Sausage, Potato, and Kale Breakfast Casserole
on Dec 14, 2021, Updated Jul 04, 2024
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This Sausage, Potato, and Kale Breakfast Casserole is a delicious egg dish to serve during the holidays or for brunch. You can even prep it the day before and bake it in the morning!
Is there any better breakfast than Christmas morning breakfast? It’s a breakfast I look forward to all year, and one I go all out on.
We usually start with these cranberry orange mimosas while we open gifts. After that we move onto the main event. We have something sweet and this year it will be this gingerbread baked oatmeal. And to balance that out a savory egg dish.
Today I’m sharing the recipe for this sausage, potato, and kale breakfast casserole. This hearty egg casserole could easily be served on it’s own and I’ve actually been considering making it for dinner some night as well. It has Italian flavors running throughout it and is sure to be a hit for breakfast or brunch!
Ingredients For Sausage, Potato, and Kale Breakfast Casserole
- Italian chicken or turkey sausage
- yellow onion
- red bell pepper
- frozen diced potatoes or hash browns
- garlic
- kale, preferably lacinato kale
- eggs
- millk
- Italian seasoning and smoked paprika
- fontina or mozzarella cheese
- parmesan cheese
How To Make Sausage, Potato, and Kale Breakfast Casserole
Start by preheating the oven and spraying your baking dish with cooking spray. Whisk the eggs and egg whites in a bowl. I like to whisk the eggs before adding additional ingredients so it’s easier to combine and you aren’t slopping everything out of the bowl.
Once the eggs are whisked, add in the milk, Italian seasoning, smoked paprika, half of the fontina and parmesan cheese, salt and pepper. For this recipe I used 3/4 teaspoon of fine sea salt, however you can use more or less depending on your taste. Generally in cooking I leave salt amounts out and let you use your own judgement since everyone has different preferences.
Add the Italian sausage that’s been removed from the casings into a large skillet. Cook and crumble the sausage until it’s cooked through. Remove the sausage onto a plate lined with paper towels.
If your sausage had excess grease, reserve a tablespoon in the skillet. Otherwise add some olive oil to the skillet. When the oil is hot, add in the onion, pepper, potatoes, salt and pepper. Sauté the vegetables for several minutes and then add in the kale and garlic. Continue to sauté until the kale wilts, about another 2-3 minutes. Stir the sausage back into the mixture before transferring everything to the prepared baking dish.
Pour the vegetable and sausage mixture into the prepared baking dish and spread it out into and even layer. Pour the egg mixture evenly over thee vegetables. Top with the remaining cheese and cover with foil before putting it into the oven.
Bake the egg casserole for 25-30 minutes covered, then remove the foil and bake uncovered for 10-15 minutes or until the casserole is set and the potatoes are fork tender. Let the casserole rest for 10 minutes before serving.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes. Either omit the Italian sausage or use your favorite plant based meat alternative.
Yes. The day before you plan to serve the casserole, follow the instructions up until baking. Before baking the casserole let it sit on the counter for 30 minutes so it isn’t going into the oven ice cold. You may need to bake it a little longer if it goes into the oven cold, just check it and make sure it’s set.
This egg casserole will keep in the refrigerator for 4 days. You can either reheat it in the microwave or in the oven. If using the oven, set it to 350° F. and I recommend covering it with foil to prevent the top from browning.
Alternative Breakfast Casserole Ingredients
You can easily swap any of the vegetable, cheese, spices, or meat ingredients in this breakfast casserole. Below are a few suggestions.
Vegetables – Use spinach and/or mushrooms in place of the kale. If you do this be sure to sauté them well and if there’s a lot of excess liquid in the skillet drain it out. You don’t want the casserole to be too watery.
Meat – Substitute Italian turkey sausage with crumbled breakfast sausage, bacon, ham, Canadian bacon, or chorizo.
Cheese – Fontina cheese can be replaces with mozzarella, cheddar, Gruyere, Monterey Jack, or pepper Jack for something spicy.
Spices – This breakfast casserole it slightly Italian in flavor. If you want to go with a southwest flavor profile, add chili powder and ground cumin. You can also just omit the Italian seasoning and stick with the smoked paprika or use sweet or hot paprika.
More Egg Breakfast Recipes
- Crustless Vegetable Quiche
- Sheet Pan Spinach Tomato Ricotta Frittata
- Sweet Potato Bacon and Egg Breakfast Casserole
- Crustless Sausage Kale and Ricotta Quiche
- Spinach Bacon Cheese Quiche with Sweet Potato Crust
- Spinach Bacon and Cheese Strata
Sausage, Potato, and Kale Breakfast Casserole
Ingredients
- 1/2 pound Italian turkey sausage
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1/2 cup diced yellow onion
- 1 red bell pepper diced
- 16 ounces frozen diced potatoes or hashbrowns unseasoned, no need to defrost
- 1/2 teaspoon grated garlic 1-2 cloves
- 3 cups chopped kale
- 6 eggs
- 2 egg whites
- 1/2 cup milk of choice I used 2% milk
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika or sweet paprika
- Salt and pepper to taste I used about 1/2 – 3/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 3/4 cup shredded fontina cheese or mozzarella
- 1/4 cup shredded parmesan cheese
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375° F. Spray a 9×13 baking dish with cooking spray and set aside.
- In a bowl whisk together the eggs. Pour in the milk and add in the Italian seasoning, smoked paprika, salt, pepper, and half of the fontina and parmesan cheese. Whisk together everything until combined and set aside.
- Cook and crumble the sausage in a large skillet over medium-high heat until it's browned and cooked through. Remove the sausage from the skillet and onto a plate lined with paper towels to remove any excess grease.
- Leave a tablespoon of the sausage grease in the skillet or add in a tablespoon of olive oil. Add in the onion, red bell pepper, potatoes, salt and pepper. Sauté for about 3 minutes until the vegetables start to soften. Add in the garlic and kale and sauté until the kale is wilted, another 3 minutes. Add the sausage back into the skillet and stir everything together. Pour the vegetables into the prepared baking dish.
- Pour the egg mixture evenly over the vegetables and top with the remaining cheese. Cover the baking dish with foil and bake for 25 minutes. Remove foil and bake for another 10-15 minutes or until the potatoes are tender and cheese is golden.
Video
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
FYI- for others, I used Cashew Milk and goat cheese. These subs worked well!