Sausage and Cheese Croissant Breakfast Casserole

by Sabrina Snyder

Published on

16 Comments

5 from 4 votes
12
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 50 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 5 minutes
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Sausage and Cheese Croissant Breakfast Casserole is a cheesy, buttery egg bake with tasty pork sausage that you need in your life! So easy and delicious!

Whether it’s a the star of Breakfast Casserole or swapped for ham in our Ham and Cheese Croissant Breakfast Casserole, breakfast pork sausage just makes mornings more delicious. Try subbing it any of our savory Breakfast Recipes and see for yourself!

Sausage Breakfast Casserole

SAUSAGE AND CHEESE CROISSANT BREAKFAST CASSEROLE

What I’m about to say may be a bit controversial but, I believe the best breakfast sandwiches are the ones with sausage. There’s something about that slightly smokiness from the meat that blends so well with melty American cheese and a soft, doughy croissant, muffin, or bun.

And this is coming from a site that puts bacon in… everything we can get away with.

We’ve been obsessed with making breakfast masterpieces with pork sausage, like our new twist on a fast food favorite with the Breakfast Sloppy Joes. In fact, turning a fast food classic into a quick, easy breakfast for a crowd (or for meal prep) is one of my favorite ways to spend the day in the kitchen.

This Sausage and Cheese Egg Bake has all the flavors of drive-thru favorites like the Croissan’wich but so much easier. For starters, you don’t have to start up your car to enjoy it. It’s perfect for those lazy mornings when a craving hits but you’re not that committed to putting on real pants.

If you are into planning ahead, you can make this ahead of time and store in the fridge unbaked for up to a day. You can also freeze this Sausage and Cheese Croissant Casserole for up to 3 months. Just remove and thaw overnight in the refrigerator when you are ready to bake. The cooking time will be about 5-10 minutes longer if you prep this dish ahead of time.

No leftover croissants at home? Pick up some in the bakery section and leave them out overnight or dry in the oven at 250 degrees for 15-20 minutes. You can sub in English muffins, bagels, or brioche burger buns, as long as they are almost stale or have the drying out treatment done.

MORE BREAKFAST RECIPES FOR A CROWD

HOW TO MAKE SAUSAGE AND CHEESE CROISSANT BREAKFAST CASSEROLE

  • Brown Your Sausage: Cook your sausage until browned and drain well.
  • Make The Custard: Add in all the custard ingredients and whisk well.
  • Croissants: Make sure you’re using old croissants. 
  • Mix well: Mix them all together well and let it sit for 5 minutes to let the croissants soak up some of the custard.
  • Bake: Add to the baking dish, bake covered and uncovered until eggs are set and croissant topping is crispy.

Sausage, Egg and Cheese Breakfast Casserole with Croissants on a white plate

VARIATIONS ON SAUSAGE AND CHEESE CROISSANT BREAKFAST CASSEROLE

  • Cheese: If you want a more traditional fast food breakfast, use an American cheese blend. Or go the gourmet cafe route with Monterey Jack or mozzarella cheese.
  • Veggies: Add some roasted or sautéed broccoli, bell peppers, onions, or mushrooms for a heartier, more rounded breakfast bake.
  • Gravy: Top this casserole with even more delicious pork sausage by making the easy gravy in my Biscuits and Gravy recipe.
  • Custard: This recipe uses milk but you can make your egg custard mix with heavy cream, sour cream, cream cheese, or even cottage cheese for a richer, indulgent flavor.
  • Southwestern: Give this a Tex-Mex twist by adding diced green chiles (drained) and some chili powder to your sausage as you cook it. Top the finished casserole with sour cream and Salsa. 
  • Sausage: If you don’t have bulk sausage, you can always substitute link sausage or patties as long you as you break them up good. Try using chicken sausage or turkey sausage for a healthier take.

Sausage Breakfast Casserole with Croissants

Can I freeze this dish without baking first?

Freezing your unbaked dish is actually the best way. Raw eggs freeze very well, whereas typically cooked eggs don’t thaw as well, getting a bit watery. Since this egg bake also has bread in it, the excess moisture from thawed cooked eggs won’t make as much of a difference but it’s definitely recommended to freeze raw.

MORE DELICIOUS BREAKFAST RECIPES

HOW TO STORE SAUSAGE AND CHEESE CROISSANT BREAKFAST CASSEROLE

  • Serve: You should not leave your casserole out for more than 2 hours at room temperature.
  • Store: Allow to cool completely and store your casserole for up to a week in a sealed container.
  • Freeze: Wrap your casserole tightly with foil and store up to 3 months. Thaw in the fridge overnight before heating.

HOW TO KNOW WHEN EGG IS DONE COOKING

According the Incredible Egg Website, your eggs need to reach an internal temperature of 160 degrees F. Insert a thermometer in the middle of your egg bake to get an accurate reading.

Sausage Croissant Casserole

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Dinner, then Dessert

Sausage and Egg Croissant Breakfast Casserole

Sausage and Cheese Croissant Breakfast Casserole is a cheesy, buttery egg bake with tasty pork sausage that you need in your life! So easy and delicious!
Yield 12
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 50 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 5 minutes
Course Breakfast
Cuisine American
Author Sabrina Snyder
Sausage Croissant Casserole
PrintRate

Ingredients
 

  • 1 pound pork sausage , remove any casing if there is any
  • 1/2 yellow onion , chopped
  • 8 large eggs
  • 1 1/2 cups milk
  • 2 teaspoons ground mustard
  • 1 teaspoon dried thyme
  • 2 tablespoons brown sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon Kosher salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon pepper
  • 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
  • 1/2 cup green onions , thinly sliced
  • 6 large croissants , cut into 2" chunks
  • 1 1/2 cups cheddar cheese , shredded

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees and spray a 9x13 baking dish with vegetable oil spray.
  • Cook sausage and onion over medium heat until browned, approximately 5-6 minutes. Drain grease from pan and set aside.
  • Whisk together the eggs, whole milk, mustard, thyme, brown sugar, Kosher salt, pepper, nutmeg, and green onions in a large bowl.
  • Add in the croissant pieces and toss gently but until the mixture is well combined.
  • Gently stir in the sausage, onion and cheese into the custard mixture.
  • Add the mixture into your 9x13 baking dish.
  • Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 30 minutes.
  • Remove aluminum foil cover and continue baking an additional 20 minutes.
  • Allow to rest for 5 minutes before serving.

Nutrition

Calories: 281kcal | Carbohydrates: 10g | Protein: 15g | Fat: 20g | Saturated Fat: 9g | Cholesterol: 160mg | Sodium: 579mg | Potassium: 212mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 4g | Vitamin A: 462IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 146mg | Iron: 1mg

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Sausage, Egg and Cheese Croissant Breakfast Casserole collage

About the Author: Sabrina Snyder

Sabrina is a professionally trained Private Chef of over 10 years with ServSafe Manager certification in food safety. She creates all the recipes here on Dinner, then Dessert, fueled in no small part by her love for bacon.

Sabrina Snyder is a professionally trained personal and private chef of over 10 years who is the creator and developer of all the recipes on Dinner, then Dessert.

She is also the author of the cookbook Dinner, then Dessert – Satisfying Meals Using Only 3, 5 or 7 Ingredients, published by Harper Collins.

She started Dinner, then Dessert as a business in her office as a lunch service for her coworkers who admired her lunches before going to culinary school and becoming a full time personal chef and private chef.

As a personal chef Sabrina would cook for families one day a week and cook their entire week of dinners. All grocery shopping, cooking and cleaning was done along with instructions on reheating. As a private chef she cooked for private parties and cooked in family homes in the evenings for families on a nightly basis after working as a personal chef during the day.

Sabrina has been certified as a ServSafe Manager since 2007 and was a longstanding member of the USPCA Personal Chef Association including being on the board of the Washington DC Chapter of Chefs in the US Personal Chef Association when they won Chapter of the year.

As a member of the community of food website creators Sabrina Snyder has spoken at many conferences regarding her experiences as a food writer including the Indulge Food Conference, Everything Food Conference, Haven Food Conference and IACP Annual Food Professionals Conference.

Sabrina lives with her family in sunny California.

See more posts by Sabrina

Dinner, then Dessert, Inc. owns the copyright on all images and text and does not allow for its original recipes and pictures to be reproduced anywhere other than at this site unless authorization is given. If you enjoyed the recipe and would like to publish it on your own site, please re-write it in your own words, and link back to my site and recipe page. Read my disclosure and copyright policy. This post may contain affiliate links.

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Comments

  1. Thank you for this. I have made it numerous times and it is a fan favorite. I guess I never noticed hat you didn’t put the thyme in the instructions. I assume I add it into the egg mixture.

    Reply

    1. Yes, add the thyme with the egg mixture. Thank you for bringing this to our attention so we can correct the recipe card Colleen!

      Reply

    1. Yes, I would just add another 1/2-1 cup milk depending on how big the croissants are and how much extra liquid they soak up right away.

      Reply

  6. Oh wow! Such an incredible start to the day! I love that you used croissants. So perfect for pairing with the sausage and egg.

    Reply

  8. In the ingredients you didn’t say I would need green onions and you didn’t say how much nutmeg to use.

    Reply