Make Ahead Brunch Recipes

by Lindsay Viker on Mar 24, 2024 0 comments »

Whether you’re hosting Easter brunch, making mom feel special for Mother’s Day, looking for an easy Christmas morning breakfast, or just want to spoil your friends and family, hosting your loved ones for brunch is so fun! However, most of us don’t want to wake up at the crack of dawn and spend hours preparing this fabulous brunch. That’s where these make ahead brunch recipes can help you out.

Whether you’re swapping out traditional pancakes for our sheet pan version, whipping up a casserole the night before, or even making a big batch of bacon in the oven, we have plenty of make ahead brunch recipes to help you save time and energy so you can focus on spending quality time with the people you care about instead of hours in the kitchen.

We’re also big fans of serving baked goods at brunch. One of the best parts of these recipes is that you can make them several days in advance and simply store them in an airtight container until your guests arrive.

And it’s not really a party without a fun beverage. We have plenty of make ahead brunch cocktail recipes that are super easy, but will leave such a great impression on your guests.

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Make Ahead Brunch Recipes: Casseroles

One of the things I love about a casserole for brunch is that you can throw everything together in one pan, often the night before, and throw it in the oven. It’s so easy to serve up an impressive dish with minimal effort! Whether you’re looking for something savory or sweet, we have a lot of options to make brunch easy and delicious.

Eggs Benedict Casserole

make-ahead-brunch-casserole-eggs-benedict

Eggs Benedict is one of the most famous brunch recipes for a reason. It’s such a delicious combination of flavors – especially topped with a creamy hollandaise sauce. But it is a ton of work to make them for a group. Enter this easy casserole. You can make a big batch at one, top with some sauce and chives, and enjoy!

Berry Cheesecake Casserole

make-ahead-brunch-casseroles-berry-french-toast

This just might be the prettiest brunch dish ever! The colors of the berries, the dollops of cream cheese, and powdered sugar topping are pretty AND delicious. And you can do all the prep work before your guests arrive.

Hashbrown “Lasagna” Casserole

Hearty hash browns, savory sausage gravy, fluffy scrambled eggs, and lots of melted cheese – that sounds like the perfect breakfast dish to us! Our make ahead hash brown breakfast “lasagna” is the perfect dish for easy prep while still serving up an impressive dish to your friends and family.

Monte Cristo Breakfast Casserole

This Monte Cristo Breakfast Casserole Recipe is really the perfect balance of sweet and savory. Monte Cristo is really just a fancy name for a ham and cheese sandwich that is dipped in an egg mixture and fried – similar to French toast. It’s then served with jam and powdered sugar. YUM. But instead of making a bunch of individual sandwiches, we’ve turned this classic dish into an easy breakfast casserole recipe. It saves you a tremendous amount of effort without sacrificing any flavor. That’s a win in our book!

Veggie Packed Breakfast Bake

A dish of a Whole 30 breakfast that can be made ahead

If you want a delicious way to eat your veggies, give this breakfast bake a try! Featuring a sweet potato base, plenty of spinach, broccoli, peppers and onions, it’s packed full of nutrients AND it’s delicious. Throw it all in the pan and bake. It couldn’t be simpler.

Challah French Toast Casserole

This Challah French Toast Casserole looks so fancy but in actuality is so simple to make. Plus, you do the prep work the night before. So it’s easy to spend time with your guests at your brunch party, while still serving up a delicious, warm, and hearty breakfast.

Overnight Sausage and Egg Casserole

This savory breakfast casserole is such an easy one to prep the night before, keep cool in the fridge, and pop it in the oven when your guests are on their way. One of the best parts is that it’s super easy to customize with whatever you happen to have on hand. All you really need is some crusty bread, eggs, and cheese, and then you can add in whatever else you like!

Apple French Toast Casserole

A pan full of freshly baked apple French toast recipe

Granny smith apples, cinnamon and a brown sugar topping add so much delicious fall flavor to this breakfast casserole. Although you may find yourself enjoying it with your afternoon coffee as well.

Overnight Cinnamon Roll Casserole

Take prepackaged cinnamon rolls up a notch by turning them into a delicious casserole that features bacon, walnuts, and vanilla – YUM. This is one your family will be asking for over and over again.

Overnight Hash Brown Breakfast Casserole

A piece of a delicious overnight breakfast casserole.

Frozen hash browns, eggs, and your favorite breakfast add ins – throw it all together in a pan the night before and bake it fresh in the morning. It’s simple, delicious, and sure to please a crowd. What more could you ask for for a brunch dish?

Make Ahead Brunch Recipes: Big Batch Favorites

Sometimes you are just craving the traditional breakfast foods like pancakes, eggs, and bacon. Check out the recipes below for easy hacks on making them for a crowd. This will save you so much time, and you can even do most of the prep work before your guests arrive. The name of the game here is minimal effort, maximum deliciousness!

Sheet Pan Pancakes

Pancakes are so much easier to make for a crowd when you can make them all at once versus one by one in a fry pan. Throw the batter on a sheet pan and add in your favorite toppings like berries, chocolate chips, or even chopped nuts. You can even do different sections for different guests.

Make Ahead Frittata

A skillet full of chicken sausage and spinach frittata, a great recipe to make ahead.

When you have guests over for brunch, the last thing you want to do is spend your morning over the hot stove. Instead, whip up this frittata the night before. Then just pop it in the oven in the morning while you enjoy a cup of coffee or breakfast cocktail while it bakes! This is another one that is so easy to customize with your favorite add ins.

Breakfast Sheet Pan

Whole 30 Breakfast recipes sheet pan breakfast

This recipe comes together in just 35 minutes and features all the breakfast essentials like potatoes, eggs, and peppers. It’s a great way to feed your family quickly while not skimping on any flavor. Top it with your favorite salsa or hot sauce for a big burst of flavor.

Easy Baked Eggs

Baking your eggs in the oven is an easy way to make them for a crowd. Pair it with our oven bacon below for a traditional breakfast that everyone will love.

Easy Oven Bacon

A plate of bacon that was made easily in the oven.

Bacon is a brunch essential. To make it for a crowd, we like making it in the oven better than frying bacon on the stovetop. One: it’s substantially less messy! Two: you can leave your bacon unattended and focus on other things. Like enjoying a big cup of coffee with your friends and family.

Quick and Easy Breakfast Stromboli

A breakfast stromboli, sliced in half and ready to enjoy.

This is the perfect way to make breakfast sandwiches for a crowd. Puff pastry, scrambled eggs, ham, and cheese come together in less than an hour. Your friends and family will be enjoying a hearty breakfast in no time!

Egg Muffins

These egg muffins are a great way to serve up eggs sans utensils. They’re so easy to customize with your favorite add ins. You can even do several different flavor combinations so your guests can try multiple variations.

Make Ahead Brunch Recipes: Baked Goods

One of the best parts about serving baked goods at your brunch party is that you can make them several days in advance. Simply store them in an airtight container until your guests arrive. There’s so many delicious options for flavors here depending on whether you want to go with a traditional muffin or bread or experiment with some new flavors. Below are a few of our favorite baked goods for a brunch party.

Baked French Toast Muffins

This is such a simple way to serve French toast! Let your guests grab an individualized portion with the perfect amount of flavor in every bite.

Cinnamon Crumb Bread

One of the best parts of this Cinnamon Crumb Bread is that you probably have all the ingredients on hand already. It’s not complicated, but it is delicious. It’s a great addition to your brunch line up that pairs perfectly with coffee!

Lemon Blueberry Bread

This lemon blueberry bread is the perfect balance of sweet and tart. And it’s just as beautiful as it is delicious. It’s a great dish to impress your friends and family, especially in the warmer months when you want something light and refreshing.

Homemade Apple Fritters

These homemade apple fritters are an impressive touch to your brunch line up. They require a little up front effort, but the result is more than worth it. Plus, you can make these ahead of time which makes the day of your event that much easier.

Bacon Breakfast Cupcakes

You haven’t tasted anything like it—these homemade breakfast cupcakes with maple syrup and bacon are biscuity, pancakey and bacony—all in one bite! It’s a great dish to serve up with a big serving of eggs for a complete meal that’s easy and delicious.

Blueberry Coffee Cake

This blueberry coffee cake is just as good as any one we’ve tried in a bakery! It’s so moist and has a crumbly brown sugar topping that’s adds the perfect sweet touch. You could even serve it up as a dessert at the end of your brunch.

Lemon Zucchini Mini Muffins

A fresh batch of lemon zucchini muffins on a cooling rack.

Grab your mini muffin tin and whip up a batch of these lemon zucchini muffins. The zucchini makes these so moist and the lemon balances out the sweetness of the muffin mix perfectly. They’re perfect for setting out as your guests arrive to grab a quick bite with their breakfast cocktail while the main course finishes up.

Pineapple Coffee Cake

This is such a sweet treat to your brunch line up. We sometimes refer to this recipe as ‘the cake that won’t last’. Crushed pineapple, cinnamon and bananas come together for an exceptional, unique taste.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Banana Bread

Adding melty chocolate and rich peanut butter to banana bread may be one of our best decisions yet! This moist bread is so perfect with a hot cup of coffee. If your guests love chocolate and peanut butter even half as much as we do, they are going to absolutely love this recipe.

Glazed Cinnamon Scones

These cinnamon scones are such a perfect breakfast treat. They’re sweet, flaky, and downright delicious. Your guests will love them with a big cup of coffee or as a brunch dessert.

Make Ahead Brunch Recipes: Fruit and Granola

Serving up fruit and granola at your brunch party is a great way to fill your guests plates with minimal effort during the party. You can make these recipes ahead of time by cutting up the fruit beforehand, whipping up an easy dip that can easily store in the fridge, or serving some homemade granola that you made days before to really kick things up a notch.

Greek Yogurt Dessert Dip

This sweet dessert dip is a great addition to your brunch line up. It’s packed with protein thanks to Greek yogurt and a bit of protein powder, so it’s as healthy as it is delicious.

White Chocolate Cranberry Granola Bars

White chocolate and cranberry is such a great flavor combination for granola. It’s sweet, tangy, and rich. You can either form this granola into bars or leave it crumbly as a topping for fruit and yogurt. Either way, guests are such to appreciate the extra effort you went throw to make it homemade.

Mojito Fruit Salad

This Mojito Fruit Salad is a fun (and slightly boozy) addition to your brunch line up. Bright colored fruits, a hint of mint, and some white rum adds a ton of flavor to a traditional fruit salad.

Homemade Granola with Quinoa

This homemade granola is a perfect base to add in your favorite granola toppings. Whether you want dried fruits, nuts, or chocolate, you can really have fun experimenting with flavors here. This is such an easy addition to your menu that will make your brunch feel so special.

Orange Cream Fruit Dip

Light and fluffy with just the right amount of sweetness, this orange cream fruit dip is such a great way to jazz up the fruit at your brunch party. The best part—besides the taste – is that it’s super quick and easy to make!

Make Ahead Brunch Recipes: Breakfast Cocktails

It’s not really a party without a fun beverage. Below are a few delicious breakfast cocktails that are easy to whip up and let you do all the prep work ahead of time. Now there’s nothing standing in between you and your guests having a great time!