Savoury bread and butter pudding is a perfect breakfast or brunch idea for feeding a crowd.
If you fancy all the flavours of a classic full English, but cannot face the thought of a pile of dirty pans, then this English breakfast bake is for you.
I've used a combination of sausages, bacon and mushrooms as the main ingredients, nestled amongst some crusty buttered bread. It's covered in a savoury egg mix and then baked in the oven until puffed and golden.
It works even better with stale bread, so perfect for using up those leftovers.
So easy and it slices beautifully too.
Enjoy.
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Bread and butter pudding is a British classic and a real family favourite and it's a great dish to prepare in advance and cook when you are ready. So, why not make a breakfast or brunch dish in advance too?
When family visit, it's often tempting to make a full English breakfast, but it's not the easiest thing to cook and keep all the elements warm at the same time. Plus, there is always so much clearing up.
This dish gives you many of the flavours, but lets the oven do the hard work. You can even prepare it the night before and put it in the oven in the morning.
Of course, the best part is that you can easily customise this dish too, so if you want to add some leftover roast potatoes or serve baked beans on the side, you can.
❤️ Why you will love this recipe
- Great for feeding a crowd.
- Less clearing up.
- Easy to vary the ingredients.
- All the flavours of a full English breakfast.
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🥘 Ingredients
- Bread - slices of white crusty bread, preferably stale, as they will get some great crispy edges in the oven.
- Sausages - cocktail sausages or mini sausages are great as they are easier to portion.
- Butter - your choice. I usually use salted butter for savoury dishes.
- Bacon - slices of smoked back bacon.
- Onion - white or yellow onion.
- Mushrooms - brown or chestnut mushrooms.
- Cheese - it's not traditional, but I couldn't resist a sprinkling of mature cheddar.
- Oil - vegetable, olive or sunflower oil for frying.
- Eggs - large, free range eggs.
- Milk - whole or semi skimmed milk.
- Parsley - for colour and flavour - totally optional.
- Seasoning - flaked sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.
The recipe card with ingredient quantities and detailed instructions can be found at the bottom of the post.
🍽 Equipment
- large frying pan or skillet
- large oven dish
- sharp knife
- wooden spoon
- cheese grater
🔪 Instructions
Start by grating the cheese and peeling and slicing the onions.
Cut the mushrooms into quarters and cut the bacon into chunky slices.
Heat the oil in a large pan and fry the onions and sausages together over a medium heat for about 10 minutes until coloured,
Add the bacon pieces and mushrooms and fry for a further 5 minutes.
💭 Top Tip
- I find that it's easier to start the cooking process in a pan as only the top will get brown in the oven.
- If you prefer you can use a large pan for the precooking and then use the same one in the oven if it is safe to use - and that means even less clearing up!
Grease the baking dish with a little oil or butter.
While the sausage mixture is cooking spread the bread with the butter, slice in half or quarters and arrange in the baking dish.
Whisk together the eggs with the milk, seasoning and parsley.
Divide the sausage and bacon mixture evenly around the bread.
Next, pour over the egg mixture until all the bread is covered.
Sprinkle with the cheese.
💭 Top Tip
- If you want to make this dish in advance then cover and refrigerate before adding the egg mixture the night before. Then just pour over the egg and cheese before baking.
⏲️ Baking Time
Bake at 190 C / 375 F / 170 FAN / Gas 5 for about 25 minutes until puffed up and golden.
🥗 Serve with
This savoury bread and butter pudding is great served on its own or with a side of beans at breakfast.
If you fancy serving it at a brunch gathering, try these other light bite dishes.
- Smoke salmon pâté
- Lorne Sausage
- Cheese Savoury
- Derbyshire Oatcakes
- Kentish Huffkins
- Cheese and bacon scones
- Bacon Wrapped Onion Rings
- London Particular Soup
- Baked Halloumi Fries
- Mushrooms on Toast
- Corned Beef Fritters
- Courgette and Sweetcorn Fritters
🥙 Substitutions
- Bread - use plain white sliced bread if that's what you have.
- Sausages -use thin sausages and cut in half instead of cocktail sausages.
- Bacon - use cooked ham.
📖 Variations
- Bread - try sliced croissants, brioche bread or sourdough for different flavours and textures.
- Vegetarian - swap the sausages and bacon for halved cherry mushrooms, sliced peppers or courgettes.
- Leftover love - make this more of a dinner dish with leftover chicken or turkey, chopped roast potatoes and leftover vegetables.
🍣Storage
- Refrigerator - cool to room temperature then cover and store in the fridge for up to 3 days.
- Freezer - freeze this dish uncooked or cooked for up to 3 months.
- To reheat - cover with foil and reheat cooked leftovers in the oven or in the microwave.
🍱 Prepare in Advance
- Prepare the night before and cook as required the next day.
🤔FAQs
The ingredients in both are very similar with bread, butter, dried fruit, milk and eggs.
However, bread and butter pudding is bread and fruit cooked in a custard and bread pudding used the bread mixed in with all the other ingredients and baked like a very dense cake..
It's really important to use stale bread or the bread will soak up too much milk.
Lightly toast the bread and cool before using if you have fresh bread.
More British favourites to try
- Pea Pottage
- Lobscouse
- Chicken Balmoral
- Scotch Pies
- Potted Shrimps
- Barnsley Chops
- Saddle of Lamb
- Sausage Hotpot
- Savoury Mince
- Roast Rib of Beef
- Roast Venison Haunch
- Turkey and Ham Pie
- Beef Olives
📋 RECIPE
📋 Recipe
Savoury Bread and Butter Pudding
Equipment
- Large frying pan or skillet
- Large baking dish
- Sharp knife
- Wooden spoon
Ingredients
- 12 cocktail sausages
- 6 slices white bread
- 50 g butter
- 4 slices smoked bacon back
- 1 onion
- 6 mushrooms
- 50 g cheese cheddar
- 1 tablespoon oil
- 3 eggs
- 500 ml milk
- 1 tablespoon parsley fresh, chopped
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 tsp salt
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 190 C / 375 F / 170 FAN / Gas 5 for
- Start by grating the cheese and peeling and slicing the onions.
- Cut the mushrooms into quarters and cut the bacon into chunky slices.
- Heat the oil in a large pan and fry the onions and sausages together over a medium heat for about 10 minutes until coloured.
- Add the bacon pieces and mushrooms and fry for a further 5 minutes.
- Grease the baking dish with a little oil or butter.
- While the sausage mixture is cooking spread the bread with the butter, slice in half or quarters and arrange in the baking dish.
- Whisk together the eggs with the milk, seasoning and parsley.
- Divide the sausage and bacon mixture evenly around the bread.
- Pour over the egg mixture until all the bread is covered.
- Sprinkle with the cheese.
- Cook for about 25 minutes until puffed up and golden.
Disclaimer: The nutritional information provided is approximate and is calculated using online tools. Information can vary depending on various factors, but we have endeavoured to be as accurate as possible.
Detailed instructions for this recipe, including step by step photographs, hints and tips, can be found in the main article
🌡️Food Safety
- Do not use the same utensils on cooked food, that previously touched raw meat.
- Wash hands after touching raw meat.
- Don't leave food sitting out at room temperature for extended periods.
- Never leave cooking food unattended.
- Use oils with high smoking point to avoid harmful compounds.
- Always have good ventilation when using gas.
Do you have a question or did you make the recipe?
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Mandy Applegate
I love bread and butter pudding!
Dannii
We call this a breakfast bake and it's a great way to feed a crowd and use up leftovers too. Yours looks delicious.
Savita
This looks so tempting, perfect family dinner.
Shashi
My mom used to make a savory bread and butter pudding for us kids - this brings back delicious memories!
Tavo
Looks like the perfect comfort food dish! Today started to snow here and I made the pudding. Came out deliciously!