This comforting Tater Tot Breakfast Casserole recipe is filled with eggs, sausage, bacon, cheese, and of course Tater Tots! This easy breakfast casserole recipe will be a welcome addition to your mornings!
What if there was a way to make sure at least everyone’s bellies were filled with something protein-packed and nutritious without waking up at dawn? This Tater Tot Breakfast Casserole is just the ticket.
You can’t go wrong with a cheesy potato dish like this!
Tater Tot Breakfast Casserole Recipe
With make-ahead options galore, breakfast casseroles and breakfast bakes have been staples of brunch and morning potlucks for ages. Bring those delectable flavors every day and bring a smile to everyone’s faces. And let’s not forget, the smell of bacon and sausage in the morning!
When you think of brunch, what are the staples? I think of eggs, potatoes, meat, and cheese. If we’re talking omelets, I’d throw in some bell peppers, too. Incredibly, my Tater Tot Breakfast Casserole has ALL OF THESE plus two different types of meat. Drooling, yet? I am!
This particular recipe uses two different kinds of cheese. It calls for cheddar cheese, but the second one can be catered to your preferences. So have fun and switch up the cheeses to change the flavors around!
Probably the best part is that this entire casserole recipe is that it can be made ahead of time and refrigerated until you’re ready to cook it, making it easy to be the hero of every morning!
(If you love tater tots, try my Loaded Tater Tots, Cheeseburger Tater Tot Casserole, and Chicken Tater Tot Casserole too!)
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Ingredients for Tater Tot Breakfast Casserole
See recipe card below this post for ingredient quantities and full instructions.
- Breakfast sausage – this is one of my favorite proteins to cook with!
- Bacon – is another excellent protein choice and goes great in this casserole.
- Tator tots – you can’t make this meal without a bag of frozen tater tots.
- Peppers – I love that you get some fresh veggies in this meal too, thanks to the peppers!
- Cheddar cheese – a good recipe always needs to have cheese in it. YUM!
Variations
Here are a few ingredient substitutions and recipe variations you may want to try.
- Try changing up the cheese a little. If your family prefers spicy, go for pepper jack cheese. You can also sprinkle with a little hot sauce.
- Try different veggies. If you don’t like using the same veggies each time, switch it up. Sliced mushrooms, tomatoes, or even broccoli will work well.
- Add a sauce on top. Sometimes you can really spruce up a recipe by adding a sauce on top of it. I add sour cream to everything. A drizzle of hot sauce will spice things up and some salsa added to to the casserole will give it a yummy Mexican flair.
- Eat it for lunch or dinner. While this tater tot casserole is awesome for breakfast, you can also enjoy it for lunch or dinner just as easily.
How to Make Tater Tot Breakfast Casserole
- Prepare: Preheat the oven and spray your tater tot casserole dish.
- Cook the meat: If you haven’t already cooked the meats and peppers, this step is next. One awesome thing is that you use the same pan to cook the sausage, bacon, and peppers! Less clean-up is always a bonus.
- Add the eggs: After the meat and peppers are ready, it’s quick work to whisk the eggs, milk, cheeses, and seasonings.
- Assemble the casserole: Stir the peppers, bacon, and sausage into the egg mixture, pour it into the pan, top with the tater tots, and bake!
- Add more cheese and enjoy!: You can also reserve some of the cheese to toss on top when it’s done and back it for an additional 3-4 minutes for some extra bubbly cheese on top.
Quick Tip
To make ahead, get everything in the dish, cover tightly with plastic wrap, and store it in the refrigerator overnight. Be sure to set the casserole out for 20-30 minutes before baking in the morning. If you don’t prefer making it all ahead, you can dice and cook the peppers, cook the meats, and chop the bacon so you just have to toss everything together.
How to Store Tater Tot Casserole
Leftovers should be stored in the refrigerator for up to five days. Freezing the leftover casserole is another option. The baked casserole can be frozen for up to two months.
Depending on your needs, freeze it in individual portions or as a whole. Just remember to thaw it overnight in the fridge!
Reheat the frozen tater tot casserole by baking it at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes, or until heated through. To reheat the refrigerated casserole, you can simply pop it in the microwave for a minute or two until it is hot and bubbling again.
FAQs
Yes! You can use frozen hash brown potatoes in place of tater tots. This is a very easy swap to make and will give you a delicious breakfast casserole with a new twist. Use one 32 ounce bag of shredded hash brown potatoes in place of the bag of tater tots.
If your tater tot casserole is runny, it is probably not done cooking. The eggs in the filling will cook and set the casserole. If it still looks runny, the eggs probably haven’t finished cooking just yet!
Tater tot casserole also may be runny if there is too much grease from the beef still in the dish. Be sure to drain all the excess cooking grease before mixing the filling together.
This easy tater tot breakfast casserole can go straight into the oven. There is no need to freeze it beforehand. However, you can freeze leftover tater tot casserole and store it for up to three months! See my notes above about how to store tater tot casserole for more details.
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Tater Tot Breakfast Casserole
Ingredients
- 1 pound breakfast sausage
- ½ pound about 5 slices bacon
- 1 tablespoon olive oil for cooking peppers
- 1 cup red bell pepper cleaned and finely diced
- 1 cup green bell pepper cleaned and finely diced
- 8 large eggs
- 1 cup milk
- 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese reserve ½ cup ** see notes
- 1 cup shredded swiss cheese or your favorite
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon season salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- 1 bag 32 oz frozen tater tots
- Green Onions or chives for garnish if desired
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
- Spray a 13×9 baking dish with cooking spray
- In a heavy skillet on stove top, cook sausage, drain and set aside
- Cook bacon, remove from pan and set on cutting board
- Drain pan and wipe clean
- Add oil to pan and heat
- Cook peppers until soft, remove from pan and drain if necessary
- In a large bowl, whisk eggs
- Add milk, 1 ½ cups cheddar and swiss cheeses, and seasonings, whisk until well combined
- Stir in peppers, sausage and bacon
- Pour into prepared 13×9 baking dish
- Top with Tater Tots
- Bake for 50-55 minutes or until bubbly and eggs are set
- Remove from oven and add additional cheese, if desired
- Return to baking for 3-4 minutes or until cheese is melted and bubbly
- Remove from oven to wire rack, let set 5-10 minutes before serving
Notes
You can also cook the sausage, bacon and peppers ahead of time to make assembly go faster.
I made this this morning and it was great. Unfortunately my oven is so hot and it had a bit of crust on the bottom but the back of oven side not so much. Will definitely be making it again.
So delicious!!!!
I replaced the sausage for thin sliced ham from the deli, used almost a pound, topped the ham with a little Italian blend cheese and then some slices of Colby cheese. Mixed up the eggs and milk, I didn’t have any peppers so I omitted them, but next time I will be sure to add them since I love red and green peppers. Topped the egg mixture with frozen tator times, put in the fridge at night. This morning I let it come to room temperature about 20 minutes and mine was done in 47 minutes. The tots were nicely browned and crunchy. I took this to church with me this morning and everyone raved about it, came home with an empty dish. I would definitely make this again, So good!!!!
Perfect for weekday mornings to heat up for a quick breakfast or brunch on the weekends!