Recipes › Breakfast & brunch› Sausage and hash brown breakfast casserole
Breakfast & brunch · Easy · Serves 8

Sausage and hash brown breakfast casserole

A crowd breakfast casserole with a crispy hash brown base, browned sausage, and eggs whisked with cottage cheese. Assemble it tonight or bake it now, either way it feeds eight.

Anna Lind Harper
by Anna Lind Harper
Tested twice · Published 2026-07-03
A bubbling sausage and hash brown breakfast casserole in an enameled baking dish, golden and set, scattered with sliced scallions, with one corner scooped out to show the crispy potato base and creamy egg layers, on a marble counter in morning light.
Prep
25 min
Cook
50 min
Serves
8
Difficulty
easy

This is the casserole for the mornings when the house is full: a crispy hash brown base, properly browned sausage, scallions, sharp cheddar, and eggs whisked with cottage cheese, which is the quiet trick that makes the whole thing creamy instead of rubbery.

It works two ways. Bake it straight through for brunch today, or assemble it tonight, park it in the fridge, and slide it into the oven tomorrow while people are still deciding whether they want coffee or more sleep.

“Crispy potatoes on the bottom, creamy eggs on top, and about 24 grams of protein per square.”
Why this one earns a weeknight

What you'll love about it

  • 01The pre-baked hash brown base stays genuinely crispy under all those eggs.
  • 02Cottage cheese in the custard makes it creamy, not rubbery, and pushes each square to about 24 grams of protein.
  • 03It feeds eight from one dish and reheats like it was designed for Monday.
  • 04Naturally gluten-free, and the overnight option makes it a zero-thinking holiday breakfast.
An overhead view of the casserole mid-assembly: a golden pre-baked hash brown base scattered with browned sausage crumbles, with hands pouring the cottage cheese and egg mixture over it from a speckled bowl, and bowls of grated cheddar and sliced scallions waiting beside the dish.
Base, sausage, custard, cheese. The layers go in this order and the crisp base survives because it baked first.
Ingredients

For the base

  • 1 (30 oz)bag frozen shredded hash browns, thawed and squeezed very dry
  • 3 Tbspolive oil or melted butter
  • ¾ tspkosher salt
  • ½ tspblack pepper

For the filling

  • 1 lbbreakfast sausage
  • 1small yellow onion, finely diced
  • 10large eggs
  • 1 cupcottage cheese
  • ½ cupmilk
  • 1 tspdijon mustard
  • ½ tspkosher salt
  • 6 ozsharp cheddar, grated, divided
  • 4scallions, thinly sliced, plus more to serve
Method

How I make it

  1. 01
    Crisp the hash brown base.
    Heat the oven to 400°F. Toss the squeezed-dry hash browns with the oil, salt, and pepper, press them into an even layer in a buttered 9x13 dish (up the sides a little if you can), and bake 20 to 25 minutes until the edges brown. This pre-bake is the difference between a crispy base and a soggy one, so do not skip it.
  2. 02
    Brown the sausage.
    Meanwhile, cook the sausage in a skillet over medium-high, breaking it up, until deeply browned in spots, about 6 to 8 minutes. Add the onion for the last 3 minutes. Drain off all but a slick of the fat.
  3. 03
    Whisk the eggs with the cottage cheese.
    In a big bowl, whisk the eggs, cottage cheese, milk, dijon, and salt until mostly smooth; small flecks of cottage cheese are fine, they melt into creaminess. Stir in half the cheddar and the scallions.
  4. 04
    Assemble.
    Turn the oven down to 350°F. Scatter the sausage and onion over the hot hash brown base, pour the egg mixture evenly over, and top with the remaining cheddar. (Making it ahead? Cool the base first, assemble, cover, and refrigerate overnight; add 10 minutes to the bake.)
  5. 05
    Bake until just set.
    Bake 30 to 35 minutes at 350°F, until puffed at the edges and just set in the center; the middle should barely wobble. Rest 10 minutes, shower with fresh scallions, and cut into squares.
    Hands in cream tee sleeves scattering thinly sliced scallions from a small oak board over the golden baked casserole in its enameled dish, scallions mid-fall onto the melted cheddar top.
    Fresh scallions at the end, not baked in. The bite is the point.
A close-up of one serving square lifted on a spatula above the dish, showing the layers from the side: crispy hash brown base, creamy egg layer studded with sausage, melted cheddar top with scallions, and a thin cheese pull stretching back to the pan.
A note from Anna

Squeeze the hash browns like you are mad at them. Frozen shredded potatoes hold an absurd amount of water, and every drop you leave in ends up steaming your crispy base into mush. A clean tea towel and thirty seconds of wringing is all it takes. And pull the casserole while the center still has the faintest wobble; eggs keep cooking for the whole ten-minute rest.

What to serve with it

Round out the table.

  • ·01
    The overnight french toast casserole
    Sweet plus savory is how you cover a whole table of opinions.
  • ·02
    A sharp little salad
    Arugula, lemon, olive oil. It cuts through the cheese perfectly.
  • ·03
    Hot sauce on the table
    Non-negotiable for the people who know.
Storage & reheating

Keeping the leftovers good.

Fridge: Squares keep for 4 days, sealed. Honestly great cold, standing at the fridge.

Reheat: In a 350°F oven for 10 minutes for crisp edges, or a microwave minute in a pinch.

Make ahead: Assemble fully the night before and refrigerate; bake straight from the fridge with 10 extra minutes.

Freezer: Baked and cooled squares freeze for 2 months, wrapped individually. Thaw overnight, reheat in the oven.

Recipe card

Sausage and hash brown breakfast casserole

A crowd breakfast casserole with a crispy hash brown base, browned sausage, and eggs whisked with cottage cheese. Assemble it tonight or bake it now, either way it feeds eight.

Prep
25 min
Cook
50 min
Serves
8
Total
75 min
Ingredients
  • 1 (30 oz) bag frozen shredded hash browns, thawed and squeezed very dry
  • 3 Tbsp olive oil or melted butter
  • ¾ tsp kosher salt
  • ½ tsp black pepper
  • 1 lb breakfast sausage
  • 1 small yellow onion, finely diced
  • 10 large eggs
  • 1 cup cottage cheese
  • ½ cup milk
  • 1 tsp dijon mustard
  • ½ tsp kosher salt
  • 6 oz sharp cheddar, grated, divided
  • 4 scallions, thinly sliced, plus more to serve
Method (short version)
  1. 01Crisp the hash brown base.
  2. 02Brown the sausage.
  3. 03Whisk the eggs with the cottage cheese.
  4. 04Assemble.
  5. 05Bake until just set.

Nutrition information is an estimate. See full nutrition disclaimer.

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