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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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
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Grease a square baking dish (8 x 8 inches or 9 x 9 inches) and set aside.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- Bake uncovered until light brown on top and around the edges, about 35 to 40 minutes.
- Sprinkle the remaining 1/2 cup cheese on top and bake for 2 more minutes.
- 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.
Chocolate Soufflé (+ our blogging team’s holiday dinner!)
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.
Thank you so much for this recipe. I can’t wait to make it for Christmas breakfast. I wanted to say that I make my own frozen hash browns by cooking potatoes that we organically raise in our garden until just a little less than done. Then I cool them, shred them in my food processor and spread them out on a baking sheet. I put them in the freeze for a couple of hours and then put them in zip lock bags. I can take out however many I need and cook them quickly in a frying pan just like the store bought hash browns. You could do the same with potatoes that you purchase at the farmers market in the fall when they are in season and reasonably priced.
Love your website and your first book. I intend to get your second one after the Christmas rush is over. You keep me motivated to cook and eat healthy. Keep up the good work!