The best Christmas Morning Wifesaver recipe

(This Christmas Morning Wifesaver recipe was updated on Nov. 29, 2023.)

I have an old, stained photocopy of my mother’s “Christmas Morning Wifesaver” recipe — that she made every Christmas for us — in my terribly curated recipe book.

And while she’s never been one to stray too far from a recipe, we’ve played with it over the years and tried several variations that put the original to shame. (Sorry, Mom.) This one I’ve shared below is the best yet. Oh, and you need not celebrate Christmas to enjoy a Wifesaver. Nor must you be a wife to cook it, as my husband can attest. This is great any time of year — if you have a New Year’s Day brunch coming up, it’s the perfect excuse to give this recipe a try.

Your friends or loved ones may call this a cheese soufflé (like my friend Emma Waverman‘s family does), a Christmas Morning Casserole or Homemaker’s Surprise, but they all follow the same concept: it’s breakfast lasagne. And it’s frickin’ delish.

If you’re looking for the original Christmas Morning Wifesaver recipe, here it is straight from my mother’s recipe files:

We’ve tried this with sourdough bread, leftover baguettes, French and Italian loaves. We used to follow the recipe and remove the crusts but we don’t bother anymore. We usually use spiral-cut ham or peameal bacon but this year we also tried regular bacon. (It seems any pork by-product will work; this is definitely not a vegetarian-friendly dish!)

You can also use just about any cheese you like, or a mixture of your favourites. It works with and without the Worcestershire sauce, and whether or not you sautee the onions and green peppers.

There’s truly no limit to Wifesaver creativity.

But I finally decided to write about the best holiday recipe of all time because we have finally knocked it out of the park. (Pat, pat.)

What you’ll need for your Christmas Morning Wifesaver

• A skillet, deep casserole dish or roasting pan (this year, we doubled the recipe and used our HUGE skillet)
• One day of prep (you have to assemble this dish and let it sit overnight)
• An oven (there’s no microwaving this baby), preferably with convection to bake the Wifesaver evenly
• Stale bread (we usually buy it two days ahead of time, slice it and leave it out overnight)

The 2.0 ingredients

• One loaf of stale brioche, sliced about 1-1.5cm thick
• Two packages of PC Naturally Smoked Peppercorn-Crusted Hickory Smoked Thick Cut Bacon, baked on cookie trays in the oven (here’s how)
• Two-year-old Balderson cheddar cheese, grated
• Half a medium onion, diced and sauteed
• Half a green pepper, diced and sauteed
• Six large or extra-large eggs
• 1/2 tsp. table salt
• 1/2 tsp. pepper
• 1 tsp. dry mustard
• A good dash or two of dry red pepper flakes
• 1 tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
• 3 cups homo (whole) milk
• 1/2 cup of margarine or butter
• A handful or two of crushed Corn Flakes

How to assemble your Christmas Morning Wifesaver

Making a Christmas Morning Wifesaver is hella easy, but you have to remember the most crucial step: DO IT THE NIGHT BEFORE YOU WANT TO EAT IT. It needs time to, well, marinate, if you will.

OK, let’s do this. (Don’t worry — I’m not about to make you scroll forever to get to the directions. I’ma just give it to you all with no strings attached.)

1. Bake your bacon in the oven.

Baking it in the oven ensures the strips stay super flat.

2. Sautee onions + peppers.

Add a bit of butter or coconut oil to a pan and sautee on medium heat. Do not overcook.

3. Grate the cheese.

Notice I didn’t specify how much cheese you need. That’s because I use an ungodly amount. Just grate as much as you want, really.

4. Make your milk + egg mixture.

Whisk together your eggs, milk, salt, pepper, red pepper flakes, dry mustard and Worcestershire sauce.

5. Start layering.

Bread, cheese, bacon, veg, repeat. The bigger the dish, the more layers you can add. Obviously you need to consider doubling your recipe like we did if you need it to fit in the biggest skillet ever, like the one shown above.

6. Pour the milk + egg mixture over the whole thing.

Once you’ve got your top layer of bread, add whatever remaining veg you have in your pan. Then pour the liquid overtop. You can add leftover cheese if you want, too. Because cheese.

7. Cover with cling film (Saran Wrap) + refrigerate.

This needs to be chilled for a solid 6-8 hours before cooking. That’s why it’s recommended that you prep this the day before you plan to cook it, so you can refrigerate it overnight.

8. Heat oven + add the final ingredients.

The next morning, add the melted butter or margarine to your uncooked Wifesaver and crumble Corn Flakes overtop. We use a lot because it adds a really good crunch. (Note: this post is not sponsored by Corn Flakes, but we’ve tried other cereals and nothing works quite the same way.)

9. Bake + rest according to original instructions: 350 degrees F for one hour, then let stand 20 minutes.

Voila! Golden goodness.

10. Enjoy your Christmas Morning Wifesaver!

In this recipe passed down from Mommy Gearest’s mother, the new version of a beloved childhood tradition — the Christmas Morning Wifesaver is the best (and most decadent) yet.

We’ve also discovered — through challenging trial and error — that the Christmas Morning Wifesaver pairs very well with a Bailey’s or Rumchata Coffee… Don’t say you weren’t warned.

DISCLAIMER: Not a single bit of this is sponsored; I’m just delighted to share my family’s long tradition with you.