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A super simple veggie loaded breakfast casserole that’s easily customizable! I loaded mine with shredded potato hash browns, tons of fresh veggies, and a big dash of hot sauce! You can add crumbled sausage, shredded chicken, or anything else you please!
FRI-YAY!
I am so excited to be bringing you one of my all-time favorite breakfast casseroles. It’s loaded with shredded potato hash browns and tons of sauteéd spinach, bell peppers, and mushrooms. Not only is it a cinch to whip up, but it’s also totally customizable! Be it sausage, ground chicken/turkey, shredded rotisserie chicken, or meatless – with tons of veggies like I made it. The options are endless.
Once you’ve got your protein picked out, grab your favorite cheese and start shredding. Mozzarella, swiss, and sharp cheddar are just some of the cheeses that will pair well with this casserole.
BUT BUT BUT! More reasons to make it –> you can MAKE IT AHEAD and just bake it off in the morning. How good would this be for Halloween, Thanksgiving, or Christmas breakfast? A nice hearty and veggie loaded casserole that’ll keep you and the little ones going all day long.
How to make a veggie breakfast casserole:
I kind of debated whether I should actually call this a ‘breakfast casserole recipe’ as it’s more of a guideline that can easily be adapted to your family’s breakfast casserole needs.
Did I mention it makes a ton? Like 10-12 servings! The hubby and I enjoyed this casserole for a couple of days but it’s one of those that actually tastes better with time. And yeah, you bet it was dinner the next day. But loaded with veggies and eggs, it’s hearty and keeps you full for hours afterward.
I spiced mine up with a whole ¼ cup of Franks hot sauce. And it gave the casserole so much flavor. If you’ve got little ones, you can cut the hot sauce back to a couple of tablespoons or leave it out altogether. But even with the ¼ cup added into the breakfast casserole, I still splashed on a little more before gobbling it down!
Let’s talk about the breakfast casserole recipe.
It’s super simple, I promise.
I sautéed the veggies separately in a skillet before layering them in. If you decide to use any kind of protein, just sauté it before adding it into the casserole.
So it starts like this – just spray a 9×13 casserole dish down with a good coating of cooking spray. We want the hash browns on the bottom to get nice and colored. Then add in the hash brown, pack them in firmly. Next, whisk the eggs, salt and pepper, milk, and if you’re using it, hot sauce, in a bowl and set it aside. Saute and add your protein +veggies on top of the potatoes and drizzle on your egg mixture. Top it with your favorite cheese and that’s it! Let it all bake up for 45 minutes and you’ve got a perfect breakfast casserole that’s great for brunch or lazy Saturday mornings.
Sometimes I like to assemble the casserole from the night before and let it come to room temperature for about 20 minutes while I enjoy a cup of coffee and bake it off in the morning.
Lazy Saturday morning breakfasts are my favorite part of the whole week.
Veggie-Loaded Breakfast Casserole
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons oil
- 8-10 mushrooms sliced
- 2 teaspoon garlic minced or pressed
- ½ red onion diced
- 2 bell peppers diced
- 2 cups packed baby spinach roughly chopped
- 20 ounces shredded potatoes thawed
- 10 eggs
- ⅓ cup half and half or milk see notes
- ¼ cup hot sauce more or less to taste
- salt and pepper
- 1 cup shredded cheese see notes
Instructions
- In a large skillet over medium heat, heat 1 tablespoon of oil. Add the mushrooms and sauté them for 4 minutes or until they start to brown. Add a small pinch of salt along withe onions and garlic and let cook for 2 minutes. Remove to a plate. Add the second tablespoon of oil, if needed, and sauté the peppers for 1 minute. Add in the baby spinach and allow it to wilt, remove from heat, set aside.
- Generously spray a 9×13 baking dish with nonstick cooking spray. Lay the shredded potatoes in the bottom of the dish and press to make sure they are spread out evenly. Add the veggies (both the mushrooms and the pepper mixtures) over the potatoes, set aside.
- Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 375ºF if you are baking the casserole immediately.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the egg, half and half, hot sauce, and a big pinch of salt and pepper. Pour the egg mixture over the prepared veggies. Sprinkle the cheese over the top and another small pinch of salt and pepper.
- Bake the casserole, uncovered, until the cheese melts, and the top gets in and golden, 45-50 minutes. Allow the casserole to cool for 10 minutes before slicing and serving.
Notes
- To make ahead – prepare the casserole as directed, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight or as required (not to exceed 24 hours) and allow it to come to room temperature for 20 minutes before baking.
- The half and half can be replaced with any nondairy milk such as almond, soy, cashew, etc.
- Other add-ins – I kept this recipe vegetarian, but you can certainly add in browned sausage, ground turkey/beef, shredded chicken or ham. The cheeses I recommend for this casserole are cheddar (mild or sharp), mozzarella, and pepper jack, or swiss).
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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Where do you add in the meat. I would like to use Italian sausage and am thinking i’d mix it in with the egg mix?
Hi Dana, You can add any cooked meats (Italian sausage is perfect) to the casserole along with the veggies in step #2. I would just brown it in a skillet (with the casing removed) separately from the veggies. Hope you enjoy it!
Gorgeous photos, colors, and recipe! And, ohhhh your words. Always so meaningful and honest. LOVE. My Hubby would love this! Pinning now! Thanks for sharing!!
I want to make this to take with us on our beach trip. Is is possible to make ahead and freeze it? Or will the freezing ruin it?
Thanks!
I have the same question about freezing it? Ty
Haven’t frozen it before, but I think it should be fine. Sometimes it’s quicker to scroll through the comments to see if I may have already answered your question. This particular question has been previously answered 🙂
Would frozen spinach work?
Yup, frozen spinach will work Krystina, but make sure to defrost and squeeze out all the water before using it in the recipe.
I was so excited to bake this casserole! However, I baked it even longer than you recommended and the eggs still weren’t cooked in the middle. The edges were nice and crisp, but it was still extremely runny in the middle. I tried baking it even longer, and still no luck. Any suggestions?
Hmm.. haven’t heard of this happening before. Did you perhaps use a smaller casserole dish than the 9×13? It definitely shouldn’t be extremely runny in the middle after 50 minutes of baking. Really can’t think of why this would happen other than the actual size of the baking dish!
Made this last night to have for breakfast this morning and it was amazing! Didn’t have milk or spinach on hand, but did add green onion and lots of Frank’s hot sauce! Thanks for this awesome recipe!!
Did you just assemble everything without baking and put in fridge?
Did you put the cheese on right after putting the egg mixture on everything? Or could you want the last 15 mins of cooking to put the cheese on?
I put the cheese on right after pouring the egg mixture.
This looks so good. I have friends that are vegetarians and this casserole would be perfect. I can’t wait to try it. Thanks for sharing!
Do you bake the hashbrowns a little before adding the other ingredients?
I didn’t Debbie, but you can if you’d like.
This veggie casserole looks so yummy, Marzia!! I love that you used so many different veggies, they make it so colorful! <3
I’m vegan, so I’ll just replace the eggs with a mixture of silken tofu, turmeric and kala namak and use vegan cheese instead of regular cheese. I did that with a hash brown casserole some time ago and it turned out really delicious ( https://veganheaven.org/recipe/vegetarian-breakfast-casserole/ ). I think I’ll just try this tomorrow morning with your recipe!
Thanks so much for sharing! 🙂
Is there another way I can add potatoes? Maybe diced sweet potatoes? Do you think that would work?
Without further recipe testing I can’t really say if the diced potatoes will cook through in the 45-50 minutes that it takes to bake the casserole. I do however think that you can swap the shredded potatoes for freshly shredded sweet potatoes and it should work just fine.
Would hash brown patties work as a substitute for shredded hash browns?
I haven’t tried it with the patties, but my best guess is that it should work. The baking time might vary as it may take longer to cook the hash brown patties all the way through.
This was fantastic, thanks for a great meal – I used it for entertaining today and it was a hit!
Happy to hear it! Thanks Kristin!
Hi!
I made this ( prepped last night baked this morning) and WOW! Instant hit! The only thing I did different was added a blend of Sharp, pepper jack and velveeta shreds as a layer over the potatoes and in the egg mixture and omitted the hotsauce. This was perfect! Thank you so much for sharing!
my husband cannt have starch so used grated zucchini instead and a mango habanero hot sauce.
and greek yougurt for the milk
Hi, I know that you posted a long time ago but how did it work with the zucchini? I would like to make this but with some sort of vegetable instead of the hash browns, but I worry it will make it too watery. Thank you!
I can’t wait to make this for a Valentine’s brunch at my church this weekend. Thanks for sharing!! I’ll also share it on my own blog in a couple of days (following your directions, of course) =)
Could the milk be substituted for almond milk or coconut milk to make it dairy free?
Either will work 🙂
Does this meal reheat well? and will it last for breakfast for the whole week?
Definitely! We enjoyed it for a couple of meals over the course of the week. You can reheat it in a microwave or even a preheated toaster oven on 350ºF for 5-6 minutes.
How do you think this would freeze? Ever tried it?
Haven’t frozen it before, but I think it should be fine.
Has anyone actually frozen this casserole and at what stage of making it? Mikey
This is put go to for holiday special occasions or weekends at home. I have not cooked from frozen, however I have prepared ahead of time leaving in the fridge covered overnight (leaving the cheese out). I’ve then taken it out at least an hour before cooking (to let it get closer to rm temp), then added the cheese right before baking. Comes out great everytime and saves me time the day of. Hope that helps!
I froze it for Christmas morning breakfast and it did not do well from frozen. I was totally water-logged!
In step 5, did you mean to say “Allow the casserole to rest…” instead of “cook for 10 minutes…”?
Oops! Yes, it’s suppose to read ‘cool’ not ‘cook’. thank you for catching that!