Cheese Soufflé

A super easy and cheesy way to make a fail-proof soufflé.

1 hour, 20 minutes

Serves: 4-8

Medium

This Cheese Soufflé couldn't be easier and it looks impressive. It comes together quickly the night before so all you have to do in the morning is preheat the over, bake and serve!

This easy-to-make cheese soufflé will quickly become a stable in your recipe repertoire. It’s such an easy way to have a really special breakfast if you have overnight guests or just have something to celebrate. It’s been my family’s go-to breakfast Christmas and Thanksgiving morning for years.

What makes this recipe great is just how easy it comes together. Butter a dish, cube some bread, mix eggs, milk and cheese and that’s about all you have to do. The trickiest part of making this soufflé is remembering to do it the night before. It absolutely must rest overnight in the fridge. As long as you can handle that though, you’re good.

A couple of alterations from what Grandma’s hand-written recipe shows: Buttering the bread is definitely optional. You’ll need to generously butter your baking dish, but the soufflé is great without buttering each slice of bread and I would imagine a tad bit healthier. Mustard is an absolute must – BUT – we’ve found that yellow mustard gives the dish just a bit of a punchier taste. Dry mustard really helps bring out the flavor of the cheese but you don’t really taste it. With the yellow mustard, it does the job of bringing out the cheese flavor but also adds a bit more tanginess. I would imagine you could easily add cooked bacon or sausage to the egg mixture if you wanted to, but I think it’s better served on the side. There’s just something so perfect and comforting about eggs, bread and cheese!

The recipe below shows the amounts to use for 4 servings. To be honest, I don’t know if we’ve ever made that small of a soufflé. The amounts of all ingredients for 6 servings or 8 servings are below:

For Six Servings

Bread: 6 Slices
Cheese: 3/4 lb.
Eggs: 4
Milk: 2 Cups
Salt: 1/2 Teaspoon
Dry Mustard: 1/2 Teaspoon

For Eight Servings

Bread: 8 Slices
Cheese: 1 lb.
Eggs: 6
Milk: 3 Cups
Salt: 3/4 Teaspoon
Dry Mustard: 3/4 Teaspoon

I strongly encourage you to give this cheese soufflé a try and you’ll see why it’s so loved by our family! It’s definitely one of the unsung heroes of our holiday eating. And if you do give it a try, please tell me what you think or better yet, share a picture and tag me in it on Instagram (@bdhbakes).

Steps:

Butter What You're Gonna Butter
Wether you're using an 8"x8" pan (for 4 people) or the 9" x 13" pan (for 6-8 people) you'll want to butter the dish well. Use about 1/2 to 1 Tablespoon of butter and generously coat the entire interior. If you're going to butter the bread, go ahead and do it now.
Cut the Bread
Now cut your bread into cubes. First, trim the crusts and discard. Then, cut the slices of bread into roughly 1/2" cubes. Add them to the buttered dish and spread them out evenly to fully cover the bottom of the dish.
Beat Eggs, Milk and Cheese
In a large bowl, add your eggs and whisk to break them up. Next, add the milk and mustard and whisk to combine. Add the cheese and again whisk to evenly distribute.
Pour Eggs Over Bread
Now gently pour the egg mixture over the cubed bread and spread it out to evenly cover the entire dish, trying to keep the bread cubes from moving too much.
Cover and Set
Wrap the dish tightly in tin foil and set in the refrigerator and allow to rest and combine overnight.
Prepare Hot Water
The next morning, get a baking dish that is larger than the dish that the soufflé is in and fill it about a third (depending on how bit it is) with hot water. You can use water heated in a kettle or just really hot tap water. You'll want the water to rise at least half way up the sides of the pan once the soufflé dish is added.
Add the Soufflé and Bake
Take the soufflé out of the fridge and uncover. Add the soufflé pan into the large pan with hot water. Try your best not to splash any water into the soufflé. Carefully put the combined pans in your preheated oven and bake for one hour.
Cool and Eat
After baking, take the soufflé out of the oven and allow to cool for 5-10 minutes. The soufflé might collapse slightly. Slice and enjoy!