7 Make Ahead Christmas Breakfast Ideas (Italian Style)

Picture this: rich rosemary and orange smells filling your kitchen, a table that looks like a proper feast, and coffee ready to pour, no one will guess you made it all the day before.

I’m Alessia, founder of Italy with an Italian, where I usually write about Italian style, but my Christmas guides have become reader favorites, so here’s another one to fuel your holiday planning.

I’m sharing 7 make ahead Christmas breakfast ideas, a mix of sweet and savory, that are perfect whether you’re hosting family at home or running a cafe menu.

This is the vibe: an indulgent Italian inspired Christmas breakfast feast that’s easy to make ahead, includes traditional flavors, and is practical enough for real life.

Skip ahead to your favorite, or read through all seven. The best ideas usually come from mixing a few together.

Enjoy.

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Sweet & Savory Italian Crostini 

Cachi, that’s what Italians call persimmons, are really loved in Italy. In Sicily, we have the really popular Misilmeri variety – soft and sweet, the kind you cut in half and spoon out like a dessert. That’s exactly how I used to eat them as a kid, and I loved them.

For this first recipe, I thought I could come up with an idea on how to use them for crostini. That way, you don’t need to make the usual bruschetta. Let’s see it.

Ingredients:

Adjust your quantities.

• Rustic bread sliced
• Butter
• Soft persimmons (1 should make 4 crostini)
• Lemon
• Pecorino Romano cheese
• Thyme, rosemary, or just black pepper
• Optional honey to drizzle
• Italian EVOO

How to prepare this the day before:

1. Cut your rustic loaf into even slices, around 1.5 cm (over half an inch) thick.
2. Spread them with butter.
3. Peel and mash the soft persimmons in a bowl.
4. Squeeze a little lemon juice to stop them from browning.
5. If they are not sweet enough, you can add a little honey and mix.
6. Spread the persimmons onto the bread.
7. Add thin slices of pecorino cheese; you can use your potato peeler for that.
8. Sprinkle with herbs or black pepper.
9. Refrigerate.
10. Take out of the fridge an hour before cooking them.
11. Grill them in the oven for a few minutes before serving.
12. You can serve with an optional honey drizzle.

Swap: If you can’t find persimmons or don’t want to use them, you can replace it with marmalade, or make your own. 

Italian Christmas Fruit Salad

Who said fruit salad can’t have a little cheese in it? After all, the brief for this is an indulgent Italian Christmas breakfast spread.

Ingredients:

Serves 4.

• At least 2 blood oranges
• At least 2 regular oranges
• One extra orange for squeezing
• 1 pomegranate
• 7 to 10 walnuts
• 200 gr Crescenza cheese (or replace with cream cheese or mascarpone)
• Italian EVOO
• Balsamic Vinegar of Modena
• A pinch of salt
• Fresh basil leaves

How to make it the day before:

• Peel and slice your oranges.
• Open your pomegranate and extract the individual pips.
• Add everything to a bowl.
• Cover and refrigerate.
• On Christmas morning, you will simply add the walnuts, the juice of the additional orange, the oil, the basil leaves, crumble the cheese, and drizzle the balsamic.
• Don’t forget that pinch of salt.

Ricotta & Orange Panettone French Toast Casserole

I have shared this in a separate post, but I’d like to show you how you can make the casserole version the day before. You can find my original recipe here.

Ingredients:

Makes 6 medium portions.

• 1 orange (for the zest)
• 6 eggs
• 250 ml fresh cream, not whipped
• 5 tbsp white sugar (half for the batter and one for the ricotta)
• Optional pinch of nutmeg and cinnamon
• 100 gr ricotta 
• Local fresh honey (I like the multi flora kind)
• Optional milk or dark chocolate
• 6 medium panettone and pandoro slices (here’s a really good Italian brand)

How to make this the day before:

1. Beat the eggs into a bowl; add the fresh cream too.
2. Add the sugar and the optional spices.
3. Grate the orange zest. Use one fourth zest for the batter and the rest for the ricotta.
4. Prepare the ricotta by adding the sugar and the orange zest. Mix well and refrigerate.
5. Cut the panettone or pandoro into thick slices, around 3 cm thick (at least 1.2 inches).
6. Layer them onto your casserole.
7. Pour the egg and cream mixture on top evenly. Flip the slices, so both sides are soaked.
8. You can top with chocolate chips – white, milk, or dark, or a mix of all three.
9. Cover and refrigerate overnight.
10. On Christmas morning, bake for 40 minutes in the middle level of your oven.
11. Serve with a generous dollop of the orange ricotta you made and a drizzle of local honey.
12. You could also serve this with a drizzle of this balsamic vinegar.

Venice Style Croissant Sandwiches

These are inspired by the simple sandwiches, called tramezzini, popular in Venice, especially with a cold Spritz (of course, one made with Select rather than Aperol or Campari!).

You can read more about aperitivo and the most popular Italian drinks here:
The Ritual Of Aperitivo In Italy + Best Pre-Dinner Drinks 

Ingredients:

Makes 6 croissants (or cornetti ripieni).

• 6 croissants
• 5 small cans of tuna
• A few capers
• Hard boiled eggs (one or half for each croissant)
• Salt and pepper
• Mayonnaise
• Italian EVOO
• Optional green olives
• Optional ¼ onion

How to make these the day before:

1. Prepare the tuna mix, cover and refrigerate.
2. Boil the eggs. If you want, you can peel them, and submerge them in the water; they, obviously, need to go in the fridge.
3. On Christmas morning, you can fill the croissants. Having said that, this is one of those dishes that will be perfectly fine if you fill them the day before and store them in the fridge.
4. To fill them, simply cut the croissant on one side, add the filling, and one or half hard boiled egg (depending on how large the croissants are).
5. Serve them on a bed of leafy greens, for presentation but also because it goes well.

Italian Winter Baked Frittata (ready the day before)

I know Americans love egg casseroles for breakfast, and that’s exactly why I made sure to include an egg dish. However, I am suggesting a baked frittata because that’s more Italian.

Ingredients:

Makes a large frittata.

• 4 large potatoes
• 1 onion
• 2 cups broccoli
• 7 eggs
• Italian EVOO
• 70 gr grated parmesan
• 200 gr blue cheese
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Thyme or chives (choose your favorite herb; parsley is also fine)
• cubed bacon or ham

How to prepare this the day before:

1. Wash and peel the onions and potatoes. Cut the first into slices and the potatoes into quarters.
2. Wash and cut the broccoli into medium florets.
3. Throw everything in a baking dish, salt and pepper it, and drizzle plenty of Italian EVOO.
4. Roast it in the oven for 40 minutes.
5. Once cooked, let the vegetables reach room temperature.
6. In the meantime, prepare the egg mixture, cracking the eggs into a large bowl, and adding the grated parmesan, salt and pepper, and herbs and ham.
7. Mix everything.
8. Then add the cooked vegetables into a round casserole dish.
9. Pour the egg mixture over the top, spreading the vegetables around, if they move.
10. Add small pieces of blue cheese throughout the casserole.
11. Bake in the oven for 25 to 30 minutes at 170 °C (340 °F).
12. Take it out of the oven, let it cool, cover and refrigerate overnight.
13. On Christmas morning, you’ll just have to reheat it in the oven before serving.

Mozzarella in Carrozza Topped with Crispy Bacon

I had this brilliant idea: you could serve this indulgent traditional Italian street food topped with bacon, like a french toast.

All you have to do is prepare the mozzarella in carrozza, and serve it topped with crispy bacon. You can also accompany it with a herby white sauce or a tomato based one.

Ingredients for the Mozzarella in Carrozza:

Serves 2.

• 4 slices white sandwich bread
• 1 regular sized fresh mozzarella
• 2 eggs
• Salt and pepper
• Optional herbs (not required by the traditional recipe)
• ¼ cup flour
• Half cup breadcrumbs
• Italian EVOO

How to make it the day before (partially):

1. Beat the eggs into a bowl.
2. Add the flour in a second bowl, and season with salt and pepper.
3. Add the breadcrumbs in a third bowl, and season.
4. Prepare the mozzarella sandwiches by adding half a mozzarella sliced in the middle of two slices of sandwich bread.
5. Cut the crusty border.
6. Dip the entire sandwich into the egg mixture, turning it quickly on the other side. Make sure the borders are coated too.
7. Then add it onto the flour, making sure all sides get floured, even the borders.
8. Finally, dip them into the breadcrumbs on all sides and borders.
9. Store the sandwiches covered in the fridge overnight.
10. Then, the next morning, you’ll just need to deep fry them, or cook them in your air fryer.
11. You could also cook them and reheat them the next day.
    Don’t forget to prepare the crispy bacon and add it on top.

Italians Sausages with Broccoli Rabe & Melted Provola Cheese

If you think your breakfast needs an extra side of protein, and you’d like it to be a typical Italian dish, there’s nothing better than some Italian sausage. Because you’re serving it with some greens, you’ll also get some leafy goodness on Christmas morning. Don’t roll your eyes at me, they’re delicious!

Again, this is really simple to make.

Ingredients:

Serves 4.

• 1 broccoli rabe bunch
• 4 Italian sausages
• 2 garlic cloves
• Italian EVOO
• 2 splashes of white wine
• Salt and pepper
• Optional peperoncino (Italian chilli)

How to prepare this the day before:

1. Trim the broccoli rabes to remove the tough ends.
2. Rinse them and blanch them for 3 to 5 minutes to remove some of the bitterness.
3. Saute’ them with the garlic and a little salt in olive oil; remove from the pan.
4. Use the same pan to cook the sausages, splashing them with some white wine. They will take 15 minutes to cook.
5. Then add the broccoli rabe and leave them to cook for another couple minutes, adding more oil if needed, just a drizzle at a time.
6. You can top with some peperoncino or chilli flakes. This is optional.
7. Once cool, refrigerate overnight and then reheat in the morning.

More Italian Recipe Ideas

And there you have it, 7 make ahead Christmas breakfast dishes inspired by authentic Italian recipes and flavors.

I hope you found at least one to recreate, and don’t forget to let me know how you like it.

You can join my Italian newsletter and we can chat about that and much more. It’s called Buona Settimana and lands in your inbox every Sunday. I hope to see you there.

And if you need more sweet recipes, I suggest these three:

Find all my Italian Cakes here

Try My Spiced Italian Christmas Chocolate Cookies

Or My Lighter But Still Delicious Tiramisu

Don’t forget to share the love with your friends and like this post. It’s the best way you can appreciate and support my work.

Thank you so much and buone feste.

A presto,
Alessia