Easy to make Breakfast Casserole with shredded potato hash browns, sausage or bacon and mozzarella cheese! Perfect with a quick and easy hollandaise sauce.
Loaded with green bell peppers, Roma tomatoes and onions, breakfast casserole is so easy to make and perfect for the holidays! There’s nothing easier than throwing all of your ingredients in a baking dish and have the oven work its magic.
BREAKFAST CASSEROLE
I can’t think of anything easier for a holiday breakfast or brunch than a breakfast casserole. Prepare it the night before to bake it the morning of for the easiest breakfast to feed a crowd!
The all important component in this casserole has to be the egg base. You want a creamy mixture that won’t dry out in the oven, plus a delicious veggie medley to provide flavours. To make it deliciously creamy, use milk plus a little heavy cream (thickened cream).
The beauty of this casserole is that it is so versatile you can really make it your own!
You can use bacon; a bacon/ham mixture (as we did here) OR sausages. Any sausage works well here: breakfast sausage, turkey, chicken, beef, mild Italian or pork. Or add in your favourite!
HOW TO MAKE SHREDDED POTATO HASH BROWNS
AUSSIES AND EVERYONE AROUND THE WORLD: For those of us who don’t have frozen shredded hash browns in our parts of the world, we need to make our own! See image below for a visual.
- Grate the potatoes first on the largest side of the grater.
- Soak your shredded potatoes in water for 5 minutes, then rinse in a fine mesh sieve (colander) under cold running water until the water runs clear.
- Squeeze all of the water out with a tea towel allow to air dry on a baking tray or baking sheet.
- Store in the freezer in ziplock freezer bags until ready to use in your breakfast casserole!
HOW TO MAKE BREAKFAST CASSEROLE
If you don’t have frozen potato hash browns, start preparing that first as mentioned above.
Then, move on with your breakfast casserole!
1. Choose on your desired meat fillings: sausages, bacon, ham or a combination! If adding sausages and bacon, I suggest frying them up first before adding them to your egg mixture.
For a vegetarian option, you can leave out the meat.
2. Choose on your veggie fillings: We love using green bell peppers (capsicum) and seeded, ripe Roma tomatoes. You can also add in corn kernels, red bell peppers (capsicum), sliced mushrooms and diced zucchini.
3. Choose your cheese: Use your favourite combination OR go with our suggestion of white cheddar with a mozzarella topping.
Layer your potato hash brown at the base of your dish, then pour in your egg mixture with all of the fillings. Top with cheese and bake your breakfast casserole until golden and bubbling!
MAKE AHEAD BREAKFAST CASSEROLE
Assemble the breakfast casserole as instructed in the recipe, then cover with foil and refrigerate overnight. When ready to bake, let sit at room temperature for 30 minutes before cooking.
Serve a slice of breakfast casserole with a side of sliced avocado, extra bacon pieces and easy to make hollandaise sauce!
Looking for more easy Breakfast Recipes? Try these!
Breakfast Egg Muffins 3 Ways (Meal Prep)
Cheesy Bacon And Egg Hash (Breakfast Skillet)
Sheet Pan Full Breakfast With Garlic Butter Mushrooms
Best Fluffy Pancakes
Best French Toast
Breakfast Casserole with Hash Browns, Bacon or Sausage!
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 pound (500 g) diced bacon, chopped (or uncooked sausages, casings removed)
- 10 large eggs
- 1 cup milk (half and half or heavy cream)
- 1/2 cup heavy cream (or thickened cream)
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- Salt to season
- Fresh cracked black pepper
- 2 Roma tomatoes seeded and chopped
- 1 onion diced
- 1 green bell pepper seeded and chopped
- 1 cup shredded white Cheddar
- 28 oz (800 g) shredded hash browns, frozen
- 1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C). Lightly grease an 8x12-inch baking dish with nonstick oil spray.
- Heat the oil in a large skillet or pan over medium heat. Add the bacon or sausage meat and cook until crispy or browned (about 8 minutes -- if using sausage, break up the meat with the tip of a wooden spoon). Add the onion and cook until soft (about 3 minutes).
- In a large bowl, whisk together eggs, milk, cream and garlic powder in a large bowl. Season generously with salt and pepper. Mix in the bacon (or sausages) and onions, tomatoes, bell peppers and cheddar cheese.
- Add a layer of hash browns to the base of the dish. Pour the egg mixture over the hash browns. Top with the mozzarella. Bake until eggs are cooked through (about 45 to 50 minutes).
- Serve warm with an easy to make hollandaise sauce!
Notes
Nutrition
Inspired by The Kitchn
Janet says
February 17, 2019 atThis is a simple and delicious dish, but bell pepper just didn’t get it for me–I used roasted poblano chiles, but mild Hatch (or Anaheim) would have been good, too. Be careful of Hatch chiles, however as they come either hot or mild, and the hot ones can exceed jalapeno in Scoville units, while the mild is just a baby step up from bells. I’m a little confused by the term “capsicum” which is a genus name that applies to all members of a botanical group that includes everything from sweet bell peppers to ghost peppers. Chris’s comment about precooking fresh potatoes is a good idea–I often microwave potatoes (usually russets) until firm and about 3/4 cooked before grating them for hash browns when I don’t have frozen on hand. I made this recipe with sausage, cooked and drained of fat before adding it.
Louise says
January 1, 2019 atHi Karina
Do you thaw hash browns first before assembling casserole . …or do you bake frozen ?…..Other recipes indicate they need to be thawed
Thank You,
Louise
Karina says
January 1, 2019 atHi Louise. They go in frozen. Enjoy!
Jo says
December 24, 2018 atHi Karina
I’m going to make this for a change on Xmas morning. I’ve looked at a few recipes online and some casseroles use Italian bread in them, not hash browns. How do you think your recipe with the hash browns would go with a mixture of the bread 🥖 too much or leave out the bread?
Thanks Jo
Bonnie Harrison says
December 20, 2018 atKarina, your pan look like q 9×13 but the recipe calls for an 8×12 pan that seems too small for the quanity. Please clarify. I love your recipes! Thanks
Karina says
December 20, 2018 atHi Bonnie! I used an 8×12 because we wanted a thick casserole. You can definitely use a 9×13! It will just be a tad thinner than ours but still delicious! I hope you like it!
Chris says
December 18, 2018 atThis sounds great; like a take on a flourless quiche. I think I’ll make it for Christmas day breakfast because it’ll be zero fuss, yet something a little bit different. May I just double-check the ‘hash browns’ really truly are just raw grated potato; washed, squeezed out and dried? I always par-cook my potatoes before I grate them for hash browns or fritters because otherwise, no matter how long I cook them for, they often end up slightly crunchy inside and no-one likes raw-tatie-hash! Do the potatoes form a ‘base’ or do they just amalgamate themselves through the slice?
Karina says
December 18, 2018 atHey Chris! We also usually either fry our potatoes or par-boil for adding to a frittata or omelette. In this dish though, they do go in raw and manage to mix through the casserole while it bakes. You are more than welcome to put them into the dish and bake them in the oven first for 10-15 minutes. We have tried that, spraying them with olive oil spray first, and you get a true crust that way! Then pour the egg mixture over the top and continue on with the recipe.
Honestly, they are great either way. Please let me know what you decide to do. I’d love to hear your feedback!
Happy holidays!
Chris says
December 18, 2018 atOh yes! Thankyou. I’ll do the short pre-cook because I love the idea of a ‘crust’. I’ll let you know how it turned out 🙂
Karina says
December 18, 2018 atGood luck Chris! I’m looking forward to hearing back!
Chris says
January 10, 2019 atHi Karina, I did make this for Christmas. We had 3 quite food-fussy American friends joining us for breakfast and it was a smash hit with them. I par-cooked the potatoes slightly on Christmas Eve, cooled them, grated them, mixed them with a small amount of butter and cooked them alone for 15 mins until they started to brown on the tips. Then I topped them with the crumbled sausage mixture and set everything aside in the fridge with the egg mixture separate. On Christmas morning I simply poured the egg over the top and popped it into the oven. So easy! It was delicious and there wasn’t a scrap left. I’m going to try it again one day following the original recipe (bacon version this time) and see which one I like best 🙂
Patricia Guentzler says
December 18, 2018 atI would love to try this but my household consists of myself & my husband and we are both over 70 could never eat in one setting – can this be frozen after baking?
Karina says
December 18, 2018 atHi Patricia!
Yes, you can sure freeze this. Thanks for trying this recipe and for following along with me! xo
Pam Rockey says
December 18, 2018 atI could not find the ratio of eggs to milk and heavy cream for your breakfast casserole with bacon or sausage. How much liquid (i.e.8 eggs, 1 cup milk) should be used to get the right consistency for the egg mixture?
Karina says
December 19, 2018 atHi Pam. I’m sorry you had trouble! All quantities are in the recipe box at the bottom of the post.
Donna says
December 18, 2018 atCan this be froze and then cook, at a later date?
Karina says
December 18, 2018 atDonna!
Yes, you should be able to freeze it without any problem. Thanks for following along with me!