Get my Cookbooks! Hashbrown Breakfast Casserole
This Hashbrown Breakfast Casserole is loaded with all of your breakfast favorites! It’s got fluffy eggs with savory hashbrowns, sausage, peppers, onions, and cheese. It’s easy to make ahead of time and is very freezer-friendly.
Be sure to try my Egg Muffins and Homemade Pancakes next!
Hashbrown Breakfast Casserole
This is the ultimate breakfast recipe that’s easy to make ahead of time and is perfect for feeding a crowd! Not only that, but it’s very forgiving. You can modify what kind of meat you use, the vegetables, cheese options, and more!
My favorite part about this is the layers. I love how the hashbrowns and eggs combine so that you get a perfect proportion of eggs and potatoes with every bite. There are 2 separate layers of cheese which keeps everything moist and delicious, and the sausage, peppers, and onions on top are so savory and delicious.
How to Make It
See recipe card below this post for ingredient quantities and full instructions.
Sauté sausage, peppers, and onions. Drain grease and set aside.
Whisk eggs until just combined. Mix in the milk, sour cream, hot sauce, and seasonings.
Arrange the hash browns on the bottom of a lightly greased 9 x 13-inch casserole dish. Drizzle with melted butter and toss to combine. Top with 1 cup cheddar cheese, then add the sauteed sausage/onions/peppers.
Pour the egg mixture on top, then add remaining 1 cup cheddar cheese. Bake at 350° for 50 minutes, check on it every 5 minutes after that. It’s done when the edges are slightly browned and the middle is nearly set. It will finish setting while it rests. Rest 10 minutes prior to serving.
Make-Ahead Method
- Refrigerator: Assemble the casserole as outlined. Cover and refrigerate for up to 48 hours prior to baking. When ready to bake: Let it sit out for 30 minutes before baking, then bake as outlined.
- Freezer: Assemble the casserole as outlined. Cover and freeze for up to 2 months. Let it defrost in the fridge for 24 hours prior to baking. Let it sit out for 30 minutes before baking, then bake as outlined.
About the Hash Browns
- Make sure the hash browns are fully thawed to ensure the best consistency. It also takes twice as long to bake if they’re frozen, which will overcook the eggs.
- I like to use Lamb Weston Thick Cut Hash Browns. They’re nice and thick and hold up well in this casserole.
- You can also use cubed hash browns in this recipe if that is your preference or if you’re unable to obtain the shredded ones.
How to Thaw Hash Browns
- Place the package in the refrigerator overnight.
- Defrost them in the microwave.
- Let them sit at room temperature in a large bowl for about 45 minutes.
Be sure to pat them dry after they have thawed.
Ingredient Substitutions
There are an endless number of ingredient combinations that you can use for this recipe, here are some options to get started:
- Meat: Sausage, turkey sausage, ham, and bacon are all great in this recipe.
- Vegetables: Sauteed mushrooms, spinach, and steamed broccoli make great additions as well.
- Cheese: Monterey Jack, Colby, Mozzarella, White Cheddar, and Gouda are all great cheese options that can be used.
Storing Leftovers
- Store in an airtight container and refrigerate for up to 3 days or freeze for up to 3 months.
- Leftovers do freeze well: Freeze portion sizes in Tupperware containers or freezer bags and let thaw in the fridge overnight prior to reheating in the microwave or the oven.
- To reheat in the oven: Place in a lightly greased casserole dish. Cover and bake at 350° for 20-25 minutes, or until heated through.
Tools For This Recipe
(Amazon affiliate links)- Check out all of my kitchen essentials here.
- 9 x 13-inch Casserole Dish– This is the one I use for this recipe.
- Immersion Blender– this makes it really easy to whisk the eggs to a super fluffy consistency.
- Mixing Bowls
- Pinch Bowls– to measure out seasonings ahead of time.
Try These Next
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- Breakfast Tacos
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- Fluffy Scrambled Eggs
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- Egg Muffins
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- Homemade Pancakes
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- Blackberry Cobbler
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- Buttermilk Biscuits
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Tried This Recipe?
Leave a review, I love hearing your feedback! ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Hashbrown Breakfast Casserole
Ingredients
- 1 pound ground breakfast sausage, such as Jimmy Dean
- ½ small yellow onion, finely diced
- ½ red bell pepper, diced
- ½ green bell pepper, diced
- 28 oz. shredded hash browns, thawed and patted dry
- 4 tablespoons butter, melted
- 2 cups cheddar cheese, divided in half
- 12 large eggs
- 1 cup sour cream
- ¾ cup milk
- 1 teaspoon hot sauce
Seasonings
- ½ teaspoon mustard powder
- ¼ teaspoon dried oregano
- ¼ teaspoon dried thyme
- ¼ teaspoon ground sage
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon pepper
Instructions
Prep Work
- Place your oven rack in the middle of the oven and preheat oven to 350.
- Cook and crumble the sausage over medium-high heat until browned and cooked through, add the onions and peppers during the last 3 minutes or so. Drain grease and set aside.
- Crack the eggs in a medium bowl and beat them until just combined.
- Add the sour cream, milk, hot sauce, and seasonings (mustard powder, oregano, thyme, sage, salt, and pepper.) Stir until well combined.
Assemble and Bake
- Add the thawed hash browns to a lightly greased 9 x 13-inch casserole dish. Drizzle with melted butter and toss to coat.
- Top with 1 cup of shredded cheddar cheese, then add the cooked sausage, onions, and peppers.
- Pour the egg mixture over the sausage, onions, peppers, and hash browns. Top with remaining 1 cup of cheese.
- Bake, uncovered, for 50 minutes. Check it every 5 minutes or so from here, it's done when the edges are slightly browned and the middle is nearly set. It will finish setting while it rests.
- Let it rest for 10 minutes prior to serving.
Notes
- 2 (8 oz.) ham steaks can be used instead of sausage if preferred. I would still sauté it on the stove for about 5 minutes to release excess water that is typically added to ham. This way you can drain it before assembling the casserole.
- Make sure the hash browns are fully thawed to ensure the best consistency. It also takes twice as long to bake if they're frozen, which will overcook the eggs.
- I like to use Lamb Weston Thick Cut Hash Browns. They’re nice and thick and hold up well in this casserole.
- You can also use cubed hash browns in this recipe if that is your preference or if you’re unable to obtain the shredded ones.
Storage:
- Store in an airtight container and refrigerate for up to 3 days or freeze for up to 3 months.
- Leftovers do freeze well: Freeze portion sizes in Tupperware containers or freezer bags and let thaw in the fridge overnight prior to reheating in the microwave or the oven.
- To reheat in the oven: Place in a lightly greased casserole dish. Cover and bake at 350° for 20-25 minutes, or until heated through.
Absolutely LOVED this recipe! I made a very small skillet style casserole just to try on a Sunday morning before I make a full size pan for Christmas brunch for my colleagues. Thank you so much! I used breakfast sausage, bacon, mushrooms, red/green bell peppers, onions, spinach and pico de gallo
You’re very welcome, it sounds like you really nailed it, nice work! My husband actually just made this for a lazy Sunday brunch and it was amazing. Thanks so much for taking the time to leave a comment!💖
Can I substitute the sour cream with cottage cheese for more protein? I’ve done that with scrambled eggs but not sure how that would work as a casserole. Also do you think if i double the cheese I could keep the cooking time relatively the same? I Love Cheese!
Hi Sara, you should be fine to make that substitution but I think the consistency may be too “wet” if you double the cheese, though I haven’t tested it to be sure! ❤️
Tried your chicken and dumplings recipe it was awesome I especially loved the way you made your dumplings it turn out great thx for dumplings s everybody loved them
So glad that you enjoyed it Mark!
I made this with tater tots crushed at the bottom which happened quite by accident – I thought I had hash browns but didn’t, and it was a holiday and no stores were open but I was able to get tater tots from the local Kwik Trip! I slow cooked them to thaw while we were at church and then put the rest of the casserole together when we got home. It was “the bomb” according to my adult children! It’s been requested for another event and it will be my go-to recipe.
Hi Bev! I am sooo happy that you made these work with tater tots! Nicely done! This is a HUGE favorite of ours too, I make it so often. Definitely everything that we love about breakfast in a single casserole! 🙂 Thank you so much for the review!! -Stephanie
I make this over and over and over for guests and to meal prep breakfast for the week. Delicious!
I’m so happy you’re enjoying this one Don! Thanks so much for the great comments and review!❤️
I’m curious about the make-ahead method and the impact on the eggs. Given that you whip them up vigorously to introduce air to the mix and make them fluffy I’d worry that you’d lose that fluffiness if you refrigerate overnight or freeze before baking. I didn’t see anything in the comments from anyone and wanted to ask since I’ll be making this for the first time and am trying to decide if I can make it the night before and bake the next AM or if I’d be better off to get up earlier and do it all that morning. Thanks for the guidance and I’m looking forward to trying this out (will comment again after we’ve sampled it).
Hi Rick, for the ultimate fluffy results, you’d want to make it fresh as you do lose some of that during overnight storage.
I made this casserole yesterday morning, following the recipe exactly (I used Swaggerty’s mild sausage, Louisiana hot sauce, and Great Value hash browns from Walmart). Prep was relatively easy, though it took somewhat longer than the estimated time listed but that is very normal for a recipe that I’ve not made before.
I sampled the recipe fresh out of the oven (after allowing it to sit for about 15 minutes), and while decent, it just didn’t have the next-level flavor profile that I had hoped for. The hash browns were the disappointment in this casserole as I felt that they were relatively bland and tasteless compared to the rest of the casserole. Even when bites had all layers included, the hash browns weighed it down. It could be the brand of hash browns that I used but I thought that maybe using Potatoes O’Brien might take it up a notch to what I had expected/built-up in my mind. I’ll have to try this again with those to see how it goes.
As an update, I again had the casserole this morning (microwaved until hot) and now that the flavors have melded more, I didn’t notice the blandness of the hash browns nearly as much. I definitely think that this casserole is better second-day, at least based on my experience. I also was glad to cook it right after mixing – per my earlier comment, the fluffiness was definitely a plus to have in this casserole.
My final thought on this is that I’ll probably aim to make it a day ahead of when I actually want to serve it to allow time for the flavors to meld. I’ll also try it with Potatoes O’Brien and see how that turns out — I think that that might take this recipe to the 5-star level that I was hoping for. Thanks Stephanie for the recipe!
Quick update on the Potatoes O’Brien – I made this casserole again, this time with Jimmy Dean sausage and Potatoes O’Brien and the potatoes didn’t amp up the casserole as much as I’d hoped. It did add more peppers into the mix, which I loved, but that’s easy enough to do just by adding some more peppers in the first place.
My final thought is that this is a really good casserole, especially when it’s sat overnight in the fridge for the flavors to meld. Whipping the eggs is key for this recipe as it gives it a nice mouth feel, something different from most recipes out there. I’m definitely calling this one a keeper and will be adding it to my regular breakfast food rotation. Thanks so much Stephanie for the recipe!!
Thank so for circling back and updating us on how it went Rick!! I’m so glad that you love the recipe!!
Can you make this with shredded potatoes,what type of potatoes would work best?
I haven’t tested this with shredded potatoes that aren’t packaged but if you do, I think I would cook them or par boil them first. Russet potatoes would be best.
This recipe was delicious! It has lots of flavor and was a perfect Christmas breakfast! However I had to substitute tater tot’s for hash browns. The grocery store was completely sold out of hash browns!
Every recipe I’ve made from cozy cook has been amazing!
Thanks so much for the great comments Jacqueline! I’m so happy you enjoyed it. It’s my go to holiday breakfast😋
This looks so good for the holidays. If I make ahead and freeze should I bake it first?
This is definitely a winner for the holidays! (My daughter and I just made it last weekend as well, it’s the best!)- Here are the freezer instructions in the “make-ahead” section of the blog post. Enjoy!! 🙂
Freezer: Assemble the casserole as outlined. Cover and freeze for up to 2 months. Let it defrost in the fridge for 24 hours prior to baking. Let it sit out for 30 minutes before baking, then bake as outlined.
Could you substitute with egg whites ??
You can, it just won’t bind the casserole together quite as well.