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
I made this tonight using ham instead of bacon. And it wasn’t because I don’t LOVE me some bacon, but I had ham I really needed to use, and let’s face it, it really is much better for you. And the verdict: Very, very good. I didn’t sauté the onions in fat (well, there was no fat) and so those got a little on the dry side. Next time I would layer them underneath the cheese so I prevent that drying out. The ham got a little crispy on the edges, which I love and the kids loved it too! Thanks!!
You know if you are ever up for a challenge, I’d love to find a breakfast casseroly type thing that doesn’t involve cheese or milk. My son is allergic (I’ve mentioned that before). He loves eggs and bacon and sausage and hashbrowns and on occasion I’ll be nice and make that for him. However, I’d love to create something I could make for a brunch. Everything has cheese in it on some form or another. THis looks so yummy!
Have you ever looked into the vegan cheeses they have out there? They are usually named something cute like “cheeze” to differentiate them from actual cheese and contain no dairy products. I haven’t tried many myself as I have no allergies and love the real stuff, but I do seem to recall seeing some that were touted on the packaging as “better melting than before” or something of that nature. If it satisfies the cravings of vegans, it might make do in a pinch for your son! I’ve seen the products at local supermarkets (Publix, Winn-Dixie) in the organic food part of the produce section, but you can also probably find them at Whole Foods or Trader Joes. Good luck! Cheese (or cheeze) is such a wonderful addition to breakfast foods that I sincerely hope you find a good substitute so your son doesn’t have to miss out! 🙂
Oh my, this looks so good! What perfect comfort food.
I made this tonight. YUM! I don’t like eggs either, but didn’t even know they were there in this dish. Thanks for the great recipe. Next time I’ll make half for our family of four (at least that is how many are home now!). My husband plans to take some to work for a day or two or…
This looks so good. I bet it would taste good with chopped up tomatoes too. Must make!
HA HA I thought we were the only family who used “brinner” my dh is out of town this week, I will have to pre make and then no work for me on Sunday.
I read your comment about using potatoes. What does “parboiling or underbaking” mean?
It just means cooking them about halfway–boil or bake them to a point where you can prick them with a fork, but they’re not to a point where you could eat them.
Holy smokes, this looks DElicious! I’m making egg casserole for a staff breakfast next week, and I know my fellow teachers will die for this one. I can’t wait to try it! 🙂
Love this! My family loves a similar recipe but with sausage. I’ll have to try it with the bacon. The only difference is that I throw my frozen potatoes in the oven for about 15 minutes before adding the other ingredients to the pan. This eliminates having to pre-thaw the potatoes. So if you’re not good at planning ahead (like me) you can still make it. Thanks for all the great recipes!
Do you think I could freeze this, if so, before or after baking it? p.s. I love your website and always use your recipes when company comes over. That way I know they will enjoy dinner 🙂
I’m sure you could, either way, I just don’t know how long you’d need to bake it if you froze it uncooked. If it was already cooked, it was just need to be thawed and then reheated.