A Hashbrown Breakfast Casserole is perfect when you need to feed a crowd first thing in the morning.
This breakfast casserole recipe is a full meal with eggs, sausage, peppers, and hashbrowns all topped with cheese and baked until perfect golden brown.
Best of all, prepare ahead of time and in the morning, just pop it into the oven. Serve with a fresh fruit salad, and keep the coffee coming (or mimosas)!
This post may contain affiliate links. Please read our disclosure policy.
Ingredients in Breakfast Casserole
Hashbrowns – I use shredded hashbrowns, but any style of hash browns work well in this recipe, or even leftover home fries or roasted potatoes!
Sausage – I prefer pork sausage (like Jimmy Dean’s breakfast sausage). Swap it out for turkey sausage, ham, or crispy bacon (or even leftover ground beef from last night’s tacos)!
Veggies – I add bell peppers to this casserole but add whatever veggies you have on hand. Mushrooms (cook them first so they don’t get watery), asparagus, or even steamed broccoli are great.
Cheese – Shredded sharp cheddar cheese is our favorite, but pepper jack cheese or other bold flavorful cheeses work well. Save a little for the top to get a nice golden layer of cheese.
This hash brown casserole recipe is very forgiving; you can change the add-ins according to your preferences or what you have on hand. Try leftover meats, veggies, and cheeses of all kinds. Just chop or shred and toss them into the mix.
How to Make Breakfast Casserole
Frozen hash browns make this breakfast casserole super easy to whip up.
- Spread thawed shredded hash browns in the bottom of a baking dish per the recipe below. Mix in cheese, sausage, and pepper/onions.
- Whisk eggs, milk, and seasonings in a large bowl.
- Pour over the hashbrown mixture.
Bake Now or Make Ahead
The great thing about this hash brown breakfast casserole recipe is that it can be baked right away or prepared ahead and baked before brunch. It’s perfect for holidays like Christmas morning or even Easter.
Cook it now or refrigerate overnight Once prepared, bake right away or you can cover, refrigerate overnight, and bake this breakfast casserole fresh in the morning.
To Bake Now Pour the egg mixture over top and bake. Unlike strata or french toast, you do not need to wait as there is no bread to soak up the mixture. So just make and bake.
To Bake Later Cover the mixture tightly and refrigerate for up to 48 hours (or 3 days if using pasteurized egg product). Remove from the fridge at least 30 minutes before baking (while preheating the oven).
This bakes at 350°F for 55-65 minutes or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean. If you’ve let it sit overnight, it may need a few extra minutes if it’s still quite chilled from the fridge.
To prepare in the Crock Pot, I recommend our slow cooker breakfast casserole.
Just like egg muffins, leftover breakfast casserole is perfect for busy weekday mornings. Keep leftovers in the fridge for 3-4 days. Reheat in the microwave or the oven.
Yes, you sure can! This will last in the freezer for up to four months. Wrap individual pieces and store in freezer bags. Defrost in the fridge overnight and reheat in the microwave or the oven.
More Easy Make-Ahead Breakfast Casseroles
If you’re tired of the same old breakfast or want a meal to prep ahead, you’ll love these breakfast casserole recipes. They’re perfect for reheating throughout the week or for a special holiday breakfast and best of all, they’re all prepped ahead of time.
Equipment
Ingredients
- 20 ounces shredded hash browns thawed
- 1 pound ground pork sausage cooked, crumbled, and drained
- ¼ cup finely diced onion
- ½ red bell pepper diced
- ½ green bell pepper diced
- 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese divided
- 8 eggs
- 12 ounces evaporated milk 1 can, or 1 ⅓ cups milk
- ½ teaspoon Italian seasoning or your favorite herbs and spices, optional
- ½ teaspoon Kosher salt or to taste
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (if baking immediately). Grease a 9×13 inch pan or a 3qt baking dish or spray with cooking spray.
- Heat a large skillet over medium high heat. Brown the sausage, breaking it up with a spoon, until no pink remains. Drain fat.
- In the prepared dish, add the hashbrowns, cooked sausage, onions, bell peppers, and 1 ½ cups of cheese. Gently mix the ingredients together and spread evenly in the pan.
- In a large bowl, add the eggs, evaporated milk, salt & pepper, and Italian seasoning to a large bowl. Whisk until well combined.
- Pour the egg mixture over the hashbrown mixture and sprinkle the remaining cheese over top.
- Cover the dish with foil and refrigerate overnight if desired, or bake immediately.
- Bake uncovered for 55-65 minutes or until cooked through.
Video
Notes
- The casserole can be assembled and baked immediately or covered and refrigerated for up to two days before baking. If using pasteurized egg product, it can be prepared three days in advance.
- Sausage can be swapped for 1lb of bacon, cooked crisp. You can use any type of shredded cheese you have on hand.
- If the casserole is refrigerated overnight, remove it from the fridge 30 minutes before baking. It may require an extra 10-15 minutes of cooking time.
- Evaporated milk can be substituted with 1 1/3 cups of light cream, milk, or non-dairy milk of your choice.
Nutrition Information
Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.
Course Breakfast, Casserole
Cuisine American© SpendWithPennies.com. Content and photographs are copyright protected. Sharing of this recipe is both encouraged and appreciated. Copying and/or pasting full recipes to any social media is strictly prohibited. Please view my photo use policy here.
Easy and very tasty breakfast casserole. My go to for a crowd. Easy to change up the add-ins for your likings. Remember that most bags of frozen hash browns come in 30oz bags. If you (absent mindedly) add them all, it will be a bit dry!!—-whoops!! Salsa goes great as a condiment!!
Easy and delicious way to satisfy a crowd! Will be making this again.
Does it really only serve 8?
Hi Victoria, that will all depend on how big the portions you serve are. For a 9×13 pan, you could easily get 12 servings as well, depending on how large the portions you cut are. I hope that helps!
Everyone in my family loves this recipe. I took it last year to our beach vacation and it was a big hit. Making it again right now for this years. Want to mention that the directions would not work well for an inexperienced cook because you leave out what to do with the hash browns and cheese in the body and it might be confusing or something could get let out. I even didn’t mis the cheese in with everything las year but sprinkling it all on top didn’t hurt.
Glad you enjoyed it, Kukana! Thanks for the suggestions, we will take a look. We also have a video on how we prepare it for added clarity as well!
I don’t often write reviews on recipes, but I was so surprised at how dry this was and just generally not appetizing with all of the great reviews. Definitely won’t be making again (at least not without lots of changes). I also agree with another commenter that the directions are not well written at all. You should definitely take another look at them. (This is coming from my husband who was a cook for 10 years).
I have made similar recipes that call for a can of cream of mushroom soup. I love that yours doesn’t have that. I have to watch my sodium. I am making this recipe as a make ahead, have a shift to work this weekend. Your recipes are great.
Can you substitute milk/heavy cream for evaporated milk??
Hi Susie, evaporated milk is thick, similar to heavy cream, so for a closer end result I would use that over milk. But either of those should work.
Hi! I was going to use “mild italian sausage” in this recipe instead of regular sausage. Would that work with this recipe? Or do you recommend sticking with plain sausage and just adding seasonings?
I think mild Italian sausage would taste delicious in this recipe, Heidi!
This was eggcellent! Instead of the peppers (hubby hates) I added a pound of very small asparagus tips & stems. They were perfectly cooked in the casserole. We both really enjoyed it! Thank you for another great recipe
Great recipe and turned out fine but I’m a “go straight to recipe guy.” The recipe does not specify layering the hash browns on the bottom. It says so in comments. I mixed them and it turned out fine. Recipe also doesn’t say where the other cup and a half of cheese goes. Says top with remaining half cup of cheese.
Hi Tim, in step 5 we place the remaining ingredients in a 9×13 baking pan, which would include the cheese (not reserved for the topping). At that point, I would mix all the ingredients in my baking dish before topping it with the egg mixture for a more even distribution of flavors. Hope that helps!
Would have been great to mention mixing casserole ingredients prior to adding egg mixture.
Would be great if you bothered to read before commenting.
“Gently mix the ingredients together and spread evenly in the pan.”
Hi! I’m making this for my family but I’d like to substitute the milk for a dairy free option. Any suggestions? Thank you :)
Any dairy-free option should work just fine in this recipe. I don’t follow a diary-free lifestyle so I can’t say for sure which is best but I would suggest one with a mild flavor (that is unsweetened). Let us know how it goes!
Can you make this without the meat? I’m serving a ham
For sure, Judy! I still turns out delicious even without the sausage.
Tried this for a Mother’s Day brunch and it was so flavorful! And very filling too… I had to omit the onions as one of my relatives are allergic but still had big flavor! Would definitely recommend, especially if you’re looking for a make ahead dish!
If I precook the potatoes, veggies, etc. does the baking time change? This would be for immediate option as well…
Hi Judith, we have never tried pre-cooking the potatoes and veggies so I am not sure how that affects the cooking time. But I would check it closer to halfway through to ensure it isn’t overcooked. We would love to hear how it turns out for you!
Judith, I precook the veggies and add the seasonings to that pan. I need to make sure they are thoroughly cooked for my family. I also added diced zucchini as I had one I need to use! I used fresh herbs. I did not precook the potatoes beforehand. I don’t know if that’s necessary as in my opinion it would not lessen the cooking time as the “custard” needs to cook.
Made this for Easter brunch and my dish was cleaned out quickly! Literally everyone commented on how much they liked it and some even asked for the recipe.
Made this morning for Easter brunch and was fabulous! Browned the hash browns a bit in a skillet before mixing with other ingredients and poured the egg mixture over top. Absolutely delicious and will definitely make this again.
Hello there,
If I make this with leftover roasted potatoes, how many cups of potatoes do you suggest?
20 ounces of potatoes would be about 3 ½ – 4 cups of diced or shredded potatoes. Enjoy!
Hi lovely recipe! It was great warmed up too! In the future it would be so helpful to have more specific directions about process and assembling. Love the video, but that’s not a great sub for us novice recipe followers. Comments filled in the blanks though!!
I’m not sure if it’s because i replaced the milk with buttter but this recipe was complete water after 1 hour of baking.
Changing 1 cup of milk for butter would definitely change the consistency of the recipe.
Why in the world would you add one cup of butter ?!!!
Hi, Can this be prepared and then frozen?
Hi Bethany! It sure can. We bake it and then freeze it usually but other readers have frozen it before baking with great results. You will have to let us know how it turns out for you!
I have not tried it yet, but I cooked hash browns in my oven til slightly browned. I handed 2 tspn melted with a little salt and pepper drizzled over before putting in oven. My hash browns were the plain ones. The rest is as recipe, I don’t see how to post a photo