Cheesy Breakfast Casserole
The best and easiest make-ahead breakfast casserole loaded with sausage, potatoes and cheesy goodness!
Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. That’s a given. Too bad it’s usually skipped with a hot cup of coffee or a quick drive-thru at McDonald’s for those 2-for-1 sausage egg mcmuffin deals. And a giant maple bar at your local donut store.
Wait, is that just me?
No, but really, with this make-ahead breakfast casserole here, breakfast really becomes the most important meal of the day. It’s so important, you’ll end up having this for dinner too. After all, breakfast foods taste so much better at nighttime anyway, right?
Cheesy Breakfast Casserole
The best and easiest make-ahead breakfast casserole loaded with sausage, potatoes and cheesy goodness!
Ingredients
- 2 small russet potatoes, diced
- 4 large eggs
- ¼ cup milk
- 1 teaspoon hot sauce, optional
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 3 Italian sausage links, casing removed
- 1 red bell pepper, diced
- 1 green bell pepper, diced
- 1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese, divided
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley leaves
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly coat a 9-inch baking dish with nonstick spray.
- Place potatoes and 1/4 cup water in a microwave-safe bowl. Cover and place into microwave for 4-5 minutes, or until tender; drain well and set aside.
- In a large glass measuring cup or another bowl, whisk together eggs, milk and hot sauce; season with salt and pepper, to taste; set aside.
- Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Add Italian sausage and cook until browned, about 3-5 minutes, making sure to crumble the sausage as it cooks; drain excess fat. Stir in bell peppers and potatoes until tender, about 3-4 minutes.
- Remove from heat. Stir in 1/2 cup cheddar cheese until well combined.
- Place sausage mixture evenly into the baking dish. Pour egg mixture evenly over the top and sprinkle with remaining 1/2 cup cheese.*
- Place into oven and bake for 35-40 minutes, or until the eggs are firm.
- Serve immediately, garnished with parsley, if desired.
Notes
*This can be covered and placed in the refrigerator for up to 24 hours. When ready to reheat, let the covered casserole sit at room temperature for 1 hour.
Did you make this recipe?
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With my hubby being a FIFO worker and gluten free, I make all his meals and freeze them for him to reheat in a microwave.
Tried this recipe for the first time last swing and he loved it. Best one so far, he says. He wants me to make it from now on.
The extra ‘hot’ sauce is a bonus and should def be added.
That’s awesome!
Question. I’m serving this for 20ppl as a brunch after our morning worship. Can I cook night before and reheat or should I just take out of fridge and program oven to start cooking a half our before we return home so I don’t have hungry ppl waiting around for it to finish?
Cassandra, it is best to let the covered casserole sit at room temperature for at least 1 hour. But as always, please use your best judgment when making substitutions and modifications.
can you purtit all together the night before but not actually cook it that night? [as in pull out of the refrig next am and let sit for 30 minutes and then cook not reheat
I have not made this yet but I can’t wait to try for this cold weather and my hard working husband.
Thank you for NOT using precut potatoes in this dish. I never buy precut potatoes and the Internet mainly uses frozen or thawed hash browns.
I have leftover corn (1 cup) and salsa (1/4 cup), so I want to try adding just those 2 ingredients to the your recipe.
We are a family of 7, big meals that can be made in the oven or crock pot keeps this Momma stay sane
I will update once made.
Thanks, Amy! Good luck!
I doubled this and used lightlife gimme lean sausage to make it vegetarian and also used almond milk instead of dairy. I didn’t leave it sit out after refrigeration. I put it in a cold oven and then turned the oven on. When it was finished preheating I set the time for 35 minutes. It was not done so I added another 10 and it was perfect.
Thanks for sharing!
I made this for my family this morning and t was delicious! Followed the recipe exactly. Thank you!
Quick, easy, delicious!!!
Put together yesterday and baked this morning. This is the FIRST breakfast casserole hubby has ever liked! He said “It’s good.” and I made him repeat himself lol. It’s pretty high praise considering 13 years of marriage had, until today, failed to yield a breakfast casserole he thought tasted good (he ate a nice large piece and he is not a breakfast person!). It took an hour to bake at 350°F but I didn’t have time to let it sit an hour outside of the fridge (more like 20 minutes). Egg yolk sets by 158°F for anyone who wonders. I’m bad at food readiness appraisal (So. Much. Previously. Undeecooked. Chicken) so I use our cooking thermometer a lot now 🙂
Thanks, Hannah! That’s great!
Can this be made with “soyrizo”, i.e. soy chorizo? Also, if we double the recipe, what size baking dish would you recommend?
What a great idea! But unfortunately, without having tried this myself, I cannot answer with certainty. As always, please use your best judgment when making substitutions and modifications.
I’m confused. Where the note instructions are, are they reheating instructions or make-ahead instructions?
Please refer to the NOTES section below the recipe. 🙂
I need to prepare a breakfast casserole the night before, because I have to transport it to a meeting and have several other errands that must be done before the meeting as well. Can I prepare this in a crockpot? Should I set the crockpot on low and let it cook all night? Say begin the crockpot at midnight and let it cook till 7AM? Will the dish be overcooked. Has anyone tried this recipe in a crockpot? I must do this the night before, because I will not have time that morning. Thanks for you input.
What a great idea! But unfortunately, without further recipe testing, I cannot answer with certainty. As always, please use your best judgment regarding substitutions and modifications.
Can this recipe be made without eggs? I know it’s a lot to ask, but every breakfast casserole out there is filled with with gluten and eggs – the two things I can’t have. Yours has a lot less eggs than most, so I thought maybe I could substitute or leave them out? Any suggestions?
Unfortunately, without further recipe testing, I cannot answer with certainty. As always, please use your best judgment regarding substitutions and modifications.
I’ve made this dish before and it was delicious! I’m going too make this dish again however I’ll be making two batches, I have some family members who are lactose intolerant. I’m going to leave out the cheese, but can I substitute the milk for water? So they will be able to enjoy this dish as well?
I love that you are trying to accommodate everyone’s dietary restrictions! But unfortunately, without further recipe testing, I cannot answer with certainty. As always, please use your best judgment regarding substitutions and modifications. I hope it turns out okay!
Will this recipe work without potatoes? Crazy question, I know!
Yes!
This cheesy breakfast will probably fill me up till dinner. Excellent recipe! Looks freaking delicious! Open a restaurant!! Once you’re opened, let me know. I will fly from anywhere to visit you and taste your food!
Why is this called a make ahead breakfast? Isn’t the idea that you’re suppose to be able to make it, freeze it, and reheat it when you’re ready to eat it?
I was just scrolling through this recipe and looking at reviews. Then “my name” jumped out at me. So rare to see a Bryn with the same spelling. Hi!
It’s called a make ahead breakfast because you can actually make it ahead of time! 🙂
*This can be covered and placed in the refrigerator for up to 24 hours. When ready to reheat, let the covered casserole sit at room temperature for 1 hour.
Im making this for a family brunch as I’ve never had anything from this site that wasn’t Fabulous! My question is: to make ahead of time the instructions say to “reheat” which would indicate that i’ve already heated /cooked the ingredients I’ve prepared. The instructions do say it can sit for 24 hours, but is that covered in raw form, or already baked and I am just REheating what I’ve already cooked?
Yes, it is covered in “raw” form.
How to u kno the egg fully done
Nick, here is a great resource discussing “egg doneness” indicators:
http://www.incredibleegg.org/cooking-school/tips-tricks/doneness-indicators/
Hope that helps!
I made this yesterday for friends and my husband in individual mini dutch ovens. Three with baked runny eggs and mine beaten as I’m pregnant. They were fantastic!! Really delicious. Rave reviews. Definitely saving this recipe.
I made this twice for two separate brunches. Only change was I used breakfast pork sausage. Everyone loved the dish. I took a couple left over pieces to a friend who just had cancer surgery. It was easy for her to warm in the microwave and she loved it too!!
I love all of your posts! I wonder, is there any reason this couldn’t be made in muffin tins and then frozen as individual servings once baked?
What a great idea! But unfortunately, without further recipe testing, I cannot answer with certainty. As always, please use your best judgment.
Hi – I’m curious if you have tried to freeze them ?
I adore your website! Everything we have tried has, well… lived up to the name of your blog 😀 Thank you!