This recipe ensures that breakfast is ready with all the right flavors to get everyone’s day started off right!
This crock pot breakfast casserole combines hash browns, sausage or ham, and lots of cheese with an egg mixture. It all “bakes” to perfection in the slow cooker. Making a CrockPot breakfast casserole recipe has never been easier!
CrockPot breakfast casserole goes from the slow cooker to the table in a matter of hours! Set the Crock Pot at night and get some rest, or whip it up in the morning!
Ingredients in Slow Cooker Breakfast Casserole
- HASH BROWNS: Shredded or diced hash browns work in this recipe. If you prefer more ‘potato’ in your casserole, you can certainly use diced hash brown potatoes or homestyle potatoes.
- MEAT: I most often use sausage or ham. Bacon (or really any breakfast meat) will work perfectly in this recipe!
- CHEESE & EGGS: I love the flavor sharp cheddar adds but any cheese works. Use whole eggs or even low-fat egg substitutes.
- TOPPINGS: Feel free to add salsa or Tabasco, and once you’re ready to serve, a nice dollop of sour cream and some chopped green onions!
How To Make Crock Pot Breakfast Casserole
- Cook sausage or bacon if using, or dice ham per the recipe below.
- If desired, soften the onion in bacon fat or a bit of oil.
- Layer hashbrowns, meat, peppers, onions, and cheese in a slow cooker.
- Whisk eggs, milk, and seasonings and pour over the hashbrown mixture.
- Cover and cook per the recipe below.
How Long to Cook a Breakfast Casserole
This slow cooker breakfast casserole recipe will take about 7-8 hours on LOW and 3-4 hours on HIGH in a 6QT slow cooker. If you’re working with a smaller slow cooker or doubling the recipe, the cooking time may need to be adjusted slightly to compensate.
Can You Freeze CrockPot Breakfast Casserole?
Like all casseroles, the best way to freeze them is to make sure they are fully cooled before they’re put in the freezer. Once it is fully baked, chill it overnight and then the next day, remove and either slice it into portions and freeze it individually or freeze it in sections in a plastic bag. Just reheat it in the microwave! Easy to make and easy to clean up!
More Breakfast Casseroles
CrockPot Breakfast Casserole
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 bag frozen hash brown potatoes 32 ounces
- 1 pound bacon, sausage, or ham cooked & cumbled or diced
- 2 cups sharp cheddar cheese shredded, about 8 oz
- 2 green onions sliced
- 1 small finely diced white onion about ½ cup
- 1 red bell pepper diced
- 1 green bell pepper diced
- 12 eggs
- 1 cup milk
- 1 ½ teaspoons dry mustard
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
Instructions
- If using bacon or sausage, cook and crumble. Drain fat leaving 1 tablespoon in the pan.
- If desired, soften the onion in the fat. This is optional but will soften the flavor of the onion.
- Grease a 6qt slow cooker. Place half the hash browns, meat, onions, peppers, and cheese in the slow cooker. Repeat layers ending with cheese, do not stir.
- Whisk eggs, milk, and seasonings in a medium bowl. Pour the egg mixture over the ingredients in the slow cooker.
- Cook on low for 7 to 8 hours or high for 3-4 hours. Once cooked, uncover and let the casserole rest for 15 minutes.
Video
Notes
Nutrition Information
Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.
Course Breakfast
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Would like to add spinach to this recipe…
Do you think it would work? Fresh, sauteed first or frozen just thrown in?
I haven’t tried adding spinach but I think it would be delicious! I would use frozen spinach that has been thawed and squeezed dry as to not add too much extra liquid to this casserole. If you try it I would love to hear how it turns out!
Waiting to make this for Christmas morning!
Have you ever made it ahead and just reheated it in the slow cooker? Wondering how long to reheat in the slow cooker from fully cooked/refrigerated.
I haven’t tried it so I can’t say for sure Katie. It should reheat in the crockpot fine. You could also have everything prepped and just pour the egg mixture overtop when you get up in the morning.
Great overnight recipe!! So easy to make, and so delicious!! I used ham instead of sausage, but the rest was the same as the recipe!! I plan to make it again!! If there are only 2 of you, freeze the leftovers, after you cut it into serving sizes.
I was excited about this recipe but it really didn’t do well in the crockpot. It just was a big mushy pile and the top was hardened. I think with chunks of potatoes it might do better, or in the oven.
I made this this past Sunday for a scrapbook retreat; I was disappointed. Despite having the onions and green peppers, it didn’t have a lot of flavor. I used sausage for my meat and I didn’t have sharp cheddar cheese, so I had to use three cheese trio.
Excellent recipe! Easy to follow. The only artistic license I took was to tweak the veggies to suit the taste of the group. I added mushrooms and used red onion instead of green. Will make again. I used a Reynolds slow cooker liner, and clean up was a breeze! Make this!
Hello, can you clarify what these steps mean? Is this saying that I layer half the ingredients, then mix the egg mixture into the remaining ingredients (all of which are still separated), then layer those remaining ingredients?
“Grease a 6qt slow cooker. Place half of the hash browns, meat, onions, cheese and peppers. Repeat layers ending with cheese.
Whisk eggs, milk, dry mustard and salt & pepper in a medium bowl. Pour egg mixture over the remaining ingredients.”
I’m confused
Hi Adam! Sorry for the confusion. You will layer half of the ingredients, and then layer the second half of the ingredients in the crockpot. After the hashbrowns, meat, onions, peppers, and cheese have all been added you pour the egg mixture over everything. There is also a video in the post you can reference to see exactly how I made it. I hope this helps!
The recipe was very good, I think I would use half of the amount of hash browns, mine looked nothing like the picture, great dish to make for a brunch
We love this recipe. It is one of our family favorites now. We don’t change anything except doubling the servings for a family of 8. Keep an eye on it. Depending on your crockpot it may be finished sooner. We bought a new one and it gets really hot.
I have a 4-quart slow cooker instead of a 6, so will multiply ingredients by 2/3. Can’t wait to try this weekend.
We can’t wait to hear how it turns out for you, Nancy!
This recipe is a lifesaver on busy mornings!
So happy you are enjoying this recipe, Liane!
Hi there,
Is 32 oz of hashbrowns for a single batch the correct amount? It seems like a lot so I wanted to double check. Making this for Christmas morning and I don’t want to screw it up!
Thanks,
Mega
Yes, 32 oz of hashbrowns is correct!
I made this recipe today for a Church breakfast we had. It turned out pretty good and everyone mentioned they liked it. I doubled the recipe and put it in a 7 Qt crockpot, a 6 qt would have been too small. When doubling the recipe it asked for 32 oz of hash browns, but I only used 24 ounces because I would not have had enough room in the crockpot. I cooked the casserole on low overnight from 12 AM to 7 AM; when I woke-up I noticed there was a lot of water at the top of the casserole. I uncovered it for another hour on low heat and it absorbed all the water. The Church breakfast was not until 10 AM so I cooked it on warm until 930 AM. I was worried by then it may be dried out, but it was not. The recipe does not specify the amount of salt to put in. I added 1 teaspoon salt and a 1/2 teaspoon pepper, and it still tasted somewhat bland. Next time I will add 1-1/2 teaspoon salt, I would also recommend sprinkling a little salt and pepper over each layer of hash browns. Since I doubled the recipe, I actually made three layers. I would definitely make this recipe again using the adjustments.
I am making this next Sunday and was wondering if it is better to use diced potatoes or shredded hash browns?
Either will work just fine Jill! Whatever your preference is will work perfectly.
I’m planning on making this recipe this weekend. Can I prepare it and refrigerate Friday morning and put on to cook late Friday night? Will the shredded hash browns be ok doing it that way?
Hi Donna, that should work well!
I have a 3qt crockpot. Does this recipe work with this size? If you use a 6qt crockpot do you think using half of the ingredients will work just as well? Thank you!
The slow cooker should be between 1/2 and 3/4 full. If you try half of these ingredients in a smaller slow cooker and it is more than 3/4 full, I would suggest using the larger one. If halving the recipe or using a smaller slow cooker, the cook time might change. (Note: if you put the dry ingredients without the egg in the slow cooker and decide it’s too small, you can transfer them to the larger slow cooker, it’s ok if they’re mixed up instead of layered).
Thank you for this recipe! We always want to invite friends over after church, and this is the perfect brunch dish to cook while we’re gone so it’s ready to go! I love that I can make it ahead of time and serve with fruit-voila! We used ham and it turned out great. The leftovers were also delicious! It easily fed 4 adults and 6 kids.
So happy to hear that, Lisa! This is the perfect recipe for that. :)
I made the recipe exactly how the instructions say.(cooking on low for 8 hours) Overall- the flavor profile is good- however, the hash browns don’t seem to have held up.. any suggestions ?
You will want to make sure the hashbrowns are being added to the casserole frozen. If they are defrosted they will cook faster and could end up falling apart. Hope that helps, Jenna!
I made this exactly how it says and did it on high for 3 hours. At 2.5 hours the center was still all liquid so I mixed it all over in hopes to get it all to cook better. Where did I go wrong? Is it better cooking it on low?
Hi Daria, I am not sure what went wrong. It should have fully cooked through. If you prepare it ahead of time and the mixture is very cold (from the fridge) it can take extra time to cook.
You can test your slow cooker following this guide to see if your slow cooker is not getting as hot as normal.
I’m cooking it now and it’s been on high, cooking for over 3 hours. Very liquidy in the middle. I’ve been cooking for over 20 years and followed the recipe exactly too. I can assure you it is NOT the heat from my crockpot, my crockpot works just fine, it IS the recipe itself So look, paid money for ingredients just to have it turn out like soup.
So sorry this recipe didn’t turn out for you, Chrissy! I am not sure what went wrong, we have had great success with this recipe.
IF you try this, or another recipe like it, again, put a paper towel under the lid to catch the condensation. Esp important in an eggy recipe like this to stop the condensation from the lid falling onto your casserole.
Great tip, thanks for sharing, Mary!
Testing CrocPots & SlowCookers: Fill SlowCooker 2/3 to 3/4 full with tap water (tepid / equal hot & cold mix). Set to LOW setting & check with a food thermometer after 8 hours for a minimum 185°F.
If you don’t have a crockpot or would like to make it the oven, what do you think temperature and time would be?
While we haven’t made this recipe in the oven, we do have a hashbrown breakfast casserole recipe for the oven. You could follow the steps there. It would likely take a little longer, maybe about 15 more minutes, because this recipe is a bit bigger. Hope that helps!