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With many of us hosting overnight guests this holiday season, it’s nice to plan not only that big, special dinner, but also a tasty and filling breakfast! This breakfast bake is another one of those recipes I “made over” by replacing a processed boxed mix with something more wholesome. In fact, you may even recognize this “real foodinized” version of Bisquick’s Breakfast Bake! This was actually a fairly easy dish to make over, and when you look at the ingredients on the back of a Bisquick box, it’s not hard to see why you would want to avoid it and use a homemade replacement instead.
In The Box (Pictured): Enriched refined white flour (labeled as “wheat flour” without the word “whole”), partially hydrogenated oil (i.e. the same trans fat the FDA recently declared is no longer “generally recognized as safe for use in food”), and dextrose (a sweet additive I do not cook with at home).
In My Recipe: Whole-wheat flour, unrefined cooking fat (from the pastured sausage), and other whole, recognizable ingredients.
It’s funny to me how the Bisquick Breakfast Bake recipe tells you to drain the natural fat from the sausage just so you can add in their boxed stuff that contains unsafe trans fat. No, thank you!
So anyway, whether you serve this for breakfast, brunch, or even dinner, I think you’ll find this is a super easy crowd pleaser, and with all of the cooking we’ll be doing during the holidays, that’s exactly what we all need!
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Before I let you go, I have a little something that will make your New Year goal of “eating healthier” that much easier! And it’s our longtime sponsor, The Fresh 20, a meal planning service that features 5 wholesome weekly recipes that are made from only 20 fresh, real food ingredients! They have something for everyone including Classic, Vegetarian, Gluten Free, Dairy Free, Kosher, and even For One (Person)! On their website you’ll also find other great resources like homemade salad dressings and the full scoop on their new, beautifully photographed cookbook. I have a copy myself, and I must say it’s very nicely done. Treat yourself or someone you love – nothing better than giving the gift of health! :)
Recipe: Holiday Breakfast Bake (Make Ahead*)
Ingredients
- 3/4 pound sausage locally/humanely raised meat recommended
- 1/2 onion diced
- 1 bell pepper diced
- 1 1/2 cups frozen hash browns look at the back to make sure it's only 1 ingredient
- 1 1/4 cup cheddar cheese freshly grated (or swiss), divided
- 1/2 cup whole-wheat flour
- 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- pepper black or red, to taste
- 1 cup milk
- 2 eggs
Instructions
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Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Grease a square baking dish (8 x 8 inches or 9 x 9 inches) and set aside.
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In a sauté pan over medium heat, add the sausage, onion, and bell pepper. Cook while breaking up the meat with a spatula until the sausage is cooked all the way through, about 7 to 8 minutes.
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Transfer the meat mixture (including the fat) to the casserole dish and stir in the frozen hash browns and 3/4 cup of the grated cheese.
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In a medium sized mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, and pepper. Whisk in the milk and eggs until well combined but not overmixed. Pour over the sausage mixture in the casserole dish ensuring even coverage.
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Bake uncovered until light brown on top and around the edges, about 35 to 40 minutes.
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Sprinkle the remaining 1/2 cup cheese on top and bake for 2 more minutes.
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Serve with fruit for breakfast or with a salad for lunch. Enjoy!
Recipe Notes
We recommend organic ingredients when feasible.
*To make this casserole ahead of time simply assemble, cover, and refrigerate before baking. You will need to increase the baking time by about 5 to 10 minutes when starting with a completely cold dish.
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I do a similar casserole without the flour/bisquick component that would work for the gluten free/paleo folk. Just add a couple more eggs and delete the batter mixture. It’s also good without the hashbrowns–just eggs, sausage, cheese, onions, and whatever other veggies you want to add. I overcook mine slightly because my family really, really likes the crusty brown edges.
I have to be honest…this was pretty bad. Maybe it was my sausage but it was a greasy mess. After baking I poured about 1/4 cup of Grease off the top of the casserole. It was also extremely bland. Maybe if it was made with hot sausage (or additional spices) and the grease (or ar least half of it) was drained off prior to putting in casserole dish it might be something I would make again.
I am sorry it didn’t turn out for you – I agree if the sausage wasn’t seasoned that would make a difference!
I made this the night before and when I got it out of the refrigerator, it was black where some of the flour was. This ever happen to anyone? Is it some type of reaction with the whole wheat flour?
Hi Nic. Yeah, potatoes can oxidize in strange ways but the flour was probably not to blame. Sorry that happened.
It’s probably the starch in the potatoes.
Sometimes potatoes can turn black when left overnight. Its no biggie…but that could be it.
I love this recipe and have made it several times for family gatherings. I always get compliments. Recently I developed a severe intolerance to nightshade vegetables and can’t eat peppers. Does anyone have a good suggestion for a substitution? I feel like the peppers are the best part and wonder how it would be without them.
Hi. My family loves adding mushroom. My son is not crazy about peppers.
I would prefer small cubes of ham to sausage. Also, you could add most any veggie you’d like. Chopped tomato, cooked broccoli florets, etc.
Hi Lisa,
I am the college AEnglish professor who made up a seven day challenge based on your 100 days of unprocessed food. Most of my students can take the challenge by keeping a diary and telling me how they fared with their menus and meals. One of them totally misunderstood the challenge, skipped meals and was miserable. I could not believe she didn’t go on your site and get a clue as to how your challenge works. However, most of those who do the 7 day challenge rave about it. Just thought you would like to know how far reaching your idea is. My students come from all over the globe and hopefully they take their new found knowledge home with them.Love you and your girls and your great idea.
I read (somewhere, sometime) that Bob’s Red Hill Unmodified Potato Starch is better for diabetics who need to watch their carbohydrate intake. Can I substitute this for one of the flours in the recipe? Also, how about the Stevia sweetener made for baking? Can this be substituted for sugars? I am trying to placate a diabetic husband who loves sweet carbs and whom does not yet accept that he must make some life style changes!
Hi Tara. We’ve not made those kinds of substitutions. If you give it a try, let us know how your modified version works.
I made an adapted version of this and it was WONDERFUL! I used just over a pound of bacon chopped instead of sausage. (I had already cooked and drained it, so didn’t add the extra fat.) I doubled the recipe in a 9×13 dish. 6 eggs instead of 4. Only had one bell pepper so I also added a zucchini. I had already made my own diced (sauteed) potatoes the day before so I threw those in instead of frozen hash browns. I also threw in some fresh rosemary and a few other seasonings since another review mentioned it was bland. I’m sure it would have been great without that addition though! So full of flavor. I was surprised how many veggies filled the casserole dish. I was a little worried my kids wouldn’t eat it being so dense with vegetables, but they ate it all up with delight. This was a wonderful breakfast for dinner and I did the majority of the prep work while I made breakfast and lunch. This will be on my regular list. Thank You!
Has anyone made this with home grated (fresh) potatoes? I do not live where packaged frozen hash browns are available.
Yes, I made it with grated potatoes yesterday. It was delicious!
Can you use something in place of the eggs? Egg allergy..the rest of the ingredients are fine-thank you
Hi there. We have never attempted to replace the eggs in this recipe but here is a similar recipe that might help: http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/sausage-and-potato-breakfast-casserole-4387.