We leaned into holiday flavors—think cinnamon, maple, and pumpkin—along with crowd-pleasing classics like quiche, strata, and hashbrown bakes that hold beautifully for brunch. Many of these recipes can be prepped the night before (yes please!) and baked off while you finish sides or set the table. I love laying out a simple toppings bar—fresh berries, whipped cream, and warm syrup—for an easy, festive touch.
Scroll through, pick a sweet or savory star (or both!), and start your Turkey Day with something delicious. Let’s make breakfast the second-best part of the day… after pie, of course. 😉
PRO TIP: Pin or bookmark this list so you’re ready with yummy breakfast recipes all year long!
We know Thanksgiving is crazy, so we definitely love any recipe that can be made ahead of Turkey Day. Here are our Top 10 choices to make for Thanksgiving (but not on Thanksgiving). 😉
1 French Toast Casserole
French Toast Casserole
Total Time: 5 hourshours
This French Toast Casserole is soft, sweet, and baked to perfection. It is an easy overnight breakfast everyone will love.
Is there anything better than fluffy french toast topped with syrup, fresh berries, and dusted with powdered sugar? You are going to love this classic breakfast recipe!
Stretch those stomachs and start the day of family and food with a tasty breakfast using any of these delicious Thanksgiving breakfast ideas!
Servings: 6
Prep: 15 minutesmins
Cook: 40 minutesmins
Total: 55 minutesmins
Video
Ingredients
1loafsourdough bread(used Pepperidge Farm)
8eggs
2cupsmilk
2teaspoonspumpkin pie spice
½ -1cupLIBBY’S 100% Pure Pumpkin
¼cupheavy whipping cream
¼cupsugar
1tablespoonvanilla extract
Topping
½cupall-purpose flour
½cupbrown sugar
1teaspooncinnamon
1teaspoonpumpkin pie spice
½teaspoonsalt
½cupbutter
Cinnamon Buttermilk Syrup
½cupbutter
1cupsugar
½cupbuttermilkor 1/2cup milk with 1 tsp lemon juice
1teaspoonvanilla extract
½teaspooncinnamon
½teaspoonbaking soda
Instructions
Cut bread into 1½ inch squares. Place in a greased 9×13 pan.
In a bowl whisk together eggs, milk, pumpkin pie spice, pumpkin puree, heavy cream, sugar, and vanilla. Once it's mixed well, pour over bread chunks and refrigerate overnight. If looking to do this quicker, refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.
To make the streusel, mix flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice, and salt in a bowl. Cut in a cold stick of butter. Mix with your fork until crumbly. Refigerate overnight as well.
Once ready to bake preheat oven to 350°F.
Before baking spread streusel over the top and bake for 35-45 minutes.
Make buttermilk syrup by melting butter in a pan on low-medium heat. Add sugar, buttermilk, vanilla, and cinnamon – mix with whisk. Add baking soda and stir until all combined. Well be foamy at first and will then return to normal.
Serve warm with french toast bake right out of the oven.
Notes
Recipe Tips:
We used sourdough bread for this recipe and it was flavorful and delicious. Stay away from using limp sandwich bread (you want crusty bread), but you can use other bread such as Texas Toast, Brioche, French bread, Pullman loaves, or challah bread.
If you do not have stale bread, cut up your bread and place it on a tray in the oven at 350°F for about 12-18 minutes until the bread becomes a little crunchy and all dried out.
To make this non-dairy, use coconut cream instead of heavy cream and cashew milk instead of cow’s milk.
Topping variations. Instead of cinnamon buttermilk syrup, try topping this with powdered sugar, agave syrup, maple syrup, honey, or incorporate walnuts/pecans into your streusel for some extra crunch.
Make ahead of time. Assemble the casserole the night before, cover it with foil, and keep it in the fridge until you’re ready to bake it in the morning. You can also keep it in the freezer for up to 1 month. Thaw overnight in the fridge before baking. STORE. Though leftovers aren’t quite the same as freshly baked you do not want them going to waste. Keep leftover toast in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days or in the freezer for up to 1 month. Reheat in the microwave or in the oven.
Kristyn Merkley is a published cookbook author, wife, mom of six, and major food enthusiast! For the past 15 years, she has been sharing foolproof, family-friendly recipes—each one tested in her kitchen—that anyone can master. As a seasoned recipe creator, she loves making cooking simple, stress-free, and totally doable for everyone!
I tried the german pancakes recipe and they really were fun to watch bake.
Such a special way to start your thanksgiving day! The selection is amazing and can hardly wait to try them. Thank you!
Now, this is a great list to start your Thanksgiving morning!! We make a lot of your pancake recipes & your quiches are so yummy!!