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Sausage Hash Brown Casserole (+Video)

This Sausage Hash Brown Casserole is the ultimate easy breakfast casserole! Eggs, cheese, sausage and hash browns are all you need for a delicious breakfast!

THE PERFECT BREAKFAST CASSEROLE RECIPE

This Breakfast Hash Brown Casserole is perfect for Sunday breakfast! It’s even better if you have a houseful of guests and need something easy but filling and delicious to feed them! This breakfast casserole fits the bill. You can even make it the evening before so it’s ready to pop into the oven in the morning!

a fork holding up a small serving of breakfast hash brown casserole over a plate.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Why do I have to pat the hash browns with paper towels?

You don’t want that extra moisture to make your casserole soggy. So make sure the hash browns are thawed and pat dry.

Do I have to use breakfast sausage?

No, of course not. Use any of your favorite ground sausage. You can use sage sausage, hot sausage or even Italian sausage if you think you’d enjoy that flavor with this recipe.

Can I add peppers to this?

Of course, you can add red, green or yellow peppers to this casserole. I would cook them with the sausage and onions so they soften up a bit.

Can you freeze hash brown casserole?

What is so wonderful about casseroles is you can make them up the day before, put it in the fridge and it is sitting there ready for you when you wake up and all ya gotta do is bake it and you’re done. Same with freezing. Wrap it up well before cooking (so it doesn’t get freezer burned) and take it out and bake when ready. If you are baking this from a cold state or from freezing, you will have to add on to the cooking time given below.

How do you store leftover breakfast hash brown sausage?

Cover and store leftovers in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Reheat in a pan on the stove top (to keep it a bit more firm and crispy) or reheat in the microwave.

a slice of sausage hash brown casserole on a small round white plate with a glass of orange juice in the background.

INGREDIENTS NEEDED: (SEE RECIPE CARD BELOW FOR THE FULL RECIPE)

  • frozen hash browns – you can shred your own potatoes if you prefer. You can also use the refrigerated hash browns. You just want to make sure you remove as much moisture as possible so the hash browns don’t end up soggy.
  • pork breakfast sausage – use your favorite ground sausage here. A hot sausage works great as well if you like more of a kick. To make this quicker to make, you can use the already cooked and crumbled sausage (by Jimmy Dean) that you can find near the other sausage and bacon in your grocery store.
  • onion – if you don’t like onions, just leave them out.
  • eggs – the eggs are going to act asa binder. They will help hold all of this together but they are also adding delicious protein and great flavor!
  • shredded cheddar cheese – you can use any type of shredded cheese. You can use pepper jack if you want more heat.
  • salt and pepper – use any of your favorite seasoning here. It all depends how much spice you want to add. If you like a big kick of flavor, try using cajun seasoning.

HOW TO MAKE SAUSAGE HASH BROWN CASSEROLE:

Pat the hash browns dry with a paper towel. Set aside. Preheat oven to 375F degrees. Spray 9×13-inch baking dish with nonstick cooking spray. In a skillet, cook onions and brown and crumble sausage.

collage of a paper towel drying hash browns on a baking sheet and a cooked and crumbled sausage with onions in a skillet.

Remove the cooked cooked sausage, turn the heat up to high and add in the hash browns. Pat them flat into the skillet. Allow them to brown then flip over and brown the other side. Then continue with the rest of the recipe. Note: this step is optional but I like the color it adds (it also helps dry out the hash browns a bit more.) In a medium bowl, whisk together eggs, milk, one cup of shredded cheese and salt and pepper.

collage photos of browned hash browns in a skillet and eggs, milk, cheese and salt and pepper mixed together in a large glass measuring cup.

In a baking dish, spread thawed hash browns into bottom of dish. Spread cooked sausage on top of hash browns. Pour the egg mixture evenly over the sausage and hash browns.

collage of three photos: hash browns spread into baking dish, cooked sausage spread out on top of hash browns and whisked eggs being poured over cooked sausage.

Sprinkle the remaining cup of cheddar cheese on top. Cover with aluminum foil. Bake for 30 minutes. Take foil off and bake for additional 5-10 minutes. Just keep an eye on it to make sure the cheese doesn’t brown up too much.

a collage of three photos, one is shredded cheese on top of casserole, second photos is the casserole dish covered with aluminum foil, third photo is fully cooked casserole dish with melted dish.

Allow to cool for a couple of minutes then slice and serve.

a spatula serving up a slice of sausage hash brown casserole.

CRAVING MORE RECIPES?

Originally published: October 2011
Updated & republished: June 2023

Sausage Hash Brown Casserole recipe from The Country Cook.

Sausage Hash Brown Casserole (+Video)

This Sausage Hash Brown Casserole is the ultimate easy breakfast casserole! Eggs, cheese, sausage and hash browns are all you need for a delicious breakfast!
4.88 from 57 votes
Print Pin Rate
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 40 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour
Servings: 9

Ingredients

  • 30 ounce bag frozen hash browns, (thawed & patted dry with paper towels)
  • 1 pound pork breakfast sausage (regular, extra sage or hot)
  • ½ onion, finely diced
  • 8 large eggs
  • ½ cup milk
  • 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • ¼ teaspoon pepper

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 375F degrees. Spray 9×13-inch baking dish with nonstick cooking spray.
  • In a skillet, cook onions and brown and crumble sausage.
  • Optional: Remove the cooked cooked sausage, turn the heat up to high and add in the hash browns. Pat them flat into the skillet. Allow them to brown then flip over and brown the other side. Then continue with the rest of the recipe. 
  • In a medium bowl, whisk together eggs, milk, 1 cup of shredded cheese and salt and pepper.
  • In the prepared baking dish, spread hash browns evenly into bottom of dish.
  • Sprinkle cooked sausage on top of hash browns.
  • Next, pour egg mixture evenly on top of that layer.
  • Sprinkle the remaining cup of cheddar cheese evenly on top.
  • Cover with aluminum foil and bake for about 30 minutes.
  • Take foil off and bake for additional 10 minutes. Just keep an eye on it to make sure the cheese doesn’t brown up too much.

Video

YouTube video

Notes

  • Make sure the hash browns are thawed and dried. Pat them dry with a paper towel. You don’t want that extra moisture to make your casserole runny.
  • Frozen hash browns come in different size bags. I used a 30 ounce bag but a 2 pound bag will also work. 
  • You do not have to brown the hash browns. I like this step as it gives the hash browns some color and additional texture but it’s not necessary for this dish to still be delicious. 
  • Like most casseroles, this is perfect to make the night before to have ready to bake the next morning!
  • This casserole can be frozen.
  • For an additional kick of flavor, try adding about a teaspoon of cajun or creole seasoning into the egg mixture along with the salt and pepper. 
Course: Breakfast
Cuisine: American

Nutrition

Calories: 454kcal | Carbohydrates: 22g | Protein: 24g | Fat: 29g | Sodium: 920mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 1g

Nutritional Disclaimer

“The Country Cook” is not a dietician or nutritionist, and any nutritional information shared is an estimate. If calorie count and other nutritional values are important to you, we recommend running the ingredients through whichever online nutritional calculator you prefer. Calories and other nutritional values can vary quite a bit depending on which brands were used.

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Recipe Rating




89 Comments

  1. 5 stars
    Making this for morning but the way the recipe is written prior to the printable version it says to bake, then stop, and save the rest of the baking until morning, which would only leave the last 10 minutes of browning. Then I read comments about not adding the egg mixture until morning if you aren’t baking until morning, so which is it??? I just pulled mine out of the fridge and am pre-baking it on Christmas Eve because I already added the egg mixture. Guess I’ll see how this goes but the jury is out..

  2. 5 stars
    Your recipe indicates one 2 lb bag of hash browns. Most recipes I see for a similar amount of servings indicates 1 bag of hash browns at 1 pound per bag. And most in the store are also 1 lb per bag

  3. Thanks so much Mandy for letting me know how it turned out for you. You will have to come back and let me know how the tater tots turned out in it.

  4. We made this last night for today, it was good, used a spicy sausage, tried to brown hash browns first. Seemed like it was missing something. Next time we will use frozen tator tots instead of hash browns. I liked a little herdez salsa with mine. Thank you for posting.

  5. brandie, you are a heroine this morning…looking up overnight breakfast casseroles, i kept finding hashbrown casseroles with cans of cream of soups and that wasn't what i was wanting; then i found yours…this makes me happy
    THANK YOU!

  6. This has become a regular staple in our house. I made it for Christmas breakfast, and now I make it every weekend! I buy the"Simply Potatoes" brand hash browns in the refrigerated section, use Jenny O Turkey breakfast sausage, and it turns out amazing. Thank you for this recipe, it's great for any meal! 🙂

  7. I have been making this casserole for years. I just want to note that I do not thaw the hasbrowns first and use 1 dozen eggs. I bake it at 375 for about an hour or until the middle is set. Just wanted to let your readers know that if they forget to thaw the hashbrowns, all is not lost. Thanks for a great post.

  8. I have made this for years. Love it! If you make it ahead and put it in the fridge overnight, don't put the eggs and milk over it until the morning. It will keep the potatoes from getting soggy in the fridge.

  9. I use this same recipe but I put it in the crockpot before I go to bed. Put crockpot on low 8 hours and it's ready when we get up. I also top it with green chile salsa.

  10. If I am making this tonight and baking it in the morning, do I need to let it sit out at room temp before baking?

  11. This morning my girls have a HS Equestrian Team compition. It is an all day and into the evening event.it is always a food fest for us parents and all of the siblings. I was asked to bring a breakfast dish so after searching for a yummy casserole I chose yours.it was super convenient to prepare it the night before because these horse shows start so early. I just woke up and stuck it in the oven and it should be ready to go the same time I am. It smells delious and I cant wait to deliver it fresh n hot! I am sure it will be a hit on our buffet table this morning. Thanks for sharing it.

  12. This sounds YUMMY! I am dying to make it but am wondering: What size bag of hash browns? Thank you.

  13. Good Morning!
    I just made this and took it out of the oven a few minutes ago. It looks and smells wonderful! I altered it a bit. I sauteed fresh mushrooms and green bell peppers and added to my mixture. Can hardly wait to try it.
    Thank you and have a wonderful day!

  14. To prevent too much moisture…I baked the potatoes for 30 mins on 350 (uncovered) then added sausage, egg & cheese…baked another 30 mins and it came out great.

  15. I made this casserole this morning for a teachers' meeting at my children's school, and it was promptly devoured! I did brown the potatoes and threw in an even dozen eggs to feed more people (with a bit more milk and cheese too!). Thanks for a great recipe; after the way my kitchen smelled this morning, I'll be making it for my own family this weekend!

  16. Was looking for something to feed the skipper a couple of days. This did the trick nicely. He likes it better than quiche. I personally think that's a guy thing. Thanks for the amazing recipe

  17. I am making this right now for my deer hunters when they get back in. They are always starving. A nice hot cup of coffee & this should warm them right up & fill them up too. Thank you for the recipe.

  18. Love this! I used the brand Simply Potatoes which are found fresh (thawed) in the dairy section. I did brown them. I chose their southwestern style which includes bell peppers, onions, etc. I also used 1/2 cheddar and 1/2 pepper jack cheese blend. We like spicy in our family which is also why I used a spicy sausage. This was fabulous, thank you!

  19. This was great but I missed adding the salt and pepper because I didn't see it listed in the directions. I'm assuming it should be added to the egg and cheese mixture.

  20. Yes, thank you. Making this tonight, but I happen to have the frozen hash browns. My son-in-law will nosh on this all day! We're big breakfast casserole fans here, and I love that you can do all the work the night before. Then just bake and eat! What's not too love?

  21. I have made a very similar casserole to this for several years. We all love it, but lately I have come to feel that something was missing. It honestly had never occurred to me to brown the potatoes! I'll be making this on Sunday and I will certainly try browning the potatoes. Sunday is breakfast casserole day at our house, too. Love that day!
    Now I have a question: can you make this using shredded raw potatoes instead of the frozen hash browns? We buy a lot of potatoes anyway, and I hate to buy another product. Does freezing the potatoes make any difference in how they work in a recipe such as this one? Thanks for the recipe and any advice.

    1. You can use shredded raw potatoes. Potatoes pack a ton of water in them. So, if you are suing raw ones, I would definitely recommend browning them a bit first. Do it with the lid off the pan so some of the moisture evaporates from the potatoes while cooking. Add just a touch of butter or oil to the pan too to give it just an extra kick of flavor. Hope that helps!