While there is nothing wrong with revisiting some of your tried and true breakfast casseroles for overnight guests or a weekly meal plan, this Keto Florentine Breakfast Strata is a nice way to change things up. It’s loaded with garlicky spinach, creamy mascarpone cheese, and savory parmesan. While the flavor combination is the MVP of this dish, I particularly like the cheesy layer in the center, which gives it a bit of a layered look in addition to its delicious taste.
Inspired by Spinach Florentine Breakfast Casserole on Simply Recipes.
What You Need to Make Keto Florentine Breakfast Strata
Equipment
- Cutting Board
- Chef’s Knife
- Bread Knife
- Rimmed Baking Sheet
- Heavy Duty Aluminum Foil
- Large Sauté Pan – Or Skillet with Lid
- Rubber Scraper – Or other utensil for stirring
- Cheesecloth – For straining the spinach
- Fine Mesh Strainer – For straining the spinach
- Measuring Cups
- Measuring Spoons
- Stand Mixer or Large Mixing Bowl with Hand Mixer
- Medium Mixing Bowl
- 9 x 13 inch Casserole Dish
- Nonstick Cooking Spray
Ingredients
- Dried Keto Bread Cubes – Directions for how to make them are in the recipe. You can either make them as part of this recipe or make them ahead of time and store them in a zip top bag on the counter.
- Fresh Baby Spinach – As long as I have the time, I like to roughly chop my spinach (even baby spinach) before I sauté it. I find that this helps to avoid the little spinach strings that can happen with spinach in casseroles. They’re fine, and it’s no big deal if it happens. That said, there are many occasions when I don’t have the time for even the rough chop. It just depends on the day.
- Avocado Oil
- Water
- Spanish Onion – You could also use regular yellow onions.
- Minced Garlic – You can either buy pre-minced garlic or mince your own. I just buy the pre-minced version in bulk.
- Mascarpone Cheese
- Grated Parmesan Cheese
- Kosher Salt
- Ground Black Pepper
- Eggs – I almost always use Jumbo eggs, unless the store is out of them.
- Heavy Cream
- Crushed Red Pepper – You could technically skip this if you really want to. However, we’re just talking about ¼ teaspoon for the entire strata which also had 28 ounces of dairy and 6 eggs. It’s not going to make it spicy.
Getting Started with Making Keto Florentine Breakfast Strata
Timing Overview for Making Keto Florentine Breakfast Strata
When I make this Keto Florentine Breakfast Strata, I like to work in the following stages:
- Day 1: Assemble Strata, then let it sit in the fridge overnight.
- Day 2: Bake Strata, then cool completely and refrigerate.
- Day 3: Reheat to Serve.
The reason I like to stage it in this way is as follows:
- Overnight Rest in Fridge:
- Because the bread cubes need a chance to soak up the egg mixture
- Fully Baking the Day Before:
- This breakfast strata is dense. I prefer to cook it at the slightly lower temperature of 325°F so that the center gets cooked through without the edges getting overly done. This means cooking it for a longer time. When I’m serving guests in the morning, I want to shorten the time required between when everyone gets out of bed to getting food on the table. The hour and half of warming up, preheating, and baking is longer than I like.
Could you do this all in one day? Technically, yes; but the results will be better with the method above.
Drying out the Keto Bread Cubes
I buy loaves of Keto Bread from the store, cube them, and dry them out in the oven. For this recipe, you’ll want 12 ounces of Keto Bread. Using the brand I usually buy, 12 ounces equals 12 slices.
To make my bread cubes, I use a bread knife to cut the slices (usually 6 at a time) into 16 cubes. For easier clean up, I line a rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil before spreading out the cubes on the sheet pan. We’ll dry them out in a 250°F oven by baking them for 20 minutes, tossing, and then baking them for 20 minutes more.
You can simply store them in a zip top bag on the counter until you’re ready to use them.
Cooking the Spinach and Onion
I like to start with cooking the spinach because that greatly reduces the volume of what I need to fit in my fridge. (The 32 ounce box takes up a lot of valuable refrigerator real estate.) Plus, cooking it first gives it a chance to cool a bit while I cook the onions. First I give the spinach a rough chop to avoid the stringiness that can sometimes happen with spinach. Then we’ll toss the spinach into a large sauté pan or skillet with about 1 tablespoon of Avocado Oil.
To speed up the wilting with minimal oversight, I add ¼ cup of Water and put the lid on. You’ll still want to toss the spinach occasionally to prevent burning or sticking on the bottom. However, I use this time to dice my onion and measure out my garlic.
For the onion, you’ll want about 1 cup (or 120 grams or ½ of a large Spanish onion or 1 medium yellow onion). (Have I mentioned how much the million imprecise ways of measuring things drives me up a wall?) We’ll go ahead and dice the onion and set it aside for the moment.
Before the spinach is done cooking, I like to prepare my spinach draining set up. I use a medium bowl, a fine mesh strainer and cheesecloth. I set the strainer over the bowl and the cheesecloth in the strainer. Once the spinach is thoroughly wilted, I spoon / scoop / dump it directly onto the cheesecloth. I let it sit there to cool while I go back to the onion.
Now we can add the Onion to the pan along with a little more Avocado Oil and sautée it over medium high heat until the onions have softened (about 6 – 8 minutes). Then we’ll add in 2 teaspoons of minced Garlic (about 4 cloves) and continue cooking until it becomes fragrant (about 30 – 60 seconds). Now we’ll remove the pan from the heat (and turn off the heat) for a moment, while we squeeze as much of the liquid out of the spinach as we can.
Then we’ll add the spinach to the onion and garlic in the pan and return it to the heat. We’ll continue cooking until the mixture starts to look dry (about 6 minutes).
Making the Cheesy Center Layer
Once that’s done, we’ll take ¼ cup of the spinach and onion mixture and set it aside. The rest we’ll place into a medium mixing bowl and then stir in 8 ounces of Mascarpone Cheese, 2 ounces of grated Parmesan Cheese, ½ teaspoon of Kosher Salt, and ½ teaspoon of Ground Black Pepper. You’ll want to mix until everything is thoroughly combined and then set it aside.
Combining the Egg Mixture
Now, in a stand mixer or large mixing bowl, we’ll beat 10 Eggs. Then we’ll whisk in 1 ⅔ cups of Heavy Cream, 1 ounce of grated Parmesan, 1.5 teaspoons of Kosher Salt, ½ teaspoon of Ground Black Pepper, ¼ teaspoon of Crushed Red Pepper, and the ¼ cup of spinach and onion mixture that we’d set aside earlier. You want to make sure all of these ingredients are well mixed. Finally, we’ll use a large spatula or rubber scraper to fold in the 12 ounces of dried Keto Bread Cubes.
Assembling the Keto Florentine Breakfast Strata
We’ll start putting this all together by pouring half of the egg and bread cube mixture into a liberally greased 9×13-inch casserole dish and spreading it out evenly. Then we’ll spoon the mascarpone and spinach mixture on top of that layer. You want to try to spread it out as evenly as possible. It doesn’t have to be perfect, but you want it to be a layer not clumps. Next, we’ll pour the remaining half of the egg and bread cube mixture on top and spread it out. Finally, you can sprinkle the remaining 1 ounce of grated Parmesan Cheese on top (about ¼ cup).
At this point, you need to cover the dish and allow it to sit in the fridge for at least 2 hours or overnight. I really recommend overnight.
Baking the Strata
As I mentioned above, I suggest fully baking this the day before you plan to serve it for breakfast and then just reheating it that morning.
When you’re ready to cook the Keto Florentine Breakfast Strata, I suggest you remove the strata from the fridge 30 minutes before you’re ready to bake. You’ll preheat the oven to 325°F and cover the dish with aluminum foil.
You’ll want to bake it at 325° for 1 hour. A toothpick inserted in the center should come out clean.
If you are making this a day in advance, then once it is done, you’ll remove it from the oven, remove the foil, and allow it to cool completely. You can then put a lid on the casserole and stash it in the fridge until the next morning.
Reheating Your Keto Florentine Breakfast Strata
To reheat your Keto Florentine Breakfast Strata, you’ll place the fully cooked strata in the cold oven. Set the oven to 350° and set the timer for 30 minutes. The whole dish will come up to temp with the oven and then warm through. You may need to warm it for a few more minutes depending on your oven.
Serve warm and enjoy!
Related Recipes
Interested in some other casseroles for breakfast or brunch? You might like one of these:
- Keto French Toast Casserole
- Keto Ham and Cheese Breakfast Strata
- Keto Pistachio Chocolate Chip Bread Pudding
- Keto Pineapple Bread Pudding
(I like to pair a savory and a sweet breakfast casserole when I’m having overnight guests.)
Or maybe you’re just in need of breakfast ideas in general. If so, you should check out my Keto Milk Bar for some flavored low-carb milk ideas as well as these Keto Berry Cobbler Muffins and maybe this Ham Vegetable and Chevre Breakfast Scramble.
Keto Florentine Breakfast Strata
Ingredients
- 12 ounces Keto Bread Cubed and dried
- 32 ounces Fresh Baby Spinach Roughly chopped
- 2 tablespoons Avocado Oil Divided: ½ for cooking spinach, ½ for cooking onion and garlic
- ¼ Water
- 1 cup Spanish Onion Chopped. 120 grams
- 2 teaspoons Garlic Minced. About 4 cloves.
- 8 ounces Mascarpone Cheese 1 container, about 1 cup
- 4 ounces Parmesan Cheese Grated. About 1 cup. Divided: ½ with Mascarpone, ¼ with egg mixture, ¼ on top before baking.
- 2 teaspoons Kosher Salt Divided: ½ teaspoon with Mascarpone mixture, 1.5 teaspoons with Egg mixture
- 1 teaspoon Ground Black Pepper Divided: ½ teaspoon with Mascarpone mixture, ½ teaspoon with Egg mixture
- 10 Eggs I use Jumbo eggs.
- 1 ⅔ cup Heavy Cream
- ¼ teaspoon Crushed Red Pepper
Instructions
- Cut 12 ounces Keto Bread into cubes. Lay them out on a rimmed baking sheet and bake them at 250°F for 20 minutes. Toss them and then bake them for another 20 minutes. Set aside to cool.12 ounces Keto Bread
- Roughly chop 32 ounces Fresh Baby Spinach. Heat 1 tablespoon Avocado Oil in a large sauté pan over medium high heat and toss in the spinach. Add ¼ Water and toss the spinach. Put the lid on the pan and cook until the spinach is completely wilted, stirring occasionally. About 8 – 10 minutes.32 ounces Fresh Baby Spinach, 2 tablespoons Avocado Oil, ¼ Water
- Place a fine mesh strainer over a bowl and line it with cheesecloth. Remove the spinach from the pan and place it in the cheesecloth. Allow it to drain and cool until it’s safe to handle while you perform the next step.
- Dice 1 cup Spanish Onion (or yellow onion). Add 1 tablespoon Avocado oil to the pan and sauté until the onion has softened. About 6 – 8 minutes. Then add 2 teaspoons Garlic (minced) and cook for another 30 – 60 seconds or until fragrant. Temporarily take the pan off the heat.1 cup Spanish Onion, 2 teaspoons Garlic
- Squeeze all excess liquid from the spinach. Then return the spinach to the pan with the onion and garlic. Turn on the heat and continue cooking until the mixture starts to look dry. About 6 minutes.
- Take ¼ cup of the spinach and onion mixture and set it aside.
- Pour the remaining spinach and onion mixture into a medium mixing bowl. Add 8 ounces Mascarpone Cheese, 2 ounces Parmesan cheese (grated), ½ teaspoon Kosher Salt, and ½ teaspoon Ground Black Pepper. Mix until everything is thoroughly combined.8 ounces Mascarpone Cheese, 4 ounces Parmesan Cheese, 2 teaspoons Kosher Salt, 1 teaspoon Ground Black Pepper
- In a stand mixer or large mixing bowl, beat 10 Eggs. Then whisk in 1 ⅔ cup Heavy Cream, 1 ounce Parmesan (grated), 1.5 teaspoons Kosher Salt, ½ teaspoon Ground Black Pepper, ¼ teaspoon Crushed Red Pepper, and the ¼ cup of spinach and onion mixture that you’d set aside earlier. Mix until well combined. Then use a large spatula or rubber scraper to fold in 12 ounces Keto Bread Cubes (dried).4 ounces Parmesan Cheese, 2 teaspoons Kosher Salt, 1 teaspoon Ground Black Pepper, 10 Eggs, 1 ⅔ cup Heavy Cream, ¼ teaspoon Crushed Red Pepper, 12 ounces Keto Bread
- Pour half of the egg and bread cube mixture into a liberally greased 9×13-inch casserole dish and spread it out evenly.
- Spoon the mascarpone and spinach mixture on top of that layer. Try to spread it out as evenly as possible. It doesn’t have to be perfect, but you want it to be a layer not clumps.
- Pour the remaining half of the egg and bread cube mixture on top and spread it out. Then sprinkle the remaining 1 ounce of Parmesan cheese (grated) on top. Cover and allow it to sit in the fridge for at least 2 hours or overnight.4 ounces Parmesan Cheese
- Remove the strata from the fridge 30 minutes before you’re ready to bake. Preheat the oven to 325°F and cover the dish with aluminum foil. Bake at 325° for 1 hour. A toothpick inserted in the center should come out clean.
- I like to fully bake it a day in advance, then just reheat it the morning that I’ll be serving it. To reheat, place the fully cooked strata in the cold oven. Set the oven to 350° and set the timer for 30 minutes. The whole dish will come up to temp with the oven and then warm through.
Equipment
- Bread Knife
- Heavy Duty Aluminum Foil
- Large Sauté Pan or Skillet With Lid
- Rubber Scraper Or other utensil for stirring
- Cheesecloth For straining the spinach
- Fine Mesh Strainer or Sieve For straining the spinach
- Measuring Cups
- Measuring Spoons
- Stand Mixer Or Large Mixing Bowl with Hand Mixer
- Medium Mixing Bowl
- Nonstick Cooking Spray
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