Homemade & Yummy

Food doesn't have to be complicated, but it does have to taste good.

Christmas Morning Sandwiches (Our Family Tradition)

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With all the hustle, bustle and excitement happening, these Christmas Morning Sandwiches are perfect for feeding the family on this very busy day.

Overhead shot of Christmas Morning Sandwiches on serving plates.

Do you have family traditions in your home? Certain things that are a must each holiday season? We sure do in our home. Even though my kids are grown, and we now have grandkids that keep our Christmas morning full of fun, these sandwiches are a MUST every year.

It seems like such a long time ago that I first made these sandwiches. Looking in my vast collection of cookbooks I came across a recipe in (#affiliate) The Canadian Living Christmas Book that I easily adapted to our tastes. I wanted to have something ready and waiting to put in the oven while we opened presents.

Sandwiches getting assembled and ready for the oven.

With all the excitement happening, preparing breakfast was one thing I did not want to worry about. After all, I would be in the kitchen soon enough getting the holiday dinner on the table. This is the easiest holiday breakfast hands down.

FAMILY TRADITIONS

Besides these Christmas sandwiches, we have several things that make holidays special around here.

Since our girls were really young, going to see the lights at what we call Candy Cane Lane on Christmas Eve is a must, and to this date, we have never missed it in over 30+ years. The line up is long, but so much fun.

Sandwiches in a casserole dish ready to go into the oven.

We now travel in more than one car since the family has grown over the years. In fact, we go as soon as it gets dark, before dinner. Makes getting the grandchildren in bed a little easier, Christmas morning comes soon enough.

As for Christmas morning breakfast, well you already know what we have. One year I thought of making something different. OMG, my adults kids went nuts. They said Christmas morning is not Christmas morning without these sandwiches. Even my grandson talks about them, and he is only 5!

Christmas Eve also involves watching (#affiliate) Elf (another thing my kids INSIST on). We all pile into the family room, plop ourselves in front of the TV and watch this Christmas classic.

Christmas Morning Sandwiches in a casserole dish right out of the oven.

Before we go to bed, I usually grab one of the girls to get these Christmas Morning Sandwiches prepared and put in the fridge for the next day. They are easy to do, and so delicious to eat.

All it takes is some bread, cheese, cold cuts, and eggs. Sort of like a grilled cheese/french toast breakfast fusion. Layer the cheese and meat between bread slices, cut in half, place in a baking dish, pour on the beaten eggs, cover and place in the fridge. I like to use aluminum pans, makes for less cleanup in the morning.

You can make this your own my picking whatever meat and cheese your family loves. We happen to like combination of turkey, ham and provolone cheese.

CHRISTMAS MORNING

In the morning I put on a pot of coffee and head down to the family room. Stockings, presents, excitement, love, and laughter fill the room. The grandkids get here REALLY early, but seriously my husband doesn’t sleep the night before Christmas either. I remember HE had us up at 5:00 a.m.once!

Christmas Morning Sandwiches on serving plates ready to eat.

When things start to settle down, I go upstairs and turn on the oven (and make another pot of coffee). Once the oven is ready, I take the pans of sandwiches out of the fridge and place them in the oven. This usually gives us about another 30 minutes or so to finish up with the presents. By now everyone is starting to get hungry.

We head upstairs to the dining room. Pans of sandwiches are placed on the table and everyone helps themselves. See, told you this would be easy. The Christmas Morning Sandwich tradition lives on.

Close up of Christmas Morning Sandwiches on a plate.

We have a few other traditions like rum and eggnog lattes, cranberry sauce and of course leaving out cookies for Santa (now taken over by the grandkids). In our house, the holidays are all about spending time together and our special family traditions.

What is your favourite holiday tradition?

Overhead shot of Christmas Morning Sandwiches on serving plates.

Christmas Morning Sandwiches

Christmas Morning Sandwiches are a family tradition in our house. Overnight sandwiches bake while everyone is busy opening presents.
5 from 32 votes
Print Rate
Course: Breakfast, Seasonal/Holiday
Cuisine: Canadian
Keyword: Family Tradition
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Total Time: 45 minutes
Servings: 6 servings
Calories: 516kcal
Author: Homemade & Yummy

Ingredients

  • 12 slices bread (your choice)
  • 6 ounces deli ham
  • 6 ounces deli smoked turkey
  • 6 ounces provolone cheese (or cheese of your choice)
  • 10 beaten eggs per sandwich
  • 1/4 cup butter optional
US Customary - Metric

Instructions

  • Spray your baking pans with cooking spray, and set aside.

To prepare the Sandwiches:

  • Butter the outside of the bread slices (like for grilled cheese). Use 2 slices of buttered bread per sandwich.
  • Layers as follows: 2 slices of turkey, 2 slices of cheese, then 2 slices of ham.
  • Cut sandwich diagonally and arrange in a sprayed casserole dish, cut side down. (I try to stagger the sandwiches in the pan).
  • Beat the eggs in a measuring cup and pour over the tops and sides of the sandwiches.
  • Cover with foil and place in fridge until ready to bake.

To bake in the morning:

  • Preheat oven to 375º F
  • Place sandwiches in oven uncovered and bake for about 30 minutes until crisp and golden.
  • ENJOY!!

Nutrition Information

Calories: 516kcal | Carbohydrates: 30g | Protein: 32g | Fat: 29g | Saturated Fat: 14g | Cholesterol: 339mg | Sodium: 1385mg | Potassium: 381mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 4g | Vitamin A: 17.6% | Calcium: 34% | Iron: 22%

Notes

For easy cleanup...use foil pans instead of a casserole dish.

Christmas Morning Sandwiches Long Pin

 

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Reader Interactions

Comments

    • I know….I may have to fit it in at least once more during the year since they are so delicious.

  3. These are basically baked Monte Cristo’s! Which are only one of my favorite sandwiches of all time! Yummy! Have you tried dipping them in jam? That’s how Monte Cristos are served and it’s so good!

    Reply

  4. What a great way to feed a crowd with minimal preparation! We always host a big crowd overnight for New Years Eve – I need to try something like this this year.

    Reply

  5. Awe! I love your family tradition! What a fun way to celebrate Christmas! These do sound delish and easy! I love how you’ve made this a tradition in your house! Thanks for sharing! I’ll have to try these out soon!

    Reply

    • Thanks so much. These sandwiches have been part of our tradition for so many years…and still continues to this day.

    • Well we all tend to dig into the stocking stuffer chocolate during the “unwrapping” session for sure. Happy Holidays.

  12. These are a brilliant idea! I am with you — not too much time in the kitchen Christmas morning. My mom always made a quiche – and I can remember coming home from family’s houses on Christmas Eve and helping her put it together so all we had to do was bake it in the morning. I don’t have traditions of my own yet – my son is just 2, so this is the first year he has really gotten excited over Christmas – and this is the only Christmas my husband and I have spent not at one of our parents’ houses! A spin on these just might happen!

    Reply

  16. I’ve never had baked sandwiches like these before, and I think they sound absolutely delicious! What a fun family tradition for Christmas morning. It’s like a baked Monte Cristo! This would go over SO well in my house. Merry Christmas to you and your family!

    Reply

  18. I’ve never heard of this one before. These sandwiches look fantastic! We usually do a Christmas lunch/early dinner spread of cold-cut sandwiches, pickles, and easy sides… rather like a picnic. Low stress and easy clean-up. Gets everyone back to playing with toys sooner. 😉

    Reply

  24. I always love hearing about other family’s holiday traditions. This is a great idea – easy to make on crazy Christmas morning and I like the idea of something Savory. There’s a certain point in the holiday season where I feel like I’m in a sugar coma. Its nice to start the day (which is sure to be filled with cookies and candy and dessert) with a savory breakfast.

    Reply

  30. This is so funny! One year my little sister (she had to be maybe 5 at the time) decided that our Christmas tradition would be eating grilled cheese and tomato soup on Christmas morning. And she has held us all to it! Reminds me of that.

    Reply

  33. I love learning about people’s Christmas traditions. My family doesn’t have one for Christmas morning, but we do make a big roast on Christmas Eve. Also, these sandwiches look delicious!

    Reply

  34. I love this! One of our traditions is to go to midnight mass and then come home and make Taylor ham and cheese on croissants with mimosas. We love our Taylor ham and look forward to it every Christmas.

    Reply

  35. What a great way to start Christmas morning. Sometimes we over complicate recipes and a sandwich is always a favorite. I’m sure our kids and grandkids would go nuts over it. In a way it reminds me of a Monte Cristo sandwich. YUM I’ve always wanted to make one. I can see why your family insists on this breakfast.

    Reply

  36. What a delicious idea! Sort of like a mix between french toast and savoury strata! I love it. I usually make croissant sandwiches and then pour egg and milk mixture on top. It’s a bit more eggy than your sandwiches but the idea is the same. I’m definitely going to try your version!

    Reply

  37. I’ve upgraded my thoughts on sandwiches for breakfast to genius! I don’t recall ever doing anything all that special for Christmas morning but this is doable and tasty. As a matter of fact I think I’m going to have a Christmas Morning Sandwich for lunch today. Hahaha!

    Reply

  38. I love this, we travel to grandparents homes all day on Christmas which leaves little time for us in the morning, I love the idea of starting a little tradition to keep out mornings as special as the rest of the day is!

    Reply

  43. I love reading about Christmas traditions of other families. So interesting! Is it too early to check out Old Scugog Road? Love the sandwiches too. Looks like something we’d love to treat ourselves to even after Christmas!

    Reply

  44. A make ahead breakfast is a must in our house Christmas morning, too. But it’s one meal that we like to change up, so these sandwiches just might be on the breakfast menu this year! They look delicious.

    Reply

  45. Gloria this reminds me of Sunday morning brunch mom use to make. We’d come back from church and she’d put together these amazing sandwiches. Ham and cheese were our favorite!. Love this Christmas morning tradition. Yum.

    Reply

  48. This looks wonderful, can you come and do Christmas breakfast at mine?! We always have ham on toast on Christmas morning with a glass of Orange juice and once Mum tried to change it and there was uproar from my dad and brother! Even though I’ve moved out now, I still have the same tradition with my fiancé. I always make the ham on Christmas Eve and then it’s ready to go for Christmas morning. I love that traditions are handed down through generations, but I don’t mind change from time to time and I really want to try these sandwiches!!

    Reply

    • Well good luck trying to change tradition….but I hope you give these a try. It might help you change things up

  49. I am having some girls over for a Christmas brunch and wanted something a bit different to serve. Thanks for sharing I am going to give this a try!

    Reply

  50. I love this tradition! We normally do some type of egg bake and I think this would be a nice change of pace for our family… with a mimosa of course.

    Reply

    • Yum…stuffed croissants work for me….but I will have to try that for New Year’s breakfast (LOL).

  53. Now that is breakfast I would make for our Christmas morning. I am more on the savory side and I do like ham with my breakfast. Luckily they started to sell proper ham here a week ago (yay!) so I can go back to my European food habits in Goa. I like your food tradition Gloria! 🙂

    Reply

  54. Oh these look so cute for a festive occasion not just Christmas.. I love the idea of baking these. I usually make french toast and a variety of cream cream cheese and fruit fillings.

    Reply

    • Thanks soooo much for including my in your BuzzFeed post….they are a hit when you have to feed a crowd!!

  58. Love this! I’m always looking for something special to add to our Christmas breakfast. Our tradition is cinnamon rolls, but there’s got to be something savory for the non-sweet loving folks!

    Reply

  60. What a nice tradition! I’m going to do something along those lines this year, too. My parents are coming over for Christmas brunch and I’m juggling their meat-eating preferences with my partner’s vegan breakfast requests. Having a breakfast casserole ready to go is going to save me. 🙂

    Reply

  62. These look delicious! Our Christmas morning tradition is to go out for dim sum with the rest of the family, but I love the idea of staying in and enjoying a hearty make-ahead breakfast like this… especially when there’s cranberry sauce involved, because who doesn’t love an excuse to keep eating cranberry sauce once the big Christmas meal is done? 🙂

    Reply

    • Hahah…well I love cranberry sauce too….and yup it’s a great excuse to make extra to enjoy with this breakfast!!

  63. Oh wow — can you make my Christmas morning breakfast? 🙂 Christmas breakfast is often an afterthought for me. I’m so focused on the gift-wrapping and dinner prep that I forget to plan something for breakfast. Argh. But this is great inspiration and looks absolutely delicious!

    Reply

    • Well is has been a wonderful tradition for many years…since my kids were little. Now that I am a gramma…my daughter loves helping me get it ready the night before….traditions live on!!

    • Well as a “gramma” I can say this has been a tradition for a long time…and now my grandchildren will be enjoying it as well.

    • Well they have been on our Christmas morning breakfast table for many many years….and from what I hear…many more to come!!

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