When we host friends and family for Shabbat dinner on Friday night, we always have leftover challah. Since I don’t like sweet breakfast, I’ve devised this everything bagel savory challah strata with lox for Shabbat mornings instead.

Having grown up in a Japanese American household with a Japanese mother who loved to cook, every meal (including breakfast!) was savory. To this day, I need something savory in the morning. So I began brainstorming a savory dish that would incorporate day old challah. What I came up with is essentially a savory French toast with everything bagel and lox ingredients mixed in.

Note that you can customize this recipe for whatever amount of challah you have left. On this particular day, I had A LOT of challah leftover, so the recipe below serves 12. Here’s an easy formula to follow:

• Measure how many cups of challah cubes you have

• Use half the volume of milk and eggs as challah. So if you have 4 cups of challah, use 2 cups of milk, 2 cups of eggs (about 8 eggs)

• Use around the same volume of cheese as milk.

You can prepare everything up until step 8 the night before. Simply remove it from the fridge 30 minutes before baking.

For another idea on what to do with day old challah bread, check out kabocha pumpkin soup with challah croutons.

For the FREE Modern Shabbat Toolkit, I created after years of trial and error, head here. I hope this helps you make Shabbat a little easier and full of connection with the people you love most.

Head here to visit our Modern Heirlooms web shop, where I've thoughtfully co-created ritual objects with my favorite artisans (in limited runs) to help you elevate your sacred rituals. 

I truly believe that cuisine is the most accessible gateway into learning more about our rich heritages. In addition to food, there are so many ways to celebrate, honor, and even reclaim, our time-honored traditions. I believe ritual objects really help anchor us in these moments-- especially around the table.