I like the easy clean-up this recipe has, too. You use one pan to cook the sausage, and then you use that same pan for the next step, browning the hash browns. Technically speaking, you could skip the part where you brown the hash browns because they are going to cook up just fine when you bake the casserole. But I like my hash browns on the crispy and well-cooked side, so I think browning them is a good idea. Plus it adds some color.

I plan on serving this at my next early, sort-of-brunch-time book club meeting. Maybe with a nice salad on the side. Add a showy trifle for dessert, maybe one with pineapple and oranges to match the casserole color. Call it done – it’s a party!

 

INGREDIENTS

2 lb. hot breakfast sausage

1 (30-32oz) bag frozen shredded hash browns

1 tsp salt

½ tsp pepper

¼ tsp garlic powder

¼ tsp onion powder

2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

8 eggs

2 cups milk
DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a large skillet, cook sausage until no longer pink. Drain fat.

Add hash browns to skillet and cook until lightly brown. Place hash browns in bottom of lightly greased 9×13-inch pan. Top with sausage and cheese.

Whisk together eggs, salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder and milk. Pour over hash brown mixture.

** Cover and refrigerate at this point if baking later **

Bake, uncovered, for 35-40 minutes.

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Quick Tip:  If you do make this ahead, remember to take it out of your fridge and let it come to room temperature about 30 minutes before you bake it. There are two reasons for doing this. First, with an abrupt change from cold to hot, you could potentially break your baking dish. Second, if you try to bake it while it is cold, you are going to need to increase your cooking time by some untold number of minutes to compensate for the fact that you oven first has to warm it before actual baking commences.

Recipe courtesy of Stephanie Parker at Plain Chicken, photo courtesy of bettycrocker.com