Breakfast Casserole Recipe – Spoon Fork Bacon

I love breakfast foods so much and this Breakfast Casserole is very high on my list of favorites. I love our easy breakfast casserole recipe for so many reasons – it takes almost no time to put together, it can feed a crowd (hello Christmas morning breakfast idea!), it can easily be scaled up or down (or just make the recipe as is and have leftovers, which are delicious) and the flavor is incredible! It’s a great make ahead dish and delightfully indulgent.

As far as breakfast casserole recipes go, we love how easy this one is to throw together. It uses frozen hash browns with sausage and egg for a perfect savory quick and easy breakfast!

Although this is a breakfast casserole, it makes a lovely brunch dish or even a nice and hearty breakfast for dinner meal! It’s also very versatile and can be made with a variety of other ingredients like bacon instead of breakfast sausage and other veggies like mushrooms and spinach can be added in too!

How to Make Our Breakfast Casserole Recipe

Ingredients

Process

1. Preheat oven. Brown turkey sausage in a large skillet over medium-high heat, breaking up as it cooks. Using a slotted spoon, transfer sausage to a large bowl. Discard and excess fat and liquid from pan.
2. Add more oil to pan and sauté yellow onion and bell pepper until vegetables just begin to caramelize. Season with salt and pepper and stir together.

3. Transfer vegetables to bowl with sausage.
4. Add diced potatoes, some shredded cheddar cheese, some chives, and salt and pepper to sausage and vegetable mixture.

5. Toss together until fully combined.
6. Combine eggs and milk in another bowl and season with salt and pepper.

7. Whisk eggs and milk together.
8. Pour egg mixture over sausage vegetable mixture.

9. Fold together until fully combined.
10. Lightly grease baking dish. Pour mixture into prepared baking dish, in an even layer.

11. Top with more shredded cheese.
12. Cover casserole tightly with aluminum foil and bake for 35 minutes.

13. Remove foil and continue to bake for an additional 10 minutes or until eggs are set.
14. Top casserole with remaining chives, black pepper and serve.

Tools You Will Need

Tips and Tricks for Breakfast Casserole Success

While this breakfast casserole recipe is a simple one, there are still a couple things that can come up and a couple things I can recommend to make this the best experience possible!

Common Issues and How to Solve Them

• Runny Casserole – Baked egg dishes often fall victim to excess liquid build up at the bottom of the baking dish after they’re baked. The reason is due to high water content in some vegetables and dense meats that are used in these dishes. Browning /cooking the meats (and draining off any excess liquid) and sautéing the vegetables before cooking often helps this issue. The potatoes should be completely thawed, with any excess liquid drained, then pat dry.
• Shredded Cheese Stuck to Foil – It’s best to avoid your shredded cheese topper from touching the bottom of your foil when baking. If your shredded cheese topper is flush or heaping above the edges of your baking dish, spray the bottom of the piece of foil you’re going to use with cooking spray. This will help to prevent your cheese from sticking to the foil.

Breakfast Casserole Recipe Tips

• Shred Cheese Yourself – Although it can be tempting to buy a bag of pre-shredded cheese (at times I’m totally guilty of it too!), I highly recommend shredded your own cheese. It only takes a minute or two and the results are way better! Pre-shredded cheese tends to have anti-caking agents mixed into the bag, to prevent the shreds from clumping up, but it also prevents the cheese from melting smoothly and evenly.
• How to Tell if Breakfast Casserole is Done Baking – If you’re unsure whether or not your eggs have fully set, take a butter knife and insert it into the center of the casserole. Push the knife slightly to the side, if you see some pooling occurring you need some more time, if not you’re good to go!

Variations for Our Breakfast Casserole Recipe

• Steamed or sautéed spinach make a great addition to this breakfast casserole recipe. Just be sure to squeeze out as much water as possible before incorporating it into the dish.
• Sausage can be omitted and replaced with more bell pepper and onions to make this (an egg friendly) vegetarian version.
• Load it up with more veggies with some chopped broccoli, sautéed mushrooms and sautéed zucchini.
• Diced ham or crumbled bacon also make great protein options.
• Stir in a (15 ounce) can of well drained diced tomatoes, some well drained canned black beans, a pinch ground cumin and coriander, chopped cilantro, and top it with crumbled queso fresco and serve with a dollop of sour cream on the side  for a little more of a Mexican inspired vibe.

Make Ahead and Freezing Instructions for Our Breakfast Casserole

Make Ahead

Our recipe can be assembled up to 2 days ahead of time. Tightly wrap pre-baked casserole with foil and store in the refrigerator. When ready to use, place casserole in hot oven (covered) and bake for an additional 5 minutes covered then instructed in the recipe.

Freezing

Our breakfast casserole recipe can be assembled (except for shredded cheese on top) and frozen for up to 2 months. Tightly wrap pre-baked casserole with foil and place in freezer. When ready to use, transfer casserole to refrigerator to thaw overnight. Once thawed, uncover casserole and bake (uncovered) for 45 minutes. Remove from oven, top with shredded cheese and return casserole to oven and continue to bake for an additional 10 to 12 minutes.

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