This meaty hashbrown breakfast casserole is ideal for hearty appetites during weekend brunch. It is made with smoky bacon, sausage, and ham perfect for every meat lover. Eggs, cheddar cheese, and frozen hash browns round out the dish with a sprinkling of green onions.
Cooking Meat for this Hashbrown Breakfast Casserole
This hashbrown breakfast casserole is incredibly easy to make but requires a little advance preparation in the form of cooking meat. This casserole has cooked bacon and crumbled sausage. You can often find pre-cooked bacon at the grocery store which would cut out the cooking step.
However, if you would like to cook bacon from scratch, it will only need a total time of 8 to 10 minutes over medium heat in a nonstick skillet to be perfect. After the bacon cools, it will be easy to chop into bite-sized pieces to add to this dish.
To prepare the crumbled sausage, such as traditional breakfast sausage, for this casserole recipe, you can squeeze the meat out of its casings and cook in a skillet for a similar amount of time to the bacon. Sausage meat and breakfast sausage needs a little help to break apart in the skillet, so be diligent with your spatula.
This hashbrown breakfast casserole also includes ham. If you have some leftover ham, this will be a perfect place to use it. However, if you don't, you can still make this casserole easily. Just look for a pre-cooked ham in your local grocery store, which you can simply chop and add to this dish easily.
How to Make Breakfast Casserole
Before you start assembling your hashbrown breakfast casserole, you should preheat your oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit as the assembly is pretty fast. At this stage, you can also grease your baking dish with your choice of fat such as butter or olive oil.
To make the egg mixture for the casserole, you beat or whisk together the eggs with the sour cream, milk, and ranch seasoning until combined. A hand mixer will make this step a little faster, but a whisk will give you more control; overmixing can add air to the eggs and cause them to souffle in the oven. If you use a hand mixer, just be watchful that you mix until the egg mixture is just combined.
Next, you layer the frozen hash brown patties in the bottom of the casserole dish and arrange the meat over the top of the hash browns. Afterward, you sprinkle half the cheese over the hash browns in an even layer and pour over the eggs. This whole process should only take you a few minutes total. For the overnight hashbrown breakfast casserole option, you can refrigerate the casserole at this stage, if desired. This way, it will be ready for the next day when you plan to serve it.
Finishing the Casserole
When ready to bake the casserole, simply bake it for a total time of 25 minutes. If your baking dish is still cold from the fridge, you could place it in the oven during preheating to prevent it from breaking. Otherwise, try to pull it out of the fridge a little early so the casserole can come up to room temperature.
After 25 minutes, the remaining cheese goes on the top of the hash browns casserole before it continues to bake until the cheese melts and starts to caramelize. This should take a total of 15 minutes. The green onions go on top for a burst of colour and freshness. At this point, you should let the casserole sit for a few minutes so that is is easy to slice and serve.
How to Serve this Hashbrown Breakfast Casserole
On its own, this casserole is just perfect with an abundance of protein, frozen hashbrowns, and flavourful ingredients like shredded cheese and green onions. Of course, if you would like to round out your breakfast, you could serve the meal with some sliced tomatoes or chopped fruit.
A sweet and savoury tomato jam with seasonal homegrown tomatoes would be absolutely delectable with this easy breakfast casserole as well. Alternatively, if tomato jam is out of reach, you could serve a little ketchup or hot sauce on the side. If serving this breakfast casserole recipe for lunch or dinner, consider a tossed green salad with a light vinaigrette to round out the plate.
Storing and Reheating Leftover Breakfast Casserole
This breakfast casserole makes 12 servings. As a result, if you aren't having a large crowd over for brunch, you will undoubtedly have leftovers. Luckily, this casserole stores and reheats very well.
To store, simply place the casserole wedges in an even layer in an airtight container. It should keep well for up to one week, which will be perfect for quick breakfasts and lunches. If you have a casserole dish that has a lid, this would be the perfect recipe to use it with.
If you know you won't be able to eat the entire casserole in a week, it is freezable as well. Just place it in an airtight container and freeze it for up to three months before thawing and reheating. This length of time will ensure that the textures and flavours in the casserole are still fresh and enjoyable.
To reheat your casserole, you can reheat slices in the microwave. Alternatively, you could place them in a covered pan over low heat to warm through. Any higher heat might dry out the eggs.
Random Questions
No, you can layer frozen hash brown patties directly into the casserole dish.
Ensure the casserole bakes thoroughly, and let it sit after baking to firm up before slicing.
Consider serving with sliced tomatoes, chopped fruit, tomato jam, ketchup, or hot sauce.
Store leftovers in an airtight container for up to one week in the refrigerator or freeze for up to three months.
After the initial 25-minute bake, add remaining cheese and bake until melted and slightly caramelized, around 15 more minutes. Let it sit before slicing.
Recipe
Hash Brown Breakfast Casserole
Ingredients
- 1 cup cooked bacon pieces
- 1 cup cooked crumbled sausage
- 1 cup cubed ham
- 1 cup sour cream or plain Greek yogurt
- ½ cup milk
- 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
- 10 hash brown patties or about 1.6 lbs shredded/cubed hash browns
- 1.5 tablespoons Ranch seasoning mix (3 tablespoons, if the mix includes buttermilk powder)
- ½ cup diced green onion
- 9 large eggs
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375°F and grease a 9x13 casserole dish.
- In a large bowl use a hand mixer or whisk to beat the eggs, sour cream or Greek yogurt, milk and ranch seasoning.
- Lay the hashbrown patties in a single layer on the bottom of the pan. Sprinkle the bacon pieces, crumbled sausage, and cubed ham over the hashbrowns in an even layer.
- Sprinkle half of the cheese over the meat layer. Pour the egg mixture over the previous layers making sure it spreads out evenly.
- At this point you can cover the casserole dish and store it in the fridge overnight, then proceed to bake as usual in the morning.
- Cover and bake for 25 minutes.
- Uncover and sprinkle the remaining cheese on top. Bake for another 15 minutes, or until cheese is melted and beginning to turn golden brown in spots.
- Remove from the oven. Sprinkle green onions on top and allow the hashbrown casserole to rest for 10 minutes.
- Cut into even slices and serve warm.
- You can store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to a week, or freeze for up to three months.
Notes
Pin for later?
Marlene
Would prosciutto work in this recipe instead of. Used ham?
Jennifer @ Leelalicious
Hi Marlene! Yes, I believe that prosciutto would work well in this recipe. Let us know how it works out if you try it.