Breakfast for Dinner: Easy Cheesy Breakfast Casserole
I love breakfast food! I could eat it for breakfast, lunch or dinner. Sometimes we get bored of eating the same old foods for dinner so we like to change things up and try something new. Recently we tried this breakfast casserole for dinner and it was delicious! It is the first of a few different breakfasts for dinner ideas I found online that I am going to share with you!
I thought this casserole recipe was great for two reasons. One: it is simple to make and can be made in under an hour. And two: there are plenty of ingredient possibilities! We made it the way the recipe describes, with sausage, yellow pepper (didn’t have red pepper on hand) and cheddar cheese, but there are other ways I think it could be made. Another option could be ham, mushroom, spinach and Swiss cheese, or for a vegetarian option pick out some favourite veggies, like peppers, tomatoes, mushrooms, zucchini, kale or carrots and pair with mozzarella or Gouda.
No matter how you make it I’m sure it will be yummy, and it’s just as tasty if you end up with leftovers and eat it another time.
INGREDIENTS
1 pound Italian sausage
1 medium white onion, peeled and diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 red bell pepper, cored and diced
6 eggs
1/3 cup milk
1 (20 ounce) bag frozen hash browns, thawed
2 cups shredded cheddar or mozzarella cheese
1/4 teaspoon freshly-ground black pepper
(optional topping: thinly sliced green onions)
DIRECTIONS
Heat oven to 375F.
Add the sausage to a medium sauté pan. Cook over medium-high heat until browned, crumbling the sausage with a spoon as it cooks. Remove sausage with a slotted spoon and transfer to a large mixing bowl. Reserve about one tablespoon of sausage grease in the sauté pan, discarding the rest. Add the onion and red pepper to the sauté pan, and sauté for five minutes until cooked. Add the garlic and sauté for an additional two minutes until fragrant.
Pour the vegetable mixture into the mixing bowl with the sausage. Add the hash browns and 1 ½ cups cheese to the mixing bowl with the sausage and veggies. Stir to combine.
In a separate bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk and black pepper until combined. Then add them to the hash brown mixture, and stir to combine. Pour the mixture into an 11x7-inch or a 9x9-inch baking dish (a 9x13-inch dish will also work), and top with the remaining 1/2 cup of shredded cheese. Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 20 minutes. Then remove the aluminum foil and bake for an additional 10-15 minutes until the top of the potatoes begin to slightly brown. Remove and let the casserole rest for five minutes. Sprinkle with green onions and serve!
Recipe and picture courtesy of http://www.gimmesomeoven.com/easy-cheesy-breakfast-casserole-recipe/
