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Say goodbye to leftovers with this Tater Tot Breakfast Casserole. Layered with crispy tater tots, gooey cheese, savory sausage, and fluffy eggs this breakfast casserole has earned thumbs up around the table every time I serve it.
Tater Tot Breakfast Casserole with Sausage
I literally cannot believe that I haven’t tried this before. This tater tot breakfast casserole with sausage blew the lid off of my expectations. This is one breakfast that I’m going to be making regularly for years to come.
I adore the simplicity of breakfast casseroles. Just throw everything in a baking dish and wait an hour. It’s divine for a lazy morning. But, I had no idea that a breakfast casserole with tater tots could end up being so good.
As much as we love tater tots (and who doesn’t love crispy bites of hashbrown potatoes??) I don’t know why I never thought to use them this way before now. These pulled pork tater tot nachos are always a win and cheesy bacon tater tots disappear about as quickly as they can be eaten straight off the tray.
Tater Tot Sausage Breakfast Casserole
Bacon, diced ham, and pork or turkey sausage will all work well in this casserole. You just need about 1 pound (or 2 cups cooked) of whichever meat option you choose to use.
This tater tot sausage breakfast casserole is a great make-ahead breakfast. Cover the assembled casserole with foil and refrigerate overnight. When ready to cook, set the cold casserole on the counter while the oven preheats.
Bake for 50 minutes, leaving the top covered with foil, and then uncover to bake an additional 20-25 minutes, until the eggs have set. The top should be golden brown around the edges.
Make Ahead Breakfast Casserole
You can also freeze the cooked casserole for easy breakfasts. Just portion it into individual servings and store it in zip-close bags. Place the individual bags in a larger freezer bag or container and freeze until needed.
I’ve already made this twice more since I photographed it. It’s currently stacked in freezer bags in our freezer and my youngest son has been warming it up for his breakfasts before school. He LOVES it.
To reheat, thaw portions overnight in the fridge and reheat in the microwave OR reheat frozen portions at half power for 2 minutes and then at regular power until warm.
Tater Tot Breakfast Casserole Recipe
You’ll need the following ingredients to make this recipe:
- breakfast sausage
- frozen tater tots
- Mexican or cheddar cheese
- eggs
- milk
- salt and pepper
- garlic and onion powder
Start by preheating the oven to 350ºF. Then, grease a 9×13 baking dish with butter and set aside. In a large skillet over medium-high heat, cook and crumble the sausage.
Place the tater tots in the buttered baking dish. Then, add the cooked sausage and 1½ cups of cheese. Stir the ingredients to combine.
In a medium-sized bowl, combine the eggs, milk, salt, pepper, garlic and onion powder. Then, pour the egg mixture over the tater tots, cheese, and sausage in the baking dish.
Top with the remaining ½ cup of cheese. Then, bake for 55-60 minutes until the eggs have set and the top is golden brown around the edges. Serve warm.
Breakfast Casserole with Tater Tots
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Tater Tot Breakfast Casserole
Ingredients
- 1 pound regular or hot breakfast sausage cooked and crumbled
- 30 ounces frozen tater tots
- 2 cups shredded Mexican blend cheese or cheddar cheese divided
- 8 eggs
- 1 cup milk
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- ½ teaspoon granulated garlic or garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon onion powder
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350ºF. Grease a 9×13 baking dish with butter and set aside. In a large skillet over medium-high heat, cook and crumble the sausage.
- Place the tater tots in the baking dish, along with the cooked sausage and 1½ cups of cheese. Stir to combine.
- In a medium-sized bowl, combine the eggs, milk, salt, pepper, garlic and onion powder. Pour the egg mixture over the tater tots in the baking dish and top with the remaining ½ cup of cheese.
- Bake for 55-60 minutes until the eggs have set and the top is golden brown around the edges. Serve warm.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Haven’t tried yet.
Wondering if this could be made in a 9×13 casserole crock pot?
I haven’t tested that, but I’m guessing it would work fine. You’ll need to play with the times to see what works best.
I made this for my family about a week ago. It was a hit! I’m vegetarian so I used Beyond Breakfast Sausage and replaced the regular milk with a combination of soy milk and sour cream. I was out of garlic salt, so I seasoned with a full tsp of seasoned salt and I added a good pinch of dill (just cause I really like dill with eggs.) My husband requested it for dinner tonight. Simple ingredients, easy to make ahead, and adaptable. WINNER!
YAY! I’m thrilled that you like it so much.
This is a great recipe.. tastes amazing and very simple to make.. to the poster who is a vegetarian and used sour cream, you know sour cream is a dairy product
I’m glad you like it! (Sour cream is vegetarian, but not vegan.)
Can heavy whipping cream be used in place of milk?
Sure.
New family favorite! Easy and the kids alll devoured it 🙂
We made this for Christmas morning this year. Our family loves it too!
So, so good!
I’m glad you like it!
can you half this recipe?
Sure thing. Just use an 8 or 9″ pan instead.
And a half recipe cooks for as long as a whole?
Yes.
I will assemble and cook Sunday morning. Do I need to thaw them or put in frozen if cooking immediately? Thanks!
You can assemble the dish as written and then tuck it in the fridge until ready to serve.
It was great wife loved it , I used maple breakfast sausage and ham cut in real small pieces and small sweet bell peppers
I’m so glad you liked it!
A Tater Tot Breakfast Casserole is the ultimate comfort food—crispy tater tots, fluffy eggs, gooey cheese, and savory sausage or bacon all baked into one delicious dish!???????? Perfect for meal prep, weekend brunch, or a crowd-pleasing breakfast. Have you ever tried adding veggies or different cheeses for a twist????????? #BreakfastGoals #TaterTotCasserole #BrunchVibes
I hope you enjoy it as much as we do!
I haven’t made this yet, but was wondering if I could use 93% ground beef instead of sausage or other meats that have been mentioned. Thank you.
Sure, that will work, Kathleen. You’ll want to season it a bit more though, as sausage and breakfast meats typically provide a great deal of flavor.
I did this recipe with ground beef because I didn’t have any breakfast meat and it turned out phenomenal!
I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
This recipe is absolutely delicious! I’ll definitely make this again.
I’m glad you liked it!
The recipe says to stir the tater tots, sausage and part cheese.
It looks like you placed tater tots on the top? Do the tater tots kind of float up ?
I love the way it looks in the picture. Just want to make sure I do it that way.
They are mixed throughout and plenty should still be on top when it’s finished.
a friend made this for our family and it was delicious. we had to get the recipe so we can make it again.
I’m thrilled it was a hit!
This question has been asked but I would just like some clarification on cooking time. So if I am prepping everything and cooking it right away, I bake for 55-60 min uncovered, correct? The only time I would need to bake for 50 minutes covered and another additional 20-25 uncovered is if I had prepped it the night before in the fridge?
That is correct.
I will be making thus recipe this Sunday but I was wondering if I could assemble it Saturday Morning?
Sure thing, Elaine. That will work fine.
Is this recipe gluten free?
You’ll want to check the package for the tater tots and make sure they are gluten free (some frozen potatoes are tossed in flour), as long as the potatoes don’t contain gluten, you’re good to go.
Air fryer deconstructed – I didn’t have 50 minutes this morning to use the oven so I cooked the tots in the air fryer separately and then layered everything while the teenager got ready for school. This dish certainly called for sliced avocado and a little bit of hot sauce. He loved it. Texture, wise, air frying the tater tots gave it a nice crunch, but I still feel like it’s missing something…
I’m glad you liked it and were able to tweak it for your own tastes.
I’m wondering about the differences between the make and bake vs make ahead of time instructions. Could you explain the longer cooking time in the make ahead version and why it’s covered? Thanks so much:)
Sure thing, Mary. You’ll start it covered because it will be cold to begin with. As it warms, you can uncover it. It will simply require a little longer time due to being cold from the fridge.
I made this for the family on Christmas morning for two years. What I like about it is that some guests may not like vegetables in their breakfast food and even though you could add diced onions and peppers, such as the other breakfast casseroles, this does call for vegetables.
I’m so glad you like it. It’s a tradition for us as well!
This is always our “day after Thanksgiving” breakfast. It’s a great template for this classic dish. We like using maple sausage to give it an extra breakfast-y taste. So many ways to make it your own!
I’m so glad you like it!