Hash Brown, Sausage & Cheddar Breakfast Casserole

wouldn’t go so far to say that I was a morning person. I’m not. At all. But I do love mornings once I’m fully awake and getting my day started. So full of possibilities. Especially if it’s going to be a sunny day. Then I know I will truly feel motivated to get a lot done that day. Usually. I’m pretty sure I’m solar-powered.

CAN I FREEZE OR REFRIGERATE THIS CASSEROLE?

What is so wonderful about casseroles is you can make them up the day before, put it in the fridge and it is sitting there ready for you when you wake up and all ya gotta do is bake it and you’re done. Same with freezing. Wrap it up well before cooking (so it doesn’t get freezer burned) and take it out and bake when ready. If you are baking this from a cold state or from freezing, you will have to add on to the cooking time given below.

Ingredients

  • 2 lb bag frozen hash browns, thawed (see notes below)
  • 1 lb beef breakfast sausage, sage or spicy
  • ½ onion, finely chopped
  • 8 eggs
  • ½ cup milk
  • 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
  • 1 tsp salt
  • ¼ tsp pepper

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 375F degrees.
  • Spray 13 x 9 baking dish with nonstick cooking spray.
  • In a sauté pan, cook onions and brown and crumble sausage.
  • Drain any excess grease. If you’d like, you can just take crumbled sausage out of pan, leaving the grease, and then brown the hash browns a bit, this adds nice flavor to the casserole.
  • In a medium bowl, whisk together eggs, milk, 1 cup of shredded cheese and salt and pepper.
  • In a baking dish, spread hash browns into bottom of dish.
  • Spread cooked sausage on top of hashbrowns.
  • Next, pour egg mixture on top of that.
  • Sprinkle the remaining cup of cheddar cheese on top.
  • Cover with aluminum foil and bake for about 30 minutes.
  • Take foil off and bake for additional 10 minutes. Just keep an eye on it to make sure the cheese doesn’t brown up too much.