Spam Is The Simple Ingredient Your Egg Casseroles Have Been Missing

Whether you're whipping it up for a holiday brunch or to meal prep for the week, a warm, comforting breakfast casserole makes for plenty of cozy morning meals. These savory recipes tend to use salty meat like bacon, ham, or sausage – but if you're looking to switch up a classic version of this dish, why not opt for Spam instead? Not only is it typically more affordable than fancier proteins like pancetta, but it will infuse your casserole with flavors that are just as tasty.

Spam is made using pork with ham, salt, sugar, potato starch, sodium nitrite, and water. So just like with other meats typically used in egg casseroles, you'll get plenty of umami flavor that will stand out amidst milder ingredients like eggs and cheese. But unlike pancetta or bacon, you don't have to do any cooking ahead of dumping Spam in your dish (although you can fry it first if you so choose). Your finished product will have chewy chunks of meat, which make for an ideal textural contrast with the softness of your cozy breakfast.

If you want to customize your egg casserole even more, Spam comes in a variety of flavors, so you can choose the one that best fits the other ingredients in your dish. There's a version with less sodium, and Spam Lite with fewer calories, fat, and sodium, if you're looking for lighter cans. They also have a few flavors that would work perfectly in egg casseroles: One infused with bacon for the best of both worlds and a maple-flavored type if you want to emulate the taste of maple bacon. But if you want to add some heat to your dish, go for the jalapeño or hot and spicy tins.

While you can swap out the meat in almost any egg casserole for Spam, feel free to also add it into a dish focused on vegetables. For instance, a maple or hot and spicy flavored version would be a tasty addition to a fall sweet potato and Brussels sprouts breakfast. A Mexican-inspired casserole with poblano peppers, salsa, and corn would pair well with jalapeño-flavored Spam, while dishes with French toast chunks would be delicious with maple-flavored meat. Whichever combination you go with, you may want to quickly fry your Spam cubes before tossing them in. They come out of the tin already cooked, but letting them sizzle on the stove for a few minutes will allow them to develop deliciously crispy edges.