My friend Candace is a vegetarian. Like many vegetarians, she isn’t bashful about telling you she’s a vegetarian. Unlike many vegetarians though, she doesn’t care for mushrooms. Or maybe that’s not unusual, maybe we carnivores just assume that all vegetarians like mushrooms.
Anyway, I found this recipe for Veggie Loaded Breakfast Casserole a few years ago and adapted it to suit Candace’s taste for a birthday breakfast. I’ve made it a couple of times now and it’s a crowd pleaser.
One of the great things about this casserole is that you can make it ahead of time! I’ll explain that at the end. Here we go….
You’ll need:
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 2 teaspoon minced garlic
- ½ medium yellow or white onion, diced
- 1 red bell pepper, diced
- 1 small can (4 oz) green chilis, drained
- 2 cups packed baby spinach, roughly chopped
- 3/4 cup grape tomatoes, cut in half
- 1 bag frozen shredded hash browns, thawed
- 10 eggs
- ⅓ cup half and half or milk
- 2 to 3 tablespoons hot sauce (optional)
- 1 cup shredded cheese
- salt and pepper and/or seasoning salt
Preheat oven to 375.
Spray 13 x 9 pan generously with cooking spray. Pour entire bag of thawed hash browns into pan and spread out evenly. Shake a generous amount of salt or seasoning salt over potatoes. Set aside.
Melt butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add in the onion and red bell pepper and sauté until they soften. Then add your garlic and green chilis. Since the chilies are canned they are already soft and you don’t want the garlic to get too brown. Heat through-maybe a minute-then add in your spinach. Gently stir the vegetables until the spinach wilts. This will only take a couple of minutes. Remove veggies from heat.
Once you’ve removed your veggies from heat, stir in the tomatoes. You don’t want the tomatoes to heat up. You just want to combine them with the other veggies so they are mixed throughout your veggie mixture. Tomatoes are somewhat fragile and if you overcook them in this step, you risk them becoming mushy in your casserole.
Next, line a plate with a paper towel and spoon your veggies out onto the plate. You want to soak up any excess moisture so that your casserole doesn’t get watery. Let your veggies hang out here while you scramble the egg mixture up.
Crack the 10 eggs into a bowl and add in your half and half (or milk) along with a generous shake of salt and pepper and the hot sauce if you are using it. Whisk this mixture up until all the yolks are broken and the half and half is mixed through. Set aside.
Remove your veggies from the paper towel plate and spread them evenly over the potato mixture.
Now pour the scrambled egg mixture over the veggies. Sprinkle with salt and pepper then spread cheese evenly on top.
Bake the casserole uncovered for 45 to 50 minutes until it’s golden brown. Let it rest for 10 minutes or so before slicing. It will smell delicious while it bakes!
I like to add more hot sauce to my serving before I eat it!
To make ahead:
The casserole can be fully assembled the night before. Just let your veggies cool before adding them to the potatoes , and then topping with the eggs and cheese. You will need to let it set out about 20 minutes before you bake it. I like to preheat the oven and have a cup of coffee while I wait for the casserole to come closer to room temperature.
Because I had a bad experience with baking a chilled dish once (I blew up a meatloaf, y’all), I have a secondary method which is to do a few steps ahead of time and then bake the morning that I’m serving. I remove the hash browns from the freezer the night before and let them thaw in the refrigerator. I fully prepare the veggies, let them cool and store them in the fridge overnight in an airtight container. Finally, I prepare the egg mixture and let it hang out overnight in an airtight container. The morning of preparation, I preheat the oven and assemble the casserole while the oven heats up.
This dish is very versatile and you can customize it with your choice of vegetables. You can also add a protein if you like; just add your fully cooked meat of choice in with the veggie mixture.