Hashbrown Breakfast Casserole
Servings 12 servings
Calories 549kcal
Ingredients
- 1 lb sage pork breakfast sausage
- 1 lb spicy pork breakfast sausage
- 1 small white or yellow onion diced
- 1 small green bell pepper seeded and diced
- 1 small red bell pepper seeded and diced
- 40 ounces refrigerated shredded hash browns (Two 20 ounce packages)
- 4 Tbsp salted or unsalted butter
- 3 cups shredded cheddar or colby jack cheese divided use
- 12 large eggs
- 2 cups half and half
- 2 tsp seasoned salt divided use
- 1 1/2 tsp black pepper divided use
- 1 1/2 tsp granulated garlic
- 1 tsp onion powder
- 1 tsp dry mustard
- few dashes hot sauce optional
- snipped chives or thinly green onions for garnishing
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Coat a 13x9-inch baking dish with cooking spray.
- Cook ground sausage and hot ground sausage onion, green bell pepper and red bell pepper in a large skillet over medium-high heat, stirring often, until they are crumbled and browned, about 10 minutes. Remove from heat; drain excess fat from the pan.
- Wipe pan clean with a paper towel. Add butter to skillet and melt. Add hash browns to the skillet. Sauté in melted butter over medium heat just until excess moisture is removed and the potatoes begin to brown, around 5 minutes. Remove from the heat.
- In a large bowl mix together sausage mixture, hash browns, 1 tsp seasoned salt, 1 tsp black pepper and 2 cups shredded cheese. Pour into baking dish.
- In the same bowl use a whisk to combine eggs, half and half, 1 teaspoon seasoned salt and 1⁄2 teaspoon pepper, granulated garlic, onion powder, dry mustard and hot sauce (if using) in a medium bowl.
- Pour egg mixture over hash brown mixture. Use a fork to gently move the hash browns just enough to let the egg fully saturate the potatoes. Sprinkle with remaining 1 cup cheese.
- Bake in preheated oven until the center is set when gently shaken, about 40-50 minutes. Sprinkle with parsley and chives, then slice and serve.
Notes
- Hashbrowns: You can use the same amount of frozen shredded hashbrowns that have been thawed and squeezed dry.
- Sausage: You can use turkey sausage in place of pork sausage. You can use any kind of sausage that you enjoy. The combination of two kinds of sausage simply expands the flavor.
- Half and Half: You can use heavy cream for an even richer flavor.
- Protein: You could replace the sausage with 2-3 cups cubed ham.
- O'Brien Hashbrowns: You can use two packages of refrigerated O'Brien style hashbrowns and omit the green pepper and red pepper in the recipe.
- Meatless: You can omit the sausage and add sautéed mushrooms, zucchini and squash.
- Bell Peppers: You could use poblano pepper or jalapeno peppers in place of green bell pepper for spice.
- Cheese: You can adapt this casserole using pepper jack cheese for spice, mozzarella cheese, gouda cheese or colby jack cheese for a milder flavor.
Nutrition
Serving: 1serving | Calories: 549kcal | Carbohydrates: 21g | Protein: 28g | Fat: 40g | Saturated Fat: 19g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 5g | Monounsaturated Fat: 15g | Trans Fat: 0.3g | Cholesterol: 293mg | Sodium: 1171mg | Potassium: 645mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 3g | Vitamin A: 1087IU | Vitamin C: 22mg | Calcium: 293mg | Iron: 3mg