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This cheesy breakfast casserole recipe is irresistible for weekend brunch or at the holidays! It’s big on flavor, has very few ingredients, and is a great make-ahead breakfast.
Love easy breakfast recipes? Try these Spinach and Mushroom Egg Muffins next.
Why you’ll love it
If someone in your family isn’t really into breakfast, this hashbrown casserole will definitely change their mind. It has fluffy eggs, bell peppers, sausage, and loads of cheesy goodness. We love it for breakfast meal prep so mornings are that much easier (and tastier).
It’s also great for special occasions, during the holidays, and especially on Christmas morning for breakfast since it feeds a crowd. Your family will look forward to as much as opening the presents! Ok, maybe not quite that much, but it’s simple deliciousness.
What you’ll need
- Hash brown potatoes – use the shredded kind, but if diced is all you have, that’s ok too
- Sausage – we’re using pork sausage
- Onion – sweet (Vidalia) is our go-to for an aromatic base, but yellow works
- Bell peppers – we used red and green, but any colors are fine
- Garlic – for savory depth of flavor
- Eggs – yup, we’re using a dozen! That works out to one egg for each portion, so don’t worry if it seems like a lot.
- Half-and-half – for a touch of creaminess
- Cheddar cheese – it’s inside the casserole and the melty topping
- Spinach – for a pop of freshness
Tools for this recipe
Check out Natasha’s favorite kitchen essentials, gadgets, and cookware!
- I love this space-saving egg dispenser for the fridge.
- I definitely recommend grating your own cheddar. It melts and tastes so much better than the bagged kind that’s coated with anti-clumping preservatives. It’s worth it. I use this Microplane cheese grater.
- This is the 9×13 baking dish pictured and the cast iron skillet.
How to make a breakfast casserole
This is an overview with step-by-step photos. Full ingredients & instructions are in the recipe card below.
Thaw the hash brown potatoes, and then transfer them to a baking dish and spread in an even layer. Preheat the oven. In a skillet, cook the sausage meat until browned. Transfer it to the baking dish on top of the potatoes.
Sauté the onion, garlic, and bell peppers in the skillet over medium-high heat until softened, and then add to the baking dish over top of the sausage meat.
In a large mixing bowl add the eggs, half-and-half, and salt. Whisk until just combined without overworking the mixture. Stir in the spinach and half of the cheddar cheese.
Pour the egg mixture into the baking dish, and smooth it all into a uniform layer. Top with the rest of the cheddar, bake, and enjoy.
How to make it ahead
- Complete it up until the baking step, cover it and refrigerate overnight, and then bake the next morning. Easy!
- You’ll likely need to add on extra time because it’ll be cold coming straight out of the fridge. I’d probably take it out of the fridge 30-45 minutes before baking, and then add an extra 15 minutes or so to the baking time.
- For freezing, I’d just assemble it, cover tightly, and freeze before the baking step for up to a month.
Substitutions and variations
- If you prefer not to have any greens in this breakfast casserole, feel free to skip the spinach. Also, if you’re not a fan of garlic in the morning, that can be skipped too, but the overall dish will be a bit less flavorful. It isn’t overpowering, though!
- Want to jazz it up? Try some green chilies for a Tex-Mex twist and a bit of a kick, or use spicy sausage meat. You can also add some hot sauce when serving for a bit of heat.
- Don’t need to serve a lot of people? You can halve the recipe (every ingredient) for an 8×8 baking dish. I’d bake it for a bit less time, checking for doneness 35 minutes into the baking time to ensure that it doesn’t overcook.
What to serve with breakfast casserole
- We love serving this breakfast casserole with a platter of fresh fruit or fruit salad. This Easy Waldorf Salad would be great for brunch.
- Try it with some Easy Oven Cooked Bacon. You can’t ever go wrong with bacon!
- Biscuits, bagels, or even a Simple Arugula Salad are all great choices for pairing with this casserole at a brunch spread.
Leftovers and storage
- Leftovers of this hashbrown casserole will keep in the fridge for a few days in a covered container.
- To freeze leftovers, I’d do individual portions for up to 3 months, and then thaw in the fridge overnight before reheating.
- Reheat in the microwave, or you could warm in the oven at 375F. Simply cover the baking dish with foil, and warm for 30 minutes or until it’s hot.
I’d be thrilled to hear from you in the comments below if you made this egg breakfast casserole! You can also tag me on Instagram if you made this recipe.
Simple Breakfast Casserole
Ingredients
- 20 ounces shredded hash brown potatoes see note
- 1 pound pork sausage see note
- 1/2 medium onion chopped
- 1/2 red bell pepper chopped
- 1/2 green bell pepper chopped
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 12 large eggs
- 1 cup half-and-half
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 cups (packed) fresh baby spinach chopped (optional)
- 2 cups grated cheddar divided
Instructions
- Thaw the hash brown potatoes in a colander (you can let them sit on your counter for an hour or so or thaw them in the fridge overnight).
- Once the potatoes are thawed, transfer them to a 9×13 casserole dish. Preheat your oven to 375F and move the rack to the top third of the oven.
- In a skillet, cook the sausage over medium-high heat until browned, breaking up the meat as it cooks (about 8-10 min). Transfer it to the casserole dish and leave the remaining fat in the skillet (but if it's more than 1-2 tablespoons, drain the excess). If the pan is looking dry, add a tablespoon or so of olive oil.
- Add the onion, bell peppers, and garlic to the skillet and cook over medium-high heat for 4-5 minutes, then transfer to the casserole dish.
- In a large prep bowl, add the eggs, half-and-half, and salt. Whisk until just combined, then stir in the chopped spinach and half the cheese.
- Pour the egg mixture into the casserole dish and toss everything together then smooth into an even layer.
- Top with the rest of the cheese.
- Bake, uncovered, for 45 minutes or until the edges start to brown and the middle is set (insert a toothpick and if it comes out clean, it's done). Don't cook for too much longer than needed as the egg will dry out.
- Let it cool for a few minutes prior to cutting and serving. Season individual portions with extra salt & pepper if needed.
Notes
- If the hash browns are still slightly frozen, you should be ok, just ensure there’s no large frozen clumps. You may sub shredded hash browns for the diced kind.
- Use any kind of uncooked pork sausage. Italian sausage works as does breakfast sausage. I used Johnsonville Mild Italian for this recipe. Use either ground sausage meat or buy sausages and take the meat out of the casings.
- Depending on portion size and what else it’s served with, it serves 8-12. See blog post for freezing and make ahead tips!
- This recipe is also on page 193 of the Salt & Lavender: Everyday Essentials cookbook.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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Made this for our Thanksgiving breakfast.
The family devoured and asked for this again on Christmas morning. Delicious start to our wonderful day. This is a keeper.
Aww that’s lovely to hear, Carol! Thanks for your review.
If I half this recipe (0.5x), should I still use a 9×13 pan?
I’d use an 8×8.
This was dynamite!! Thanks so much!! Will be making this often now. I used jimmy dean ground sausage and added some mushrooms but other than that pretty much stuck to recipe. With my oven going to have to put the top of the cheese on halfway through bc it was slightly burned cheese and had to take it out at 50 mins. Anyways, loved it! Thank you!
Thank you, Sarah!
This meal kept me satisfied and I love that I get some veggies in it. It’s been my go to breakfast meal prep for work last week and will be for the following weeks.
Awesome!! 😀 Thanks for your review, Dorthi!