Made with ground sausage, eggs, bread, and lots of cheese, this Overnight Sausage and Egg Breakfast Casserole is the perfect breakfast for holiday mornings or weekend brunch. Easy to prepare & loved by the whole family!
Every Christmas for as long as I can remember, we’ve had this breakfast casserole for breakfast. We also tend to have it for Thanksgiving, Easter and any day it seems appropriate. Shoot, my husband would happily have it all year long. There are so many versions out there, but this is the one I use and love. It’s wonderful to wake up in the morning and have it ready to go straight into the oven. On Christmas, we often pop it the oven, then open some presents while it bakes.
Why You’ll Love This Overnight Breakfast Casserole
- Perfect for the holidays. I’ve been having this overnight sausage and egg breakfast casserole on holiday mornings since I was a kid and have carried the tradition into adulthood. It’s a wonderfully easy breakfast to share as a family on busy holiday mornings!
- Minimal work in the morning. After the ingredients are assembled, the whole casserole is covered and stored in the fridge overnight. Baking it the next morning couldn’t be easier!
- Savory breakfast flavors. This overnight breakfast casserole is made with bread, sausage, cheese, and eggs. It’s definitely a hearty and savory dish!
What You’ll Need
One of the best things about this overnight breakfast casserole recipe is that you only need a few ingredients. You can find the exact measurements needed in the recipe card below.
- Bread – See notes below.
- Sausage – Any breakfast sausage will work here. I use a Jimmy Dean log. Brown and drain before assembling the casserole.
- Cheddar cheese – Freshly shredded cheese melts the best.
- Eggs – Be sure to use large eggs, not medium or extra large.
- Milk – 2% or whole milk will give you the best texture in the casserole.
- Spices – Dry mustard, salt, and pepper. You don’t need a lot, but the flavor will be lacking without them.
What Type of Bread Should I Use?
I don’t use fresh bread from the bakery in this one, like I would a French toast casserole, because I don’t want anything too firm or crunchy. I want the eggs and sausage to shine in here. I tend to use a regular loaf of bread, like a white bread.
Tips & Variations
- Adjust the baking time. The exact amount of time your casserole needs to bake will depend on how runny or soft you want the eggs. If you prefer them runny, you may want to bake for a little less time. You can check by using a fork or knife in the center to see how soft it is.
- Try other meat. Bacon or ham would work in place of the sausage (or even in addition to the sausage).
- Add some veggies. Try adding diced onion or bell peppers to the casserole. You can cook them with the sausage. Mushrooms would also be a good addition.
- Cover with foil. To prevent the breakfast casserole from browning too quickly in the oven, cover the pan with foil for the first 30 minutes or so.
Serving Suggestions
While this casserole is perfect by itself, we often serve it with something sweet. Overnight French Toast Casserole is amazing (and I have an apple, pumpkin and cake batter version, too). You could also try some apple fritters or blueberry muffins!
Proper Storage
- Fridge. Store leftover sausage and egg breakfast casserole in the fridge for up to 3 days. Keep it covered tightly with plastic wrap or foil or transfer to an airtight container.
- Reheat. The entire baking dish can be reheated in the oven, covered with foil, until heated through. Individual servings can be reheated in the microwave.
More Easy Breakfast Recipes
- Hashbrown Breakfast Casserole
- Sheet Pan Pancakes
- Easy Fluffy Homemade Waffles
- Berry French Toast Casserole
- Baked Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal
Overnight Sausage and Egg Breakfast Casserole
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Ingredients
- 6 slices bread (cubed*)
- 1 pound sausage (browned and drained)
- 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
- 8 large eggs
- 2 cups milk
- 1 teaspoon dry mustard
- 1 teaspoon salt
- Pepper (to taste)
Instructions
- Spread the bread evenly into the bottom of a greased 9×13 inch baking dish.
- Sprinkle the sausage and cheese evenly over the bread.
- In a large measuring cup, combine the eggs, milk, dry mustard, salt and pepper.
- Pour the egg mixture evenly over the ingredients in the pan.
- Cover and chill overnight.
- Prior to baking, preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Bake for 45-55 minutes, or until set. Cover it loosely for the first 30 minutes or so, then bake uncovered for the reminder. You may need to bake it for a little more or less time depending on your oven and how soft or “runny” you prefer the eggs to be. I don’t really like it to be runny, but I also don’t want it to dry out. To check it, use a fork or knife to stick in the middle and see how soft it still is.
- Remove from oven when done and serve warm.
- *I like to use a little bit sturdier bread. Often I use the Pepperidge Farms Sourdough loaf.
The nutrition facts provided are calculated using a third-party tool and are estimates only. Actual nutritional content may vary based on the ingredients and brands you use, as well as portion sizes. For accurate results, please consult a registered dietitian or nutritionist.
Enjoy!
Can you use sausage links?
It would work. You could just cut them into little pieces.
I had some homemade cranberry sauce left-over… no, not from Thanksgiving. We finished that and loved it so much that I made more recently. Anywho, I had a little left, so I added it to this bake. I like to add left-overs to recipes. Hope it will taste ok… fingers crossed.
Ima add porotabella mushrooms. Do you yall think I should sautee them before I bake or just bake raw?
I would probably saute them a bit first.
Very moist and very good. I added some seasoning to it since the last time I made it, it was a little plain. I added Galirce and onion Powder and Italian Seasoning for a little extra kick!
Thank you life love and sugar for the recipe that truly brings me back to childhood holidays. You reminded me that this recipe is so easy, it doesn’t require a special occasion to fix. Eggscellent recipe 🙂
I love your recipe because you use dry mustard. It adds so much! I use frozen O’Brien hashbrowns because we like the little bit of peppers and onions. I’m actually making it for dinner!
I made the breakfast overnight casserole. I added to this recipe bell peppers, spinach. Delicious recipe! Thank you❤
We love celebrating Jesus Birthday….
My birthday is Christmas Day too! I have made this same casserole for so many years. I started when I was a young night shift nurse. I’d make it before I went to work the night before Christmas, refrigerate, then pop it in the oven in the morning when I’d get in from working my 7pm-7am shift. My family-even the married ones expect that every year for Christmas breakfast. I usually serve it with cinnamon rolls, fruit and Christmas punch.
Robin, what is your Christmas punch recipe? ☺️ My mom use to make a Christmas punch using Delaware punch as the main ingredient but haven’t seen that in the shelves in years.
Thank you in advance!
Michelle
I make this about once a month for a quick and easy breakfast option for my husband and me. I portion out individual servings and we eat it throughout the week. Always tastes just as good on day 3 or 4 as it does in day 1!
I would like to premake this recipe and then freeze it for a couple of weeks before baking and serving. Any comments other than simply covering with plastic wrap and alum foil before freezing?
I’ve honestly never tried freezing something like this prior to baking it, so I’m not sure.
For a little more nutrition, I added some fresh spinach to the sausage at the end to wilt it and added sliced Roma tomatoes on top! Soooo good
Yum! Glad you enjoyed it!
Can I use ground pork in this recipe instead of sausage, will it taste the same? Thank you.
It won’t taste the same, since sausage has seasoning in it. But you could use regular pork.
Question – should I bake covered or uncovered? Thanks
I’m probably a little late in responding, but I just updated the instructions to make that more clear.
Can you freeze the leftovers?
I haven’t ever tried it, so I’m not sure if it affects the texture or not.
My wife is not a sausage eater, I would like to substitute bacon, how much do you think I would need
Having not tried it, it’s hard to say. My initial inclination is to use the same amount, which would be a pound of bacon. If that seems like too much though, feel free to reduce it.
Sausage and egg casserole! How long to bake 2 casseroles for 12 – 15 men
I’m not sure. But you would probably need to add more time.
This was excellent! I made just a couple tweaks; I added 1 tsp onion powder to the egg mixture, and I was feeding a pretty good size group so I increased to 16 eggs and 2 3/4 cup milk bc the ratio in the recipe didn’t cover the bread in the pan, and took a full hour to cook. It filled up my 9×13 perfectly. RAVE reviews this morning!