For all you ladies who would love breakfast in bed, I think you should email this post to your significant others. Or create an anonymous email address to send the link to plant the idea in their brains. And maybe the anonymous email should include that this recipe needs to be assembled the night before, so you would also need a People magazine, a pedicure, and dinner alone on Saturday night while he whips this together. Just sayin’.
This recipe is beyond easy. Minimal chopping. Pre-cut potatoes. Incredibly delicious (seriously, when our family ate this for the first time, my pickiest eater, who is also a potato-hater, yelled, “THIS IS AWESOME!”) and, like I said, can be made the night before and then popped into the oven in the morning.
You’ll need Southern/country-style hash brown potatoes (the cubes, not the shreds), eggs, milk, bacon, green onions, pepper jack cheese (I promise, this doesn’t come out too spicy), cheddar cheese, and a little salt and pepper to taste.
Cook the bacon. All of it. The whole package. This is how you know things can’t go wrong. You can either cook it in the oven or on the stove top; the oven is my favorite way to cook bacon, but you’re going to be using the bacon drippings a little later, so if you’d rather just do it all in one pan, that’s up to you.
While the bacon is cooking, place the potatoes in a 9×13″ or a deep-dish 9″ pie plate. 
Mix together the cheeses and sprinkle those on top of the potatoes. 
When the bacon is done, place it on a paper towel to drain and reserve about 2 tablespoons of the drippings. Cook the chopped green onions in the drippings over medium heat for 2-3 minutes or until they’re tender and fragrant. Spread them on top of the cheese mixture.
Crumble the bacon and sprinkle that on top of the green onions. 
Um, in case you guys ever doubted, I love bacon so much. 
Look at it?! How could you not love it? Carly, you know I’m talking to you.
Whisk together the eggs, milk, and a little salt and pepper. 
If things are going to get tricky, this is where because you don’t really know how salty the bacon and cheese are and you can’t taste the mixture. But I think about 1/2 teaspoon of kosher salt is probably good (you can always add more later) and about 10 turns of freshly ground black pepper.
Whisking constantly, pour the egg/milk mixture all over the potatoes and bacon.
Cover it up and refrigerate it overnight (or, if you’re making breakfast for dinner, do this first thing in the morning and then it will be ready by dinner time).
When you’re ready to bake it, preheat the oven to 350. Bake it up, uncovered, for 40-45 minutes or until the cheese is bubbly but not burned. Remove from the oven and let it stand for about 15 minutes (if you cut into it sooner, it will be a little runny and icky looking). Serve with fresh fruit, orange juice, a jelly jar full of flowers from the yard, and lots of hugs and kisses. Serves 6-8.
Easy Potato and Bacon Breakfast Casserole
Ingredients
- 4 cups Southern/country-style hash browns cubes, completely thawed (if they’re not thawed, they won’t cook correctly)
- 12 ounces bacon
- 1 ½ cups pepper jack cheese
- 1 ½ cups cheddar cheese
- 1 bunch green onions chopped
- 3 eggs
- 1 cup milk
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- about 10 turns freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- Begin cooking bacon. While the bacon is cooking, place the potatoes in a 9×13″ baking dish. Mix the cheeses together and sprinkle it over the potatoes. When the bacon is done cooking, drain it on a paper towel and reserve 2 tablespoons of the drippings.
- Cook the onions in the drippings for 2-3 minutes or until they’re tender and fragrant. Spread the onions over the cheese mixture and then sprinkle everything with the crumbled bacon.
- Whisk together the eggs, milk, salt, and pepper and, whisking constantly, pour the egg mixture evenly over the potato mixture. Cover and refrigerate overnight or for 7-8 hours.
- When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350℉. Bake, uncovered, for 40-45 minutes or until the cheese is bubbly but not brown. Allow to stand for 15 minutes before cutting. Serve with fresh fruit.
Notes
- For high altitudes, reduce milk to 2/3 cup and sauté the potatoes in rendered bacon grease until partially cooked before baking.
Questions & Reviews
You guys have the cutest dishes and accessories. I really love the red scalloped baking dish. Where did you get it?
Addison, Target is the most evil place in the universe when you’re pinching your pennies, especially if you love cute dishes. I got that dish at Target around Valentine’s Day for 9.99.
This looks SOOO delicious!! I think I’ll make it this weekend for Saturday Breakfast!
If I want to bake two of these casseroles at the same time how long should I leave them in? I love your recipes! Best Bites is my all time favorite website!!! Thanks girls!!!
Awww, thanks, Traci!! 🙂 You could bake two at the same time and not have to worry about adjusting the time at all.
so how many would you say this fabulous recipe would serve? just one very special mother? or a room full of fabulous women? :o)
Definitely a room full of fabulous women–probably 6-8 normal appetites.
Kate… you remind me of some friends of mine who were vegetarians… EXCEPT for bacon! LOL! We always have bacon in the fridge; I do a whole package in the oven, then my teenager heats up a couple of slices (couple… ha ha ha) in the microwave in the morning (often with your most-awesome blueberry muffins that I keep in the freezer). Anyway, due to an egg-issue myself around the 4th grade, they aren’t my favorite either, but I’ll give this a try… bacon, taters & cheese… what’s to go wrong?!
Oh. My. Goodness.
I’m making this as soon as possible! Or hubby is… YUM!!!!
do you think that someone who only likes bacon A LITTLE would find the bacon overpowering? sometimes I dont like how salty bacon is so I didnt know if having all of that would be too much and take away from the dish (for me). but it looks like the casserole is pretty thick so maybe only a thin layer of bacon wouldn’t be too bad. also, is this a type of thing that would be freezer friendly? and this brings me to my other question — is bacon an okay thing to freeze (like just the bacon). I’m young and not married yet so a lot of food items I buy go bad before I’m able to use them
I think if you only like bacon a little, I would either bake it in a 9×13″ dish to spread it out a little more or cut back on it and use something like smoked paprika (you should be able to find it in the spice aisle) to help make up some of the flavor that you’re losing. But yeah, it is a thick casserole and when it comes down to it, you’re really not getting that much. You could also look for a low-sodium bacon if the salt bothers you.
You can definitely freeze this. And yes, you can freeze bacon, too–I do it all the time when I find it on sale! 🙂
After frozen, how would you reccommend reheating single servings? what about the whole dish?
i <3 bacon!!! i can't wait to try this recipe!!
Your recipe says to refrigerate overnight. Does it HAVE to refrigerate all night? Can I whip it up and stick it in the oven right away or will it not turn out right?
Carrie–It definitely does better when it sits for a little while; the potatoes soak in some of the moisture. But worst case scenario, it would still be good if you stuck it straight in the oven (if you can, try to let it sit for a little while at least, just to let things settle and redistribute).
Thank you for the help! Can’t wait.
How many portions does this make….how many will it feed?
Joan, it really depends on who’s eating. I have no doubt that 2 teenage boys could polish it off themselves. 🙂 I would say roughly 6-8 normal person servings.