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Square image of sausage hash brown casserole out of the oven.

Sausage Hash Brown Breakfast Casserole

Make-ahead Sausage Hash Brown Breakfast Casserole is loaded with bits of savoury sausage (meat or plant based), diced hash brown potatoes, onions, red peppers, eggs, herbs and lots of cheese. It’s a hearty all-in-one breakfast casserole.

Course Breakfast, brunch
Cuisine American
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour 5 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 20 minutes
Servings 10

Ingredients

  • 1 ½ tablespoons olive oil divided
  • 450 g sausages de-cased, choose any of Italian, turkey chicken, breakfast or plant based
  • 1 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1 teaspoon oregano
  • 1 teaspoon paprika
  • 1 medium onion diced, about 1 ½ cups
  • 2 garlic cloves minced
  • 2 medium red bell peppers diced
  • 800 g bag frozen diced hash brown potatoes do not thaw
  • 2 teaspoons kosher salt divided 1 teaspoon each
  • 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper divided ½ teaspoon each
  • 3 cups shredded cheddar cheese divided 2 cups and 1 cup
  • ½ cup sliced green onions plus more for garnish
  • 10 eggs
  • ¾ cup milk
  • 2 teaspoons crushed red pepper flakes as desired

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Generously grease a large and deep 10” x 15” casserole dish.

  2. In a large skillet over medium high heat, add 1 tablespoon of the olive oil. Working in two batches, cook the de-cased sausage meat, breaking it up as it cooks until browned and caramelized. With a slotted spoon, transfer cooked sausage to an extra large 8 quart mixing bowl and repeat process with remaining sausage meat. Season cooked sausage with garlic powder, oregano and paprika.

  3. Add remaining ½ tablespoon oil to the skillet and the onions. Sauté onions for 3 minutes, then add garlic and cook until fragrant for 1 minute. Add red pepper and sauté for 3 minutes. Transfer onions and peppers to the bowl with the sausages and toss to combine.

  4. To the large bowl with the sausage mixture add frozen diced hash brown potatoes, 2 cups of the shredded cheese, green onions, 1 teaspoon of the salt and ½ teaspoon of the pepper. Toss to combine.

  5. In another bowl whisk the eggs, milk, crushed red pepper flakes, remaining 1 teaspoon of salt and remaining ½ teaspoon of pepper. Pour egg mixture into the large bowl with the sausage mixture and toss well to combine.

  6. Turn the mixed ingredients into the prepared baking dish, pack it down, and sprinkle top with the remaining 1 cup shredded cheese. Cover tightly with foil. Bake immediately or store in refrigerator overnight and bake the next morning. If refrigerated - follow directions in Recipe Note 7 below.

  7. Bake for 40 minutes, remove foil and continue baking for an additional 5 - 10 minutes until golden and bubbly. Garnish with more sliced green onions.

Recipe Notes

  1. You will need an extra large 8 qt mixing bowl to mix the casserole ingredients.
  2. You will need a large 10” x 15” deep baking dish to bake the casserole. Alternatively, bake it in two 9” x 9” baking dishes.
  3. To make this a vegetarian casserole, choose plant based sausages.
  4. To de-case the sausages simply slit open the casings and scrape out the sausage meat.
  5. Use frozen hash browns that are diced such as McCain frozen (diced) hash browns that conveniently come in an 800g package (see ingredients photo in blog post) usually found in either the frozen breakfast section or with the frozen fries. Do not use frozen home fries, hash brown patties or tater tots.
  6. Keep an eye on the casserole while baking to prevent over browning; the centre should look set and firm and the edges golden brown.
  7. Assemble casserole a day ahead, cover and store in refrigerator for 24 hours and bake it the next morning. Pop the cold dish in the oven while the oven preheats so the dish can warm up gradually while the oven warms.
  8. You can freeze the unbaked casserole for up to two months covered tightly with plastic wrap and foil. Thaw it overnight in the refrigerator and then follow baking directions.