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The Best Breakfast Casserole is a thick and creamy egg base with shredded potatoes, chunks of ham, and flavorful cheese blends that bake up in no time. Make this to enjoy Christmas morning or brunch.
Reasons You’ll Love This Recipe
- Easy to Make: This is so easy to throw together. It only takes about 5 minutes to get everything together. The hard part is waiting for it to be done cooking!
- Make Ahead: Make this ahead of time, and when ready to bake, simply take it out of the refrigerator and bake.
- Family Favorite: Your family will love this easy breakfast casserole this holiday season. I have our traditional Sticky buns on the menu for Christmas along with this amazing casserole.
What you need to make a Breakfast Dish
This breakfast is perfect any time of the year but great for Christmas! All the simple ingredients come together quickly. Try it out for yourself! You will agree that it is amazing! Exact measurements are at the bottom of the post.
- Shredded potatoes: You can use frozen ones, and they do not need to be thawed.
- Salt and pepper: To taste!
- Eggs: Used to bind everything together.
- Half and half: Adds creamy texture and thickness.
- Season salt: The secret ingredient that adds all of the right flavors.
- Cheddar & Pepper Jack Cheese: Gives the melty cheesy top and complements the ham.
- Ham: Gives a hearty, meaty flavor and texture.
How to Make a Breakfast Casserole
This breakfast casserole is the BEST for so many reasons. One of which, is how simple this breakfast casserole recipe comes together and is in the oven in minutes. This tried and true breakfast casserole is so simple, and everyone loves the flavor.
- Prepare pan and add ingredients: Grease a 9×13 inch pan. Add the frozen and shredded potatoes to the bottom of the pan. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.
- Whisk eggs: In a large bowl, whisk the eggs together.
- Add remaining ingredients: Then add half and half, season salt, cheddar cheese, pepper jack, and chopped ham.
- Pour into pan and refrigerate: Pour over the top of the frozen potatoes, then cover with foil and refrigerate for 2 hours or overnight.
- Bake your breakfast casserole: Bake covered in foil at 350 degrees for 90 minutes. Let rest for 10 minutes before serving.
What to Serve with a Delicious Breakfast Casserole
This casserole can stand alone, but if you are looking for a more complete meal, add some tasty side. Here are some ideas of what will go well with this breakfast casserole during the holiday season.
- Fruit: Christmas Fruit Salad or The Best Winter Fruit Salad
- Bread: Buttermilk Biscuits
- Potatoes: Skillet Potatoes with Peppers or Baked Parmesan Hash browns Recipe
- Meat: Bacon, sausage or ham from my Classic Honey Glazed Ham recipe.
- French Toast: Secret Ingredient French Toast Recipe or Creme Brûlée French Toast
- Pancakes: The Best Buttermilk Pancakes or Best Ever German Oven Pancake
- Muffins: Blueberry Oatmeal Muffins or Fruit Explosion Muffins
Mix It Up!
Try some of these fun variations in this breakfast casserole and find what you enjoy best!
- Vegetables: Add in some veggies like bell peppers, spinach or kale, tomato (fresh or canned), broccoli, mushrooms, or onions are great.
- Meat: You can use bacon, variations of sausage, shredded chicken, ground beef, or leftover turkey.
- Cream: I’m not a fan of half and half; you can use whipping cream for a thicker, richer breakfast or simply use milk you have on hand.
- Cheese: Switch up which cheese you use. Try swiss cheese, Colby jack, or mozzarella which all work well and melt perfectly when baked.
- Spicy: By adding red pepper flakes, green chilies, or green onions, is a fun way to add a little heat.
- Potatoes: Diced or flavorful frozen potatoes will work great in place of shredded potatoes.
Tips for Making the Perfect Breakfast Casserole
Here are some tips for making this breakfast casserole even better and easier on you. This recipe is fun to make with different variations, make ahead, or even make it the morning of. There are so many great things that make this casserole the BEST! These tips will help you better understand how to bake this breakfast for you to enjoy with your family.
- Covering or Not Covering: This is an option. I recommend not covering the baking dish, so the topping can get that nice crisp edge. If you prefer to cook it covered be sure to uncover the last 10 to 15 minutes.
- Keep your potatoes frozen: There is no need to thaw the potatoes, because they will cook frozen.
- How to know when breakfast is done: Once the outside edges become golden brown and the egg mixture in the middle is firm (check by rocking the pan). Use a toothpick or knife to check if it is completely cooked through. You can also use a thermometer to see if the breakfast casserole has reached 165 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Drain grease: If you use any other meat in the breakfast casserole, drain the meat before adding it to the dish.
- Gluten-free: Make this gluten-free by following this breakfast recipe. Check your labels on other ingredients to make sure.
Storing Breakfast Casserole
There are so many options and plans for this breakfast casserole to make your holiday mornings even easier and better.
- Reheat: To reheat the breakfast casserole, add it to the microwave or cover it in the oven. Check it occasionally until it has been warmed through.
- Make Ahead: Simply follow the instructions until you are ready to bake. Cover it with aluminum foil or a lid and place it in your refrigerator. When you are ready to bake, simply take it out of the refrigerator and bake it according to the instructions. This can sit in the fridge for up to 2 days.
- Can you freeze a casserole? Yes, this is perfect for freezing. Make and bake your breakfast casserole. Once it has completely cooled down, place it in an airtight container or ziplock bag. Lay flat in your freezer for up to 1 month. When ready to warm up, place on a baking sheet and bake until warmed through about 50 min.
More Breakfast Casserole Ideas
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The Best Breakfast Casserole
Ingredients
- 24 ounces frozen shredded potatoes
- salt and pepper
- 12 eggs
- 2 cup half and half
- 1 teaspoon season salt
- 1 1/2 cup cheddar cheese grated
- 1 1/2 cup pepper jack cheese grated
- 2 cup chopped ham Or your preferred meat, sausage would also be great
Instructions
- Grease a 9×13 inch pan. Add the frozen and shredded potatoes to the bottom of the pan. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.
- In a large bowl, whisk the eggs together. Then add half and half, season salt, cheddar cheese, pepper jack, and chopped ham.
- Pour over the top of the frozen potatoes. Cover with foil and refrigerate for 2 hours or overnight.
- Bake uncovered at 350 degrees for 90 minutes. Let rest for 10 minutes before serving.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Can I used hash brown patties instead of shredded
I have not tried the patties with this recipe. It will work but it won’t have the smooth layers like the hashbrowns.
I was easily able to do a half recipe which was perfect for the two of us. I used an 8 x 8 pan and the cooking time was around 1 1/4 hours. Yummy and easy!!
Great make ahead casserole. I love making this, but did not cover with foil, as the recipe states cook, uncovered , for 90 minutes. Gets way too dark on top. Going to cover it for the first hour, and then uncover to brown. I do add an extra half cup of half and half, because at times it seemed a little dry. Overall, such a great and easy casserole.
Can you cut the recipe in half and put in a smaller dish? Wondering on bake time then too…
Yes, you can use an 8×8 or 9×9. The timing will have to be about the same or longer because it is thicker in a smaller pan.
I cut the recipe in half do you suggest less baking time?
I would continue to use the same amount of baking time, watching it closely towards the end if using a 9×9 or 8×8 baking dish. The egg still needs to be cooked through if you are using a smaller baking dish. If the casserole is thin and you are using a 9×13 baking dish then yes, cup the baking time in half.
Hi Alyssa, in the UK we dont have frozen shredded (grated) potatoes, can i grate (shred) and freeze fresh potatoes to get the same result?
Yes, that sounds great! That will be delicious with the fresh/frozen potatoes!
So if using fresh potatoes I would need to shred and freeze them? We don’t have frozen shredded potatoes where I live in Canada either!
Yes, that will be best! Those will taste delicious with freshly/frozen shredded potatoes.
I used fresh cut potatoes and did not freeze them and it turned out great, so in my experience no need for the potatoes to have to be frozen.
My potatoes were not shredded either. I cut my fresh potatoes like french fries. The whole thing was delicious!!
Can you make this in a slow cooker?
I have not tried that yet! Let me know if you do and how it turned out!
Can you make this ahead and freeze
Yes, this is a great freezer breakfast!
This recipe is a keeper. Did not alter any ingredients. Prepared the day before and refrigerated 24 hours. We were hosting a group of my husbands friends from out of town for their annual 3 day golf get together. They absolutely loved this casserole for breakfast. Will definitely make this my go to recipe. Baked it for 1 hour and 15 minutes in a 9×13 glass dish. I have a professional stove so the baking was even.
I made this recently for a teen sleepover. It was a big hit (served with cinnamon rolls and fresh fruit). I only baked it for one hour and I think 90 min would have over cooked it. I’m making it again this morning (1/2 recipe). Swiss cheese, bacon, and asparagus this time.
This Breakfast Casserole interested me, until I viewed the Nutritional Info. It would have been nice to make this on Mothers Day, since it sounds super delicious, BUT the fat & cholesterol are waaay too high per serving. I’m well aware that this is not a blog which posts only healthy recipes, so I’m presently working on ways to lighten-up this dish, in order to make it a bit healthier.
Do the potatoes have to be frozen, or can I freshly shred them, and put them in the casserole right away?
Fresh potatoes sometimes turn out mushy and do not cook the best compared to the frozen potatoes. You are welcome to try it! Let me know how it turns out.
90 minutes was too long in my oven. I’m going to add onions, peppers and more ham for more flavor the next time I make it and try 60 minutes in the oven.
This is great! We have 8 chickens and sometimes too many eggs, so this recipe uses a lot of them up. I use it all the time. Thank you!
Outstanding recipe. Its just for the wife and me, so I cur the recipe in half. I replaced the ham with sausage and the half and half with coffee creamer and cut the cooking time in half and it came out great. My wife’s not a fan of spices, so the recipe suits her just fine.
Our new favorite. Oh my goodness, this was so easy and so delicious. I didnt have seasoning salt, so sprinkled tsp. of kosher salt over the potatoes along with some fresh ground pepper. I didnt add any further salt, and it was perfect. Used a pound of mild breakfast sausage. I like this so much better than the casseroles that use bread. Cooked perfectly in the 90 minutes, and looked so pretty topped with the green onions. We had it for supper tonight with fresh fruit and the wonderful coffee cake also found on this website. Cant wait to reheat it for breakfast tomorrow.