This hearty homestyle Amish Breakfast Casserole is filled with hash browns, cheese, bacon, and chicken sausage. Prep and bake right away or transfer to the fridge overnight and pop it in the oven the next morning. So easy and delicious. Perfect for a weekend brunch or holiday get together!
Looking for more hash brown breakfast recipes? Don’t miss our hash brown egg casserole and hash brown sausage quiche – both family and reader favorites!
Easy Hash Brown Breakfast Casserole Recipe
I honestly don’t know if breakfast truly is the most important meal of the day, but I do know it’s my favorite – I could eat breakfast food in the morning, and also for lunch and dinner.
We usually have friends and family in town for the holidays who stay overnight, so coming up with an easy, delicious breakfast that can feed a lot of people is key. This Amish Breakfast Casserole is pretty much perfect, made with potatoes, cheese, and lots of protein. It’s so hearty and filling, but not heavy. Bonus, it can be prepped the night before so all you need to do in the morning is pop it in the oven. So important at holiday time. Aren’t make-ahead meals just the best?
What Makes this Amish?
While the Amish don’t really have any dietary restrictions and there really is no such thing as “Amish food,” their meals are typically very hearty, rich, and high carb consisting of potatoes, pasta, beef, pork, with eggs, milk, and cheese playing a big role also.
Ingredients Needed
Here’s what you need to make this easy breakfast casserole.
(Scroll below to the printable recipe card for details and measurements.)
- Italian chicken sausage links – These are fully cooked chicken sausage links. You’ll use two from the package.
- Bacon – Either regular or thick cut are fine.
- Onion – For aromatics and flavor.
- Eggs – This binds the casserole together.
- Cottage Cheese – Small curd 4% cottage cheese. This is milky, sweet, and mellow. As the casserole bakes, it breaks down and adds necessary moisture, making the casserole creamier.
- Shredded Potatoes – I use “Simply Potatoes Shredded Hash Browns” for easy, located in the refrigerator section of most grocery stores. But you can certainly shred your own potatoes, you’ll need four cups.
- Cheese – A combination of shredded Mexican blend cheese and white cheddar cheese.
- Seasonings – Just salt and pepper seasons the dish, since the bacon and sausage carry so much flavor.
- Olive oil – Just a touch to sauté the bacon and onion.
- Scallions – These provide a subtle peppery flavor and a pop of color for garnish.
Recipe Variations
- Change the meat. Sometimes I change the protein. Diced up ham or pork sausage are good substitutes for the bacon and chicken sausage.
- Use bacon bits. The fat rendered from cooking diced bacon will give you the most flavor, but you can omit that step and stir in 1 cup of real bacon bits into the mixture, if preferred.
- Try different cheeses. There are so many options for cheese to use. Instead of Mexican blend and white cheddar, try sharp cheddar, Swiss, or pepper jack for more heat.
- Swap cottage cheese with ricotta. HEADS UP! This casserole has not been tested with ricotta, so I can’t vouch for the results using it, but typically it’s a good substitute for cottage cheese, so you could try it if you’re a cottage cheese hater.
How to Make this Hash Brown Breakfast Casserole
This hashbrown breakfast casserole is very easy to make in a few simple steps, then you have the option to bake it right away or keep it in the fridge overnight and bake it in the morning.
(Scroll down to the printable recipe card for details and measurements, and don’t miss the video below.)
- Cook the bacon, onion and chicken sausage. Cook the diced bacon in a skillet until almost crispy, drain the fat and then add in the diced onion and chicken sausage; sauté until onion is soft and translucent. Remove from the heat.
- Combine all ingredients. Transfer the bacon mixture to a large bowl. Add in the eggs, cottage cheese, shredded potatoes, cheese, salt, and pepper; stir to combine thoroughly.
- Add mixture to casserole dish. Spread mixture evenly into a 9×13 baking dish coated with nonstick cooking spray. (At this point you can cover and transfer to the fridge overnight, if preferred, then bake in the morning.)
- Bake. Transfer casserole to a preheated 350F oven. Bake for 45 to 50 minutes until set and golden around the edges. Let stand 10 to 15 minutes before cutting. Serve with a sprinkle of diced scallions and enjoy!
What to Serve with a Breakfast Casserole
This amish breakfast casserole is a hearty dish, so ideally you’ll want to pair it with something light. Our personal favorites are Roasted Asparagus, Arugula Beet Salad, or Cucumber Tomato Salad.
Proper Storage
You can prep and serve this hash brown casserole right away, assemble it the night before, or freeze for later.
- Storing leftovers: cool completely, then store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days.
- To freeze. You can freeze the casserole before or after baking. Wrap well in plastic and again in foil and freeze for up to 2 months. Thaw overnight in the fridge. If frozen after baking, just bake until warmed through. If frozen before it’s been cooked, bake as directed. You will likely need to add some minutes to the bake time.
More Easy Breakfast Casserole Recipes:
- Make-Ahead Breakfast Enchiladas
- Hash Brown Egg Casserole
- Breakfast Tater Tot Casserole
- French Toast Casserole
- Chile Relleno Casserole
- Croissant Bread Pudding
I hope you love this delicious and easy recipe – be sure to give it a review below! Also don’t forget to follow Belly Full on TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and YouTube!
Make-Ahead Amish Breakfast Casserole
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 pound bacon , diced
- 1 medium sweet onion , diced
- 2 links cooked Italian chicken sausage , diced small (the size of peas)
- 6 large eggs , lightly beaten
- 1 & 1/2 cups 4% cottage cheese
- 4 cups shredded hash brown potatoes (I use "Simply Potatoes Shredded Hash Browns" in the refrigerator section for ease)
- 2 cups shredded Mexican blend cheese
- 1 & 1/4 cups shredded white cheddar cheese
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/8 teaspoon pepper
- finely diced scallions , for garnish
Instructions
- Coat a 9×13 baking dish with nonstick cooking spray.
- Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high; add bacon and cook until almost crispy, about 6 minutes. Drain off fat. Stir in the onion and chicken sausage; sauté until onion is soft and translucent, about 3 minutes. Removed from heat.
- Transfer mixture to a large bowl. Add in the eggs, cottage cheese, shredded potatoes, cheese, salt, and pepper; stir to combine thoroughly.
- Spread mixture evenly into the prepared baking dish. Cover tightly and place in the refrigerator overnight.
- In the morning, preheat oven to 350º F.
- Remove cover and bake for 45 to 50 minutes until eggs are set and casserole is golden around the edges. Let stand 10 to 15 minutes before cutting. Serve with a sprinkle of diced scallions and enjoy!NOTE: Want to cook and serve it right away? No problem! No need to refrigerate overnight. Just preheat the oven while the bacon is cooking.
This was DELICIOUS and would be great to serve all year round.
I’ll be making it for my kids spring break breakfast/brunch. Thanks for sharing.
Going to mix some hamburger meat and Jimmy Dean Sausage (with Sage) 50/50. Halfway fried! The other half will cook in the oven. Cream cheese sounds good too. My question concerns the Onion. With this much onion, is there an over powering taste of onion in the casserole ? I’m not much of an onion fan. BTW..why refrigerate?
If you refrigerate overnight the dish has time to meld together, and the overall flavor will be better. Have you ever had a bowl of chili 3-4 days after cooking a pot and it had a chance for the flavors to marry? It’s beautiful. Same concept.
If you cook the onion and let the sweetness come out of the onion first. You well enjoy the onion. It well sweeteenough in its onion way. As it called you need to candy you onions. With just butter. I think you well enjoy it. It don’t taste like raw onion. Enjoy I know u well. I do.
Absolutely wonderful, thank you!
Such a great recipe for breakfast. This casserole was a huge hit at our house!
Love it! My wife made this for us before we went out to cut some firewood. Perfect breakfast for that! Hearty and packed with energy. I’m not really usually that rugged, so I needed the extra push! It also tasted delicious. She used regular breakfast sausage in place of the chicken sausage because that’s what she had on hand. Thanks for the recipe! She said she’s going to hang onto it. I hope that doesn’t mean I have to chop wood just to get her to make it for me! ;)