Easy Cheesy Sausage and Egg Breakfast Casserole (Make Ahead in Minutes) (2024)

Are you looking for an easy breakfast casserole to feed a crowd that doesn’t keep you in the kitchen? This recipe is like the whole breakfast in a pan—fluffy eggs, gooey cheese, bread, and a side of savory sausage that loads the whole dish with flavor. And the best part is, it only takes a few minutes to assemble the night before and you can bake it while you’re hanging out with a cup of coffee the next morning!

Years ago this breakfast casserole became as much of a Christmas morning tradition in my family as opening presents in our PJs. We quickly put it together before bed on Christmas Eve and bake it while we open presents. For our big, hungry crew we make two disposable aluminum pans full. When it’s ready, we break for food to fuel up before going back in for the second half (we open one at a time so it’s a marathon).

Options and modifications.

Although having only five ingredients make this easy casserole fast, there’s so much potential to switch things up from this basic dish.

• Add color and more flavor with green onions or some green or red bell pepper.
• Add veggies like broccoli, asparagus, and mushrooms.
• Make it Mexican with a little bit of taco seasoning, green chiles, and Mexican blend cheese. Serve with some salsa.
• For extra fluffy eggs, add 4 tbs. of sour cream or yogurt. Or replace some or all of the milk with heavy cream or half and half.
• Change the amount of cheese. We like it extra cheesy so I use the full bag of 2 cups of cheese.
• Change the bread. I’ve always used white bread because that’s what most of my family likes. But you could just as well use wheat bread, french bread, biscuits, or whatever you might have (it may change your bread/egg ratio and consistency). You can also butter the bread before cubing.
• Or make it low carb by omitting the bread altogether. It will really be more like an omelette in a casserole dish, but it won’t require sitting overnight.

• 6 slices of bread
• 1 lb. pork breakfast sausage
• 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
• 8 eggs beaten
• 2 cups milk
• 1 tsp. salt
• Black pepper to taste

• Brown sausage over medium heat in a large skillet. Drain the excess grease if needed.

• Grease a 9×13 casserole dish or large baking dish. Cube the bread and lay it in the bottom of the pan.

• Spread the sausage crumbles over the bread cubes.

• Sprinkle the cheese over the top.

• In a large bowl, beat the eggs with a whisk, Mix in the milk, salt, and pepper and whisk until well combined.

• Pour egg mixture over the other ingredients in the pan and cover it with plastic wrap or aluminum foil.

• Place in the refrigerator overnight to let the bread soak up the liquid.

• The next day, preheat the oven to 325 degrees.

• Remove the casserole from the refrigerator and let it sit at room temperature for 20 minutes before baking.

• Uncover the pan and bake for 45 minutes or until set.

  (Time will vary depending on how cold it was going in, your oven, and what kind of pan you use. Insert a knife in the center to check – it should come out clean when done.)

• Cut it into squares right in the pan to serve.