Slow cooker breakfast casserole is a hearty, make-ahead breakfast that cooks itself. Eggs, hash browns, veggies, cheese, and the cook together with sausage or the meat of your choice. Perfect for holidays, meal prep, or busy mornings when you want a hot breakfast ready to serve. Free up your stove-top or oven and cook this breakfast casserole in the slow cooker.
Ingredients For Slow Cooker Breakfast Casserole
- Eggs
- Frozen Hash Browns
- Ground Sausage
- Onion
- Bell Pepper
- Shredded Cheese
- Seasonings: salt, pepper garlic powder
How To Make A Breakfast Casserole In The Crockpot
- In a large skillet over medium heat, add the ground sausage, onion, and bell pepper. Cook 5 to 7 minutes, or until the meat is no longer pink. Crumble the sausage as you cook it. Drain any excess grease.
- Spray the slow cooker generously with cooking spray.
- Add the cooked ground sausage, onion, and bell pepper to the slow cooker along with the frozen hash browns and shredded cheese. Mix gently so the food is well combined.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, salt, pepper, and garlic powder. Pour mixture over the ingredients in the slow cooker.
- Cook on HIGH for 2 to 3 hours or LOW 4 to 6.
FAQs & Tips
What type of meat can you use?
This recipe calls is written to use ground breakfast sausage but you can actually use 1 pound of your favorite cooked meat. Bacon and ham are the other obvious choices but really you can you can use whatever cooked meat you want whether it be some sort of leftover shredded beef or even chorizo. It just needs to be cooked before adding to the slow cooker.
Do you have to add meat?
Nope. You don’t have to use meat. If you want to make this a vegetarian breakfast casserole, simply omit the meat. If you do, I suggest you add in more veggies like mushrooms and spinach.
Should you use frozen Or fresh hash browns?
I recommend you use frozen hash browns because they will withstand the long cook time better than fresh hash browns. Your hash browns can be shredded like you see here, diced, or even O’Brien potatoes.
What kind of cheese should you use?
I recommend adding 2 cups of your favorite shredded cheese like cheddar or mozzarella. I use 2 cups of shredded cheddar cheese. If you like cheese, use 3 or more cups.
Will the casserole stick to the crockpot?
Not if you properly prep first. Grease the heck out the slow cooker. I sprayed mine heavily with cooking spray and it slid right out with no sticking. You can also line your slow cooker with parchment paper or use a slow cooker liner. Also, let the casserole cool completely before removing it. This too will help it from not sticking to the base.
Will this cook overnight?
It depends on your slow cooker. Every slow cooker heats differently. Your casserole might done after 6 hours on low or it might take 8. Insert a knife into the center; when it comes out clean you’ll know it’s done. Mine took about 6 1/2 hours on low.
Can you bake this?
Yes! Assemble the casserole as you would for the slow cooker but instead add it to a greased 9×13 baking pan instead. Cover and bake at 350 degrees for approximately 45 to 50 minutes. Remove the foil the last 15 minutes of baking time. Please note the baking time is approximate so you may need to make some adjustments.
Can you freeze this?
This breakfast casserole will keep for up to 3 days in the refrigerator. After that, you can freeze any leftovers. Or you can make this ahead with the sole purpose of freezing it; this is also a great meal prep recipe. Once cooled completely, slice and freeze in sections or freeze the casserole as a whole if your freezer permits it. Freeze for up to 2 months. To serve, thaw overnight in the refrigerator & reheat in the microwave or oven.
How do you store leftovers?
Store leftover slow cooker breakfast casserole in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
What size slow cooker did you use?
I use a 6-quart slow cooker for this recipe.
Breakfast Casserole Recipes
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Egg White Vegetable Frittata
-
California Burrito Breakfast Casserole
-
Bacon Avocado Breakfast Casserole
-
Denver Omelette Casserole
-
Wake Up Breakfast Casserole
Slow Cooker Breakfast Casserole
Slow cooker breakfast casserole is a hearty, make-ahead breakfast that cooks itself. Eggs, hash browns, veggies, cheese, and the cook together with sausage or the meat of your choice. Perfect for weekends, holidays, meal prep, or busy mornings when you want a hot breakfast ready to serve. Free up your stove-top or oven and cook this breakfast casserole in the slow cooker.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 3 hours
- Total Time: 3 hours 10 minutes
- Yield: 6-8 servings 1x
Ingredients
- 12 eggs
- 1 cup milk of your choice
- 1 teaspoon salt (or more)
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/3 cup onion, diced
- 1 large bell pepper
- 16 ounces ground sausage
- 16 ounces frozen shredded hash browns
- 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
Instructions
- In a large skillet over medium heat, add the ground sausage, onion, and bell pepper. Cook 5 to 7 minutes, or until the meat is no longer pink. Crumble the sausage as you cook it. Drain any excess grease.
- Spray the slow cooker generously with cooking spray.
- Add the cooked ground sausage, onion, and bell pepper to the slow cooker along with the frozen hash browns and shredded cheese. Mix gently so the food is well combined.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, salt, pepper, and garlic powder. Pour mixture over the ingredients in the slow cooker.
- Cook on HIGH for 2 to 3 hours or LOW 4 to 6.
Notes
My casserole was done after 6.5 hours on low.
Nutrition
- Serving Size:
- Calories: 642
- Sugar: 3.7 g
- Fat: 37 g
- Saturated Fat: 14.6 g
- Carbohydrates: 20.4 g
- Fiber: 1.6 g
- Protein: 54.4 g
- Cholesterol: 530.4 mg
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33 thoughts on “Slow Cooker Breakfast Casserole”
Have you tried with half egg whites?
I have not but I imagine it will work just fine!
Can this be made without the hash browns?
Absolutely. I omit the hash browns occasionally when I’m looking to lower my carb count. Enjoy!
Thank you ,can I put it together the night before then put it in the fridge for the next morning
absolutely!
We frequently take breakfast dishes to our Bible class. This looks wonderful. I love that it cooks overnight. If you double it, will it fit in the same size slowcooker? Is it then too deep to cook as well and not be too gummy in the middle?
Can you double the hasbrowns but not the rest? Most shredded potatoes come in 32 oz bags. I just dont want to have to use 24 eggs or 2 lbs of sausage. Lol
I feel you! You can double the hashbrowns. The casserole will have a slightly different consistency but it should taste just fine!
Wondering if I can do this in the instant pot…any ideas?
Shannon I made this on Sunday. I got lazy Saturday night and didn’t put it in the slow cooker, so I baked it in the oven. Made it vegetarian too with Beyond Meat and vegan cheese. It was so so good. Great recipe, and easy to prepare. It was brekfast prep for hubs and I for a couple of days. Will definitely have it on rotation and next time will use slow cooker. Thanks for sharing your recipe!
how long did you cook in oven?
Instead of using hashbrowns could you use potatoes Obrien then you wouldn’t have to worry about onions or bell peppers cause they’re in the potatoes?
Yes absolutely! Fantastic idea.
@Morgan, Love that idea! Good thinking.
Can I double the recipe or cook in a conventional oven?
Can this be put together a couple of hours before cooking and refrigerated?
Yes absolutely!
Can I double or triple in same crockpot or would I need multiple crockpots?
Just made this on Monday and finished it today. Was wonderful. Thanks for posting this.
I liked the idea of an overnight breakfast casserole to have something ready and warm for getting the kids to school. However.y casserole was very liquidy, not sure if it was the milk? Slightly higher amount of hash rows, or the added vegetables? I slow cooked in my instant pot for 8 hours and then about 6 minutes of pressure cooking to try and firm it up. My veggies weren’t soft and the liquid was still present. Not sure what I did wrong! Willing to try again if at can fix this issue, feel like I might try sautéing the veggies first next time.
Yikes! I think I know what might know what went wrong here. The slow cooker function on the Instant Pot works a little different. You have to ‘convert’ the recipe. I wrote a blog post about it (see below) but in short, the slow Cooker LOW setting = Instant Pot Slow Cook NORMAL setting & the slow Cooker HIGH setting = Instant Pot Slow Cook HIGH plus an extra 15 minutes of cooking time for every hour of that the recipe calls for. Does that make sense? Do you think that was the problem?
Blog post for reference: https://fitslowcookerqueen.com/how-to-use-your-instant-pot-to-slow-cook/
Could I half the recipe? Any adjustments I would need to make?
Yes, you can absolutely half recipe. No adjustment to the cook time however if your slow cooker heats on the hot side, it might be done in 6 hours versus 8.
If I used frozen cooked sausage, would I need to heat it up in the pan before putting it in the recipe?
Yes, I would heat it first if using frozen.
This was delicious!!! So easy and will definitely make again!
Made with Trader Joe’s Soy Chorizo. Yum. Best vegetarian chorizo.
Thanks for this great recipe.
This was so delicious! Already planning to put this in my breakfast meal prep rotation! So easy to put together Sunday night, had breakfast ready on Monday morning, and the leftovers kept so well! It made enough for my husband and I to have breakfast all week!
I acidentally didnt do layers. It will be ok right?
Yup, it should still be fine! I recently updated the recipe so it no longer requires it to be layered.
This egg bake is delicious! I didn’t get around to putting it in my slow cooker, so I basically followed the recipe, but put it in the over (350 degrees for about 50 minutes). We also used bacon which was delicious! Definitely try this recipe out if you can. It’s easy and delicious and you will be so happy you tried it!
This looks restaurant quality, with almost zero work, and its keeps for days! I cannot wait to try this recipe Shannon.