Made with smoked sausage, hash browns, savory seasonings, and shredded cheese, this Slow Cooker Breakfast Casserole is a super easy, hands-off breakfast. It’s great for brunch too!
Why You’ll Love This Slow Cooker Breakfast Casserole
Here are a few reasons why we love this slow cooker recipe so much.
- (Almost) dump and go. The only hands-on step of this recipe is warming up the soup so it mixes in more easily with the other ingredients. Otherwise, you can just dump it all in and go.
- Great for breakfast & brunch. This savory casserole is perfect for both breakfast and brunch. I’m a big fan of making it on the weekend when we’re all having a lazy morning.
- Easy to customize. I’ve included several different variations below to help you make this slow cooker breakfast casserole your own. My favorite thing to do is switch up what type of sausage I’m using!
What You’ll Need
This crockpot breakfast casserole is made with just a handful of simple ingredients. Scroll down to the recipe card below for the exact measurements.
- Mushroom Soup: Classic condensed cream of mushroom soup is a fast and easy way to make this casserole extra creamy.
- Milk: Whole milk or 2% is fine in this recipe.
- Hash Browns: I use defrosted frozen hashbrowns for the ultimate easy prep.
- Smoked Sausage: Depending on your taste, you can use a spicy sausage or a mild breakfast sausage. Either way, slice it up and you’re good to go!
- Yellow Onion: A diced yellow onion adds tons of flavor to this recipe, but if you need to make things even easier, you can substitute half a teaspoon of onion powder.
- Cheese: I use shredded cheddar cheese, my go-to! It melts perfectly and has a good strong flavor. Feel free to sub in any melting cheese you like, though—Colby jack, mozzarella, and pepper jack, gruyere, gouda are all great options.
- Herbs: Parsley and thyme
Variation Ideas
This is a great recipe to customize for different occasions.
Skip the hashbrowns. If you want to make a low-carb version of this breakfast casserole, try swapping in broccoli florets, cauliflower florets, or any combination of your favorite veggies. If carbs aren’t a problem, try making this casserole with day-old bread, cut into 1-inch cubes, or even leftover cooked pasta.
Add some eggs. Feel free to mix in some eggs following our directions with this Christmas Morning Breakfast Casserole recipe. You’ll want to make sure the eggs are beaten with a whisk before adding in.
Try a different protein. Want to make it with leftover ham? No problem! Just replace the sausage with an equal amount of cooked, diced ham and you’re good to go. You could even use bacon, or a specialty sausage like chicken sausage.
Add some veggies. I also like to add veggies to this dish from time to time. Cooked veggies are best, so that they don’t release too much water into the casserole. From spinach, bell pepper to broccoli to butternut squash, you can stir in just about anything, and let the crockpot do the rest!
How To Make Slow Cooker Breakfast Casserole
Here’s a run-down of how to make this crockpot breakfast casserole. You can find the printable version of the instructions in the recipe card below.
- Heat the Soup and Milk. Simmer your cream of mushroom soup and milk together for a few minutes just to heat it through. This helps the ingredients blend and cook with a good texture.
- Combine the Ingredients. While the soup and milk heat, place the hashbrowns, sausage, and onions in the slow cooker, along with one cup of cheese. Pour over the warmed soup and stir to combine.
- Cook. Finally, top the whole thing with the remaining cheese and the herbs, cover, and cook as directed. Done!
Tips and Tricks
Before you get started on this yummy breakfast “bake,” let me share a few helpful tips. These ideas will guarantee a tasty and family-pleasing result!
- Grease the Slow Cooker Insert: You don’t have to do this, but I find that greasing the slow cooker with non-stick cooking spray helps to keep the potatoes from getting burned or too crispy around the edges. Alternatively, use a slow cooker liner.
- Soup Substitutions: If you want to avoid using condensed cream of mushroom soup, feel free to substitute a homemade version, or any other creamy soup that you love (cream of onion, celery, etc). If the soup is not condensed, you may want to omit the milk in the recipe so things don’t get too liquidy.
- Skip the Crock Pot: You can also assemble this casserole in a greased baking dish, and store it overnight in the fridge (cover first with foil). Bake it, uncovered, the next morning at 350°F for 45 minutes to an hour, until done. Make sure the interior of the casserole reaches 160°F for food safety!
How to Store and Reheat Leftovers
- Fridge. To store leftover casserole, place portions in food storage containers and refrigerate. Leftover breakfast casserole will keep in the fridge for 3-4 days.
- Reheat. To reheat, microwave for 30 seconds at a time until hot all the way through, or bake at 350°F for 10-15 minutes.
More Great Breakfast Ideas
- Breakfast Pigs in a Blanket
- Sausage Breakfast Muffins
- Breakfast Potatoes
- Tater Tot Breakfast Casserole
- Breakfast Pie
Crockpot Sausage Breakfast Casserole
Ingredients
Instructions
- In a sauce pan, simmer cream of mushroom soup and milk for about 2-3 minutes.
- In the slow cooker, place hash browns, sausage, onion, and 1 cup of the cheese.
- Pour in cream of the mushroom mixture and stir.
- Sprinkle remaining 1/2 cup of cheese and herbs on top, cover, and cook on high until potatoes are soft, about 3 hours. Serve hot and enjoy.
Last Step:
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38 comments on “Slow Cooker Breakfast Casserole”
Could we use pork sausage instead?
Uncooked links defrosted or pork sausage browned?
I made this for dinner. Used the hash browns with peppers and onions and added peas about 20 min before serving. Great weeknight dinner!
Could you cook at a slower speed so it could cook over night? If so what speed? Can you add eggs while cooking
Hi…thanks for the great recipe. It sounds like a great recipe to make during our upcoming beach vacation. We are staying in a condo and I am doubtful that a crockpot will be available to use. Has anyone ever tried this in a oven? This recipe sounds so yummy and it is just my husband and I at our home now and with this family trip, I would have a great opportunity to try it out on everyone. Thanks for your help. If you could and you say this could be done in the oven, could you please give me a suggestion about oven temp and length of cooking. I so appreciate your recipes and assistance.
Try using Potatoes O’brien which includes the onions, green peppers. Tons of flavor
This was easy to make and absolutely delicious!!! I made this for my Wife today for her Birthday, so I turned it up a notch and smoked sausage on the smoker, and added eggs to the mixture. It is Sooo good!!
How many eggs did you add?
What steps did you do to add the eggs?
This sounds like it would be great for our church brunch. I would need to double the recipe. Seems like it would take longer to bake overnight in crockpot?
Have you ever put eggs in this breakfast casserole? Just seems like it would be a more complete breakfasts dish with eggs, but I guess you could always serve them on side if want them.
I have actually added scrambled eggs to this recipe myself, and it turns out great every time!
Do you mean you have added beaten raw fresh eggs as an ingredient to the casserole prior to baking – or served scrambled eggs as a side to the casserole? If you used the beaten raw eggs as an ingredient how many did you use?
How do you add in the eggs? Thank you
Did you cook the scrambled eggs with this dish or cook separately??
How many eggs did you use and how did you prepare it? Did you just mix the eggs and then pour in the crockpot to cook or did you add them cooked, after the crock pot was done?
Could I do shredded potatoes instead
Absolutely!
Sounds awesome but can you use breakfast sausage instead of smoked sausage. My family loves both but would prefer something like breakfast sausage instead of a kielbasa type of meat
Yes! That’s what we do.