Potato, Sausage and Cheese Breakfast Casserole, from Scratch
There's something so comforting and delicious, biting into a creamy hash brown potato casserole with plenty of cheese and sausage. .My rendition of this casserole is homemade cream of chicken soup that makes this casserole creamy, cheesy and full of flavor. You can make this the night before, and bake it the next morning.
Servings 6 servings
Ingredients
HOMEMADE CREAM OF CHICKEN SOUP (Skip this step if you want to use canned cream of chicken soup):
- 2 1/2 cups chicken broth divided as 2 cups and 1/2 cup (canned or boxed is fine, but homemade works, too)
- 1 1/2 cups milk I used whole milk
- 3/4 cup flour
Seasoning Mix for Cream of Chicken Soup:
- 1 tsp salt
- ½ tsp black pepper
- ½ tsp onion powder
- ½ tsp garlic powder
For the Casserole:
- 4 cups frozen hash browns about half of a large bag
- 4-5 Italian sausages casings removed (I buy mild and add red pepper flakes to it)
- 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes optional
- 1/2 cup butter melted (optional, see note)
- 11 ounces of homemade cream of chicken soup can substitute canned commercial soup, if you prefer.
- 1 cup sour cream I used lite, because it's what I had
- 1 small onion chopped
- 1/2 medium bell pepper chopped (I used red bell pepper)
- 1 clove garlic minced
- 2 teaspoons dried thyme optional
- 2 cups grated cheddar cheese I used a combo of sharp cheddar and Monterey Jack cheese
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
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.
Notes
MAKE AHEAD: Cook the sausage and veggies ahead of time, then assemble the casserole in the morning. This made about 8 servings, and can easily be doubled to feed a larger crowd. This reheated so well, that we enjoyed it for a few more breakfasts.