Cheesy Bacon Breakfast Casserole

Breakfast won’t be the same after you taste this cheesy bacon breakfast casserole. It’s a simple and delicious way to start your mornings!

My goodness do I love breakfast. I love everything about it because of all the yummy foods that I can eat. Pancakes, waffles, eggs, sausage, bacon, french toast…I really can’t stop with my breakfast food obsession. Now add in this recipe for cheesy bacon breakfast casserole that I just discovered…my life is complete!

What is it that I love about this delicious breakfast casserole recipe? First of all it’s because it involves breakfast duh – but seriously, it’s filled with everything that I love to eat. You have the perfectly browned hash browns, a crazy good egg and cheese mixture, and finished off with the crispy bacon.

All in all, this recipe for cheesy bacon breakfast casserole doesn’t take much work to make. Most of the heavy lifting is done inside the oven where it’ll bake to a creamy delicious breakfast dish. It takes about 20 minutes of prep time to get everything together and ready. The total cook time is about 1 hour 20 minutes – give or take.

You can keep the leftovers in the fridge in case you are running short on time in the morning and you need a quick bite to eat. If you happen to not be a bacon fan, you can substitute sausage in the recipe instead. What a perfect breakfast dish to cook for yourself, your friends, or your family!

Ingredients

30 oz frozen shredded hash browns
1/2 cup melted butter 1 stick
12 oz Monterrey Jack cheese, shredded packed
12 oz cheddar cheese, shredded packed
2 cups cooked and chopped bacon cut into bite-size pieces
8 large eggs
10 oz evaporated milk
1 teaspoon seasoned salt
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/4 teaspoon dry mustard powder optional
1/4 teaspoon onion powder optional
Green onions are optional – they typically get left off because I’m not a fan. I will put them on though if I’m serving them for adults

Instructions

Start by preheating your oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
Grab a 9×13 inch pan and spray it with a non stick spray. You can also grease it with butter.
Dump a bag of frozen hash browns into the pan. Don’t worry, you don’t need to thaw them out first.
Take a stick of butter and melt it into a small bowl. Pour that over the potatoes evenly. Then you can sprinkle the potatoes with salt and pepper. Take a spoon and gently toss that mixture all together, then spread it out so that it’s all evenly dispersed in the pan.
Bake in the oven at 400 degrees for 25 to 30 minutes or until the potatoes are tender and lightly browned on top. If you want to see if they’re done, just grab a fork and take a quick bite and find out (be careful – they’ll be hot!)
Take out the casserole from the oven and turn down the temperature on the oven to 350 degrees.
Now throw a layer of Monterrey Jack and Cheddar cheese on top of the potatoes, then add in the ham. You can leave it layered or use a spoon to gently toss the cheese, potatoes, and ham together (either way works – it’s personal preference)
Take out a large bowl or use a stand mixer to whisk together 8 eggs, evaporated milk or cream, seasoned salt, kosher salt, pepper, dry mustard, and onion powder. Make sure these are mixed and beat together well.
Pour the egg mixture you just made over the top of the casserole. It’s important that you make sure everything gets wet and covered.
Bake it at 350 degrees for around 40 minutes. When you see it bubbling and the edges start to brown – then it’s done. Another good way to know is that the center won’t wiggle when you shake the pan.
If the center of the casserole looks kind of jiggly but the top is starting to get overly brown, cover it with foil for the last few minutes of baking.