: A well-balanced mix of spices enhances the flavor of the antelope while the fluffy brioche rolls and gooey white cheddar cheese balance out the flavors.
Make-Ahead: Prep in advance for stress-free weekends or holiday mornings. For another easy overnight breakfast casserole, try this sourdough French toast casserole.
Customizable: Adjust spices in the sausage and strata ingredients to your liking!
Ingredients
- Breakfast Sausage: This recipe uses homemade antelope breakfast sausage. You can make a big batch to save for venison biscuits and gravy, venison breakfast sausage bites, and more! You can substitute it with your favorite type of breakfast sausage or diced ham instead.
- Brioche Rolls: I love the flavor of fluffy brioche rolls for strata. You can switch it up and use cubes of Dutch oven sourdough bread or your favorite bread/roll instead. If you love brioche, you'll love my brioche croutons!
- Cheese: Sharp white cheddar adds some contrast to the sweet and savory brioche rolls and sausage. Other great options are Swiss, gruyere, gouda, or cheddar cheese.
See recipe card for quantities.
Equipment
Recommended
Cast Iron Casserole Pan
This pan is perfect for getting those beautiful crispy, golden brown edges. You can also use a different type of baking dish.
How to Make Antelope Breakfast Sausage
I love using my venison breakfast sausage recipe in different dishes, like sourdough stuffing. Make a double or triple batch to have extra on hand for other recipes!
- Step 1: Start with a few fresh herbs (thyme and sage), dried spices ( fennel, marjoram, salt, pepper, paprika, red pepper flakes, and cloves), and real maple syrup.
- Step 2: Place ground antelope, chopped herbs, and dried spices in bowl.
- Step 3: Pour maple syrup over meat and spices/herbs.
- Step 4: Mix together with hands until well-combined. Refrigerate for at least a few hours, preferably overnight.
- Step 5: If your meat doesn't have fat ground in, cook it in a few tablespoons of lard to give it a rich flavor.
- Step 6: Enjoy as a part of many breakfast dishes! This strata recipe is delicious but venison biscuits and gravy is a close second!
How to Make Sausage Breakfast Strata
Most of the work for this overnight breakfast casserole is done the night before which makes breakfast in the morning a breeze!
- Step 1: Line a cast iron casserole pan with parchment paper. If using a glass or ceramic casserole dish, you can grease the dish instead. Parchment paper helps protect the surface of the cast iron while it refrigerates overnight.
- Step 2: Crack a dozen eggs into a large bowl.
- Step 3: Whisk eggs with half and half, salt, and pepper.
- Step 4: Pour ⅓ of the egg mixture into the casserole dish.
- Step 5: Slice brioche rolls in half.
- Step 6: Place bottoms of rolls in the pan (on top of eggs) and sprinkle ⅓ of the cheese on top.
- Step 7: Place cooked breakfast sausage on top of cheese.
- Step 8: Sprinkle ⅓ of the cheese on top of the sausage.
- Step 9: Pour ⅓ of egg mixture over cheese.
- Step 10: Place tops of rolls on top of cheese/sausage filling. Squish rolls down into the eggs with your hands.
- Step 9: Pour remaining eggs over rolls. Sprinkle remaining cheese over rolls.
- Step 10: Cover with foil and place in the refrigerator overnight. In the morning, bake until 165°F in the center (about 1 hour). Remove the foil and bake an additional 10 minutes or until cheese is golden brown. Let rest for 10 minutes. Cut into portions and enjoy!
Pro Tip
Let the strata sit in the fridge overnight to allow the bread to fully absorb the egg mixture—this ensures a rich, custardy texture and even baking.
What to Serve with Sausage Breakfast Strata
This sausage strata recipe is a filling meal on its own but can also be part of a brunch spread. Here are a few ideas to go with it!
- Blood Orange Mimosas
- Fresh Berries
- Prosciutto Wrapped Asparagus
- Deviled Eggs
- Homemade Bacon
- Smoked Trout Dip with Sourdough Baguettes
- Blueberry Lemon Sourdough Babka
- Sourdough Dutch Baby Pancake
- Simple Green Salad with Homemade Honey Mustard Dressing
- Roasted Potatoes
Recipe FAQs
Breakfast strata is a broad term for layered breakfast casserole dishes made up of bread, eggs, and other fillings. Fillings can be simple like meat and cheese or you can get creative by adding vegetables like spinach, mushrooms, bell peppers, onions, etc. Strata roughly translates to a "bed or layer" and often refers to things that are layered.
Allowing strata to sit overnight makes sure the bread soaks up all the eggy goodness. If you don't let it sit overnight, the bread can be dry and hard. But when it soaks up the eggs, the bread will be moist and soft.
The best part about making breakfast strata is that all the hard work is done the day before. When you wake up the next day, all that's left to do is pop it in the oven and enjoy your holiday! It's perfect for Easter, Mother's Day, Christmas, and more!
Yes! But make sure you bake it first. Then, cut it up into individual portions and freeze for an easy weekday breakfast.
Related Recipes
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Thank you!
Annie
📖 Recipe
Overnight Sausage Breakfast Strata with Antelope
Equipment
- aluminum foil
Ingredients
Breakfast Sausage:
- 1 lb ground antelope (or other ground meat)
- 1 ½ tablespoon thyme, finely chopped (or 1 tablespoon dried)
- 1 ½ tablespoon sage, finely chopped (or 1 tablespoon dried)
- 1 teaspoon fennel
- 1 teaspoon marjoram
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes (more or less depending on spice preference)
- ½ teaspoon paprika
- 1 pinch ground cloves
- 2 tablespoon maple syrup
Strata:
- 1 lb breakfast sausage (from above)
- 3 tablespoon pork lard (only needed if your sausage doesn't have fat ground in)
- 12 brioche dinner rolls/slider rolls
- 12 eggs
- 1 cup half and half
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- 16 oz white cheddar, shredded (or mix of white and orange cheddar)
Instructions
Breakfast Sausage:
- Combine all ingredients except ground meat and maple syrup in a medium bowl. Add in ground meat and maple syrup. Mix together with your hands until spice mixture is well-distributed in the meat. Cover bowl and refrigerate for at least a couple of hours, preferably overnight.
Strata:
- Heat a cast iron skillet over medium-high heat.
- Add lard to pan and heat until melted. Add in breakfast sausage. Break up meat until it makes a layer on the bottom of the pan. Let it cook for a while (3-5 minutes) before stirring or flipping it.
- Once the bottom layer of meat has a nice crisp to it, flip the meat and redistribute in the pan. Continue cooking until all meat is browned, about 5 minutes longer. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, combine eggs, half and half, salt, and pepper. Whisk until well combined.
- Slice rolls in half so that they resemble slider buns. You can slice them all at once if they are stuck together.
- Line cast iron casserole pan with parchment paper. If you are using a glass or ceramic pan, this step is not necessary but it does help keep the strata from sticking to the pan. If you're using cast iron, this step is necessary to keep the liquid from soaking in the pan overnight which can lead to rust.
- Pour ⅓ of egg mixture into parchment paper-lined pan. Place bottom halves of rolls in pan.
- Continue layering in this order: ⅓ of the cheese, all of the sausage, ⅓ of the cheese, ⅓ of the eggs, the tops of the rolls, and the remaining ⅓ of the eggs.
- Squish the rolls down into the eggs my spreading your hands out over them. This will be messy but it is essential to make sure the rolls soak up the eggs.
- Top with remaining ⅓ of the cheese. Grease a piece of foil with oil or butter and place on top of the pan to cover. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours, preferably overnight.
- In the morning, place pan in cold oven. Preheat oven to 350°F. Bake for 1 hour or until internal temperature reaches 165°F. Remove foil and bake an additional 10 minutes or until cheese is browned.
- Let rest for 10 minutes before serving. Cut in between the rolls to serve. Enjoy!
Freezing Instructions:
- Follow all steps above. Once strata is cut into portions, place them on a parchment paper-lined sheet pan and freeze until solid. Once frozen, place in an airtight container or bag and freeze for up to 3 months.
- Thaw individual portions under refrigeration. Reheat in microwave or oven until internal temperature reaches 165°F.
Notes
- A cast iron casserole pan is perfect for getting those beautiful crispy, golden brown edges. You can also use a different type of baking dish.
- This recipe uses homemade antelope breakfast sausage. You can make a big batch to save for venison biscuits and gravy, venison breakfast sausage bites, and more! You can substitute it with your favorite type of breakfast sausage or diced ham instead.
- I love the flavor of fluffy brioche rolls for strata. You can switch it up and use cubes of Dutch oven sourdough bread or your favorite bread/roll instead. If you love brioche, you'll love my brioche croutons!
- Sharp white cheddar adds some contrast to the sweet and savory brioche rolls and sausage. Other great options are Swiss, gruyere, gouda, or cheddar cheese.
- Let the strata sit in the fridge overnight to allow the bread to fully absorb the egg mixture—this ensures a rich, custardy texture and even baking.
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