This easy sausage breakfast casserole is not only delicious, it is the perfect recipe to feed a crowd. Make this egg casserole the night before and then slip it in the oven in time for brunch.
I absolutely love lazy brunches. Those times when you sit around the table with those I love, my small family or dear friends, taking our time enjoying our favorite breakfast dishes.
The holidays are a perfect time to enjoy lazy brunches, and nothing makes a lazy brunch better than a breakfast casserole that can be made the night before. With this Southwestern Sausage Breakfast Casserole recipe you get a flavorful dish that is filling and can feed a small crowd.
Be sure to check out my list right above the recipe of what I would serve with this delicious egg casserole.
How to Make Sausage Breakfast Casserole
- Cook the sausage. Break it up as you cook it, cooking just until the outside begins to brown.
- Add in the vegetables. To the meat, add the diced onion and red bell pepper and the minced garlic. Cook until the onions turn translucent. Then drain the excess grease from the pan.
- Prepare the egg mixture. In a large bowl whisk together the eggs, milk, heavy cream, green chiles, salsa, and salt. Then stir in 1 1/2 cups cheese and the bread.
- Combine everything. Add the sausage and vegetable mixture to the egg mixture. Pour everything in a greased casserole dish and top with the rest of the cheese.
- Refrigerate overnight or bake right away. If you used fresh bread, let everything soak overnight. If you used dried bread you can bake it right away.
- Bake the sausage egg casserole. This should bake for 1 hour covered, and then 15 minutes uncovered. You know the recipe is done when the the casserole starts to pull away from the sides of the pan and you can stick a knife in the middle and no excess moisture comes out.
Overnight Breakfast Casserole
This recipe is meant to work two different ways. Either way, you are going to start with 6 cups of fresh (not dried) bread cubes.
- Method One: If you use fresh bread, prepare the casserole up to the point of putting it in the oven and then cover it and put it in the refrigerator overnight. When you are ready to bake it can go right from the refrigerator.
- Method Two: If you used dried bread cubes (a note on how to dry them below), you can bake the casserole immediately. You will only need to bake it for about 50 minutes before uncovering it and baking for the final 15 minutes.
How to Dry Bread for Egg Casseroles
Whether you are making Thanksgiving Stuffing, Bread Pudding, or French Toast Casserole, drying the bread for it helps it soak up the egg and other ingredients in the recipe. As you will notice in this recipe, the alternative is to let the casserole sit overnight so that it has more time to soak everything up.
To dry the bread, cut the bread into cubes. You will need six cups of fresh bread. You can place it on a rimmed pan and let it sit out overnight. Or, you can bake it in a 250 degree oven for 45 minutes to an hour, checking and tossing it regularly so it doesn’t burn.
What to Serve with Breakfast Casserole
If you are looking to round out the dishes on your table or stretch this to feed more people, here are some great recipes to serve along with it. Your guests will be full and happy.
If you make this great sausage breakfast casserole recipe or any of my other recipes, leave me a comment and let me know what you think!
Southwestern Sausage Breakfast Casserole
Ingredients
- 1 pound breakfast sausage
- 1 large onion diced diced
- 1 red bell pepper diced
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 10 eggs
- 1 cup milk
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- 4 ounces green chiles drained
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 cup salsa
- 6 cups cubed French bread (see note)
- 2 1/2 cups Colby Jack cheese cheddar cheese would also work well here
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9 by 13 inch casserole dish with cooking spray.
- In a large skillet, cook the breakfast sausage, breaking it up. Cook just until it is begins to brown.
- Add the onion, bell pepper, and garlic to the meat. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the onions are translucent, about five to seven minutes.
- While the vegetalbes are cooking, whisk the eggs. To the eggs, add milk, heavy cream, green chiles, salsa and salt. Then stir in 1 1/2 cup cheese, and the bread. Mix to combine.
- When the vegetable and meat mixture is ready, drain the excess grease from the pan, and add it to the egg mixture. Pour everything into the prepared pan and top with 1 cup cheese.
- If you used dry bread, you can bake it right away, if you used fresh, let the casserole soak overnight. Read more about this here.
- Bake for 60 minutes and 15 minutes uncovered, or until the eggs are set – when the casserole starts to pull away from the side of the casserole dish and you can stick a knife in the middle of the dish and not see excess moisture. (Please note that if you started with dry bread and didn't need to refrigerate the casserole overnight, you will only need to bake it for 50 minutes before uncovering it and baking it for the final 15 minutes.)
- Let the casserole sit for 10 minutes before cutting into it.
Notes
Caroline Richter says
Your recipe sounds delicious. I am 75 and been cooking a long time but for those newbies reading it and thinking they will make it for Christmas morning, and enjoying the morning while it bakes/warms up, I think you should have put this caveat: Do NOT take a glass dish straight from the fridge to the oven!
AmIRight?
Hi Caroline! In my experience, I have been able to take casseroles from the fridge to the oven with no problem. The only time I recommend using a non ceramic or glass baking dish is when freezing it. But if you are worried, you can pull it out of the refrigerator while the oven preheats.
Sarah says
I’m confused about the dry bread cubes. I would think the dry would be used in the overnight application,and the fresh would be used if you were baking it right away.
What am I missing?
It’s actually the reverse. Fresh bread takes a lot more time to soak up an egg mixture than dry because the dry doesn’t have any moisture in it anymore and is happy to suck up the egg bath. Does that make more sense? So if you use fresh you need that overnight time for it to soak it all up. If you use dry you don’t.
Jamie says
Is it uncovered the entire time for fresh bread or 60 mins covered and 15 uncovered?
Uncovered the whole time.