Super Easy Breakfast Casserole

This one is a brunch favorite.  Gluten-free and flexible ingredients make this easy to tailor to different tastes. 

Want to feed a crowd and not have a messy kitchen? You can assemble this ahead of time and for the morning of you just have to bake and serve hot.  Use vegan or vegetarian breakfast patties for the meat and voila, this becomes an easy and tasty vegetarian dish. 

I like to serve this alongside the Crème Brûlée French Toast so I have one sweet and one savory choice for brunch. 

I recently upgraded my 13 x 9-inch pan to one of these deeper versions.  This is my new go-to for any dish requiring a 13 x 9-inch pan.  Having that extra height to the pan means I don’t have to worry about things bubbling over or sticking to the foil. 

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Breakfast Casserole

Easy to make and super flexible in the ingredients, this gluten-free breakfast casserole is great for a Sunday brunch.

Ingredients

• 6 cups frozen hash browns about 1/2 of a 30 oz package
• 4 tablespoons salted butter, melted
• ½ cup diced onion
• ½ cup diced bell pepper, any color
• 1 tablespoon salted butter
• 1 lb breakfast meat of choice: ham, bacon, sausage, or vegan sausage patty cooked and cut into pieces
• 8 large eggs
• 2 cups milk any type
• 3 cups shredded cheese - choose what you like best

Optional ingredients that are also delicious

• 1 cup fresh spinach roughly chopped
• 1 cup sliced mushrooms
• 1 cup sliced olives
• 1 cup broccoli roughly chopped

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 425 °F. Lightly grease a 9 x 13-inch° casserole dish.
• Spread the hash browns out over the bottom of the pan and drizzle with the melted butter. Bake uncovered for 25-35 minutes until the top and edges of the hash browns are beginning to brown. Remove the pan from the oven and reduce the oven temperature to 350 °F.
• While the hash browns are cooking, saute the onions and peppers with 1 tablespoon butter for 7-10 minutes until the peppers are soft and the onions are translucent. If you will be adding broccoli or mushrooms, you can cook those along with the peppers and onions. Spinach can be added during the last 2 minutes of the vegetable saute to slightly wilt the leaves. Olives do not need to be precooked.
• In a large bowl, mix together the cooked veggies, the pre-cooked breakfast meat of choice, eggs, and milk. Gently mix in the shredded cheese.
• Pour the egg mixture over the cooked hash browns. Cover the pan tightly with aluminum foil and bake it in the 350 °F oven for 45 minutes.
• Remove the foil and bake for another 25-35 minutes until the eggs have set.
• Serve hot.

Notes

This can be made ahead and baked the morning of.  Follow all of the instructions through the step that has you covering the pan with foil.  Place the entire pan in the fridge overnight.  

The next morning, remove the pan from the fridge 30 - 60 minutes before cooking to allow the ingredients to warm slightly.  Preheat the oven to 350 °F and cook as instructed.  It may take 5-10 minutes longer for the eggs to set if they were on the cool side when the pan goes into the oven. 

If there are any leftovers, they reheat well in the microwave.