Kale, Bacon, and Cheese Breakfast Casserole
The bacon adds amazing flavor to this Kale, Bacon, and Cheese Breakfast Casserole, and I love starting out the day with kale! And this tasty breakfast casserole has only 4 net carbs, and it’s perfect to make on the weekend and reheat for a low-carb breakfast during the week!
PIN this tasty Breakfast Casserole with bacon, kale, and cheese!
I’m a long time lover of bacon, so of course I love the addition of bacon in this Kale, Bacon, and Cheese Breakfast Casserole. And whether you’re a bacon lover who always enjoys a dish with bacon or someone who’d use turkey bacon or Canadian bacon for less fat, this will be delicious no matter what type of bacon you use.
But personally I’d have a hard time sticking to an eating plan where I couldn’t eat bacon sometimes. Of course there’s a huge amount of uber-nutritous kale in the recipe, so I hope I can get a few points for that! And I always feel quit virtuous when I start out the day with leafy greens!
What ingredients do you need?
(This is only a list of ingredients; please scroll down for complete printable recipe. Or if you use the JUMP TO RECIPE link at the top of the page, it will take you directly to the complete recipe.)
- kale
- Olive Oil (affiliate link)
- bacon, cooked very crisp
- grated cheese
- eggs
- salt to taste
- fresh ground black pepper to taste
- Spike Seasoning (affiliate link), or other all-purpose seasoning blend
Can you use more bacon in this kale breakfast casserole?
Please, feel free to use more bacon to give this breakfast casserole amazing bacon flavor if you like! Or use less bacon if you prefer. If there’s one thing I believe, it’s that everyone gets to make their own food choices.
What other leafy greens can you use if you don’t like kale?
You can definitely make this breakfast casserole with another type of greens like spinach, Swiss chard, or collard greens. If you choose spinach, that will wilt much more quickly in the pan; Swiss chard and collards will take only slightly less time to wilt down than kale does.
Want more information about making breakfast casseroles?
If you’re a fan of this type of breakfast dish baked as a casserole, you might like to see my Low-Carb Breakfast Casserole Master Recipe that can help you make a breakfast casserole out of whatever’s in the fridge.
How to Make Kale, Bacon, and Cheese Breakfast Casserole:
(This is only a summary of the steps for the recipe; please scroll down for complete printable recipe. Or if you use the JUMP TO RECIPE link at the top of the page, it will take you directly to the complete recipe.)
- Wash kale and cut into thin crosswise strips.
- Heat oil in a pan with high sides, and when it’s very hot add the kale all at once. (It will look like a huge amount of kale, but it wilts down very quickly.) Cook the kale 1 or 2 minutes, just long enough to wilt it down.
- Microwave or fry the bacon until it’s crisp and then blot some fat, as much as you prefer.
- Put wilted kale in the bottom of a sprayed casserole dish and top with the crumbled bacon.
- Then top with 3/4 cup of grated cheese. I used a mixture of four cheese Mexican blend and a blend called pizza cheese.
- Pour the eggs into the casserole dish and use the fork to mix the ingredients so the egg is well distributed. (It will look like you need more egg, but trust me on this.)
- Bake 22-25 minutes until the eggs are set and the casserole is starting to brown on top. You can’t really tell in this photo, but the center may puff up before the casserole cools a bit.
- Serve hot, with a dollop of low-fat sour cream if desired.
More Tasty Breakfast Ideas with Kale:
- Artichoke, Kale, and Ricotta Pie
- Kale, Mushroom, and Cheese Breakfast Casserole
- Kale and Red Onion Savory Breakfast Squares
- Sausage, Kale, and Mozzarella Egg Bake
- Kale, Mozzarella, and Egg Bake
Weekend Food Prep:
This recipe has been added to a category called Weekend Food Prep to help you find recipes you can prep or cook on the weekend and eat during the week!
Kale, Bacon, and Cheese Breakfast Casserole
It doesn’t take a lot of bacon to add amazing flavor to this Kale, Bacon, and Cheese Breakfast Casserole, and I love starting out the day with kale!
Ingredients
- 1 large bunch kale (8 oz. sliced kale strips)
- 1 T olive oil
- 4 slices bacon, cooked very crisp (see notes)
- 3/4 cup grated cheese (see notes)
- 10 eggs
- salt to taste (see notes)
- fresh ground black pepper to taste
- 1 tsp. Spike Seasoning (optional but good; see notes)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375F/190C. Spray a medium-sized glass or crockery casserole dish with nonstick spray.
- Trim off kale stems, then wash the kale and spin dry or dry with paper towels. (It doesn’t have to be completely dry but shouldn’t be dripping with water.)
- Stack up the kale leaves and cut in thin crosswise strips. (I used small kale leaves from my garden. If you’re using a bunch of large kale leaves you might need to cut out the center rib.)
- Heat the olive oil in a very large frying pan. When the oil is hot, add the kale all at once. Use a turner to turn the pile of kale until it’s all wilted, about 1-2 minutes. (If you want the kale very soft in the finished dish, cook it a minute or two more. I like the kale to be slightly chewy.)
- Cook the bacon until it’s very crisp, blotting as much fat as you can with paper towels. (I like to use pre-cooked bacon, crisp it in the microwave, and then blot off the fat.)
- In the sprayed casserole dish, layer kale, crumbled bacon, and cheese.
- Break eggs into a bowl or large glass measuring cup, season with salt, pepper, and Spike Seasoning (affiliate link) (if using), and beat eggs well with a fork.
- Pour the eggs over the kale-bacon-cheese mixture, then use the fork to stir gently until eggs are well-distributed in the mixture. (It will look like you need more eggs, but trust me!)
- Bake 22-25 minutes or until the casserole is set and the top is lightly browned. (Don’t worry if the center puffs up; it will settle down when the casserole cools.)
- Serve hot, with a dollop of low-fat sour cream if desired.
- This will keep at least a week in the fridge and can be reheated in the microwave. Don’t heat more than a minute or two, or the eggs will get rubbery.
Notes
Before you make this you may want to read Basic Instructions for Low-Carb Breakfast Casseroles which has instructions for different sizes of pan and ingredient options for this type of breakfast casserole.
I like to use precooked bacon and crisp it in the microwave for 3-4 minutes. Use more bacon if you prefer. I like Vege-Sal (affiliate link) and Spike Seasoning (affiliate link) in breakfast casseroles like this, but regular salt and any all-purpose seasoning that's good with eggs will definitely work. I used a combination of Four Cheese Mexican blend and Pizza Cheese; use more cheese if you prefer.
Recipe created by Kalyn.
Nutrition Information
Yield
6Serving Size
1Amount Per Serving Calories 264Total Fat 19gSaturated Fat 7gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 11gCholesterol 332mgSodium 720mgCarbohydrates 5gFiber 1gSugar 1gProtein 17g
Nutrition information is automatically calculated by the Recipe Plug-In I am using. I am not a nutritionist and cannot guarantee 100% accuracy, since many variables affect those calculations.
Low-Carb Diet / Low-Glycemic Diet / South Beach Diet Suggestions:
Kale, Bacon, and Cheese Breakfast Casserole is great for low-carb eating plans, even Keto. Even though bacon is not really permitted for the original South Beach Diet I think if you use very crisp bacon with the fat blotted off with a paper towel, this is not that bad for South Beach as a once-in-a-while-treat. You can also make it with Canadian bacon or turkey bacon if you want to follow South Beach more strictly.
Find More Recipes Like This One:
Use Breakfast Recipes to find more recipes like this one. Use the Diet Type Index to find recipes suitable for a specific eating plan. You might also like to follow Kalyn’s Kitchen on Pinterest, on Facebook, on Instagram, on TikTok, or on YouTube to see all the good recipes I’m sharing there.
Historical Notes for this Recipe:
This breakfast casserole recipe with Kale, Bacon, and Cheese was first posted in 2006! It was updated with better photos and directions in 2015, and was last updated with more information in 2023.
44 Comments on “Kale, Bacon, and Cheese Breakfast Casserole”
I could eat this for breakfast every morning, too. Eggs and kale has become one of my favorite food combinations.
Lydia, me too!
Katie, thanks for letting us know that making it ahead worked so well!
I tried making it ahead and thought it turned out great! I followed the recipe up until the baking step, then refrigerated overnight. In the morning I baked a little longer to make up for it being cold instead of room temp. My whole family loved it and I'm sharing the recipe with a friend! Thank you! I hope your arm heals quickly!
I haven't tried making it ahead, but I think I'd prep the other ingredients and then pour the eggs over in the morning if you want to make ahead.
Has anyone tried making it ahead (putting together the night before) and then baking the next morning? Didn't know if putting all the ingredients together night before would change the texture or ruin it somehow…thanks!
RJ, so glad to hear it was a hit, thanks!
Kalyn, I just had to come back and comment on this kale casserole. Its just delicious! I planned it for my main dish along w/a salad for my evening meal. My DH who is a very fussy eater who I thought wouldn't even taste it,ate half of it! I think the bacon did the trick for him after smelling it while I cooked. Just needed to let you know it was fab and one of our favorites now. Thanks as always.
S excited to try this in a few minutes, was looking for a recipe with these ingredients.
Anna, glad you liked it. Thanks for letting us know it was good with mustard greens.
Just made this with mustard greens; so great with bacon! Maybe I'll actually try it with kale next time.
Kale is about the healthiest thing you can eat; it's loaded with nutrients. Hope you enjoy it in this!
This looks so good! I have never tried Kale or even cooked with it so it will be interesting!! Thanks for sharing!!
Emily, glad you enjoyed it.
I recently drove 2 hours to get to a Trader Joe's store (our town is a bit lacking in the grocery department) and picked up 3 10 oz bags of prewashed, stemmed and cut kale. What a luxury, since I don't have a garden! This casserole was a fantastic use of one bag, but it only served 6 in our house of big eaters. I had pullet eggs from the farmer's market and had to use 13 because they're so small, but it was lovely.
Monica, me too and my garden is still exploding with kale so I'm still experimenting with it! Glad you like this idea.
I'm always looking for ways to incorporate more kale in my cooking. This looks fabulous. I'll definitely make mine with bacon!
Barbara, hope you enjoy it!
I just got a bunch of Kale in my organic food delivery and needed a recipe. This looks great; will have to try it!
Natalie, hope you enjoy it!
Anything with bacon is good. But i love that there is cheese and kale in this recipe. I will try this recipe out for sure!
Katie, this is my first year growing the dark green kale, and I'm loving it. When you have it in the garden you can pick the leaves when they're fairly small, and they are so delicious.
I can see I'm going to have to add kale to me garden next year. I've never seen it for sale here and I've been reading about it all summer. I'm intrigued.
Hope you enjoy it as much as I have! I've had it for breakfast the past couple of days and am loving it!
I try not to post until I've actually tried a recipe but this looks so awesome I couldn't resist giving you a prebake shout out!!! Can't wait to try this!
Well Dave moderation is the key, my bacon consumption is definitely pretty moderate!
Kieran, your recipe sounds really healthy! I do think the flavors of bacon, kale, and eggs go so well together.
This sounds like my favourite breakfast the past few weeks: a massive handful of kale, a slice of turkey bacon, a few egg whites, and low-fat cheese, all scrambled together. Delicious! I never even thought to make a casserole out of it, can't wait to try it!
Dara, I just had some for a late breakfast and this may be my new favorite way to eat kale!
Bacon and kale – now that sounds like a fantastic combination of flavors!
nothing tastes like bacon!
moderation in life and all things
If you don't want bacon I might make Kale and Feta Breakfast Casserole. I'm not that familiar with meat substitutes, so I don't know what would sub for bacon.
Love the cheesy top of the casserole! How and with what can I replace the bacon in here, Kalyn?
Diana and Miss T, Not surprised that I'm not the only one who has noticed that kale and bacon taste great together!
Kale and bacon! yes please!
Kale and bacon really do compliment each other. They're also great together in stir-fries!
Glad. You liked it!
I made this just last night but subsituted what I had onhand. I couldn't bring myself to use 18 eggs, so I did 9 eggs and 2 1/4 cups eggbeaters. I used andouille sausage instead of bacon, sauted with 1/2 yellow onion and some leftover asparagus.
It was delicious! Everyone in the family loved it. It was a nice change from the meat & 2 veg routine of South Beach.
Thanks!
Anonymous, I’ve never had the cheese and other ingredients float to the top. That sounds like too much egg to me, but not sure what happened.
I made this dish and I think I stirred the ingredients too much. The onions, bacon and cheese just floated on top of the egg and were not evenly distributed! Has this happened to anyone else?
t-wan, the recipe says 8-10 servings, but you could definitely cut it in half if you used a smaller dish. I have frozen this type of egg casserole. It releases some water when it’s reheated. It’s not bad, but I prefer it not frozen. It will keep in the fridge for at least a week.
Hi Kalyn,
I’m wondering if you can guessimate how many servings this makes (it’s just me and the hubby and this seems like a lot). I’m also wondering if you’ve tried freezing this casserole and if so what were you’re results.
TIA,
Wana
This sounds so good and I’m like you I can’t give up the bacon completely. I will definitely give this one a try.
I would think you could use turkey bacon in this and get the same effect as regular bacon.