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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Made this today with thawed frozen O’Brien potatoes (already has peppers and onions in it) and jimmy dean cooked sausage crumbles to cut down on prep time. Assembled in five minutes. Delicious!
I made this for our Christmas breakfast and I substituted
O’Brien type hash browns instead of the shredded. The result was amazing plus I didn’t have to chop the peppers or onions. We will definitely be making this again.
Made for Christmas morning and was delicious! Slight modifications: 9 eggs, 1/2 tsp onion salt and 1/2 tsp garlic powder (instead of italian seasoning), 2 cups milk, and used 2 1/2 cups CheddarJack cheese (we like it cheesy), and we lightly browned the defrosted hash browns.
I made this for breakfast on Christmas and everyone love it!
Made this for Christmas breakfast! It was amazing! Simple to make and everyone loved it!
Thank you for sharing.
Effortless to make! So delicious!! Will definitely make this again. Thank you for these awesome recipes!
Made this for a night ahead for Christmas morning. Huge hit! Will make this again
Very tasty, easy to make because if I can make it…anyone can!
Made this casserole for Christmas breakfast this morning. It is delicious! Can the leftovers be frozen and microwaved at a later date? Thanks for a great recipe!
Yes they can. I’d suggest thawing in the fridge overnight.
This is a fantastic recipe! we used to make a breakfast casserole that used sliced bread, but my youngest daughter wouldn’t eat it. Then a few years ago I found this one and decided to give it a try and it was an instant hit! my youngest daughter ate two helpings! Thank you for a wonderful, new holiday family tradition ❤️
Thank you for such a great (and easy) recipe. It has become part of our Christmas tradition and a recipe I share with everyone!
I have diced hash brown potatoes with peppers and onions, would that work for this recipe?
That should work just fine.
The ingredients list is good. The ratios is off some.
The size of the casserole baking dish is off.
It’s a good thing I did not have frozen shredded hash browns.
I used frozen potato rounds instead.
I added sour cream as part of the milk and egg mixture.
Shredded hash browns would have soaked all that up during baking .
I’d recommend large eggs for this casserole and adjusting the cheese and eggs as needed;
Or else the eggs just get lost.
I also skipped “stir/mixing” ingredients.
I layered them instead.
Only added shredded cheese to the top of it.
These are my adjustments.
The recipe is a good one.
Thank you.
This recipe has thousands of 5 star reviews and works well as written. The ratio is off because you changed the ingredients and method.
Holly, hope you are having a joyful holiday! This is the second Christmas Day morning I have served your Breakfast Casserole. My family and I absolutely love it! My daughter asked for it to be served this morning. Thank you for getting our day off to tasty and satisfying start.
Do I need to pre-cook my thawed shredded hash browns?
They do not need to be pre-cooked.
Can you reheat leftovers in microwave
Absolutely!
This is a Christmas morning regular at our house and loved by everyone. I use hot breakfast sausage for added zip. I have added one or two more eggs because we have more people at times and that works very well and I didn’t readjust anything else. Wonderful recipe, very flavorful.
So glad you love it, Merry Christmas!
I see the ounces of evaporated milk increases based on the serving size. If we are using milk, why does not increase? I am making 16 servings.
Thank you.
The milk does increase on the left (to 24oz). Unfortunately the written part of the recipe (which includes the light grey 1 can part) doesn’t adjust. If doubling the recipe to make 16 servings, you will need 24oz of evaporated milk.
Has anyone ever doubled this recipe? Would you recommend still using 9x 13 pan or two separate ones?
I would suggest two 9×13-inch pans so the casserole cooks through.
If assembling this then baking it the next morning, do I pour egg mixture on immediately or wait until morning?
You can pour the egg on the night before.
Holly was wondering if you have used the O’brien frozen potatoes that already have the onion and green peppers in them? Thanks
I haven’t tried it but many readers have successfully used O’Brien potatoes. Let us know how it goes!
Holly this recipe is delicious. I make it at least every other week, changing meat and vegetables from time to time. Everyone loves it. Thank you.