This Green Chile Cheese Breakfast Bake is not only just a quick & easy breakfast dish, but it is also a great way to use up leftover cornbread or pretty much any stale bread you have available. There are no exact measurements for the ingredients. It’s basically some green chile and cheese piled on top of stale bread / cornbread, covered with whisked eggs and spices, and baked. It’s hearty, spicy, high in protein and a delicious way to start the day.
But don’t restrict yourself to just the ingredients listed below. This dish as so many possibilities. Be sure to read the Kitchen Notes for other ingredients that can be used.
Green Chile Cheese Breakfast Bake
Aside from being tasty and spicy, this breakfast bake is a great way to use stale bread or cornbread. It's also a wonderful way to start the day.
"*" See Kitchen Notes for more information or links to special ingredients.
- At least 1 cup leftover cornbread or any stale bread*
- ~ 1 Tbsp. butter
- ~½ cup diced onion*
- ~½ cup roasted green chile, chopped
- ½ – 1 cup Monterey Jack or Cheddar Cheese cheese*, grated
- 4 eggs
- 2 Tbsp. milk or cream
- ½ tsp. Mexican oregano or regular oregano*
- ½ tsp. mustard powder*
- ½ tsp. black pepper*
- ¼ tsp. salt*
- 1/4 cup black olives chopped (optional)
- Preheat oven to 350ºF for 2 au gratin dishes or 375ºF of single casserole dish.
- Butter the bottom and sides of the dishes.
- Crumble the cornbread or stale bread evenly across the bottom of the dishes. Place in the oven for 10 minutes or until the cornbread starts to lightly toast. Remove from the oven.
- While the cornbread is toasting, in a bowl, beat the eggs. Add the milk, oregano, mustard powder, salt and pepper. Whisk for a couple of minutes.
Spread the onion, green chile, olive (if using) and cheese evenly across the cornbread.
- Pour the egg mixture over the green chile, onions and cheese.
- Bake for 25/35* minutes or until center is firm.
- Remove from oven and let cool about 5 minutes before serving.
Leftover bread / cornbread – The amount of bread you use is variable. For me, the ideal amount is about 1/2 cup per serving. You only need a sparse layer on the bottom of the dish. Too much bread and the result will be too bready and not enough of the green chile and egg flavor.
Onion – Because the onion is initially raw, it maintains some crispiness in the baking process. Sweet onion yields a mild onion flavor, whereas other onions yield a little more intense onion flavor (which I love). If you’re not an onion fan, use the sweet onion or substitute the onion with bell pepper or some other vegetable.
Cheese – A Mexican cheese like Cojita or Queso Fresco also works. It just doesn’t melt as much as the Jack or cheddar, but it provides it’s own unique flavor which is complementary to the green chile.
Spices – A variety of herbs and spices can be used. Just try to make what you use complementary to the green chile. Many times I just use 1/2 teaspoon green chile spice blend.
Dishes: au gratin or casserole – Personally, I prefer using the au gratin dishes. The dish does bake faster and it’s fun eating out of the baking dish.
Baking time – The single servings cook faster (25 minutes). The single casserole dish usually requires at least 35 minutes.
Additional ingredients – There are endless possibilities with this dishes. Below are several ingredients that you can use to change up the flavors and to use what you have on hand.
- Mexican Chorizo
- Sliced black olives
- A few chopped greens (e.g. spinach, chard, kale)
- A different cheese (e.g. queso fresco, cotija, sharp cheddar, fontina, gouda)
- Chopped sweet peppers
- Chopped scallions
- Cooked beans (e.g., pinto, black beans, bolita)
- Diced mushrooms
Bobby and I love starting our day with a chile breakfast. Because we both just love chile, it doesn’t really matter whether it’s green or red or both. In addition to this Green Chile Breakfast Bake, here are some of our other favorite breakfast chile dishes.
If you can’t get green chile locally be sure to check out my list of suppliers for fresh (when in season) and frozen chile (year round). Click for a list of New Mexico Green Chile Suppliers.
Click this link for more green chile recipes: Index of Green Chile Recipes.
What a fabulous idea. Because we make homemade bread in our house, we tend to slice the loaf up and freeze individual slices, but every bit of the loaf is used, consequently we are sometimes left with about half a dozen slices of ends – like now. Guess whose going to have a crack at this little brekky dish. Uhuh! That’d be me.
Ohhh nice one! great to wake you up in the morning
Thanks Raymund!
I love love breakfast food. I would be very likely to fix this dish for dinner. In fact I wish I had leftover cornbread sitting in my kitchen as we speak, because I am STARVING! Okay maybe I could live easily or week or two or maybe three on my
fat ‘reserves’, but let’s don’t get technical. It’s a simple recipe that is wonderful. Hey, simply wonderful! I could have just said that and be done with it. Lol
Oh those wonderful fat reserves. What would we do without them? 🙂 Thanks so much for dropping by. Hope you’re doing well!
Oh lovely, perhaps tomorrow’s breakfast for me lol ?
Thanks Evelyne!
We love hearty breakfast dishes and this one would certainly be enjoyed by my family. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks Taruna!
This sounds like a delicious way to use up old bread! Oh I can almost imagine how it tastes like.
Thanks Peachy!
This is the best way to start your day! All this cheese heaven in a dish!
Thanks Katerina!
I also love starting my day with chile! (Though my usual fare is pickled chile, on top of fresh goat cheese spread on crunchy Finnish “diet” bread).
I love this dish! Probably the most fantastic idea to use stale bread! I can imagine how perfect it would be for my weekend brunch… it looks so comforting and perfect for the summer! (I don’t know why but I love oven-baked dishes in the summer).
Would you consider making this dish with fresh chile or roasted is much much better?
Well, that sounds like a great way to start the day! Pickled chile and feta – YUM! Actually either form of chile works. Fresh chile would provide some crunch, but would work just fine. I’ve made it with fresh yellow hots and it worked great. Thanks Sissi!
You just made me miss my oven like crazy. Maybe I’ll try to do it over a fire in an iron pan 😀
Thanks Marta!! Do you have a lid for that iron pan? When I camped, I used cast iron and a lid as a mock oven. Have fun!
I am loving the sounds of this! Kind of a breakfast bread pudding! Trying for sure!
In a way, but I do try to hold back a little on the bread so I don’t drown out the chile. 🙂 Thanks Abbe!
I love breakfast bakes and casseroles, MJ. So easy to prepare, and so satisfying. This looks spicy and fabulous and a great way to start the day! 🙂
Thanks so much Anne!
Oh MJ, this would be soooo satisfying on a slow Saturday morning to linger over and enjoy every bite! Love the addition of the cornbread. 🙂
Thanks Judy! Yes, it is a great weekend brunch, but being retired one could eat it any day of the week. 🙂
What a perfect way to breath new life into the breakfast slump. Kick it up with green chile. The boys would love this one. Pinning for later.
Thanks so much Bobbi! I know how your boys like it spicy! 🙂
This looks like a breakfast we would love around here! Super tasty and filling.
Thanks so much Amy!
What a great idea for using leftover bread, I have never had anything like it. I usually dry the leftover bread and made breadcrumbs out of it, but now I would love to try this as well.
Thanks Adina! There are so may ways to use leftover breads so finding another one is exciting, especially cornbread which I usually just keep for cornbread dressing.
The combo of cheese and cornbread is unbeatable. And this is actually perfect for any meal, MJ.
Thanks Angie! Yep…cheese and cornbread is great together and adding a bit of green chile just makes it even better.
Frugal and spicy ! Winning combination ! Thank you !
Thanks you two!
Looks and sounds delicious! Sounds like something my Mother would have made especially with the cornbread. Thanks for sharing!
Thanks so much Jan!
What a great way to use up leftover bread! The chile and spice really make this a fabulous breakfast! (I could add some crumbled bacon, could’t I?)
Bacon sounds awesome! I’ve been know to throw in a little chorizo, but haven’t had it with bacon. Next time. Thanks!!!
I actually have some cornbread in the freezer and some frozen Hatch green chilies (almost out, though — looking forward to this year’s harvest!). So I’m good to go. This looks terrific — loads of flavor. And pretty! Thanks.
I’m almost out as well. So glad it’s chile season! 🙂 Thanks John!
Sounds and looks very tasty.
Thanks!
Love, love, love the cornbread idea, M.J.!!!
Thanks Debra! It works great!