Breakfast casserole is the best way to slow down your busy morning routine!
Breakfast casserole is the perfect way to use that ham you have stashed in the freezer! Ham is my husband’s favorite so we always buy extra whenever it’s on sale. Serve it with bulletproof coffee, or an easy coffee smoothie!
Breakfast Casserole
Breakfast Casserole
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Breakfast Casserole Ingredients
- Ham (or other meat!) – We like to use leftovers from the previous evening’s dinner in our breakfast casserole. Try it with our crock pot ham recipe!
- Potato or hashbrown – A bag of hashbrowns is a good option, or even leftover roasted potatoes!
- Sweet bell pepper – Adds a lovely bit of sweetness to the dish. I like to use a variety of colors, especially if we’re serving it on a holiday or for a brunch.
- Sweet yellow onion – A must! Red onion or white onion can stand in if you don’t have sweet yellow.
- Mushrooms – I love mushrooms! But if you don’t, you can skip them.
- Garlic – Fresh garlic is fantastic if you have it, but go ahead and use pre-minced garlic from a jar or even garlic powder if you need to.
- Eggs – This one’s a must!
- Heavy cream – Heavy cream is best, but half-and-half or even whole milk work work as well.
- Cheese – I love a fiesta blend or Mexican blend, but use your favorite!
Is breakfast casserole healthy?
This breakfast casserole is very healthy. We’ve filled it with healthy starches (potatoes), vegetables (pepper, onion, mushrooms), and protien (ham and egg).
You’ll be starting off the day right with this breakfast casserole recipe!
Is breakfast casserole gluten free?
Our breakfast casserole is totally gluten free. Unlike many breakfast casseroles that use bread or breadcrumbs, ours is bulked up with delicious potatoes. I like to use a bag of hash browns (so easy!), but thin sliced potatoes would work as well.
You could even use leftover roasted potatoes. (You can see more of our gluten free recipes here!)
Can you freeze breakfast casserole?
You can freeze breakfast casserole. I like to freeze my breakfast casserole after it’s been assembled but before it starts baking. Depending on what you use to freeze the casserole in, you could possibly even put it straight from freezer to oven when you’re ready to eat it!
Just remember to add more cook time (about 40 minutes) if you’re putting the breakfast casserole in the oven frozen.
Breakfast casserole variations
🟢 You can sub nearly any pork, or even a mix! We like pork breakfast sausage, or chopped pork loin. You could even use rib meat or bacon!
🟢 Ripe sweet bell peppers give this dish a delicious vibrant flavor, and the color they add just make it feel super festive. I chose red since they’re so colorful, but any color sweet bell pepper will work just fine.
🟢 If you’re feeling industrious, by all means feel free to shred your own potatoes, but I’ll admit to cheating and buying a bag of pre-shredded hashbrown potatoes on sale.
🟢 Honestly, you could even purchase the pre-cut frozen peppers, mushrooms, and onions if you wanted (thaw first!), but personally I find something really enjoyable and calming about cutting vegetables.
Breakfast casserole for dinner
Since this is totally a full meal in a dish, you could also do what we did tonight (no, seriously), and fix it for dinner.
We grabbed some leftover cubed ham from the freezer, put everything together and had a simple, delicious, and nutritious (easy!!!) weeknight meal.
Breakfast Casserole for the holidays
This easy breakfast casserole is perfect to prepare for a simple holiday morning breakfast, to bring to a neighbor in need, or for your annual ladies’ brunch. I like to enjoy mine with a mug of bulletproof coffee.
We celebrate Christmas at my parents’ house with all the cousins and amazingly, the kids patiently wait through coffee and breakfast before settling in to see what’s under the tree.
As much as I love torturing my kids and making them wait, I don’t *really* want to win Meanest Mom Ever, so preparing a casserole like this which comes together easily (and could even be prepared in advance!), is the perfect solution for everyone.
More awesome breakfast recipes
- Breakfast pizza
- Breakfast chili
- Make ahead breakfast sandwiches
- Breakfast stuffed peppers
- Poached eggs
- Cinnamon rolls from crescent dough
More ways to use leftover ham
Tools we love
- Santuko knife – My favorite knife for cutting vegetables! This knife is the perfect size and shape, handles great, and is super reasonably priced.
- Garlic press – Need fresh minced or sliced garlic, but don’t want to peel or chop your garlic? This garlic press is the bessssssst.
- Stick blender – Possibly the most used gadget in my entire kitchen. The key to making a hand blender useful versus a giant pain in the butt is to rinse it immediately after using.
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How to make breakfast casserole
Breakfast Casserole
Ingredients
- 2 cups ham or other pork meat!, chopped into small pieces
- 4 cups shredded potato or hashbrown
- 1 cup sweet bell pepper approximately one medium/small pepper, small chopped
- 1/4 cup sweet yellow onion minced
- 1/2 cup sliced mushrooms
- 1 clove garlic minced
- 6 eggs
- 1 tablespoon heavy cream optional
- 2 cups finely shredded cheese divided in half
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/8 teaspoon black pepper
Instructions
- In a large bowl, combine sweet peppers, onion, garlic, mushrooms, and ham. Mix well.
- In a smaller bowl, whisk together eggs, heavy cream, salt, and pepper.
- Add whisked eggs to vegetable bowl and stir. Incorporate potatoes, then 1 cup of shredded cheese.
- Pour casserole mixture into an 8x8 or 9x9 lightly oiled baking dish. Sprinkle remaining cheese over top.
- Bake at 350 degrees for 30 - 45 minutes, until cooked through and egg is set. If using a broiler safe dish, turn on broiler for 2 - 3 minutes to crisp and brown cheese.
- Enjoy!
Video
Nutrition
Breakfast Casserole
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This Breakfast Casserole was originally a partnered effort with the National Pork Board, and would make the perfect addition to your breakfast menu.
12-1-16
Sues says
This is awesome! I usually only make breakfast casseroles for company, but this is the kind I want to make on a Sunday and have all to myself every morning for the week!
Madi says
This sounds like such a great way to start the day! This would be perfect to make for brunch this weekend!
Deanna says
YUMMY!!
Susan says
April, this is a beautiful dish!
If you would use two different kinds of meat, would you use one cup of each?
I would be taking this to functions & was wondering if you could double the recipe & use a 9″ x 13″ aluminum pan?
Thank you!
April says
1 cup of each would work, you could probably add up to one more cup of meat even if you wanted a super meaty dish. if you were going to double it, yes toss it in a bigger pan. i hope you love it <3
Amy Johnson says
Breakfast casseroles sure do make hosting company during the holidays a lot easier AND tastier too! Love the combination of ham and hashbrowns in this one. YUM!
Karla says
This is so delicious and perfect for feeding a large group! So perfect for brunch too.
Beth Pierce says
We took your advice and made this for dinner! So delicious! Thank you!
April says
oh wonderful! i’m so glad our breakfast casserole was a hit 🙂
Carrian says
I wish every morning could start with a piece of this casserole!
Melissa says
I made this casserole twice and it seems to just get better! I cooked spicy breakfast sausage and then removed it from the pan and used the grease drippings to saute my onion & pepper, adding the garlic at the end. I then mixed it back in with the meat and set that aside. And, cooked my frozen hashbrowns with a little oil and then added everything together in a casserole dish. I leave out the mushrooms because I don’t like them. But, I also added a few pieces of mozzarella to my Fiesta blend cheese along with my eggs and cream. Baked it uncovered and it was delicious! This is a great dish to take to work, church or share with family and friends. Thanks for sharing this wonderful recipe! Also, since we like spicy, my husband adds fresh jalapeños and hot sauce to his portion.
April Woods says
Great ideas! Thanks so much for the comment 🙂
Alison says
Can this be made and then frozen, either before of after cooking? I’m looking for make ahead and freeze meals for after the baby.
Amy says
I was wondering if I could make this casserole the night before? Refrigerat and bake in Christmas morning?