My favorite thing to do on the weekend is to have a big lavish breakfast. It’s like my way of celebrating the fact that I’m cozy at home instead of at work. 😄 And since I’m all about savory breakfast dishes, this sausage breakfast casserole is perfect. It’s cheesy, flavorful, filling, and is definitely the easiest option when you’ve got several mouths to feed. Plus, it makes great leftovers in case you want round two for lunch!
This post contains some affiliate links, which means that we make a small commission off items you purchase at no additional cost to you.
What’s with the Tortilla Chips?
A lot of breakfast casserole recipes use bread, like an egg strata, but I like to use tortilla chips in my breakfast casserole. I love the toasty corn flavor they give and I think it gives the casserole a little more texture. I suggest using a thicker tortilla chip for this casserole so it can hold up to the moisture in the casserole.
What Kind of Sausage to Use
I used “country sausage” for this recipe, which is a mild pork sausage. This is the same type of sausage that you’d typically use for sausage gravy. You can also use spicy sausage, if you want your breakfast casserole to have a little kick. Here’s an example of one brand of country sausage you might see at the grocery store.
What Else Can I Add to Breakfast Casserole?
You know how I love my add-ins! Half of the fun of cooking is experimenting with adding other ingredients and toppings to your recipes. here are some other things you can add to your breakfast casserole:
- jalapeños (pickled or fresh)
- pickled red onions
- green onion
- mushrooms
- sweet corn
- hashbrowns
- crumbled bacon
- salsa (topping)
- sour cream (topping)
- avocado (topping)
Sausage Breakfast Casserole
Servings 6 to 8Ingredients
- 1 lb. country sausage ($3.49)
- 12 oz. frozen peppers and onions ($1.25)
- 10 large eggs ($2.08)
- 1/2 cup milk ($0.20)
- 1/4 tsp pepper ($0.02)
- 1/2 lb. tortilla chips* ($1.50)
- 8 oz. cheddar, shredded ($2.29)
- 1 Tbsp butter ($0.10)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350ºF. If your frozen peppers are in strips, chop them into small pieces.
- Brown the sausage in a large skillet over medium heat. Once browned, add the frozen peppers and onions and continue to cook over medium heat until heated through. Remove the sausage and peppers from the heat and set aside.
- Whisk together the eggs, milk, and pepper.
- Use the butter to grease the inside of a 3-quart casserole dish. Place the tortilla chips in the bottom of the casserole dish and press them down, slightly crushing them until they lay fairly flat.
- use a slotted spoon to transfer the sausage and peppers to the casserole dish on top of the tortilla chips, leaving any liquid behind in the pan.
- Add ¾ of the shredded cheddar on top of the sausage and peppers. Stir slightly to combine the tortilla chips, sausage and peppers, and cheese.
- Pour the egg mixture over the ingredients in the casserole dish, then top with the remaining shredded cheddar. The ingredients will not be fully submerged in the egg mixture and that is okay. The eggs will puff slightly as they bake.
- Bake the breakfast casserole for about 40 minutes, or until the internal temperature reaches 160ºF and the outer edges are lightly browned.
- Let the casserole cool for about five minutes, then slice into six or eight pieces and serve.
See how we calculate recipe costs here.
Notes
Nutrition
Have you tried this recipe?Mention @budgetbytes or tag #budgetbytes on Instagram!Video
How to Make Sausage Breakfast Casserole – Step by Step Photos
Preheat the oven to 350ºF. I used a bag of frozen peppers and onions to make this recipe super easy. Sometimes you can buy these diced, other times they’re in strips. If they’re in strips, just roughly chop them into smaller pieces.
Brown one pound of country (pork) sausage in a large skillet over medium heat. Once browned, add the peppers and onions and continue to cook until heated through. Set the sausage and pepper mixture aside.
Whisk together 10 large eggs, 1/2 cup milk, and ¼ tsp pepper.
Grease the inside of a 3-quart casserole dish with butter.
Add ½ of a one-pound bag of tortilla chips to the casserole dish. Press down and slightly crush the chips so they lay a little flatter.
Use a slotted spoon to transfer the sausage and peppers to the casserole dish, leaving any liquid behind in the skillet.
Add ¾ of a shredded 8oz. block of cheddar to the casserole dish. Slightly stir to combine the chips, sausage and peppers, and cheese.
Pour the egg mixture over the casserole. The egg will not fully submerge the other ingredients.
Top with the remaining ¼ cheddar cheese.
Bake the breakfast casserole for about 40 minutes, or until the internal temperature reaches 160ºF and the outer edges are browned.
Let the casserole cool for about five minutes before slicing into six or eight pieces, then serve!
Is this a recipe that can be prepared and kept in the refrigerator overnight before baking?
You could, just keep in mind that the tortilla chips will lose any crunch they have, if that’s what you want. When you bake right after mixing, you get soft tortilla in the middle, but the pieces sticking up still have some crunch. If you’re okay with losing that crunch you’re welcome to prep the night before!
Have you made this with hashbrowns or tater tots? Would you cook them first or add in frozen? Thanks!
We haven’t tried it with this particular recipe! But if you do try it I would definitely thaw first. :)
What vegetable would you recommend for someone who hates peppers? I can live with the onions of I saute them first but peppers are the devil and despite my best efforts my daughter agrees.
Corn, mushrooms, sauteed spinach or kale, or broccoli would be my choices! If those don’t work for you you’re welcome to omit or add some bacon or ham.
Cool ranch doritos or Regular doritos or no flavor and just corn tortilla chips? What brand do you use?
Just plain tortilla chips. I don’t have a specific brand that I use, I usually just make the decision based on what’s priced the best at the store. :)
Just wanted to let you know this is my 3.5 year old’s favorite meal and whenever we don’t have this for breakfast he is mad 😁
Awwww, that’s so cute! I’m so glad they enjoy it so much. 🥰
Would this work with Mexican chorizo and tortillas, not chips?
Yes, Mexican chorizo will be super flavorful! You can use tortillas, just keep in mind that the texture of the casserole will be different than when using the fried tortillas (chips).
This was easy and delicious!! I used a fresh onion i had on hand and a 4 oz can of diced green chiles (husband doesn’t like bell peppers), plus a sprinkle of red pepper flakes. Otherwise followed your directions exactly, it turned out perfectly and everyone loved it!
PS: If you save your empty butter wrappers in the refrigerator, they are very handy for greasing baking dishes!
I was craving breakfast casserole and this did not disappoint! The tortilla chips stayed crispy after baking which was a pleasant surprise! I warmed up the leftovers in my airfryer and it got crispy again!
I’ve made this at least 5 times! We eat it all week for breakfast. I’ve made it as written, other times I’ve substituted the meat/veggies. It’s always come out great.
This looks great and I’m going to make it. But waaait a minute, where’s the siracha??
🤣 I think my love for sriracha has waned over the years and I’ve moved on to different types of hot sauces! Haha! For this one I’d probably go for a Mexican hot sauce like Cholula or Valentina. :)
Can you divulge the brand of tortilla chips you used? I don’t usually buy them so I’m afraid I might not recognize the “thick” ones you recommend using. Thanks for your help. Anxious to try this.
Also, I’m assuming not flavored or seasoned chips? (Sorry, just not familiar with the realm of tortilla chips out there)
The chips are salted, but not seasoned. :) That’s not to say that you *couldn’t* use a seasoned chip. That might be interesting! I think I just used the store generic brand, but I don’t remember for sure. Some tortilla chips are paper-thin so they won’t do as well here. Look for something that is about as thick as a regular corn tortilla.
Looks like the price per serving is reflecting the wrong number of servings?
More on topic, I’ve been making breakfast egg bakes for a couple of weeks for meal prep, and I’m thinking about putting this one on the list!
Thanks for catching that! I have fat fingers, I guess. :P
I made this today and I’m blown away at how delicious but simple this is. I’m already screening on what to put in the next batch. This weeks breakfasts will be amazing!
Made a vegetarian version with fresh onion and mushrooms for dinner and it turned out pretty good! In the pictures it looks like you have tortilla chips on top but in the recipe you say to layer the chips on the bottom. Did you add more chips on the top before baking?
Nope, in the step before you add the eggs I “Stir slightly to combine the tortilla chips, sausage and peppers, and cheese” so the chips end up poking out the top. :)
Hi Beth, just wondering if you think this dish would freeze ok? This looks so good, can’t wait to try it! Once I do, I’ll let you know how mine turns out. 😊 Thanks!
I think this one would be one of those dishes that is kind of subjective when it comes to freezing. Eggs dishes can be tricky. They can seep a lot of water upon reheating if you overheat, so you have to be pretty careful and not be too sensitive to texture changes. But if you’re like me and will eat just about anything, you’ll be fine. 😅
Can this be made the night before?
How long would you cook it in a crock pot casserole?
I haven’t tried this in a slow cooker, unfortunately, so I can’t make a recommendation.
Used this one as a base for a totally different thing and it still worked great! One of the things I love about these recipes is how adaptable they are. So I was trying to do more vegetables and cooking for just me today and I made an individual version of this in a very small baking dish, two eggs, chips, spinach and tomatoes and onion and pepper, and cheese. It still came out great and was delicious topped with a green salsa I had lying around. :)
Made it this morning. Sit was so good. Definately will be making it again. This recipe is a keeper. Thank you!
Can I use fresh pepper and onions? and in what ratio?
It’s flexible! I would probably aim for about 2 cups chopped, equal peppers and onions. :)
I used fresh peppers because that’s what I had this morning–we’re still snowed in–and included some diced poblano. Since I made a half recipe in an 8″ baking dish, that was about 1/2 c diced onion and 2/3 c diced red bell pepper and poblano in about equal quantities–plenty of color. I had chorizo in the freezer, so browned about 8 oz of that, drained most of the fat and used the rest to saute the veggies. I also had Pepper Jack, so used that half and half with cheddar. This was a huge hit with hubs–I thought it was so yummy myself, it was hard to not go back for seconds. Due to my restraint, there’s enough left over to reheat tomorrow. This recipe is definitely a keeper. It would have also been good with stale corn tortillas, but I had enough chips this time. We topped it with sour cream, salsa, fresh onion, and chopped cilantro
Such great improvisions, as usual, Janet! I love the way you cook. :)
This looks SO good! Beth, I love you coming through with more frozen veggies in these recipes! Makes it so easy, so cheap. Can’t wait to make this one. Thank you!
Looks and sounds really good. Hashbrowns were mentioned as an add-in. What quantity would you suggest and would you pre-cook the potatoes? Thank you.
If you’re making them from scratch you’d want to pre-cook them for sure. If you’re using frozen hashbrowns you probably won’t need to. The amount is flexible. You could either do them instead of the tortilla chips (maybe use four cups or so of hashbrowns), or just sprinkle some in there in addition to the tortilla chips (measure with your heart).