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Sausage Breakfast Casserole

Sausage Breakfast Casserole

I think this recipe is based on one from a Jimmy Dean ad. I got it from my friend Heidi, and we've both made it several times for brunch gatherings. If you want you can make it ahead the night before and just put it in the oven for an hour right before you want to serve it. Eggs, Italian sausage, bread, milk, cheddar cheese - yum!

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Sausage Breakfast Casserole Recipe

Ingredients

  • 1 lb of Italian pork sausage, (then cooked, drained, crumbled)
  • 4 1/2 cups cubed day old bread
  • 2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese
  • 10 eggs slightly beaten
  • 4 cups whole milk
  • 1 tsp dry mustard
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1/4 tsp onion powder
  • Fresh ground pepper to taste
  • 1/2 cup sliced mushrooms (optional)
  • 1/2 cup peeled, chopped tomatoes (optional)

Method

sausage-brunch-casserole-1.jpg

1 Heat a skillet on medium high. Break up the sausage into chunks and cook, working in batches if need be, until browned all around. Make sure the chunks of sausage have some space around them or your meat will steam and not brown. Remove the cooked sausage from the pan and let sit on some paper towels on a plate to soak up the excess fat. Crumble into smaller pieces.

sausage-brunch-casserole-2.jpg sausage-brunch-casserole-3.jpg

2 Place bread in a well buttered 9x13 inch baking pan. Sprinkle with cheese. Combine the eggs, milk, dry mustard, onion powder and pepper. Pour evenly over the bread and cheese. Sprinkle sausage and optional ingredients over the top.

3 At this stage you can cover and chill overnight, if you want to prepare ahead. If not, let sit for 10 minutes before putting in the oven. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Bake uncovered for about one hour. Tent with foil if top begins to brown too quickly.

Serves 6-8.

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44 Comments

Add a mexican flare by adding a small can of diced mild green chile peppers

Posted by: Bea Wright on December 24, 2005 6:17 AM

My mom makes this every year for Christmas morning! She makes it ahead of time, so she just puts it in the over while we're opening presents. It tastes even better the next day, just heat it up in the microwave.

Posted by: Sally on November 15, 2006 12:58 PM

Easy to make and delicious. Next time I will omit the sausage and serve it separately, as it made the casserole too salty. Served with croissants and a fresh fruit salad. Yummy.

Posted by: Elaine on December 21, 2006 9:09 AM

This is a classic with my family. My mom prepares it the night before and pops it in the oven in the morning, and her guests get a hot breakfast. I like the idea of a veggie version--mushrooms and tomatoes, as suggested, and maybe some chopped zucchini and onions, too, in place of the sausage? Yum!

Posted by: Lisa on December 26, 2006 6:10 AM

Yum! A staple at our house every Christmas morning.

This year I spruced it up a bit with some jalapenos and then roasted some red pepper and threw that in there. Delicious!

Posted by: J.R. on December 26, 2006 6:47 AM

We have been making this for Christmas breakfast for as long as I can remember and I'm 53 yrs. old! We make it with low salt diced ham instead of sausauge. Mmmmmm so good!

Posted by: barbara on December 26, 2006 7:32 AM

Try it with the maple flavored sausage from Jimmy Dean! My wife makes it that way and it tastes and smells great!!

Posted by: Greg B on December 26, 2006 7:39 AM

Elise, any thoughts on preparing ahead and freezing, minus the mushrooms and tomatoes? Seems like everything else would work. This sounds like a great item to have at the ready. I'm not much of a freezer person, but trying to get into that habit.

Posted by: Paul Shipman on December 26, 2006 7:44 AM

I made this for christmas brunch and it was DELICIOUS! Rave reviews from the family. I used a rosemary olive oil loaf of bread and premium sausage and very sharp cheddar. It came out beautifully. For us, not too salty...YUM.

Posted by: Raquel on December 26, 2006 8:03 AM

I've made this using just the pork sausage for a breakfast serving 20 people. With fruit, juice and/or coffee, it makes a filling meal to start the day. Everyone loves it.

Posted by: Jane O'Connor on December 26, 2006 9:29 AM

I make this with Bob Evans hot sausage and leave out all the other seasonings for my book club every year. I also make these little white bread rollup things with cinnamon and sugar. We call it a Winter Wonder(bread) Land.

Posted by: liz on December 26, 2006 11:06 AM

This might be good with hashbrowns or diced potatoes in it too.

Posted by: Sally W. on December 26, 2006 4:02 PM

Hi Elise,

Thanks for posting another yummy great recipe.
What kind of white bread did you use in this recipe?


I would like to share with you my tried and true recipe for Italian freezer sausage. It is easy to make and less salty than sausage you can buy.

Linda

For ever 2 pounds of fresh ground pork
Add the Following
1 tsp black peppercorns
2 tsp of kosher salt
2 tsp of dried basil
1/4 tsp of dried garlic, I use the gradules.
1 1/2 tsp of freshly ground anise seed.
dash of ground allspice or 4 freshly ground allspice seeds.
dash of cayenne pepper or red pepper flakes if you want a little heat.

I use a small oster blender container or you can use a spice grinder. Add allspice seeds, black pepper,anise seed and the salt and grind medium finely. Then add the basil, garlic and blend a few seconds to combine.

Add the above to the ground pork and mix with your hands or with a wooden spoon in a big bowl.
I do not use castings. Instead I use sandwich bags dividing the sausage into 1/2 pound portions squeezing out as much as I can of the air in the bag then freeze it. I make pizza every Friday. The sausage never lasts this long at my house but this sausage will keep for 3 months in the freezer compartment of the fridge.

Posted by: Linda on December 26, 2006 4:25 PM

I found this recipe in a romance novel years ago and it has been our family's tradition for Christmas Day ever since. It is delicious and I love that I can make all the preparations the night before! Merry Christmas!

Posted by: Lydia on December 26, 2006 4:37 PM

We had breakfast casserole on Christmas morning, but being from the South, ours had grits, not bread!

Posted by: Abby on December 26, 2006 7:55 PM

This has also been one of my family's Christmas favorites. My mom always made it since years ago and now I am making it for my family and have since passed the wonderful recipe on to friends. A couple things we put in it are light cream (you can also use half and half), and a teaspoon of worchestershire, it adds a great flavor.

Posted by: Terri on December 26, 2006 8:44 PM

Mmmmm...this is the recipe I love! I've never made it myself but I've had it several times at brunches it's definitely a favorite! My husband loves it too and I keep thinking I might start a tradition of making this on a holiday morning. Perhaps New Year's Day!

Posted by: Nicole on December 27, 2006 5:35 AM

I have made this several times. The first time I used ham and it was very salty, the next time I tried it I used low sodium ham.

Posted by: krista on December 27, 2006 7:49 AM

We make this recipe with Oscar Mayer "Little Smokies" sausages. Excellent for breakfast and there are never any leftovers. Mmmmmm.....

Posted by: Chris on December 27, 2006 1:54 PM

We like it with nice lean breakfast sausage. Each to his own, it's a great adaptable recipe.

Posted by: Betsy on December 27, 2006 3:32 PM

This casserole is one of our favorite Christmas traditions. We make it the night before and put it in the oven on Christmas morning when everyone is too excited about Santa's visit to think about breakfast. We make ours with cornbread.

Posted by: Jamie on December 28, 2006 2:18 PM

We refer to this recipe by no name other then Christmas breakfast and have it every year. Instead of Sausage we use strips of bacon. When this finishes cooking the bacon is deliciously crispy.

Posted by: Matt on December 28, 2006 4:10 PM

To Lydia.... you mention using grits in place of bread.....could you post your recipe as I am just not sure I follow this.... Grits I think would make a perfect side with this... but I could eat a whole pot of grits my self...

Posted by: REC on December 31, 2006 4:27 PM

My mom makes this all the time and especially at Christmas. Half of the people in her sunday school class claim to only come so that they can have some of hers. We call it Sausage Strata and we use seasoned croutons instead of bread. It's simpler and we think that it tastes better that way. This dish is très yummy!!!

Posted by: Jessica on January 14, 2007 11:30 AM

Very nice. I sauteed onions with the sausage and used just a pinch of onion powder. Yummy! Making it the night before made Sunday Brunch a cinch. I plan to experiment with gruyere, prosciutto and mushrooms next time. Thanks for yet another lovely recipe that makes me look like a pro!

Posted by: Gloriana on February 6, 2007 4:33 PM

This is our traditional Christmas morning breakfast! I add some green onions for flavor and color.

Posted by: Amy on April 15, 2007 7:49 AM

I made this to take to work for breakfast one Friday. It was awesome! I subbed turkey breakfast sausage, but that was the only change I made.

Great recipe. I'll definitely be making this one again.

Posted by: ha3rvey on August 4, 2007 11:07 AM

Oh this does look yummy!

Posted by: Alejandra on January 25, 2008 9:08 AM

My family also has a version of this but with Italian croutons instead of bread and then crispy bacon sprinkled on top for the last ten minutes instead of the sausage. It's a family brunch staple and since I have two laying hens in my urban backyard, I'm always in charge of the egg dish!

Posted by: Kate on June 8, 2008 7:22 PM

I had an unexpected visit from a relative (for breakfast) and turned to this delicious breakfast casserole - I followed everything exactly and added tomatoes which added beautiful colour - a great dish (second helpings were asked for!!) thanks for saving the day Elise!

Posted by: Christine on October 4, 2008 11:12 AM

This recipe looks delicious. Definitely will be served at Christmas brunch.
But just wondering if you can make well ahead of time and freeze?

According to a commenter on another breakfast casserole recipe on this site, yes you can make ahead and freeze. Personally I've haven't done so, but I don't see why it wouldn't work. ~Elise

Posted by: Margaret on December 12, 2008 6:48 AM

Made this for Christmas breakfast on the spur of the moment--it was a little moist in the middle, possibly because I didn't have time to dry out the bread, but everyone liked it. Thanks!

Posted by: Jeanine on December 25, 2008 1:54 PM

This recipe was delicious, thank you! I made it with ciabatta bread, chicken maple sausage, and garlic powder (instead of onion). Plus some chopped green onions. Came out beautifully and everyone was wowed.

Posted by: Sharon on March 15, 2009 4:08 PM

I made this for a December brunch and it was a hit! I did add the optional mushrooms. Delicious!!

Posted by: Monica Pileggi on April 12, 2009 6:05 AM

I added red pepper flakes, 2 scallions, 1 tsp. herbes de provence, 2 tsp. parsley, thought it needed a bit of a kick.

It all depends on the sausage you are using. Some sausage is spicier than others. ~Elise

Posted by: Trudie on April 14, 2009 10:17 PM

I made this for an early morning get together yesterday and it was quite a hit. Since I'm a vegetarian, I substituted the sausage with crumbled veggie sausage patties, and no one was any wiser. I cut the recipe and used an 8"x8" dish rather than a 9"x13" dish, but I should have made the full recipe since it was gone in a flash!

Posted by: Andrea on May 18, 2009 11:10 AM

I enjoyed making this dish! It was very easy and fun to make! I will share this with all my close family and friends! I would suggest trying it with other meats such as ham or turkey sausage. The turkey sausage works great!

Posted by: Jasmine on July 20, 2009 8:52 AM

I love this recipe!! It tastes soooo good in the morning. Cucumbers add a refreshing taste and great color to this dish! Me and my friend made this together and we used turkey sausage:) (careful it's really spicey)

Posted by: Ashton on July 20, 2009 8:59 AM

Another winner on this website. Served for a brunch at our home and the casserole came out PERFECT. Looked exactly like the photo. Now that I know the recipe I can make it really quick with other ingredients like chiles and different kinds of vegetables. Thanks again Elise for making me into the gourmet cook I aspire to be.

Posted by: SHELBY on September 8, 2009 9:31 AM

Lighteded it up and my family liked it even more; 2% cheese, skim milk and turkey sausage.

Posted by: Karen Suddath on October 17, 2009 8:25 AM

This has been a holiday breakfast tradition in my family for many years. Always used Jones bulk pork sausage.

Posted by: Pamg on October 25, 2009 7:06 PM

Thank you for the recipe. My sister-in-law served it to me when I visited her in the States a few years ago and I was just thinking of this casserole that it would be a nice change to make it for a Christmas breakfast. Well, now we're a couple of days into Christmas (in Poland we celebrate 2 days, plus tomorrow is Sunday so we get another day of a holiday). Well, anyways, I'll make it first thing tomorrow morning. Thank you :-)

Posted by: mellody on December 26, 2009 3:59 PM

I make this every year on Christmas morning for my family. Instead of cubed bread, I use shredded hash browns. My kids & grandkids fightover the leftovers to take home. It's simply delicious. I have made a couple extra dishes using bacon, green pepper & onion, spinach, & asparagus which also makes it so good you just can't get away from the table. I hope you enjoy this recipe.

Posted by: Paula O'Neill on February 5, 2010 3:55 PM

Thank you for the recipe Elise! This is now staple for Easter Brunch in our house!

Posted by: Nanci on March 31, 2010 9:16 PM

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