Speedy Breakfast Casserole

All images in this tutorial,
including any not yet watermarked,
are copyright of Deep South Dish / My New 30 blog.

I love breakfast casseroles but I hate having to think about building them the night before ... I never think about that the night before!! And besides that, I usually wake up deciding I want a breakfast casserole - I don't usually want it the night before!

So this recipe here is the one I like. It's got everything a good breakfast casserole should have - potatoes, cheese, sausage, bacon and eggs. And you can make it right away!

A couple of time-saving tips that I use to make this super speedy are one, to use pre-cooked sausage. When you get back from the grocery store and have a spare moment, go ahead and cook an entire pound of Jimmy Dean sausage, stick it in a freezer bag and put it in the freezer. That way you can skip the step of having to cook the sausage, and frankly, next time you want some homemade biscuits and sausage gravy {you can also use this gravy recipe for that as well}, you've already saved yourself some time there. Or if you want a homemade pizza, you've got this pre-cooked sausage to sprinkle on top! Or if you want a breakfast quesadilla or breakfast burrito, you'll be able to sprinkle some sausage on top before folding your quesadilla {by the way, I'm not a folder, I like 'em flat and with 2 tortillas, like a sandwich} or rolling up your breakfast tortilla.

Same thing with the bacon. Next time you brown up some bacon for a recipe or a meal, cook a few extra slices and store them in a freezer bag in your freezer. That's perfect for this recipe! Plus you've got pre-cooked bacon at the ready to chop up and sprinkle on top of a salad, a baked potato, or to use as a garnish!

Of course this breakfast casserole is an excellent dish to make using up some of that leftover holiday ham that you've got stashed in your freezer too! Just substitute the ham in place of the sausage.

And last, I like to use the pre-formed hash brown patties as the first layer, because I almost always have those in the freezer. You can certainly use any other type of frozen bagged hash browns, or be extra frugal and shred up your own potatoes!

So next time you wake up on a Sunday morning and want a hardy, comforting breakfast casserole for breakfast, brunch or even a leisurely Sunday lunch, I hope that you'll give this one a try ... it really is yummy!

Now, you may have noticed that sometimes I name brand names in my recipes. I have a little blurb about that in the lower right hand sidebar, but basically I can summarize it quick. I use generic products for some things, no doubt. They are money savers for sure. But, there are some products that I just will not accept substitutes on. In those cases I will mention the brand name in my recipe. That is simply because that is the brand that I prefer, recommend and use. Your preferences may be different. Bulk pork sausage is one of these products. The only bulk pork sausage that I like is Jimmy Dean. Over the years I'm sure that I've just about tried them all, but I always came back to Jimmy Dean. It's the best quality and simply just tastes the best to me.

This recipe can be very successfully doubled to accommodate those holiday guests!

For this recipe you'll need some hash browns, sausage or ham, onion, bacon, milk, eggs, salt and pepper. First we'll start by lining the bottom of a 1-1/2 to 2 quart square or oblong baking dish, that has been sprayed with non-stick cooking spray with some hash browns - enough to cover the bottom of the dish - roughly I'd say 2-1/2 to 3 cups if you're using the loose kind, or shredding your own. I like to use these patties because that's the kind I almost always have on hand.

Top that with one cup of shredded cheddar. Or a nice pepper jack cheese would be fantastic here.

Top that with 1 cup of cooked sausage. I used Jimmy Dean regular sausage, but you can certainly use the hot variety if you want to.

And a tablespoon of finely chopped onion.

Sprinkle some cooked and crumbled bacon on top of that. I used 2 slices here.

Mix up 1-1/2 cups of milk with 4 large eggs, the Cajun seasoning and some salt and pepper. Pour that over the entire dish.

Until it is well covered.

Carefully transfer that to a preheated 350 degree oven and bake for about 45 minutes to 1 hour, or until a knife inserted into the center comes out clean. Let set for about 5 minutes before slicing.

Enjoy!

Speedy Breakfast Casserole
Posted at http://deepsouthdish.com/

4-6 hash brown patties
1 cup of shredded cheddar
1 cup of cooked crumbled Jimmy Dean sausage or cooked, diced ham
1 tablespoon of finely diced yellow onion
2 slices of bacon, cooked and chopped
1-1/2 cups of milk
4 large eggs
1/4 teaspoon of Slap Ya Mama Cajun seasoning
2 pinches of kosher salt
8 turns of the pepper grinder

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 1-1/2 or 2 quart square or oblong baking dish with non-stick cooking spray. Set aside. My square dish was in the fridge with leftovers in it, so I used a 1-1/2 quart oblong Pyrex glass baking dish, approximately 10 x 6 inch.

If using raw sausage and bacon, cook both until browned. Chop up the bacon and set aside.

Layer the baking dish starting with the hash brown patties. On top of that add the shredded cheese, then the sausage, onion, and bacon. Beat together the milk, eggs, Cajun seasoning, salt and pepper and slowly pour over the entire dish.

Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes to one hour, or until a knife inserted into the center comes out clean. Allow to set about 5 minutes before slicing.

Serves 6 - Doubles great!

Leftovers: Ham