Cheddar Bacon Breakfast Pie

This hearty Cheddar Bacon Breakfast Pie kickstarts a lazy weekend with classic ingredients elevated just a notch. Add in whatever toppings you like, make a day ahead, or serve at supper – this versatile recipe will have you covered!

I’m about to make some enemies, but I don’t like a sweet breakfast. Glazed donuts, pastries, stacks of pancakes drizzled in syrup…they just aren’t my cup of tea. I LOVE making this kind of thing for my friends and family, but if you give me a Buzzfeed quiz to find out what breakfast food I am, it’s going to be a pizza or sausage egg and cheese any time! This is my favorite kind of breakfast: hearty, comforting, best served a little later on in the morning on a weekend, and pairs well with a Bloody Mary.

Maybe best of all, you can change up how you make it every single time, so it’s really more a base than a strict recipe. Play around and have fun!

How Do I Make Cheddar Bacon Breakfast Pie?

The steps for this are a little complicated, but only for the pie dough. The rest of the pie is super easy. Here are the basic steps you’ll take to make this recipe.

• Make the crust. I put detailed steps on that later, so scroll down for more info there.
• Blind bake the crust. Roll out the crust and shape it in your greased pie dish. Cover with a sheet of parchment paper, then fill the bottom of the crust with pie weights or dried beans. I’m using dried chickpeas here. Make sure they are in an even layer on the bottom. Bake at 375 degrees for about 15 minutes. Remove the crust from the oven, then remove the pie weights by lifting out the parchment paper and setting it aside.

• Bake the filling. Lower the oven temperature to 350 degrees. Pour in your filling mixture into the pie shell. Use a pie shield or cover the edges of the pie crust with aluminum foil so they don’t overbake and turn dark brown. Bake at 350 degrees for about 45-50 minutes or until the center is just set.
• Rest and cool. Allow the breakfast pie to cool considerably before serving. It will set up as it cools as well.

Tips for Making Cheddar Bacon Breakfast Pie

This recipe is super simple except for the pie dough, honestly. That is the hardest part. Still, here are a few tips to help make this go as smoothly as possible.

1. Plan ahead! The pie crust has to rest for at least 2 hours, but it can go for 24 hours. That means you can make the dough on Friday for your chill brunch on Saturday.
2. Make the whole thing ahead! This recipe is SO good at room temperature. It is delicious bubbling hot out of the oven, sure, but it also is great room temperature. Take advantage of that sometimes and give your tomorrow self a break.
3. Use a store bought pie crust! Look, I get it. If you want to make this, but didn’t plan ahead enough, just use a store bought crust. Get a good one, fill it up, and enjoy brunch, honey.
4. Change up the toppings! Vegetarian? Get rid of the bacon. Don’t have these things on hand? Use what you have!

For the Filling:

• Eggs – use the best you can get your hands on.
• Cheese – I prefer cheddar here (I mean, it’s in the title!) but of course use what you have or pick a cheese that complements your protein.
• Bacon – we prefer center cut, but any kind is great. You can also use ham, sausage, whatever you have that you think will work.
• Half and half – you can use whole milk or even heavy cream, but you might want to adjust the amount a little if you do.
• Scallions – I love me some onions, so they have to go in my breakfast pie. You can totallly omit these, replace them with diced white onion, or add a little parsley for some green.

Additional filling ingredients that would be killer are other herbs, spinach, mushrooms, or bell peppers. You make it your own, honey!

Can I Make this Crustless or Use Store Bought Crust?

Of course you can, honey! Use your favorite store-bought crust if you prefer! Just follow the directions on the package in terms of prepping and blind baking.

You can make this with any crust at all. You would prepare the filling the same way. Grease a pie dish with either nonstick spray or butter, then pour in your filling. Bake the crustless breakfast pie at 350 degrees for about 40-45 minutes or until the middle is just set.

How Do I Make the Pie Crust?

Pie crust can be really tricky if you have never made it. The dough doesn’t look like it’s going to come together, it has to cool for a while, and when it does come together a ton of flour is left behind.

Trust the process, honey.

The first few times you make pie crust you will feel like a failure, and I’m here to tell you that YOU ARE NOT A FAILURE. It’s just kind of hard and weird, and so many people do it so many ways. This is my way, but if you want to make this pie and have a crust recipe you love, use it! It’s your house, angel, ain’t no one going to stop you!

For the Crust:

• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2/3 cup very cold ice water
• 3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1 cup very cold unsalted butter

It’s important that all your ingredients be as COLD as possible. I even refrigerate the flour if I think far enough ahead. Once the butter starts melting in your hands and into the flour, things get too sticky, so keep it cold.

This crust recipe makes enough for TWO crusts. I feel like pie dough is so precious and finicky to make that I prefer to make the whole recipe every time. You can make the dough, cut it in half, and freeze one half for up to 3 months. You could also make this recipe to make one double crust pie. For this recipe, you will only be using half of the pie dough you make.

Step By Step: Making the Crust

In a small bowl, dissolve the salt into the water. Place the bowl in the fridge to keep it super cold until you’re ready to use it.

You now will choose which method to use: by hand or with a food processor. This recipe uses a food processor, but I also included by hand instructions.

Food Processor 

Place the flour in the bowl of a food processor. Cut the butter into small cubes. Scatter them over the flour. Working quickly, pulse the mixture until it forms into large crumbs and some of the pieces of butter remain pea-sized.

Drizzle the salt and water mixture over the dough and, if using a food processor, pulse until the dough comes together into a ball but is not completely smooth. You should still see visible butter chunks.

By Hand

Place the flour in a large bowl. Cut the butter into small cubes and scatter them over the flour. You now need to cut the butter into the flour, and you could do that using several tools. To make by hand, you can use two knives, one in each hand, cutting through the flour and butter at random until the butter is broken up through the flour. A pastry cutter would also work. You could also use your hands by picking up handfuls of butter and flour and squeezing the butter chunks to squish them into the flour. No matter your tools, work quickly so the mixture stays as cold as possible. Your mixture should be in large crumbs, with some of the butter pieces still visible but no bigger than a pea.

Drizzle the salt and water mixture over the dough while tossing with a fork. The dough should come together in a shaggy mess. Gently mix the dough together until it comes together in a ball, but is not completely smooth. You should still see chunks of butter in the dough.

Rest the Dough

Follow the rest of the directions no matter which method you used to create the dough.

On a lightly floured surface, divide the dough into 2 equal balls. Working quickly, shape each ball into a round disk about 1” thick. Completely wrap each disk in plastic wrap, then refrigerate them for a minimum of 2 hours. You can make the dough a day ahead and refrigerate for up to 24 hours.

Making Ahead and Storing Leftovers

If you are a planner, you are going to LOVE this recipe! You can make the dough ahead of time, but you can also make the entire pie up to one day ahead and store, covered with cling wrap, in the refrigerator. You can either serve at room temperature or warm the pie in a 350 degree oven for 10 minutes or until it is as warm as you like.

To save leftovers, store the pie in an airtight container for up to 3 days.

To freeze the whole pie or leftovers, completely bake and cool the breakfast pie. Wrap in parchment paper, then wrap in several layers of aluminum foil. Freeze for up to 3 months.

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