The PERFECT 6-Ingredient Breakfast Casserole ((a favorite BSF recipe))

This breakfast casserole was my favorite meal of my week at BSF Headquarters — and that’s saying a lot because the food was yummy ALL week!

With the first bite, I knew that I would have to see if I could get my hands on this recipe. But when I finally got the chance to ask the chef, he told me it was an old recipe of a BSF staff member’s relative and they didn’t have it printed out.

In foodie language, that stands for – “it’s so good that it’s secret.”

“But”, he said, “I can tell you how we make it.” And he proceeded to give me the short list of ingredients that creates a half sheet-sized pan, suitable for feeding 40 adults. I was worried that I wouldn’t remember it all accurately so I quickly texted the recipe to myself, then I took a screenshot of my text so I had a backup plan just in case!

Last week, I finally had the time and ingredients and got to work recreating this dish. I decided I didn’t need to feed 40 people at once, so I reduced the ingredients to 1/3 of the original volume. This reduction in size fit perfectly into a 9″x13″ dish. ((yay))

I started off by making my own pico. This isn’t totally necessary, but I love homemade salsa and pico and I have a thing for chopping veggies — so I decided to throw caution to the wind and chop 2 quarts of pico. ((I only needed 3 cups, but whose counting??))

Roma tomatoes, jalapeños, white onion, cilantro and some sea salt & pepper is all it takes for perfect pico.

Whether you make your own pico or use store bought, this casserole is a breeze to make!

tips for the perfect breakfast casserole

When the BSF chef shared this family recipe with me, some the amounts were little vague – like the shredded Monterey Jack. “About one to two pounds” left me with a lot of wiggle room. When unsure of how much cheese to use, I always opt for “MORE”.

With that cooking philosophy, I decided to use approximately 1/3 of of the 2lb estimate and settled on 12 oz. of shredded cheese. I added an extra 1.5 ounces for sprinkling on the top and hoped for the best!
*Note – I found it much easier to weigh the cheese so that amounts were exact. This should make reproducing this yummy dish very easy!

Drained cottage cheese is another important ingredient. I used whole milk cottage cheese which adds to the creamy texture of this breakfast casserole.

Although buttering the pan was not included in the recipe exchange, I figured it couldn’t hurt. The result was an easy to serve breakfast!

Once the cottage cheese has drained for 30 minutes or so, begin assembling the recipe. First order of business :: cracking 10 eggs.

Whisk in baking powder & flour.

Add pico.

Stir in 12 oz. of cheese.

Pour into the prepared baking dish & top with remaining shredded cheese.

Bake for 40-50 minutes at 350°. Once the center is set, baking is complete. Remove from the oven & allow the casserole to cool for 10 minutes before serving.