Tater Tot Breakfast Casserole – just scratch

This Tater Tot Breakfast Casserole is easy, cheesy, and delicious! Browned breakfast sausage is topped with fluffy eggs, crispy golden tater tot rounds, melty cheese and crispy bacon bits. Perfect for any family breakfast, brunch, or on a weekday for brinners! This recipe makes enough for 12.

If I have one guilty pleasure that isn’t made from scratch, it’s tater tots.

From regular tater tots to crowns, minis, and onion flavors…I love them all. Although I don’t buy them often, I bake them until they’re extra crispy and golden brown, then sprinkle with salt (sometimes pepper!) and eat them plain or dip them in ketchup.

So imagine my delight when I met this tater-dead breakfast casserole. It was 2016 and it was our close friend’s 5th birthday brunch. My plate was overflowing with pancake Nutella kebabs, fruit salad, and Tater Tot casserole. After my first fork of the tot casserole, I turned to my friend and asked she asked politely for the recipe. She must be thinking I’ve been living under a rock because I’ve never had it before.😂

So believe me when I tell you this tot casserole is amazing. We’re talking browned breakfast sausage baked in eggs, topped with gooey melty cheese, crunchy golden tater dumplings, more Cheese and then crispy pieces of bacon. So good!

To make this Tater Tot Breakfast Casserole you will need:

• Olive oil spray – I like to use extra light olive oil or ghee oil spray.
• bacon – Gives a distinct smoky flavor.
• yellow onion – Gives delicious onion flavor.
• ground breakfast sausage – Use normal or hot!
• eggs – Pull these out 30 minutes beforehand to bring them to room temperature or place them in a bowl of lukewarm water.
• milk – Gives this dish a pudding-like texture.
• kosher salt – Enhances the flavors in this recipe.
• freshly ground black pepper – Imparts distinct bite and flavor.
• Cheddar Jack Cheese – Freshly shredded is best!
• tater tots crispy crowns – Or replace them with regular tater tots.
• fresh parsley – Gives a hint of green and fresh herbal flavor.
• sliced ​​spring onion – Adds a subtle fresh onion flavor.

Preheat your oven to 350°.

Lightly spray a 9×13 baking pan with nonstick olive oil or ghee oil spray.

Put 6 strips of bacon in a pan. Heat on medium-medium and cook until lightly crispy. Later they will be even crispier in the oven. After cooking, transfer the bacon to a plate lined with kitchen paper and drain all but 1 teaspoon of the bacon grease from the pan.

Finely chop after cooling.

Add 1/2 cup diced yellow onion with a pinch of salt to the some leftover bacon fat and sauté until tender.

Add 1 pound of ground breakfast sausage to the pan. Crumble with a wooden spatula and cook until no longer pink.

Increase the heat to medium-high and brown the sausage deeply.

Place the cooked breakfast sausage on a paper towel-lined plate to drain excess fat.

Meanwhile, in a large bowl, beat and add 8 eggs. To do this, pour 1 cup of milk, season with a pinch or two of salt and a little freshly ground black pepper.

Stir until everything is well mixed.

Build the casserole:

Once the sausage is cooked and degreased, place it on the bottom of the prepared casserole dish.

Pour the egg mixture over the sausage.

Sprinkle 1 cup cheese on top.

Then arrange the frozen tots on top.

Place the pan on the middle shelf of your preheated oven and bake for 30 minutes. Be sure to rotate the pan halfway through baking to ensure even cooking.

When the 30 minutes are up, sprinkle the remaining 1 cup of cheese and the finely chopped bacon bits over the tots and return the casserole to the oven for another 10 minutes.

Remove the Tater Tot breakfast casserole and allow to cool slightly before serving. This is great served hot or even room temperature.

I sprinkled this with some chopped fresh parsley and finely chopped spring onions.

Serve with ketchup or hot sauce.

Get ahead Instructions:

If you’re making this the night before, stop right before you add the potato dumplings. The tots should stay frozen until ready to bake. In the morning, take the casserole dish out of the fridge while the oven is preheating. Top with the Tater Tots and follow the rest of the recipe instructions. Since the eggs come straight from the fridge, it may take a little longer for the eggs to set. So, bake the eggs for 30 minutes, and if they aren’t set, bake them in additional 5 minute increments until set, then continue with the rest of the recipe.

Enjoy! And if you try this Tater Tot Breakfast Casserole recipe, let me know! Take a picture and tag me chirp or instagram!