Let’s face it, breakfast casseroles are perfect when you need to feed a crowd right away in the morning. Eggs, sausage, and hashbrowns, layered in a casserole dish and placed in the oven – does it get easier than that? Serve this with fruit (and a mimosa or two), and you are guaranteed to start the day off right with this recipe!

Now I do not pretend to be a professional chef or photographer so I apologize in advance for my amatuer skills here, but I started by prepping all of the ingredients. 

The recipe calls for a bag of hashbrowns. The store only had about 498 options, so I went with a 30oz bag and was happy with the results!

*Disclaimer* This recipe calls for garlic and onion, so onion is featured in the photo, but due to dietary restrictions neither were used in the casserole that is photographed (I know, it’s the saddest thing ever). Good news – this recipe tastes just as great without it!

Start by browning Italian sausage over medium heat, then remove with a slotted spoon and place to the side in a bowl. Saute the chopped peppers, onion, and garlic in the grease remaining in the skillet. Again, I’m not able to cook with onions or garlic so you won’t see them in any of my photos, but my goodness the red pepper smelled amazing cooked in the Italian sausage grease! 

You know that part when you’re cooking where you wonder if it’s supposed to look like that? Yeah, well this is that part for me. 

I added the peppers to the hashbrowns and cheese, mixing them together in a large bowl. As I whisked the eggs and milk together I was 150% convinced there was no way that would be enough to cover all of those hashbrowns – but it does! Top with the remaining cheese and it’s ready for the oven. 

This was baked covered with foil at 375 for 20 minutes, then uncovered for another 10-15 minutes. I don’t have a 7×11 pan so I used a 9×13 instead and felt it worked just fine. 

Overall, this recipe is really easy and delicious!  I was surprised how much egg there was considering there are only 6 in the whole recipe. The Italian sausage adds a ton of flavor so if you have dietary restrictions but can tolerate breakfast sausage, this recipe is great! From start to finish it probably took an hour, including cook time, and it was a hit with my family so it will definitely be made again! If I can make it and have it turn out well, I promise you can too.

…and I wasn’t kidding, this pairs really well with a mimosa 😉

Breakfast Casserole is one of the recipes in the Junior League of Omaha’s A Century of Serving cookbook, available online and in stores now: https://www.jlomaha.org/cookbook/

Ingredients:

• 1 pound bulk Italian sausage
• 1 white onion, chopped
• 1 red bell pepper, chopped
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1 package frozen hash browns, thawed
• 2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese
• 6 eggs
• ⅓ cup milk
• Black pepper to taste
• Sliced green onions to taste (optional)
• Chopped fresh cilantro to taste (optional)

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Brown the sausage in a skillet over medium heat, pressing and stirring with a wooden spoon to crumble. Remove the sausage to a bowl using a slotted spoon. Pour off most of the skillet drippings. Saute the onion and red bell pepper in the remaining skillet drippings for 5 minutes or until tender. Add the garlic. Saute until tender. Add the onion mixture, hashbrowns and 1 ½ cups Cheddar cheese to the sausage and mix well. Whisk the eggs, milk and black pepper in a bowl. Stir into the sausage mixture. Spoon into a 7×11 inch baking pan. Sprinkle with the remaining Cheddar cheese. Bake, covered with foil, for 20 minutes. Bake, uncovered for 10 to 15 minutes or until light brown. Let stand for 5 minutes. Sprinkle with green onions and cilantro. Serve with salsa.