Breakfast Casserole with Sausage and Spinach
Posted: 11/09/2011
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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:
Did you make this? Be sure to leave a review below and tag me @rachelcooksblog on Facebook, Instagram, or Pinterest!
servings
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
Serving: 1piece, Calories: 560kcal, Carbohydrates: 37g, Protein: 25g, Fat: 34g, Saturated Fat: 12g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 20g, Cholesterol: 249mg, Sodium: 850mg, Fiber: 2g, Sugar: 3g
This website provides approximate nutrition information for convenience and as a courtesy only. Nutrition data is gathered primarily from the USDA Food Composition Database, whenever available, or otherwise other online calculators.
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!
Jody V says
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!
Rachel says
How neat that you make this on Christmas too! Thanks for commenting :)
30AEATS (@fromagechick) says
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!
Olga @ MangoTomato says
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.
Karriann Graf says
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 :)
Taylor says
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!
Mom says
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!
Krista {Budget Gourmet Mom} says
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!
The Elegant Eggplant says
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 :)
Candy says
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!
Lauren says
How many people did you invite to your 1 year olds’ party? Holy cakepops Batman!
Rachel says
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! ;)
Sommer@ASpicyPerspective says
I wish I could dive into the that casserole!
Jennifer @ Mother Thyme says
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.
Kitchen Belleicious says
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
Winnie says
Aw, that’s so sweet you love cooking with your mom. Love this casserole- so perfect for holiday breakfasts!
Ashley@BakerbyNature says
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 :)