This easy overnight casserole is layered with bread, cheese, crumbled sausage and green chilis, and soaked in a seasoned egg custard overnight. It couldn’t be simpler to put together and the best part is in the morning when your kitchen is clean and your dishes are done and all you have to do is pop it in the oven! The popular casserole is a staple on many people’s holiday tables. At my house, it’s been our Christmas morning breakfast for over 40 years, and we love it on Easter and other special occasions, too. Wouldn’t be a holiday without it!
Ingredient Notes
- Bread – No need to get fancy. While most similar casseroles call for dried out french bread, I actually recommend basic everyday soft white sandwich bread fresh from the bag.
- Cheese – You’ll need a lot of cheese! I call for a mix of Jack and Cheddar. That’s my favorite combination, but in a pinch I’ve also used Colby Jack, and it would also be great with some pepperjack in there. Experiment if you’d like to, but the classic way is terrific! My one tip: I do not recommend pre-shredded cheese in a bag for this recipe. Shredding directly from a block of cheese will produce better results.
- Green Chilis – You find tiny cans these near the jarred salsa at the grocery store. I don’t bother draining the tiny can, just use your hands to grab the chilis from the can and sprinkle onto the casserole, the juice that comes with it is just fine.
- Sausage – There are always a lot of questions when I have recipes that call for sausage of any kind. It’s probably because there are so many different types: breakfast sausage, Italian sausage, sausage in links, sausage in castings, sausage in tubes, sausage in 8 different sections of the supermarket! You’ll find this sausage in the fridge section, usually near the bacon. Avoid sausages with flavors like maple. I only use Jimmy Dean because that’s what my Mom always used and we like the flavor the best! It looks like this (you may use their low-sodium/low-fat version if you prefer):
How To Make Overnight Sausage and Egg Casserole
- Make sure your sausage is cooked before you begin assembling your casserole. You’ll start with the bread. Cut off the crusts, butter one side, and place the pieces butter-side-down in a 9×13 baking dish.
- Sprinkle on your shredded cheese, followed by the cooked sausage crumbles, and green chilis (no need to drain).
- Finally you’ll whisk together eggs, milk, and some spices and seasonings. Stir the egg mixture immediately before pouring on top of the assembled casserole. Otherwise all the spices will all gather in one spot and drop onto one single piece of casserole!
- It then goes in the fridge overnight (no, you may not skip this step) and in the morning you just pop it into the oven and have a gorgeous breakfast or bunch in under an hour!
What to Serve With Overnight Sausage and Egg Breakfast Casserole
- We love serving this with a platter of fresh fruit.
- For a fun special drink, try our Sparkling Citrus Punch or Virgin White Peach Sangria
- Want some other overnight ideas? Sometimes we’ll do one sweet and one savory and serve this Overnight Sasuage and Egg Casserole along side this Overnight Strawberry Lemon Croissant French Toast (SO good!) or Cinnamon Rolls (see overnight directions in notes.)
- Check out our index of dishes for Breakfast and Brunch for more great holiday ideas!
FAQs
- How long does this HAVE to sit? How far in advance can I prep this casserole? I would consider 4-6 hours the minimum rest time, and up to 24 hours the max. This doesn’t mean it wouldn’t still work if left in the fridge beyond that, but I have not tried it.
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Overnight Sausage and Egg Casserole
Description
An easy overnight casserole with crumbled sausage, eggs, and cheese.
Ingredients
6–8 slices plain white sandwich bread
Very soft butter for buttering slices
2 cups shredded jack cheese (not pre-shredded from a bag)
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese (not pre-shredded from a bag)
12 oz pork sausage, crumbled and browned (I use Jimmy Dean)
1 4-oz can green chiles
6 large eggs
2 cups milk
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon oregano
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon dry mustard
Instructions
Start by removing the crusts from your bread and lightly buttering one side.
Place bread butter side down in a 9×13 baking dish. You want the bottom of the pan covered with no big gaps, so cut up some pieces like a puzzle to cover the whole pan.
Grate your cheese and sprinkle it evenly over the top of the bread. Spread the browned sausage on top of that. Open your can of green chilis and use your hands to sprinkle them over the top of the casserole.
In a medium sized mixing bowl whisk eggs. Add milk and then seasonings and whisk to combine well. Give the mixture a final whisk before immediately pouring evenly on top of the assembled casserole.
Cover well and place in the refridgerator overnight.
In the morning preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Bake (uncovered) for 50-60 minutes. You’ll want the center to be puffed and set and the outside edges to be golden brown. Let cool for about 10 minutes before serving.
Leftovers can be stored in the fridge and reheated in the microwave.
I made this for Christmas morning. It was a huge hit!!!! THANKS!
We had some leftovers that I saved and dh ate it for breakfast the next day and still wanted more!
Sara, Sara, Sara…
This is the first breakfast casserole (still cringe when I use that word)that I've ever liked! The ones I've tried in the past were either too heavy or the flavors were all mixed together and I felt like I was eating 2 week old left-overs. I'm not much of a breakfast person, but I would definitly eat this again. My husband made it (because honestly, I had no intention of trying it), the house smelled so great. We even overcooked it because we forgot to press start on the kitchen timer.
Thanks for the great recipe!
We baked this Christmas morning and it was a huge hit! Thank you so much for posting this!
Made this for the in-laws (very picky eaters) and it was a huge hit. Thanks for posting the recipe!
Made this for breakfast this morning and it was so very good. Think it may become a holiday tradition at my home as well! Merry Christmas!
merry christmas girls. thanks for all you do. it is Christmas Eve and I am on your site making this dish.
heal fast and have a wonderful holiday!
My husband and I (yes I said my husband too) love this site. In fact, it's my husband that is always telling people about it. If it's on OurBestBites, it is good… Thanks.
I am so looking forward to making this for Christmas morning! I'm a vegetarian so I'm going to sub in some of the Morningstar Farms veggie sausage.
Thank you again for your wonderful site! It is my first stop when I'm looking for a new recipe!
This style of recipe is so very forgiving and wonderful for those of us who like to "tinker" with recipes. I made a similar one last weekend with bacon (because we had some left aver making biscuits), Ro-tel style tomatoes and chilies, and an egg substitute. I served it with salsa and sour cream – LOVE it!!!
We're having a few sleep over on Christmas eve. this will be perfect in the morning. Thanks
I am so making this for Christmas Morning. Thanks!
we are doing breakfast casseroles for Christmas brunch and I was not sure what to bring, I found your recipe and will be making it, thanks so much for sharing, I love reading your website, you make cooking so much more fun! keep them coming!
Thank you for posting this. I wanted to make some sort of breakfast casserole, but didn't know which to try. I have total faith in your recipes, so this one is it!
So what else do you have on Christmas morning? We are trying to plan our menu and I would like everything to be cooked beforehand. Thanks!
I stumbled upon your blog recently and I'm in love with it! Thanks for the great recipe, I'll try it Friday morning!
We're all counting on you to not seriously injure yourself. Your functioning hands are very important to us! 🙂
This is the perfect Christmas morning breakfast. Thanks for sharing your mom's special recipe.
Merry Christmas!
My mom actually does fresh cinnamon rolls and an egg, sausage, and grits casserole for Christmas morning! We'll have to try this one… sounds scrumptious!
WOW this looks so good! I want to make it for my hubby on X-mas vacation! WOW definitely making Overnight Cinnamon Rolls, thanks for all the yummy pictures/recipes! 🙂
What a great family tradition! My husband and I have started talking about what traditions we can start when the little ones come and this is a great one! Not to mention the wonderful recipe, yum yum!
I love overnight anything breakfast recipes. This one looks fantastic. I make these for Christmas morning as well. They are so nice to just put in the oven first thing in the morning and then after we are done with some of the presents we take a break and eat. No cooking really Christmas morning. My favorite one is a french toast with sugar and more sugar. Anything with sugar can not be bad. Yum.
So funny – I was just about to search your site for this recipe! I always check your site first, for recipes that I'm searching for (yes, over Martha's 🙂 Your recipes NEVER disappoint!
Lisa
YUM, YUM, YUM!! I LOVE breakfast casserole – especially Christmas morning. Mine never turns out quite right, though, so I'm using your bread tip (the recipes I've tried have bread in chunks and mixed throughout) and no bagged cheese! This and the overnight cinnamon rolls are on the menu for our Christmas morning. 🙂 Mmmmmm…..
My mom just made this for a christmas brunch the women in our family had together. It was so good we stuffed ourselves and didn't save room for the cheesebake dessert! Thanks for the recipie, now I don't have to ask her for it!
I also just made your peppermint bark popcorn for another party -LOVE your blog!
Happy Holidays!
Merry Christmas to you and your family… just wanted to thank you for all your time that you put into your blog!!! I love it!
I make something similar as well, but with tater tots on top instead of bread on the bottom. Dee-licious. And I love the green chiles too.
Merry Christmas!
I cannot even begin to express my love for this casserole… LOL
SOOOOOOOOOOOOO DELICIOUS!!!!!!!!!!
I have a similar recipe and I love it! Such an easy breakfast. I put my husband in charge of making it a few months ago, and he decided to substitute cubed potatoes instead of the bread, and it was delicious!
Where so cubed potatoes boiled semi cooked or place raw directly on the bottom of casserole?
Use frozen potatoes, shredded or cubed..with or without onions and peppers
This is one of my very favorite recipes. In fact, I was planning on making it for Christmas morning. And then my husband begged me to make quiche instead. So…I might have to make quiche for Christmas and this for New Years! Thanks for the tips on the bread and cheese too. I've never thought of using Colby Jack before.
I was so hoping you would be posting a Christmas morning recipe. I was just thinking I need to prepare something. Unfortunately it needs to be milk free so this one won't do. SOunds yummy though!
Looks really good, thank you!
I would encourage you all to forget buying pre-grated cheese period…did you know that there is an antibiotic in it? (Natamycin…not sure on my spelling, but if it is in there, it is on the back of the bag…) and also cellulose…
Anyway, that is enough to have me grating my own cheese….yuck…
GLad to have found you!
C~
Want to wish you you a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.
This recipe looks so good. Hubby loves sausage so i know he will love this.
sure hope your hand is ok and no pain.
Hugs Pam