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
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.
I have made several breakfast casseroles over the years. This is the first one I have made that my family not only requested I make again but my husband suggested I make it every Sunday! So now that’s exactly what I do. It’s such a crowd pleaser.
This recipe turned out perfectly. Followed directions (went with ham) and it was a real crowd pleaser. I made it the night before and cooked it as directed. Thank you Holly! I will definitely be making this again.
You’re welcome Maggie! So happy to hear it was such a hit!
Could I use the small cubed hashbrowns instead of shredded. If so would I need to make any changes to the recipe? Cook hashbrowns first?
Yes Alyssa, as mentioned in the post, you should cook them first. Enjoy!
Made for Easter Sunday breakfast at church. Made 30 servings. Everybody loved it and wanted the recipe! I really like how you can adjust the servings for what you need.
Did you just double the recipe? How did you adjust for the servings needed?
I used diced ham instead of sausage and half & half instead of evaporated milk. It came out perfectly but I did cut cooking time by almost 15 minutes so check often at the end so it doesn’t overcook. Next time I will add more cheese but other than that it was perfect!
This is a great recipe and very flexible. I cut the quantities to 5 eggs and 1 cup of fat free evaporated milk since there’s just 2 of us. I added some cherry tomato halves to the veggies because they needed to be used up. I had several small pieces of cheese (cheddar, swiss, parmesan) that I grated up. Baked about 50 minutes in an 8×8 pan. I also prebaked the shredded hash browns (about 2 inches in the bottom of my dish) for a little more texture. I have tried several recipes from this site and they are always a hit!
Sounds delicious Lisa!
I’m curious about the taste the evaporated milk will give? what flavor profile does it add? Will it make it sweet or does it create a more airy casserole. I’ve made breakfast casseroles before but never with the evaporated milk and I like to try this recipe
It’s a bit thicker than regular milk without the added fat of heavy cream but doesn’t add sweetness (ensure it’s not sweetened condensed milk). Regular milk should work in this recipe Chris.
Can you use something other than milk? I’m making this for a group and one member can have dairy. I can figure out the cheese, but can you make this with some other kind of “milk” or use water with the eggs?
While I haven’t tried it, I can’t see any reason a non-dairy milk wouldn’t work. It may change the flavor a little bit. Please let us know how it works out for you!
Hi! My Ore-Ida bag of shedded hash browns is 30 ounces. Can use the whole bag or should I measure out 20 ounces?
Looking forward to making this recipe!
I’d suggest measuring out per the recipe Mari. Enjoy it!
I used the full 30 ounces and added an extra egg and a little extra cheese, came out fine!
Do you use breakfast sausage or sweet Italian sausage for this recipe?
I usually use breakfast sausage, but 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. Enjoy Jess!
I wanted to like this dish but alas we found we did not like the taste. I used regular breakfast sausage and msybe would have been better with italian ssusage. The italian spice used just did not work. Probably won’t try again
Sorry that you didn’t enjoy this breakfast casserole as much as we do Sandy. Thanks for trying it.
Could you substitute heavy whipping cream for the evaporated milk because that’s what I have on hand. If so, how much would you use?
We have only made the recipe as written Bridget. Other readers have substituted heavy cream with success. Evaporated milk is a bit thicker than regular milk, so you could either water the heavy cream down a tiny bit, or try it as is. Let us know how it works for you!
Sounds good
I’ve made this before & it was delicious. My son is on keto & I want to make this for Easter brunch. He claims half & half or heavy cream is more keto friendly. Do you think I could sub one of those for the milk?
Either of those would work in this recipe Dana. If potatoes don’t fit into his eating plan, you may want to check out my other site Easy Low Carb for some ideas. Enjoy!
We made it a Mexican egg bake. We added fresh jalapenos, chorizo, seasoned eggs with cumin, Cheyenne, garlic, used a Mexican blend cheese, and added two extra eggs. Yummy
I plan on making this next week and will rate it after I make it. One question I had is if I make it the night before and put it in the refrigerator do I add the egg to the mixture or add it in the morning?
thanks
You can add it the night before cooking, let us know how it turns out!
This is awesome! I froze most of it in individual steamer bags and had an excellent breakfast all week long. (Microwave 2-3 minutes.) Really delicious! Even my daughter, who doesn’t like eggs at all, likes this. That’s saying something!
I’m going to make this today, but I’m confused, where do the hash browns fit into the recipe? I don’t see anything in the steps? I’m assume you pay them dry and line the bottom of the dish but it would be nice if it was included in the recipe.
Step 4 says to add in remaining ingredients and top with the egg mixture. Hope that clarifies Jessica. Enjoy!
What would be a good substitution for the evaporated milk?
You can replace the evaporated milk with 1 ⅓ cups of milk. Enjoy!
Instead of the canned milk, I added two eggs. I then only included onions, as my son doesn’t go for peppers. We ended up taking it out with 9 minutes left. Added salt and pepper after plating it.
Result: the best cassarole I’ve ever made. The cheese is a crusted top and edges. The sausage on the top layer has a bit of a crunch.
Excited to try this! I have a large 11×15 casserole dish and need to feed a larger crowd. Could I double the recipe and it would fit in 11×15 or should I just increase by half to serve 12 (based on your 8 servings)? Should I increase cooking time?
I can’t say for sure if this would fit into an 11×15 if you double the recipe. If you do double (or even increase by half) you will likely need to increase cooking time. You could also make two 9×13 pans.
I am planning on making this soon for a reunion with friends. I want to make it ahead of time. Should I cook it and then freeze it? Or should I wait to cook it until day of and just put it in the freezer?
This recipe can be baked, cooled and then frozen. Thaw in the fridge overnight before reheating.