Gluten-Free Breakfast Casserole is a hearty and crowd-pleasing breakfast recipe. Prepped in minutes then baked until golden brown and bubbly!
“This is my absolute favorite breakfast casserole. Even if I didn’t have to eat GF, I would still make this for my family and holiday events. So perfect and delicious!”
I don’t know if this is a Midwestern thing, but I can’t tell you how many breakfast casseroles I’ve eaten in my lifetime. Thousands, probably. Around here we make it for every occasion – holidays, baby and bridal showers, sports team breakfasts, potlucks, birthdays – I mean the list goes on and on.
Breakfast casseroles are not only great for feeding a crowd, but they’re incredibly crowd-pleasing. Hearty, cheesy, and totally delicious.
My Gluten Free Breakfast Casserole is one for the books not only because it’s so flavorful and easy, but because both gluten-free AND non-gluten-free folks absolutely love it. This easy breakfast casserole gets rave reviews anytime I serve it.
Watch How to Make It
Main Ingredients Needed
Snag the everyday items needed to whip up a hot and hearty breakfast casserole at home. Here are the main ingredients you’ll need:
- Shredded frozen hash browns: I use Ore-Ida brand, which is gluten free and has a great consistency. Unlike with my Crock Pot Breakfast Casserole, the hash browns in this casserole DO need to be thawed first, so plan ahead for that.
- Ground pork breakfast sausage: I like Jimmy Dean brand, which is gluten free, and typically stick with the “original” flavor. You could use the spicy flavor for a kick.
- Eggs
- Sour cream: adds to the overall texture and flavor of the breakfast casserole.
- Milk: whatever you’ve got in the fridge will work.
- Shredded cheese: sharp cheddar cheese lends flavor and a golden brown topping to the baked gluten free breakfast casserole.
Can I Make this Ahead of Time?
If you want to make the casserole ahead of time – at night for example, so it’s ready to bake in the morning – I recommend keeping the egg + sausage mixture separate from the hash brown mixture then combining just before baking.
We like to serve breakfast casserole with fresh salsa, guacamole, and a fresh fruit salad. Now let’s dig in!
How to Make Gluten Free Breakfast Casserole
Step 1: Brown the breakfast sausage.
Start by browning ground pork breakfast sausage and chopped shallot or onion in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Drain the sausage if necessary then set it aside to cool slightly.
Step 2: Whisk the egg mixture.
To a large mixing bowl add eggs, salt, and pepper then whisk until smooth. Next add sour cream and milk (any kind) then whisk again until smooth.
Step 3: Combine the remaining ingredients.
Finally, add the browned sausage, shredded sharp cheddar cheese, and thawed frozen shredded hash browns then give everything a good stir to thoroughly combine.
If the mixture seems a little dry, whisk another one or two eggs with a splash of milk then add that in too.
Step 4: Bake the casserole.
Pour the mixture into a nonstick sprayed 9×13″ baking dish then sprinkle with additional cheddar cheese.
Cover the dish with nonstick-sprayed foil then bake for 60-75 minutes at 350 degrees or until the center is set and cooked through. Remove the foil then bake for another 5 minutes or until the cheese is golden brown and bubbly.
Step 5: Rest then serve.
Let the gluten-free breakfast casserole sit for 15-20 minutes before slicing into squares and serving. If you’re lucky enough to have leftovers, they are just as delicious once reheated in the microwave for a minute or two.
However and whenever you make it, I know you’ll love every last drop of my Gluten Free Breakfast Casserole — enjoy!
More Filling Breakfast Recipes
- Gluten Free Quiche
- Gluten Free Breakfast Bombs
- Cheesy Ham and Hash Brown Casserole
- Mini Egg Bites
- Crock Pot Breakfast Casserole
- Roasted Poblano and Sausage Breakfast Casserole
- Gluten Free Pancakes
- Make Ahead Breakfast Bowls
- High Protein Overnight Oats
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 lb ground pork breakfast sausage, Jimmy Dean recommended
- 1 large shallot or 1 small onion, chopped
- 6 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
- 8 oz sour cream
- 3/4 cup milk, any kind
- 8 oz shredded sharp cheddar cheese, divided
- 4 cups frozen shredded hash browns, thawed
Directions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees then spray a 9×13" baking dish with nonstick spray and set it aside.
- Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat then add the breakfast sausage and shallot or onion and cook through. Drain if necessary then return the sausage to the pan and set aside to cool slightly (can be done ahead of time).
- To a very large mixing bowl, add the eggs, salt, and pepper then whisk to combine. Add the sour cream and milk then whisk to combine. Add 3/4 of the shredded cheese, the cooked and slightly cooled breakfast sausage, and thawed hash browns then stir to combine.
- Pour the mixture into the prepared baking dish then spread into an even layer. Sprinkle the remaining cheese on top then cover the dish with a piece of nonstick-sprayed foil and bake for 60-75 minutes or until the center has set and a knife inserted into the center comes out clean. Remove the foil then bake for 5 more minutes or until the cheese has turned golden brown.
- Let the casserole sit for 15-20 minutes before slicing and serving.
Notes
- If the mixture seems a little dry before pouring into the casserole dish, add another one or two eggs whisked with milk.
Nutrition
Nutritional values are estimates only. Please read our full nutrition information disclaimer.
Just assembled this tonight for tomorrow morning’s oven. Am wondering why the recipe involves thawed hash browns rather than simple potato? I grated some spuds and wrung the moisture out. Hope it works the same?
Hi Keith! Frozen hash browns are par cooked so they cook evenly and faster than freshly grated potato. I might plan on tacking on a bit of extra cooking time if using freshly grated! :)
I just found this breakfast casserole recipe last week as I was looking for something to fix for a guest this morning. I mixed up a half-recipe, made one swap (hot pork sausage instead of regular), and did some prep last night: mixed eggs/milk/sour cream; browned sausage with shallot; lightly browned the thawed hash browns; then each bit went in its own container in the fridge for assembly/baking this morning. SO easy & YUM!! My guest had seconds. Thanks Kristin for all your work/experimentation in developing amazingly delicious gluten-free recipes! (I was also diagnosed with Celiac Disease after a few miserable years–not sure what triggered mine)
Totally my pleasure, Mariann!
This is a hit! Everyone in my family loved it! My daughter in law is gf and my son has sausage sensitivities so we made this with ham in place of sausage and it was delicious!! Thank you for this fantastic recipe.
Perfect! Great idea :)
This took over twice as long to bake!! Middle was runny at 1 1/2 – 2 hours.
I was afraid the outside will burn. I doubled the batch and baked each pan separate. Kept one in fridge while waiting 2 hours for the 1st pan to bake. this was a whole day of waiting and watching for 2 pans.
My Hash browns were defrosted but very cold and think this why. tip room temp when adding. Used 9 x 13 foil pans for a family breakfast. The plan was to bake night before and heat next day. errrr!!!! Have not tried them yet. Hope they are good. current rating is low
Hi Lisa! I haven’t received this feedback before. Is it possible you mis-measured the ingredients since you doubled the recipe? Is your oven’s thermometer possibly reading incorrectly? I can’t imagine any other reason why this casserole would take that long to bake other than those two reasons.
Can I prepare this the night before and then bake the next morning?
Can this be made ahead? Should I cook and reheat or make and wait to cook until ready?
Can this made in a cast iron pan instead of a baking dish? Love all your recipes, most especially the jambalaya soup.
Hi Diana! I haven’t tried this recipe in a cast iron so I can’t say for sure. I’m leaning towards yes though – and maybe half of the recipe as it does make a large, 9×13″ pan. I hope this helps!
Hi! I made this for my non-casserole loving adult kids~ and they Loved it so much I’m making it again! I didn’t use meat or shallots, did put in peppers and onions, and had salsa and guacamole for add yourself toppings. Yum!!!
Can this be made vegetarian? What veggies would you recommend?
Oh sure! Maybe sautéed mushrooms, peppers and onions? This gives me a good idea… ;)
Do you think this receipt could be cut in half and put in a 8×8 pan?
Definitely!
Great recipe, but there are a couple of tricks to making it fantastic. I made it twice and learned a lot.
1) To bake this in the time noted, make sure the overall depth of the potatoes in the baking dish is around 1 inch. The first time i tried this i did it in an 2.5 quart casserole dish and the depth of the bake was closer to 3 inches. it took almost twice as long to bake.
2) if using using fresh potatoes that you grate yourself, i would recommend blanching them for 5 minutes, rinsing them in cold water and thoroughly drying them and then adding all the wet ingredients. Store bought, frozen potatoes are “cooked” before being packaged.
3) I added a tablespoon of yellow mustard to the eggs and sour cream.
4) One of the comments asked about refrigerating overnight. I did that and found the flavors and dish as a whole became more homogeneous. It tasted more “complete” as opposed to tasting like hash-browns baked in scrambled eggs.
This was excellent. I have served it twice now and both times there was hardly anything left. Even the non gluten free people enjoyed it. Thanks for the gluten free recipes!
I made this for an FSU tailgating party! I added a small can of sliced, drained mushrooms, substitute Greek yogurt for sour cream, used Obtien style potatoes, seasoned w/liberal course ground black pepper & Skosk of cayenne pepper. Also used 8oz Sargent 4-State cheddar cheese in mix & 4 Oz on top. It was a huge hit paired w/ gluten free cornbread & mimosas.