Breakfast Casserole with Sausage and Spinach
Easy and delicious, breakfast casserole with sausage and spinach can be made the night before. Enjoy it for breakfast, lunch, or dinner!
I love to cook with my mom. Whenever we spend time together, half of it is spent in the kitchen. We were cooking together this past weekend and she said, “Isn’t it fun to cook with other people?”
I said yes almost without thinking, but then after taking a moment to think about it, I realized that my mom is one of the only people who I truly enjoy cooking with.
I can be a bit of a control freak, but with my mom that is never an issue. We have similar styles, we communicate well, and we can easily divide tasks without even a discussion. We love choosing recipes together, modifying them to fit our tastes, shopping for the best ingredients, and then preparing the meals for our family. We also really trust each other in the kitchen.
I also learned most of what I know about cooking from my mom, which likely contributes to the similar cooking styles. We don’t share the exact same taste for everything but we both share a passionate love of cooking and baking.
As you can probably guess by the photo, this weekend we were baking for a birthday party, making cake pops and pretty in pink cupcakes, but we started the day with this delicious breakfast casserole with sausage and spinach.
This recipe is one that my mom always makes on Christmas morning/afternoon for brunch. While a breakfast casserole is great for special occasions, we enjoy it all year round. A perfect savory breakfast, this casserole with sausage and spinach is hearty enough for dinner, too.
I like to make a big 9 x 13 pan for dinner, and then hubs and I eat it for breakfast during the week. It’s just as good reheated and you can’t beat a yummy hot casserole that can be warmed up in the microwave in a snap.
Another thing I really love about this casserole is that you can prepare it hours ahead, even the night before, and bake it when you’re ready.
It’s a great way to use leftover stale bread. I consider stale bread a treasure. I use it to make this breakfast casserole, or homemade croutons, which are tons better than packaged croutons. Use stale bread to make an amazing asparagus panzanella salad.
Make this breakfast casserole your own by substituting your favorite veggies for the spinach. Try red or green bell peppers, onions, mushrooms, or broccoli. You can use a different kind of cheese. Try feta or Swiss. Substitute ham for the sausage, or use turkey sausage. Omit the meat and make it vegetarian.
More breakfast ideas:
Enjoy these breakfast ideas for lunch and dinner, too. Try:
Breakfast Casserole with Sausage and Spinach
Easy and delicious, breakfast casserole with sausage and spinach can be made the night before. Enjoy it for breakfast, lunch, or dinner!
Ingredients
- 16 oz. sausage roll (pork or turkey), uncooked
- 4 cups fresh baby spinach, loosely packed
- 8 eggs
- 2 1/2 cups milk (any kind)
- 1 1/2 teaspoons dry mustard powder
- 8 slices white bread, cut into cubes, almost stale bread is best!
- 2 cups grated cheddar cheese, divided
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Lightly spray a 9 x 13 glass baking dish with cooking spray.
- Brown sausage in a large frying pan over medium-high heat and drain well. Spread on the bottom of the baking dish.
- Wilt spinach in the same pan over medium heat, covered, tossing occasionally, for a couple of minutes. Arrange spinach over the sausage layer. Sprinkle on 1 cup of cheese.
- Place bread cubes on top of spinach.
- In a large bowl beat eggs, milk, salt, pepper and dry mustard powder together. Pour over bread and sausage. Press bread down a little if needed so that it is all moistened by the egg mixture. Sprinkle remaining cheese over the top.
- Bake for 45 minutes or until set. Remove from oven and let stand for a five minutes before serving.
- Make ahead: Prepare breakfast casserole, as directed, but don't bake. Cover tightly, and refrigerate several hours or overnight. Increase baking time slightly.
Notes
- Use white or whole wheat bread. I like to use a combination of white and wheat bread.
- You can substitute pretty much anything for the vegetables and meat. Try: Sausage and Mushroom, Ham and Broccoli, or Spinach, Red Peppers & Feta.
- Substitute your favorite cheese for the cheddar.
- Vegetarian? Omit the sausage, and increase the veggies.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 8 Serving Size: 1 pieceAmount Per Serving: Calories: 560Total Fat: 34gSaturated Fat: 12gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 20gCholesterol: 249mgSodium: 850mgCarbohydrates: 37gFiber: 2gSugar: 3gProtein: 25g
RachelCooks.com sometimes provides nutritional information, but these figures should be considered estimates, as they are not calculated by a registered dietitian. Please consult a medical professional for any specific nutrition, diet, or allergy advice.
Husband’s take: He loves, loves, loves it when I make this and he can eat it before work. Sometimes I’ll make it as a dinner too, but he prefers breakfast for breakfast (not me–I love breakfast for dinner!).
Changes I would make: No changes other than experimenting with different meats and veggies.
Difficulty: So easy!
32 Comments on “Breakfast Casserole with Sausage and Spinach”
It made me smile seeing this recipe! I just discovered your blog via Pinterest!! I also make this casserole but only on Christmas so it is “special,” then finish it off the next few days. I have never thought to add spinach, definitely going to try this year!So glad I found your yummy blog!
How neat that you make this on Christmas too! Thanks for commenting :)
I make this dish often,and never thought to add spinach! Great idea! We have it on Christmas morning with my Dad’s sausage balls. Yum! Making tomorrow with him in his kitchen! Thanks!
Ha! I’m totally a control freak too. So is my mom. We don’t really cook together much, especially since she’s in Seattle and I’m in DC. But we do chat about the dishes we make.
Love the cheesy goodness on the top of the casserole.
Sure hope your sending out all the cupcakes that are leftover. You wouldn’t want to have to eat them by yourself! I think I just recently read you thru away some goodies so you wouldn’t eat them. Just send them my way :)
I love cooking with my mom too – especially since she is so good at the clean-up part :) This casserole looks delish – perfect for a weekend brunch!
Thank you, honey, for your wonderful comments! I love cooking with you, too, and talking about cooking is great, too. I love your blog and enjoy reading it and telling other people about it. I’m so proud of you! Love you!
Definitely love a good breakfast dish! I love cooking with my mom too except I am the {crazy} control freak while she is more relaxed. She helps keep me chill, usually!
My mom and I are exactly the same way! Whenever I go home, we cook and bake together all day. One of my favorite things to do with her :)
I’m totally that girl too! I wish my mom were still here for me to cook with, it’s lovely that you have that to share.
I make a similar breakfast casserole at Christmas and love it!
How many people did you invite to your 1 year olds’ party? Holy cakepops Batman!
Ha! We had a lot of leftovers. Also, since people don’t RSVP (yes, still a little annoyed), I had no idea what to plan for. I was planning for between 20 and 50–fun! ;)
I wish I could dive into the that casserole!
How fun cooking with your mom! This looks fantastic! We always make a breakfast casserole for Christmas morning and I love this version! Looking forward to trying this.
Breakfast casserole is one of those dishes that I grew up eating. We would have it for all holidays and then have it for any breakfast dinners we would do for the football players (yep, i was a cheerleader) anyway, it brings back good old memories and there are always so many different versions. I need to try yours next time. It sounds amazing
Aw, that’s so sweet you love cooking with your mom. Love this casserole- so perfect for holiday breakfasts!
My mom make something like this on Christmas eve, too! It’s so good we usually live of it (along with heaps of christmas candy) for days on days :)
This looks great! I honestly don’t cook with a lot of people in the kitchen. When my best friend comes to visit I do like cooking with her though. We usually mix baking with drinking….always fun :)
That looks awesome! I also love cooking with my mom – my sisters and my girls. :) It’s fun…sometimes a little stressful and messy but always memorable!
yummy looking breakfast! I’d eat it any time of the day :)
How fun to bake and cook with your mom!! I’m staying with my mom for a few weeks right now, and we haven’t even had a chance to cook together. But we did look through cookbooks last night!! This breakfast looks so good!
Somehow, I’ve never, ever had a breakfast casserole, not even for Christmas. Every year I tell myself that *this* will be the holiday that I’ll be prepared and a breakfast ready to go, but I never do. I’m going to try your recipe sometime over the holidays. It looks wonderful!
Looks like the perfect brunch recipe.
I’m a bit like you, not too good at trusting other people in the kitchen. I have to bite my tongue when the man is cooking. Better that he’s in there giving it a go than not at all!
This looks great-I love recipes like this that you can make for a crowd. I am definitely saving this one!
Looks fantastic Rachel! I think it’s fabulous that you love cooking with your Mom. I loved cooking with mine too!! Great post darlin!
xoxo
Heather
Looks great! We love breakfast for dinner. I think the spinach and feta variation sounds fantastic.
Breakfast casserole makes my decisions for me.
i’m a kitchen hog :) but i do love cooking with family!
Love that you love to cook with your Mom!
This looks SO delicious! I love breakfast casseroles (one of my best friends from college makes a mean French toast casserole), and this seems like the perfect use for the breakfast sausage I have in my fridge. Can’t wait to try it! :)
My favorite person to cook with is my sister, but we live two and a half hours away from each other, so we don’t get to do it very often. Your breakfast casserole looks great; I’m with you, I think it would be a great dinner!
Sounds fantastic! I love that picture of your Mom. :) It’s so great that you can cook together!