How to Host a Southern Breakfast or Brunch

Hosting breakfast or brunch is one of the easiest ways I know to gather the people you love. Nobody expects much beyond good coffee and something warm, and most of the work can be done the night before. After years of feeding houseguests, holiday crowds, and last-minute Sunday gatherings, I’ve worked out a system that takes the panic out of morning entertaining.

The Southern brunch is a time-honored tradition, almost on par with tailgating. In fact, brunch may have originated because of tailgating: is there any better way to recover from a day of eating and drinking with friends than another day of eating and drinking with friends? I think not.

After years of hosting brunches, Christmas morning breakfasts, and random family gatherings, I’ve compiled my best tips on choosing a menu, setting the table, and getting it all done ahead of time.

If you’re new to entertaining, brunch or breakfast is a low-lift, easy way to get started. It’s less expensive than dinner, and your make-ahead options are endless.

Do let me know if you host a brunch. I’d love to know what you serve and see your pictures.

Setting the menu

The best brunch menus follow a simple formula: one savory main, one sweet thing, a starch, a meat, and something fresh. That’s it. You don’t need eight dishes, and your guests don’t want to make eight decisions at nine in the morning either.

For the savory main, a make-ahead casserole is hard to beat. My Overnight Breakfast Casserole comes together in 20 minutes the night before, then you just pop it in the oven in the morning before your guests arrive.

When I’ve got a hungry crowd that includes kids, I like to serve either this Tater Tot Breakfast Casserole, my famous Sausage Breakfast Pizza, or these fun Breakfast Sliders.

Overnight Breakfast Casserole

1 hour 10 minutes

Tater Tot Breakfast Casserole with Sausage

45 minutes

Sausage Breakfast Pizza

1 hour

Hawaiian Roll Breakfast Sliders

40 minutes

If an adults-only brunch is more the vibe, a Bacon Cheese Quiche or Tomato Spinach Quiche (or both!) feels a little dressier with minimal extra effort. I like to add some mini Homemade Blueberry Muffins for a classic, sweet bite-sized treat.

Bacon Cheese Quiche

2 hours 30 minutes

Tomato, Spinach and Cheese Quiche

3 hours

Easy Crustless Quiche Recipe

45 minutes

If you want to lean into Southern classics, Buttermilk Biscuits and sausage gravy are always welcome. Some kitchens even serve chocolate gravy for a sweet-savory twist, and red-eye gravy made with coffee and the pan drippings from country ham is another old favorite.

For something sweet, you can’t go wrong with my Croissant Breakfast Casserole with Orange Marmalade or Easy Blueberry Breakfast Cake.

Round out the menu with my friend Rita’s Cheese Grits Casserole, Oven Baked Bacon (the only way I cook bacon for a crowd), and a colorful Fruit Salad with Honey Lime Dressing.

For drinks, set out coffee, a pitcher of orange juice, and ice water with lemon. Sweet Tea, the quintessential Southern beverage, can flow alongside, and if the occasion calls for a little morning cheer, mimosas and Bloody Marys are the classics.

Homemade Chocolate Chip Muffins

28 minutes

Homemade Chocolate Chip Muffins—better than a mix, moist, and filled with real chocolate chips! Great for breakfast or afternoon snack!

Boards are not just for dinner

Charcuterie boards are all the rage for dinner these days, but they’re great for breakfast too! Check out my Easy Breakfast Board or my grandkids’ favorite Valentine’s Breakfast Board, which is super easy with frozen mini pancakes, waffles, and fruit.

Easy Breakfast Board

15 minutes

Valentine’s Charcuterie Board

10 minutes

Hawaiian Roll Breakfast Sliders

40 minutes

Why a buffet beats a plated meal

Unless you’re hosting four or six, set up a buffet. Plated breakfasts mean someone is stuck in the kitchen plating while the eggs go cold and the biscuits get hard. A buffet lets people serve themselves, take seconds, and skip what they don’t want. You stay out of the kitchen and visit with your guests, which is the whole point of having people over.

Set the buffet up on a sideboard, kitchen island, or dining table pushed against the wall. Plates and napkins at one end, food in the middle and silverware at the other end, so people pick up utensils last. Drinks go on a separate surface so you don’t create a traffic jam.

Keeping things warm

Cold biscuits are not going to melt butter, y’all. And you’ve got to have butter inside a biscuit. I keep my biscuits in a vintage West Bend aluminum bun warmer that my Mama gave me back when I got married the first time, about 40 years ago. I’m pretty sure it belonged to my great-grandmother. If you can’t find one of those, you can try a warming tray or put a heated stone trivet inside a bread basket.

Don’t miss out on Homemade Strawberry Freezer Jam to go with that biscuit!

Old-fashioned Buttermilk Biscuits

25 minutes

Banana Bread with Sour Cream

1 hour 30 minutes

Pumpkin Bread Recipe

1 hour 20 minutes

Chocolate Chip Banana Bread

2 hours

For casseroles, leave them in the dish they were baked in and set them on a folded kitchen towel or a wooden trivet. Keep them covered tightly with tin foil, and the residual heat will keep them warm for the better part of an hour. You can also leave them in the oven on the lowest setting (170 or 200 degrees F).

A slow cooker on the warm setting is good for grits, oatmeal, or sausage gravy. And don’t forget to warm your serving platters in a 200-degree oven for a few minutes before you fill them. It makes a real difference.

Linens, place settings, and centerpieces

For some occasions, we pull out all the stops: sterling silver, monogrammed linen napkins, and fine china. For a more casual brunch, we might set up outside if it’s a nice day — but the decor is still part of the fun and should reflect the season.

Either way, layering is the trick to a pretty table. Start with a tablecloth or a runner, even on a wooden table you love. Cloth napkins always feel more thoughtful than paper, and a stack of plain white ones will go with everything you own. If you don’t want to iron, choose linen blends that look better wrinkled. Mix and match your dishes too. Grandma’s china next to everyday white plates looks intentional. Pretty juice glasses or small mason jars work just as well as crystal for breakfast.

Check out all of our best breakfast recipes here!

Centerpieces should be low enough that people can see across the table. Inside or outside, always include fresh flowers in pretty containers. A bowl of lemons, seasonal fruit, or pinecones works too. In the fall, I’ll set out small pumpkins, and at Christmas, I use evergreen sprigs from the yard.

Place settings can be simple: charger or placemat, plate, napkin, fork, knife, water glass and coffee cup. If you want a place card, a small piece of cardstock with a handwritten name is plenty.

Note: I’m obsessed with Hester & Cook paper placemats. I keep some in my cabinet all the time. My favorites are these Blue Hydrangea placemats and these round Magnolia placemats. I’ll use these at any fancy dinner party.

Make-ahead strategy

The night before, set the table, get the coffee pot ready to brew, wash and slice the fruit, and assemble whatever casseroles can sit in the fridge overnight. My Overnight French Toast Casserole and the Overnight Breakfast Casserole both need at least eight hours in the refrigerator anyway. Pull out your serving platters and label them with sticky notes so you remember what goes where.

Overnight French Toast Casserole

1 hour 15 minutes

Brown sugar gives this baked french toast casserole a crunchy streusel topping with a bit of syrup underneath.

The morning of, all you should be doing is putting things in the oven, pouring drinks, and pulling the casseroles out to come to room temperature. Give yourself a few minutes to sit down with a cup of coffee before guests arrive.

The most important part of a Southern brunch is the experience itself: a chance to reconnect with family and friends, share stories, and slow down over a long meal. Hosting doesn’t have to be complicated, and a Southern breakfast or brunch is one of the most welcoming ways to bring people to your table.