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)!
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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
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My church group recently made this two different times to deliver for breakfast to an area Warming Center for the unhoused. The request is the items be baked, so the volunteers can simply reheat, and I like this one because it doesn’t have to be refrigerated overnight and reheats well. I’ve been told it was well received.
The first time we added chopped bell pepper and onion. The second time, I bought the hash browns with the pepper and onion included; I prefer the first. I used turkey breakfast sausage which was a little lower in sodium.
This is exactly what I have been looking for! I can’t wait to fix it later this week. My mouth is drooling in antisipation.
Made it for a group of friends and everyone raved about it!
How does it keep? want to make this for meal prep for the week
This recipe makes great leftovers for the week. It will keep in the fridge for 3-4 days. Reheat in the microwave or the oven. You can freeze it as well, just thaw in the fridge overnight before reheating.
I wished you had included a picture of a slice of the casserole as it would be served.
Thanks for letting us know, Barbara! For reference, a slice come out similar to this sausage breakfast casserole.
Plan plan on making this this weekend. Is the cooking time that is listed referring to if it has been refrigerated or not
It is referring to baking it immediately after assembling!
This is my second time making this …. First time I didn’t have any veggies so it was just meat, cheese, eggs and the hashbrowns. My family loved it! Making it tonight with the veggies this time and I know it’ll be delicious.
We eat it as is for dinner and then we cut the rest up and one square for 1-2 small breakfast tacos for the next couple of days. It reheats very well for that!
Great idea to use the leftovers for breakfast tacos!
If omitting cheese, should I also omit the milk? Last time we made this (no cheese), we added milk and it was super wet and took about 1.5 hours to cook.
Still super delicious!
Hmm, I’m not sure Jenna I’ve only made this recipe as written. You could try omitting some of the milk but I would worry if you omitted it all, the casserole would be dry.
Husband who doesn’t like casseroles liked this one! I subbed in ham for the sausage, used a combo of shredded cheese I had here (pepper jack, colby jack, Mexican blend), omitted fresh onion and bell pepper, but added onion powder and a caramelized onion seasoning. It seems like the type of recipe where you can swap things in and out and it STILL will be very tasty! :)
We will make this again.
This was delicious. I used bacon because I was paring it with French Toast Casserole and Sausage Patties. I love how you can add whatever veggies/meat you want. Great recipe.
If you’re substituting bacon, would you cook the bacon first? And would you suggest a full pound of bacon instead of sausage? I’m sorry if you’ve already answered this! I went back through a couple pages of older comments and didn’t see the question asked.
Yes, I do pre-cook the bacon to make it crisp and render out any fat. 1 pound of bacon is perfect in this recipe. Enjoy!
Awesome and easy!
Once cooked can you wrap In burrito
Absolutely, Dale! That sounds delicious.
Is there a way to make only half this amount for my small family of 4? The kids and bf barely eat so it’d be a waste of food to male the full recipe. Should I half all the ingredients and bake in a 5×7 baking dish at half the baking time?
Hi Stephanie! You can halve the recipe, make it in a 9×9 baking dish and bake at the same temperature. Check it after 35 minutes to ensure it’s heated through and melted in the middle.
Do you know if this could be prepared and frozen, before or after baking?
We bake it and then freeze it usually but other readers have frozen it before baking with great results. It can also be made ahead and stored in the refrigerator for 2 days. You will have to let us know how it turns out for you Carly!
I want to start off by saying my family and I cannot get enough of this recipe. we’ve made it at least once a week for about a month now . I have my inlaws staying with us for a while and I want one additional casserole just in case. If I freeze it before I cook it, should I let it thaw before cooking it in the oven? or can I just throw it in there and add additional time…? I’m very new to cooking lol
Hi Elena, you will want to fully thaw the casserole before cooking. I would take it out of the freezer the night before, thaw it in the fridge, and let it sit on the counter for 30-45 minutes before baking. If it’s still a bit cold, it might need a bit of extra cooking time. I hope that helps! :)
I fixed this for a gathering of 6 at the last minute for brunch time … I made the evening before and cooked the next morning …it was delish and easy !! I’ve fixed similar but with bread ..I loved the use of frozen shredded hash browns so I was able to offer croissants…I must say ..I loved it ! Will fix again
This was so yummy & a big hit with my family! I am trying to input recipe in my weight watchers app, how do I find out how much is a serving. I know it serves 8 people & the calorie is 474 just unsure how to calculate. For ex: Is it 1/2 cup per serving? Thanks for your help!
Hi Chandra, it is approximately 1 ½ cups per serving.
Excellent recipe! Easy to make, easy to serve!
I’ve made this several times. Love it. When cools I cut in serving sizes and wrap to freeze. I use low fat sausage and fat free milk. If I want to eat the next morning I leave in refrigerator overnight and microwave for breakfast.
Unfortunately, very dry. No, I did not modify.
I am so sorry to hear that! This recipe is one of my personal favorites.