Recipe Overview
Why you’ll love it: Loaded with turkey sausage and cheese, delicious crescent roll breakfast casserole is an easy entrée for breakfast or brunch. It’s hearty enough for dinner, too!
How long it takes: 15 minutes to prep and 40 minutes in the oven
Equipment you’ll need: large skillet, mixing bowl, 9 x 13 inch baking dish, oven
Servings: 12
Breakfast casseroles are one of my favorite meals! They’re filling, easy to prepare, and involve all good things like eggs (which I love), cheese (who doesn’t love cheese?), and sausage. I love to go out for breakfast but I’ll be staying at home for this crescent roll breakfast casserole.
About this breakfast casserole
Lots of protein. To be perfectly honest, I often make this breakfast casserole for dinner. “Brinner” or “din-fast”? I think we’ll call it brinner. Crescent roll breakfast casserole is hearty, with lots of protein from sausage, eggs, and cheese. It makes a great filling dinner, satisfying even the hungriest appetites.
It’s easy to make! Many breakfast casserole recipes, like overnight French toast, involve cubing bread, soaking the bread with milk and eggs, and letting everything set in the fridge overnight. You’ll love that you can put this casserole together in the morning (or whenever you want to enjoy it!) and it’s ready to eat in about 45 minutes.
Easy to find ingredients. To make this layered breakfast casserole, I use refrigerated crescent rolls (the kind that come in a tube!). They’re so convenient and they keep well in the fridge, ready to use when you are. My kids love these rolls! I hate to say it, but my son is known to stuff an entire roll into his mouth in one giant bite. I wouldn’t recommend doing that, though.
Ingredient Notes
- Breakfast Sausage: Either turkey sausage or pork sausage work fine. Buy the bulk sausage that comes in a tube or in a package, not links.
- Crescent Rolls: Use the refrigerated crescent roll dough. If you can find it, the crescent roll dough that comes in a sheet will make things even easier. If you really, really love crescent rolls, serve this casserole with “homemade” crescent roll cinnamon rolls. They’re so easy and taste like bakery cinnamon rolls!
- Mozzarella Cheese: The casserole boasts two kinds of cheese. The mozzarella cheese adds the gooey cheese texture that everyone loves.
- Cheddar Cheese: …And sharp cheddar cheese gives lots of great flavor.
- Eggs: You’ll need 8 eggs for this breakfast casserole.
- Milk: Either whole milk or 2% milk work best. Lowfat or skim milk aren’t quite as creamy and the casserole may turn out a bit watery.
- Ground Mustard: Just a bit of ground mustard adds a layer of flavor that is nearly indiscernible but you would miss if if it wasn’t there.
- Black Pepper: There’s no salt added to the dish because the sausage and cheese can be salty. Black pepper adds just the right amount of seasoning.
How To Make This Breakfast Bake
Begin by preheating your oven. It shouldn’t take you more than 15 minutes to get this dish in the oven. Grease a 9 x13 inch baking dish by spraying it lightly with nonstick spray or buttering.
Next, brown the breakfast sausage in a skillet.
Make Ahead Tip
If you’re a food prepper like me, you’ll have the sausage cooked ahead of time and in the fridge. If I’m standing by the stove cooking something else, why not get another skillet going and get that sausage browned up and ready to use?Unroll the crescent roll dough into the prepared pan. It should cover the bottom nicely. Press out the seams, unless you bought crescent dough sheets with no seams which makes this process even easier.
Spread the cooked sausage over the crescent roll crust. If you’d like to add veggies to your breakfast casserole, now’s the time to do it. Keep reading for suggestions.
Sprinkle on the two kinds of shredded cheese: sharp cheddar and mozzarella. One cheese has tons of flavor, and the other one cheese gives lots of gooey goodness.
In a mixing bowl, whisk eggs, milk, dry mustard, and pepper. Pour this mixture over the eggs and pop the casserole into the oven. So easy! Sit down and enjoy a cup of coffee while it bakes. Maybe even take your shower or catch up on social media.
Bake the casserole 35 to 40 minutes. It will be nicely browned on the top. Give it a little shake and if the middle isn’t all jiggly, it’s ready to serve. To test it, insert a table knife into the center. If it comes out clean, without a coating of eggy milk, your casserole is finished baking.
Let it set 5 to 10 minutes to cool a bit and set up.
Call in the hungry hordes and dig in! Serve it with a citrus salad or a kale salad, with hash browns (try my air fryer sweet potato hash) or roasted potatoes to round out the meal.
Recipe Variations
- Add veggies! If you like to add veggie nutrition to your breakfast, add chopped broccoli (one crown) to the casserole. Use frozen or fresh. Other great add-ins are red or green bell peppers, sweet onions, spinach, or asparagus. It’s up to you whether you want to sauté the veggies or not. It depends how crisp you like them. Mushrooms are delicious, too, but definitely brown those with the sausage before adding them to the casserole. Mushrooms have a lot of moisture and browning will cause them to release all that moisture. You don’t want a soggy, watery casserole!
- Try different meats or make it vegetarian. Not crazy about turkey sausage? Use pork sausage, chorizo, cubed ham, or crumbled cooked bacon. Or, leave the meat out and add veggies to make this a vegetarian entree.
- Different kinds of cheese will work. Have fun experimenting! Use what you love or happen to have in the house.
- Not a fan of canned rolls? Try my breakfast casserole with sausage and spinach, made with day-old bread or my hash brown breakfast casserole.
Mornings can be busy so it’s a good idea to get a head start on things. The sausage can be browned at least a day or two ahead of time and stored in the fridge, or even frozen. Make sure the cheese is grated and ready to go. The eggs, milk, ground mustard, and black pepper can whisked together and stored in the fridge overnight, too. It won’t take any time at all to get your breakfast bake in the oven!
Have leftovers? Hurray! Now you’ll have another great meal to look forward to. Refrigerate: Store leftover crescent roll breakfast casserole in the fridge for up to 3 days.
Reheat: Gently reheat each serving individually in the microwave. Small serving size pieces reheat better; otherwise, you may end up with overheated edges and cool middles.
Free Meal Plan
Interested in a weekly meal plan that includes this recipe? Take a look at my Meal Plan #6 or Meal Plan #84. You’ll find a wholesome recipe for each weekday plus a categorized grocery list. Let me do the planning for you this week! We add a new meal plan weekly.
More Brunch Recipes
Crescent Roll Breakfast Casserole with Turkey Sausage
Ingredients
- 1 pound turkey breakfast sausage
- 1 tube (8 ounces) refrigerated crescent rolls
- 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese (part-skim)
- 1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
- 8 large eggs
- 1 ½ cups milk (2% or whole)
- ½ teaspoon ground mustard
- ¼ teaspoon coarse ground black pepper, or to taste
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375°F. In a large skillet over medium-high heat, cook sausage until cooked through and no longer pink, breaking it up into crumbles as it cooks.1 pound turkey breakfast sausage
- Spray a 9 x 13 inch baking dish with nonstick cooking spray or grease with butter. Unroll crescent roll dough into pan and press together seams and perforations. Sprinkle cooked sausage on top of dough, followed by both types of cheese.1 tube (8 ounces) refrigerated crescent rolls, 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese (part-skim), 1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together eggs, milk, ground mustard, and black pepper. Pour over sausage and eggs.8 large eggs, 1 ½ cups milk, ½ teaspoon ground mustard, ¼ teaspoon coarse ground black pepper, or to taste
- Bake for 35 to 40 minutes or until set and no longer liquid in the middle.
- Let stand for 5 to 10 minutes before slicing and serving.
Notes
- Store leftovers in a covered container in the fridge for 2 to 3 days.
- Add vegetables: Add chopped broccoli (one head) to the casserole. There’s no need to cook the broccoli first. Use frozen or fresh. Other great add-ins are red or green bell peppers, sweet onions, spinach, or asparagus. Mushrooms are delicious, too, but brown those with sausage before adding them to the casserole.
- Instead of turkey sausage: Substitute pork sausage, chorizo, cubed ham, or crumbled cooked bacon.
- Make it vegetarian: Omit the meat and add your choice of veggies instead.
- Try different kinds of cheese.
- Adapted from Taste of Home.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Did You Make This?Share a comment and rating below! I love hearing what you think!
looks so delicious!
Thanks Denise!