Breakfast Casserole with Bacon and Potatoes
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This cheesy, delicious breakfast casserole with bacon and potatoes is great for brunch or meal prep. Even better, our egg bake recipe is gluten free and secretly healthy!
Whether you’re looking to meal prep your breakfast for the week or feed brunch to a crowd, this bacon breakfast casserole recipe is for you!
The egg bake is super easy to make and tastes amazing. It comes together in less than an hour and is naturally gluten-free.
It can be prepared ahead, too, making it perfect for busy mornings. Make the breakfast casserole on Sunday (or whenever!) and enjoy over the next few days! If you slice it and store it in meal prep containers, it’s pre-portioned and ready to heat and eat.
If you struggle getting your family to eat a wholesome breakfast, this is a fantastic solution! Thanks to the eggs and bacon, it’s high in protein (21g per serving!) and the veggies and hash browns have fiber to keep everyone feeling full.
Liz’s Tips for the best Egg Bake
- Fully cook the bacon and vegetables: Too much moisture can result in rubbery eggs.
- Thaw the frozen hashbrowns, and squeeze as much water from them as possible.
- Use freshly grated cheddar cheese: Pre-shredded cheese can have additives to prevent it from going bad, which makes it not melt as well. We love using freshly grated extra sharp cheddar cheese in this recipe!
- Grease the inside of the casserole dish, to prevent the eggs from sticking.
If you want other healthy breakfast recipes, try a Potato Crust Quiche or Southwest Breakfast Burrito.
Ingredients
Substitutions
We really enjoy the breakfast casserole with bacon and potatoes, but this recipe is easy to adapt to whatever you like!
Bacon: Replace the bacon with any cooked protein, like ham or ground beef. Or, make our Sausage Breakfast Casserole recipe.
Vegetables: Feel free to add more veggies. Spinach, mushrooms or even green onions would be great in this casserole. You could also try our vegetarian egg casserole!
Eggs: You can add in egg whites if you’d like a higher protein/lower fat option.
Spices: You can add more spices if you’d like or substitute in fresh herbs. For fresh herbs use double the amount compared to dried herbs. I omitted salt from this recipe because bacon and cheese are both salty, but you can add to taste if you’d like. A sprinkle of onion powder would also be great.
Can I use fresh potatoes instead of frozen hash browns? Yes, you can use freshly shredded potatoes instead of hash browns. Make sure to squeeze out all of the liquid from them with a paper towel and make sure they’re chopped in small pieces.
Cheddar Cheese: Feel free to omit cheese from this recipe to make it dairy free. You can also substitute other cheeses. We think pepper jack or monterey jack would work well. Mozzarella or gruyere would also be good. Make sure to use freshly grated cheese, it’s so much better than pre-shredded.
To Make it Lower Carb: omit the hashbrowns.
To Make it Lower Calorie: use 1/2 the amount of bacon. If you want to opt for a lower fat cheese or less cheese, this will also save you calories!
How to make the Egg Casserole
- Fry the bacon until crisp. Remove and drain on paper towels. Leave some grease in the pan for sauteing the veggies.
- Sauté onions, garlic, and bell peppers. Stir them occasionally so they don’t burn.
- Whisk together the egg mixture. Beat the eggs well, then mix in the bacon, potatoes, veggies, and cheese.
- Pour the egg mixture into greased baking dish and bake at 400° for 25-30 minutes, until the eggs are set.
Breakfast Casserole Recipe FAQs
Baked eggs can become rubbery if there is too much moisture in the other ingredients. Be sure to cook the vegetables and bacon before adding them to the egg mixture.
Storing and Freezing
Storing: After letting it cool, the egg bake will keep in the fridge for up to 3 days. Keep it in an airtight container to prevent it from drying out.
Freezing: You can freeze the fully baked casserole up to 3 months. Allow it to cool completely, then slice and freeze in individual portions. I haven’t tried freezing the entire casserole in a baking dish. I’d be worried about the pan cracking in the freezer.
Reheat: You can reheat leftovers in a toaster oven, conventional oven, or in a covered skillet on the stove. We recommend the oven or toaster oven, as it can get a weird texture when reheated in the microwave.
How to Meal Prep the Breakfast Casserole
Making ahead of time: You can make this recipe ahead of time, so it’s a great dish for a holiday breakfast or brunch. It’s best when eaten warm out of the oven, but it can be baked, cooled, and reheated. We don’t recommend leaving the egg mixture unbaked it in the refrigerator, as the potatoes will soak up the eggs.
Serving Ideas
This breakfast casserole has bacon, potatoes, and veggies, so it really is a complete meal in itself! But, when we serve it for brunch, we usually serve it with one or more of these side dishes:
- Oven Roasted Potatoes or Sweet Potato Home Fries
- More Bacon- learn How to Cook Crispy Bacon for a perfect side dish
- Spinach Strawberry Salad
- Fresh Fruit Salad
Bacon Breakfast Casserole
Ingredients
- 8 oz uncooked bacon
- 1 cup diced bell peppers
- 1 cup minced onions
- ½ tablespoon minced garlic
- 10 eggs
- ½ teaspoon dried parsley
- ½ teaspoon dried basil
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- 2 ½ cups thawed shredded hash browns about ½ lb
- 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese optional
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F and prepare a greased 9×13 glass or ceramic baking dish.
- Heat a large sauté pan on the stove. You can spray lightly with cooking spray/olive oil but do not pour oil into the pan!
- Add the bacon directly to the hot pan. Cook the bacon for 5 minutes, then flip and cook for an additional 5 minutes. You may need to do this in 2 different sets if your pan is not large enough.
- One the bacon is cooked, remove from the pan and place on a paper towel lined plate. Use a paper towel to soak up most of the bacon fat/grease – but leave some in the pan for sautéing veggies.
- Add the peppers, onions and garlic to the warm bacon fat. Sauté for 5 minutes.
- While the veggies cook, whisk together the eggs and dried spices in a large bowl. Crumble the bacon using your hands or a scissors.
- Add the cooked bacon, veggies, thawed hash browns and cheddar cheese to the egg mixture. Stir well to combine.
- Pour into prepared greased 9×13 baking dish.
- Bake at 400 degrees F for 25-30 minutes or until the eggs are completely set in the center.
Notes
Nutrition Facts
Other healthy breakfast recipes
Looking for other easy breakfast dishes? Check out these 40+ Healthy Breakfast Recipes. Click here to grab our free healthy breakfast cookbook.
Can this be made in muffin tins?
I haven’t used this exact recipe in a muffin tin, but you could add bacon to these Egg Muffins
This was EXCELLENT. So flavorful, easy to make, and great for meal prep!!
Can this be made with egg whites instead of the whole egg?
I don’t know how that would work because. I haven’t tried it. I probably wouldn’t sub all the eggs out for pure egg whites, but if you want to skip the yolk in 3-4 eggs I think that would be fine!
I usually make this with half whole eggs and half egg whites. It comes out just as delicious.I will add an extra 5 minutes or so to the cook time as the egg whites may be a little looser.
We originally saw this recipe with sausage but used turkey bacon instead and we love it. I have made it several times.
This was fantastic! Easy to prepare and perfect for weekly meal prep breakfast! Followed the recipe exactly but adding fresh chives on top! Love the easy hash brown addition instead of grating potato’s! Will make again!!!