:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/20241001-SEA-BreakfastCasserole-FredHardy-Hero2-11-ea3e2fbd48c44a9ebb2700d9c34f8aa5.jpg?w=1200&resize=1200,0&ssl=1 "Feed a Crowd With This Straightforward, Tacky Sausage Breakfast Casserole Recipe")
Why It Works
- Sautéeing the sausage and greens sooner than together with them to the casserole ensures they’re completely cooked and removes additional moisture.
- Together with shredded Gouda cheese, bitter cream, and half-in-half to the eggs creates a rich custard-like filling.
Savory, hearty, and stuffed with style, a well-made breakfast casserole is good for feeding a crowd. The perfect breakfast casserole should be creamy and stuffed with flavorful add-ins, and easy to slice into neat elements. Sadly, I’ve had some critically unhealthy egg casseroles in my earlier—ones which may be so overcooked and rubbery, you possibly can fling them all through the room like a frisbee. That’s the reason I love a extraordinarily good recipe for breakfast casserole, like this one from our Birmingham-based check out kitchen colleague Elizabeth Mervosh.
Mervosh baked up quite a few casseroles to created this flavorful egg, vegetable, cheese, and sausage mannequin that’s optimistic to impress all people at your subsequent family gathering or brunch. She gussies up her casserole with a thoughtful combination of components like Italian sausage, earthy mushrooms, good sun-dried tomatoes, garlic, onion, and heaps of latest spinach. It’s all folded with shredded melty cheese (Gouda or cheddar) sooner than being blended with the eggs and baked.
The casserole is easy to make and will probably be prepared ahead of time, so that you just don’t should stand up on the break of dawn merely to get breakfast on the desk. Listed below are a lot of recommendations for a savory breakfast casserole that’s terribly satisfying, not soggy, greasy, or underseasoned.
Extreme Eats / Fred Hardy
4 Crucial Steps to Guarantee a Good Savory Breakfast Casserole
1. Pre-cook the sausage and greens. Eggs put together dinner quickly—far too fast for fillings to do loads previous warmth up a bit by the purpose the eggs are completely cooked. So the essential factor to a great sausage- and vegetable-loaded egg casserole is to organize dinner your fillings beforehand. We start by cooking the sausage, then set it aside sooner than sautéeing the mushrooms and onions throughout the rendered sausage fat—this fat and and the fond left behind throughout the skillet from the sausage imbue the mushrooms and onions with porky, salty style. The alternative aromatics and greens, along with sun-dried tomatoes, garlic, and up to date spinach, are added after the mushrooms and onions. Sautéing the sausage and greens not solely makes them tender and helps them develop a sturdy style, nonetheless cooking the fillings drives off additional moisture, ensuring a creamy— not watery—casserole.
2. Load up on the dairy. It might be troublesome to verify baked eggs in an enormous casserole dish are evenly cooked from edge to edge. The eggs can merely overcook and change rubbery. To ensure the eggs keep tender as quickly as baked, we whisked a hearty amount of half-and-half (or full milk, must you select) and bitter cream into the egg mixture until completely blended. The added fat from the dairy ends in a creamier custard-like filling.
3. Make it easier by setting up it correct throughout the casserole dish. We would have liked to make this casserole so simple as potential to rearrange with out sacrificing style. That’s why we don’t skip sautéing the add-ins as described above—the time monetary financial savings are merely not value it. Nevertheless one shortcut we do encourage is skipping the mixing bowl and simply combining all the casserole components straight throughout the baking dish so there’s one a lot much less bowl to clean up.
4. Customise it. This egg casserole is properly adaptable, so be blissful to take a look at your favorite add-ins or swaps. It’s possible you’ll omit the pork sausage completely or swap it for turkey or veggie sausage. Any cheese that shreds and melts merely, resembling Gruyère or Monterey Jack, could even work properly proper right here. Kale will probably be swapped in for the spinach and tomatoes will probably be added as properly (merely be sure to put together dinner these components first to remove additional moisture, an identical to you’d with the spinach). To make it heartier, fold in some roasted potatoes, sweet potatoes, or root greens. (Leftover cooked greens work properly too.) Get creative and remember the fact that previous breakfast this savory egg dish moreover makes an beautiful lunch or dinner.
The recipe was developed by Elizabeth Mervosh; the headnote was written by Leah Colins.
Feed a Crowd With This Simple, Cheesy Sausage Breakfast Casserole Recipe
Cook dinner dinner Mode
(Protect show awake)
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2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oilplus additional as needed
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12 ounces (340g) bulk sweet or scorching Italian sausage (non-compulsory)
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5 ounces (140g) thinly sliced latest mushrooms, resembling shiitake, cremini, or oyster (2 cups sliced)
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1 small crimson onion (6 ounces; 170g), thinly sliced (about 1 cup sliced)
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1 1/2 teaspoon Diamond Crystal kosher salt, divided; for desk salt use half as loads by amount
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1/2 cup drained and chopped sundried tomatoes in oil (3 ounces; 85g)
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3 medium garlic clovesminced
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5 ounces (140g) latest baby spinach (5 cups)
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6 ounces (170g) shredded Gouda or cheddar cheese, (1 1/2 cups)
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10 big eggs
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1/3 cup (80ml) bitter cream or plain, whole-milk strained (Greek-style) yogurt
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1 1/2 cups (360ml) half-and-half or full milk
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1 tablespoon (15ml) Dijon mustard
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Modify oven rack to middle place and preheat oven to 350°F (175℃). Frivolously grease a 9- x 13-inch baking dish with oil; put apart. If using sausage, in a 12-inch skillet, heat 1 tablespoon oil over medium-high until shimmering. Add sausage and using a wooden spoon, break it into big clumps. Proceed to organize dinner with out shifting until browned on bottom, about 4 minutes. Use wooden spoon to interrupt up meat into smaller objects and proceed to organize dinner, stirring usually, until sausage is solely cooked by way of, about 3 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, change sausage to a paper towel–lined plate. Reserve 2 tablespoons rendered fat in skillet to organize dinner mushrooms.
Extreme Eats / Fred Hardy
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Heat rendered fat in skillet (or if omitting sausage, heat 2 tablespoons oil in 12-inch skillet) over medium-high heat until shimmering. Add mushrooms, stir to coat in oil, and unfold in a very good layer. Cook dinner dinner with out shifting until bottoms of mushrooms are browned, about 4 minutes. In the reduction of heat to medium. Add onion, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1 tablespoon oil. Cook dinner dinner, stirring usually, until onions soften and mushrooms are browned all through, about 8 minutes.
Extreme Eats / Fred Hardy
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Add sundried tomatoes and garlic; put together dinner, stirring often, until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add spinach in 2 additions, stirring often and letting spinach absolutely wilt sooner than together with additional. Swap vegetable mixture, and sausage (if using), to prepared baking dish. Stir in cheese until blended, and unfold mixture in a very good layer.
Extreme Eats / Fred Hardy
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In an enormous bowl, whisk eggs until no streaks keep. Whisk in bitter cream in 3 additions until no lumps keep. Whisk in half-and-half, mustard, and remaining 1 teaspoon salt until blended. Pour egg mixture over mushroom mixture in baking dish; gently stir until egg mixture is evenly distributed.
Extreme Eats / Fred Hardy
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Bake, uncovered, until cooked by way of, puffed and set, about 35 minutes. Let cool 10 minutes. Slice and serve.
Extreme Eats / Fred Hardy
Specific Gear
9- x- 13-inch baking dish, 12-inch skillet
Make-Ahead and Storage
To prepare the recipe ahead, put together dinner as directed by way of Step 3. Cowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate for as a lot as 24 hours. Let the casserole sit at room temperature whereas the oven preheats; take away plastic wrap, stir to completely recombine, and proceed with Step 4 as directed.
The casserole will probably be baked ahead, cooled to room temperature and refrigerated, coated, for as a lot as 2 days. It might even be frozen for as a lot as 2 months. To reheat, ship to room temperature sooner than heating, coated with aluminum foil, in a 350°F (175℃) oven until warmed by way of.