A gluten free, quick and easy breakfast that is full of flavor. This easy breakfast casserole can be mixed up the night before, warms up well the next day and can be frozen after baking, as well. Meg learned to make this recipe while working at a coffee shop at her very first job out of college and it has been a consistent staple in our house for the last seven years!
INSTRUCTIONS
Stop here if you want to hear this recipe as though we were standing in the kitchen together and you wanted me to walk through the detailed instructions on to make this amazing, large family hash brown, sausage and egg breakfast casserole. This is really helpful for those who are not as comfortable in the kitchen or as experienced. Make sure to check out the bottom of this post to see the shopping list and a great pin for your easy gluten free breakfast ideas Pinterest board!
BEGIN
Brown the sausage or whatever meat you plan to use.
If it is frozen as you read this – relax. The microwave defrost setting for 1#(pound) of meat is usually 9 minutes long. If microwaves aren’t your thing – put it in a bowl of hot water and make a coffee for yourself. You can also read about my favorite time saving method, precooked meat, in an upcoming post.
So while the sausage is warming or starting to fry – you can add some veggies to the sausage mixture if you like. I always adds diced onion and minced garlic. Sometimes peppers or spinach.
DICE
While you are waiting for the meat to cook through (unless it is already done) dice up or shred the cheeses.
MIX
Crack the eggs – add the milk and whisk.
Put the frozen hash browns with the browned sausage. These two items together will regulate the temperatures of each and therefore nothing will melt, cook or freeze when added. Put in the diced or shredded cheeses, cottage cheese, salt and pepper. Stir well.
BAKE
Either grease your pan or use parchment paper for easy clean up. Plop that mixture in the baking dish. Put it in the oven. Check back in 45 minutes, give it a little jiggle to make sure the middle is set. It will even keep cooking outside of the oven while it cools down. Let it rest for at least 10 minutes so that it doesn’t flop on the plates. This recipe is very forgiving. If you leave it in a little longer than necessary it won’t come out burnt – just toasted. As a note – what you see here is a double recipe.
SERVE
When you are serving this casserole can meet a wide range of needs. This can be the center piece of the meal, it can be an egg side of a brunch with fruit cups and French toast or it can sit along side of biscuits and gravy. It can also be the gluten free breakfast option while you have family visiting over the holidays. You won’t be disappointed. It is great warmed up as left overs and doesn’t tend to get dry.
VARIATIONS
You are able to mix this up right before you out it in the oven or the day before. It turns out the same either way.
Uses also have a wide range – you can eat it all in one sitting, store it in the fridge for a week worth of breakfast, put it in the freezer as individual breakfasts, or use it as breakfast burrito filling. Breakfast burritos are the same, store them in the fridge or the freezer for later on in the week.
Another variation you can make is changing out the meat or adding veggies. Mixing in peppers or cubes ham is super tasty.
Q & A
Can you make breakfast casserole ahead of time? Yes! This recipe is easy to make ahead of time. It will last unbaked over night in the fridge – possibly even longer. Haven’t tried it longer than over night. It also makes great left overs, easily reheats in the microwave or in the oven on low.
Can I make this a tater tot breakfast casserole – just by replacing the hash browns with tater tots? YES! This is actually one of Meg’s favorite ways to make it. Do everything the same to make it a breakfast tater tot casserole.
Can I replace the meat? Of course, please do! Turn this into a make ahead breakfast casserole with hash browns and ham! Or ground turkey, skip the meat or use BACON! Nearly anything will work – just try it out.
Is this low carb casserole recipe? Well – perhaps. Depends one what you think about potatoes in regards to carbs. Based on what our house considers low carb – we call this a low carb breakfast casserole. If you would want to replace the hash browns with a different low carb option – I would suggest cubed and sauced butternut squash or zucchini, possibly cauliflower. Since we haven’t tried to make a low carb or keto breakfast casserole out of this recipe – we can’t give you any guarantees. But that is where I would start. Try a half recipe to see if it works for you.
Enjoy – we care about you! Cole & Meg
GRIT CREEK HASH BROWN CASSEROLE
Equipment
- 1 9*13 deep baking dish
- 1 frying pan
- 1 mixing bowl
- 1 set of measuring cups
- 1 set measuring spoons
- 1 mixing spoon
- 1 whisk
Ingredients
- ½ lb browned breakfast sausage
- 6 eggs
- 1 cup milk
- 1 lb hash browns
- 8 oz cheddar cheese
- 8 oz swiss cheese, small diced or shredded or pepper jack
- 8 oz cottage cheese
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°
- Brown the sausage, if you want – add diced onions and garlic
- Crack the eggs, whisk and mix in milk. Add the warm sausage and frozen hash browns together in a bowl. Then the cheese and egg mixture. This order is important because the frozen hash browns make everything cold and it does mix well. Season with a sprinkle of salt and hefty shake of pepper.
- Put it in the oven for about 45 minutes. The middle shouldn't wiggle if you jiggle the pan a little. It should also not be soft if you tap the middle. If it is soft or wiggles – leave it in for 10 more minutes, check again.
Notes
SHOPPING LIST
