This hash brown egg casserole is full of ham, veggies and cheese, all baked to perfection. The best breakfast option for a special occasion!
When I need to entertain a crowd in the mornings, I turn to breakfast recipes such as sausage casserole, red velvet waffles, tater tot breakfast casserole, french toast casserole and this cheesy baked egg dish.
The holidays are almost here, which means the entertaining season has begun! I host quite a few gatherings during the holidays, including cookie exchanges, kids holiday parties, and more. One occasion that sometimes gets overlooked is breakfast. I often have guests staying at my house and I want to be able to offer a quick yet satisfying meal in the morning. This hash brown egg casserole is perfect for entertaining. It’s a hearty dish filled with ham, veggies, eggs, hash browns and cheese. Best of all, it’s simple to make and serves a crowd!
Table of Contents
Hash Brown Egg Casserole Ingredients
To make this recipe, you will need olive oil, ham, red bell pepper, green bell pepper, yellow onion, salt, black pepper, hash browns, eggs, heavy cream, milk, cheddar cheese and chives.
How Do You Make Hash Brown Egg Casserole?
Preheat the oven and coat a baking dish with cooking spray. Heat the olive oil in a large skillet or pan, then add the onions and peppers. Season the veggies with salt and pepper to taste, and cook until they’re soft. Place the vegetables, ham and hash browns in the prepared dish. In a bowl, whisk together the eggs, cream, milk, salt and pepper. When the mixture is smooth, add the cheese. Pour the egg mixture over the ham and vegetables in the casserole dish. Bake until golden brown. Add a sprinkle of chives, then cut into squares and serve.
Tips For The Perfect Dish
- To get a smooth egg mixture for this casserole, I typically crack my eggs into a bowl, and whisk until thoroughly blended. After the eggs have been beaten, I slowly add in the milk and cream, whisking as I go.
- You can use either fresh or frozen hash browns for this recipe. If you’re using frozen hash browns, you don’t need to thaw them, simply break them up a bit and add to the pan. Fresh hash browns are located in the egg section of most grocery stores.
- I typically use a ham steak in this recipe, but it’s also a great way to use leftover holiday ham.
- You can prepare your casserole up to 8 hours before you plan to bake it. Store it covered in the fridge, then when you bake it, add an extra 5 minutes to the cooking time.
Quick Tip
You can serve your casserole as-is, or top it with some sour cream, sliced avocado or even homemade pico de gallo for extra flavor.
Recipe FAQs
You do not need to thaw frozen hash browns for casserole. They will thaw as they bake in the casserole.
I like to pair my hash brown egg casserole with a fruit salad, such as winter fruit salad, berry fruit salad or tropical fruit salad.
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Flavor Variations
This recipe is great as is, but you can switch up some of the ingredients to suit your tastes.
- Meat: No ham on hand? This recipe will also work with cooked bacon or breakfast sausage.
- Potatoes: Instead of hash browns, feel free to use other types of frozen potato products such as tater tots or diced potatoes.
- Cheese: Swap out the cheddar for other cheeses such as mozzarella, gouda, swiss cheese, fontina or colby jack.
- Vegetables: Instead of peppers and onions, you can use other veggies such as spinach, mushrooms, jalapenos or asparagus.
Whether you need a hearty breakfast on a Sunday, or something impressive to serve on Christmas morning, this casserole is sure to be a hit!
More Great Breakfast Recipes
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Banana Pancakes
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Love This Recipe?
Please leave a 5-star 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 rating in the recipe card below & a review in the comments section further down the page.
Hash Brown Egg Casserole
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 12 ounces ham diced
- 1 red bell pepper seeded and finely diced
- 1 green bell pepper seeded and finely diced
- 1/2 cup yellow onion diced
- salt and pepper to taste
- 20 ounces fresh or frozen hash browns
- 12 eggs
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- 1 cup milk
- 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
- 2 tablespoons chives sliced
- cooking spray
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Coat a 9″x13″ baking dish with cooking spray.
- Heat the olive oil in a large pan over medium high heat. Add the onions and peppers, and season with salt and pepper to taste. Cook, stirring occasionally until vegetables are softened, 3-5 minutes.
- Place the cooked vegetables, ham and hash browns in the baking dish, stir to combine.
- In a medium bowl, whisk the eggs until thoroughly blended. Add the cream, milk and salt and pepper to taste. Whisk until smooth. Stir in the cheese.
- Pour the egg mixture over the ham and vegetables in the pan.
- Bake for 45 minutes or until golden brown and cooked through. Sprinkle with chives. Cut into squares and serve.
Notes
- To get a smooth egg mixture for this casserole, I typically crack my eggs into a bowl, and whisk until thoroughly blended. After the eggs have been beaten, I slowly add in the milk and cream, whisking as I go.
- You can use either fresh or frozen hash browns for this recipe. If you’re using frozen hash browns, you don’t need to thaw them, simply break them up a bit and add to the pan. Fresh hash browns are located in the egg section of most grocery stores.
Made this for my family’s breakfast this morning. It is something very similar when we camp in the outdoors but we make it in our cast iron Dutch ovens. The recipe was great, easy to prepare, and tasted awesome! Thanks for sharing.
Well I didn’t have any cream so used all milk and it was awesome! I’m a fan of large portions as we eat them 2 days now.
Have you tried this with diced hash brown potatoes? Wondering if they would cook enough.
That should be fine!
We make this using potatoes O’Brien. Already has the diced peppers and onions! Cooks up perfect
We had overnight guests so I was delighted to find this recipe! Served it with cut up fruit. I left it on a warming plate so everyone could help themselves when they came down for breakfast.
Are the frozen potatoes diced or shredded? Thanks?
Shredded!
This was great, thank you!! We’re not big fans of green bell pepper, so substituted mushrooms. Delilah and super easy! Will be making it again!
Any suggestions for dairy free? Non-dairy cheese and plant based milk are available, but not sure about a cream substitute…
You could just use 1 cup of plant based milk and omit the cream.
I messed up and mine was awful. I cannot figure out what could have gone wrong — we had a disappointing Christmas Day breakfast. Is there a way to save the rest of the casserole? The potatoes had a grainy texture and seemed dry, and overall it seemed flavorless.
I want to try again, but don’t know what to change. Could it have overcooked? I turned the oven off but left it in the oven for a few minutes while putting out the rest of the meal. It was possibly 10 minutes, but it hadn’t started to brown on top at all when I turned it off. I made it the night before and refrigerated it over night.
Also, I just now realized that I have an extra bag of cheese in my refrigerator. Might I have missed adding cheese? OMG!
Well, if my mess sounds familiar and you can diagnose my mistake, other than give up cooking, what would you suggest?
I’m sorry you had trouble with this recipe! Did you use fresh or frozen hash browns? And leaving out the cheese would for sure affect the dish and would definitely account for the lack of flavor.
Does it take longer to cook with real potatoes not frozen
It should take the same amount of time!
Made this without meat IN the casserole. Instead I served it with Country Sausage Gravy it was fabulous! We also LOVE breakfast for dinner and this is going into the dinner rotation YUM! Thanks!
Can this be made in a cast iron skillet?
That should be fine, just be sure to coat it will with cooking spray so nothing sticks!
Can I use muffin pan for this – so it will be individual serving?
Yes that should work fine, make sure to coat the pan well with cooking spray so that they don’t stick and you’ll want to reduce the baking time.
I’ve made this a few times. I also add soft bacon bits . My family likes breakfast for dinner but it takes a long time to cook each breakfast food in enough quantity. This combines all the flavors easily. I just add pancakes on thr side. I never have leftovers and its part of our meal rotation.
So glad you enjoyed it, thanks for reporting back!
Recipe says cheese gets stirred into the egg mixture but the description above says cheese goes on top of everything. Which is it?
Cheese gets stirred in!
Does the hash brown have to be cooked first ir can i leave out the hash brouwns
The hash browns go in frozen, you don’t have to cook them first!
Can you omit the ham for t5he meat free people?
Yes that will work just fine! You could even add more veggies in its place!
It was unbelievable !
So happy to hear you enjoyed it, thanks for reporting back!
How about freezing it for a few days?
Yes that should work fine!
Can it be made the night before an baked the next day?
Yes that should work fine!
Can I make this the day before and bake it the next morning?
Yes that will work!