Potato, Sausage and Cheese Breakfast Casserole, from Scratch
When coworkers would bring a breakfast potato casserole, I love them. There's something so comforting in biting into a creamy hash brown potato casserole with plenty of cheese and sausage. I don't buy canned cream soups, so I made my own. My rendition of this casserole is creamy, cheesy and full of flavor, after a few attempts and tweaking various recipes I found on the internet. You can even make this the night before, and bake it the next morning. Comforting and delicious!
Course Breakfast, Brunch, main
Cuisine American
Prep Time 30 minutesminutes
Cook Time 45 minutesminutes
Total Time 1 hourhour15 minutesminutes
Servings 6servings
Author Debby - www.AFeastfortheEyes.net
Ingredients
HOMEMADE CREAM OF CHICKEN SOUP:
2 1/2cupschicken brothdivided as 2 cups and 1/2 cup (canned or boxed is fine, but homemade works, too)
1 1/2cupsmilkI used whole milk
3/4cupflour
Seasoning Mix for Cream of Chicken Soup:
1tablespoonseasoning mixor on your own, 1/2 teaspoon. onion powder, 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder, 1/2 teaspoon black pepper, 1 teaspoon salt
For the Casserole:
4cupsfrozen hash brownsabout half of a large bag NOTE: I let them sit in a large bowl for about 30 minutes and that worked fine.
4-5Italian sausagescasings removed (I buy mild and add red pepper flakes to it)
1/4teaspoonred pepper flakesoptional
1/2cupbuttermelted (optional, see note)
11ouncesof homemade cream of chicken soupcan substitute canned commercial soup, if you prefer.
1cupsour creamI used lite, because it's what I had
1small onionchopped
1/2mediumbell pepperchopped (I used red bell pepper)
1clovegarlic minced
2teaspoonsdried thymeoptional
2cupsgrated cheddar cheeseI used a combo of sharp cheddar and Monterey Jack cheese
1teaspoonsalt
1/2teaspoonpepper
Instructions
For the homemade cream of chicken soup
(NOTE): leftovers freeze well for future use)
Combine the chicken broth and ½ cup of the milk in a large saucepan. Bring to a low boil.
Meanwhile, in a small bowl, whisk the flour and seasonings into the remaining 1 cup milk until a smooth, thick mixture forms.
Pour the flour and milk mixture into the saucepan with the broth mixture over low heat and stir continuously, whisking as the mixture simmers.
Continue to simmer and stir/whisk until the mixture is smooth and thick, 5 to 10 minutes. The mixture will thicken a bit as it cools.
For the casserole:
Preheat the oven to 350°F
In a large bowl add the frozen hash browns while preparing the other ingredients.
Place a small amount of olive oil in a frying pan (I use my cast iron pan) and turn on medium-high heat. Brown the sausages, limiting how much you stir so that it becomes crunchy and brown. Pour on top of the hash browns.
On medium heat, in the same pan, add a little more olive oil, and saute the onion and bell pepper, until soft (about 3 to 5 minutes)
Add the minced garlic and red pepper flakes, and cook for about 1 minute. Add to the bowl.
Add salt and pepper.
Add the sour cream, and half of the grated cheese. Gently stir to combine.
Add the cream of chicken soup and combine.(I didn't combine the sour cream and cream of chicken soup together, because the soup was still warm. Otherwise, go ahead and whisk that together.)
Pour into a 9x13-inch casserole dish, sprayed with non-stick spay.
Cover the casserole with the remaining cheese.
Bake for about 45 minutes until hot and bubbly.
NOTE: I forgot to add the melted butter, and I didn't even miss it. The casserole tasted just fine without it.
VARIATIONS: This casserole has room for customizing it the way you prefer. You can use bacon, instead of sausages, or the meats out altogether. Some people top the casserole with either crumbled corn flakes mixed with melted butter (sounds delish, but I never have that cereal on hand) or with potato chips. Go Mexican, and replace the bell pepper with mild green chilis. Have fun with it.