Breakfast Casserole is the PERFECT make-ahead breakfast for busy mornings or holidays! Easy to customize to your family’s favorite flavors!
During the holidays I love going overboard for breakfast with delicious Breakfast Casserole Recipes. Try out my Breakfast Burrito Casserole and Tater Tot Breakfast Casserole too!
Sabrina’s Breakfast Casserole
Breakfast Casserole is a go-to on the holidays because it’s really EASY and stress free to throw together for breakfast or brunch. You can prepare it ahead of time and just pull it out of the refrigerator when you’re ready to bake.
Recipe Card
Ingredients
- 1 pound bacon , diced
- 1/2 yellow onion , minced
- 1 green bell pepper , diced
- 4 cups frozen shredded potatoes
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter , melted
- 10 large eggs
- 3 cups cheddar cheese , shredded
- 16 ounces small curd cottage cheese
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees and spray a 9×13 baking dish with vegetable oil spray.
- Add the bacon, onion and bell pepper to a large skillet on medium high heat until cooked just shy of being done.
- Drain the fat and add the mixture to a large bowl with the hash browns, butter, eggs, cheddar cheese and cottage cheese.
- Mix the ingredients until they're well coated.
- Put into a 9×13 baking dish and bake, uncovered, for 60-70 minutes.
Notes
Nutrition
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Chef’s Note
You can customize the casserole with any of your family’s favorite omelette fillings. This is also a great way to use up odds and ends of leftover vegetables or meats. Just make sure any fillings are already cooked and drained well before dicing them up and stirring into the egg mixture.
Table of contents
About this Recipe
This is typically a breakfast recipe (or brunch), but I’m not above serving this for dinner on a semi-regular basis. It’s crowd-pleasing and easy to make during busy weeknights. I prefer the texture of the shredded hash browns, but Diced Hash Browns will work, too. I use bacon in this casserole recipe, but you can use any of the usual breakfast meat options like sausage or ham if that’s what you have.
Ingredients
- Eggs: You will use 10 large eggs for this recipe. It’s a good idea to crack the eggs one by one in a small bowl before adding to a larger bowl to beat. This way if there is a spoiled egg, or if a lot of shell gets into one, you can remedy it quickly without ruining the entire batch.
- Bacon: Use any favorite variety of bacon, thick or thin sliced. Dice the bacon while it’s cold so that it’s easier to handle, and the pieces will separate and crisp up nicely when browned.
- Hash Browns: Frozen shredded hash browns make this Breakfast Casserole quick and easy to prepare. Just make sure you defrost them well and pat any excess moisture with paper towels to help prevent the casserole from becoming watery.
- Veggies: Minced yellow onion and diced green bell pepper add an aromatic flavor that complements the salty bacon and cheese. They add a nice bright color and crunch along with extra flavor to make it taste almost like a fancy omelette.
- Cheese: It’s best to buy a block of cheddar cheese and shred it yourself with a cheese grater. This lets the cheese melt into the casserole without adding any grittiness from the anti-caking agents that are often added to pre-shredded cheese. You can use mild, medium, or sharp cheddar depending on your preference.
Pairing Suggestions
If you’re serving this casserole for a crowd, serve it with a batch of Buttermilk Biscuits on the side. Eggs and biscuits make the perfect breakfast combo, and it also gives people more variety to choose from at the table.
How to Serve
- Serve: Do not leave your the casserole at room temperature longer than 2 hours.
- Store: A fully cooked breakfast casserole will last in the fridge for 3-4 days, if it makes it that long without being eaten. If you prepped this casserole ahead of time without baking, cover and refrigerate it for up to 1 day or overnight, then bake the next morning.
- Freeze: You can freeze this fully cooked easy casserole for 2-3 months. I recommend using a disposable catering dish if you’re going to do this so you don’t have to use a casserole dish. Make sure you wrap it tightly to prevent freezer burn. You can also portion into serving sizes and wrap each one individually for breakfast or brunch on-the-go throughout the week. Do not freeze this dish if you used an egg substitute as it will not freeze well.
Slow Cooker Method
This is a great recipe for making breakfast in the slow cooker, but only use the low setting to avoid overcooking the eggs. Make an overnight breakfast casserole by setting the slow cooker before you go to sleep and waking up to breakfast! Coat the slow cooker bowl lightly with cooking spray or butter (or use a crock pot liner). Sauté bacon (or sausage), onion, and bell peppers until bacon is cooked through. Drain grease and add to slow cooker. Add all other ingredients and stir everything together, with salt and black pepper to taste. Bake for a total time of 7-8 hours on low, until eggs are cooked through.
Frequent Questions
This breakfast recipe is done when the top is golden brown and firm to the touch. If you used frozen hash browns without defrosting, it may take a few more minutes to cook through. Take this out of the oven just as it sets, it will keep cooking as it cools down. You don’t have to worry about the bacon or sausage because you browned it ahead of time.
Just make sure the middle of the pan has set. You may feel like it is done if you’re testing the edges of the pan but you need to test the middle of the pan before you pull it out of the oven for good.
You don’t have to cover an egg breakfast casserole while it’s baking. If you start to notice it browning too quickly around the edges, you can cover with tinfoil to prevent burning and check the oven temperature. Then remove the foil for the last 10-15 minutes to get the golden brown color on the top.
If you’ve frozen the casserole, defrost in the refrigerator overnight. Then bake at 350 degrees F for 20-25 minutes, or until casserole is heated through. If you reheat a piece in the microwave, the eggs may become overcooked.
This dish is naturally gluten free, but check any packaged things for added ingredients that vary by brand.
Variations
- Add ins: Add your favorite omelette fillings such as cooked sausage or ham, spinach, kale, mushrooms, tomatoes (fresh or sundried), green onions, or broccoli.
- Cheese: Instead of cheddar cheese, try mixing in Swiss cheese, goat cheese crumbles, shredded Pepper Jack, gouda, American, or Italian cheeses like Parmesan, mozzarella, or fontina.
- Tex Mex Breakfast Bake: Make this a breakfast Tex-Mex casserole by whisking in spices to the egg mixture and adding diced jalapeno or poblano peppers, spicy sausage, and topping with salsa and avocado before serving!
- Meats: Breakfast sausage, sweet Italian sausage, or spicy Italian sausage all work well in this recipe. Depending on the fat, you should still drain any grease from the browned sausage before adding to the casserole. If you use leftover cooked ham from dinner the night before, you can skip the browning step entirely and make this a one-dish recipe!
- Potatoes: Make tater tot and egg casserole by swapping the hash browns for a layer of tater tots.
- Toppings: Serve your Breakfast Casserole with a variety of condiments and toppings. You can put out sour cream, hot sauce, avocado slices, extra shredded cheese, or ketchup.
- Mini Egg Casseroles: Instead of one large casserole, you can stir up the egg mixture in a bowl and spoon it into a greased muffin tin or mini loaf pans for individual servings. Decrease baking time to about 20-25 minutes.
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The Following Photos Were Used In The Previous Versions Of This Post
Is the nutrition information based off of 1 serving size?
By the way this is a favorite in our house. Left overs are usually gone in a day!
Delighted you enjoyed the Breakfast Casserole Amanda!
Our nutrition values are created by a nutrition calculator. Feel free to use your own nutrition calculators with the recipe ingredients. Serving sizes become an issue because people will have ingredients of different sizes. Packaged products are weighed and measured at the time of creation which makes their measurements accurate. The only way to accurately know the measurements of meals is to weigh and divide.
I have made this several times and it was delicious. My family loved it. Even shared your recipe. Question. Can I freeze uncooked and then thaw and bake?
Freeze: You can freeze this fully cooked easy breakfast casserole for 2-3 months. I recommend using a disposable catering dish if you’re going to do this so you don’t have to use a casserole dish. Make sure you wrap it tightly to prevent freezer burn. You can also portion into serving sizes and wrap each one individually for breakfast or brunch on-the-go throughout the week. Do not freeze this dish if you used an egg substitute as it will not freeze well.
Getting ready to make this for Black Friday breakfast. I would like to use muffin tins. How many muffins will this recipe make and how full do I pour in the batter?
I make this all the time. Everyone loves it. I made it for a brunch gathering and mine was one of three and voted #1. The one woman said “I made it”(jokingly) It’s Delicious!!!
I made this today and it’s so easy and very good. I think it’s more like 15 servings for me, though, so I’ll freeze a lot of it.
I think next time I might use roasted poblano pepper and leave out the bacon to make it a little lower in calories.
To those of you who haven’t tried this and are wondering if you should, yes you should! It’s definitely a keeper.
Made this this morning and it was really good with a couple adjustments using the cubed hash browns with peppers and onions taking around 66 minutes in my gas stove.
Thanks for the recipe.
Delicious and so easy! Prepped the night before and put in the oven for brunch. It was a hit!
What is a good substitute for the cottage cheese? Thats one ingredient my family does not care for.
You can try substituting with ricotta cheese. Good luck!
Can I grate the potatoes instead of using the frozen shredded potatoes? Basically using fresh potatoes instead of frozen potatoes. Thank you.
Sure 🙂
GREAT recipe. Been making breakfast casseroles for several years for our adult kids when they visit for the weekend, and this got a “best yet” review from them. Omitted green pepper (1 kid STILL hates them) and used bacon grease instead of butter. Yum!!
Thanks for the suggestion about bacon grease.
I love this breakfast casserole! We have 2 training days a year at work and this is always my go to recipe!
I’m so glad you love it so much. Thanks for the 5 stars.
Made this for the first time without any changes and my WHOLE family voted it a hit. There was one small piece left over and it was just as good heated up as it was on the day I made it.
This recipe is a keeper!!
6 adults and 6 kids loved it
Thanks for taking the time to come back and let me know, Shelley. I love when recipes are a hit with the whole family.
Can you see the cottage cheese inside of it after baking? I have picky eaters at my house.
You can see it a bit but it’s not super obvious. Not sure if it’ll pass the picky-eater test or not, haha! Let me know if you decide to try.
Can this be put together and frozen, then thawed and baked?
I would cook it before freezing.
Thank you for this amazing recipe! Everytime I make it , it disappears like magic. Everyone I’ve maded & shared this with, can’t believe how good it is!
Aw, that makes me so happy to hear! Happy that it’s a hit time after time for you!
This was delicious! I made it just as the recipe says. Next time I will try it with sausage. Very pleased with the results. Only took 60 minutes to bake in my oven.
Thanks so much for the 5 star rating Sandi. I’m so glad you enjoyed it.
I served this to both services Easter morning at our potluck. We got there early to assemble two double-size pans, and then baked it during early service. The folks polished off the first in just a few minutes, and I refrigerated the second for after the 10:30 service. Microwave on half speed worked just fine, and it didn’t get tough. Our world-famous tenor simply had to have the recipe, and another lady grabbed it from him to photo with her phone before he took it back. This recipe is absolutely delicious, especially considering we’ve always used the bread chunks, sausage, cheese, and eggs recipe before. Totally new for our crowd, and they loved the hashbrowns and bacon. Thank you, thank you!
Thank you so much for taking the time to come back and let me know. I’m so glad that everyone loved it!
Can I substitute sour cream for cottage cheese
I haven’t tested it but my gut is telling me it would work. If you decide to try, I’d love to know how it turns out. Thanks!
Can you make this the night before and then bake next morning
Yes 🙂
My whole family loved this for Christmas breakfast. Thanks for the recipe.
Wonderful! So glad you loved it, thank you for coming back to leave a review! And on Christmas day, I so appreciate it. 🙂
What would you suggest in place of cottage cheese? I don’t care for it.
I haven’t tested it but you could possibly subustitute with plan yogurt or ricotta cheese. If you decide to try, I’d love to know how it turns out. Thanks!
This is the perfect way to cook eggs for a crowd. Love it!
Definitely!
I love breakfast casseroles…this looks so delicious!! We just might be trying this one over the holidays! 🙂
Enjoy!
I made this for dinner last night. I used breakfast sausages which I cut into half inch pieces (instead of bacon). I didn’t have frozen hash browns, so I grated a couple of potatoes. This was so good. I will definitely make it again. Thank you for such a fabulous recipe.
I’m so glad you were easily able to adapt it to what you had on hand, Cathy. Thanks for the 5 stars.
If I cut the recipe in half do I cut the time in half as well?
No, but it will take less time. I would check it around 40 minutes and go from there depending on what size pan you’re using.
Looks so delish! My whole family will surely love this, need to make this!
Enjoy!
Can’t wait to dig into this on Christmas morning!!
Great way to start the celebration!
This is so easy to make and feeds a crowd. Wonderful!
So glad you enjoyed it, Chrissie!
My family requests this almost every weekend! It’s so delicious and easy to make!
Fantastic!
Does it change it drastically if you leave out the green pepper?
Nope, you can definitely leave them out or swap them out with another favorite veg 🙂
Do you need to defrost the shredded potatoes before adding to casserole dish?
I did not defrost and they turned out perfectly.