A Hashbrown Breakfast Casserole is perfect when you need to feed a crowd first thing in the morning. Eggs, sausage and hashbrowns are layered in a casserole dish, topped with cheese and baked to a gooey golden brown.
Serve with a fresh fruit salad (or fruit kabobs for easy serving) and keep the coffee coming (or mimosas)! The day will start off right with this delicious, no-fuss breakfast casserole.
Variations
Hashbrowns I use shredded but any hash browns will work in this recipe, or even leftover home fries or roasted potatoes!
Sausage The sky’s the limit for this recipe. Use cooked (or smoked) sausage of any kind. Swap it out for turkey sausage, ham, bacon or even leftover ground beef from last night’s tacos!
Veggies I add 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.
This recipe is very forgiving, and you can alter according to your preference or what you have on hand. It will accommodate 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 is super easy to whip up.
- Spread thawed shredded hash browns in the bottom of a casserole pan.
- Add in cheese, meat and vegetables.
- Pour egg and milk mixture on top (per recipe below).
To Bake or Make Ahead
Cook it now or refrigerate overnight At this point you can either bake the casserole and serve or you can cover and refrigerate overnight and bake in the morning.
Bake Now Simply pour the egg mixture overtop and bake. Unlike a strata or french toast type recipe, you do not need to wait as there is no bread to soak up the mixture. So just make and bake.
Bake Later Cover the mixture tightly and refrigerate up to 48 hours. Remove from the fridge at least 30 minutes before baking (while preheating the oven).
How Long to Bake
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.
What About the Leftovers?
Just like egg muffins, leftovers are perfect for busy weekday mornings.
Fridge They’ll keep in the fridge for 3-4 days. Reheat in the microwave or the oven.
Freezer Can you freeze breakfast casserole? Yes, you sure can! This will last in the freezer up to four months. Wrap individual and store in freezer bags. Defrost in the fridge overnight and reheat in the microwave or the oven
Easy Make Ahead Breakfasts
- Overnight Sausage Breakfast Casserole – loaded with ingredients!
- Blueberry French Toast Bake – Family favorite
- Overnight Breakfast Casserole – made with crumbled bacon
- Easy Overnight French Toast – great for a crowd
- Denver Egg Casserole – fluffy, cheesy & delicious
- CopyCat Cracker Barrel Hashbrown Casserole – just 5 mins prep!
Hashbrown Breakfast Casserole
Equipment
Ingredients
- 20 ounces shredded hash browns thawed
- 1 pound sausage cooked, crumbled and drained
- ¼ cup onion finely diced
- ½ red bell pepper diced
- ½ green bell pepper diced
- 8 eggs
- 1 can evaporated milk 12 ounces, or 1 ⅓ cups milk
- ½ teaspoon Italian seasoning or your favorite herbs/spices (optional)
- salt & pepper to taste
- 2 cups cheddar cheese
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F (if baking immediately).
- Brown sausage and drain fat.
- Combine eggs, evaporated milk, salt & pepper, and Italian seasoning in a bowl. Whisk until smooth.
- Set aside ½ cup cheese for the topping.
- Place remaining ingredients in a 9x13 baking pan. Pour egg mixture over the mixture and top with remaining cheese.
- Cover and refrigerate overnight if desired.
- Bake uncovered for 55-65 minutes or until cooked through.
Video
Notes
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.
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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.
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!
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!
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.
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