Tater Tot Breakfast Casserole – Simply 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 made on a weeknight for brinner! This recipe serves 12.

If I have one guilty non-from-scratch pleasure, it’s tater tots.

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

So imagine my glee when I was introduce to this tater tot breakfast casserole. It was 2016-ish and it was our close friends son’s 5th birthday brunch. My plate overflowed with pancake nutella kebabs, fruit salad and tater tot casserole. After my first forkful of the tot casserole, I turned to my friend and begged kindly asked her for the recipe. She must think I lived under a rock because I’d never had it before.😂

So believe me when I tell you this tot casserole is freaking amazing. We’re talking browned breakfast sausage baked in eggs, topped with gooey, melty cheese, crispy golden tater tots, 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 – Lends distinct smoky flavor.
• yellow onion – Lends delicious onion flavor.
• ground breakfast sausage – Use regular or spicy!
• eggs – Pull these out 30 minutes ahead of time to bring to room temperature or place in a bowl of lukewarm water.
• milk – Gives this dish a custard-like texture.
• kosher salt – Enhances the flavors in this recipe.
• freshly ground black pepper – Lends distinct bite and flavor.
• cheddar jack cheese – Freshly shredded is best!
• tater tots crispy crowns – Or substitute with regular tater tots.
• fresh parsley – Lends a pop of green and fresh herbaceous flavor.
• sliced green onion – Adds a subtle fresh onion flavor.

Preheat your oven to 350°.

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

Add 6 strips of bacon into a skillet. Heat over medium to medium-low and cook until slightly crispy. They will further crisp in the oven later on. Once cooked, transfer bacon to a paper towel lined plate and drain all but 1 teaspoon of bacon fat from the pan.

Once cool, finely chop.

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

Add 1 pound ground breakfast sausage to the skillet. Crumble with a wooden spatula and cook until it’s no longer pink.

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

Transfer the cooked breakfast sausage to a paper towel lined plate to drain any excess fat.

Meanwhile, in a large bowl crack and add in 8 eggs. To that pour in 1 cup of milk, season with a pinch or two of salt and some freshly ground black pepper.

Whisk until thoroughly combined.

Build The Casserole:

Once the sausage is cooked and drained of fat, place it in the bottom of the prepared baking dish.

Pour the egg mixture over top of the sausage.

Sprinkle 1 cup of the cheese over top.

Then arrange the frozen tots over top.

Slide the pan onto the middle rack of your preheated oven and bake for 30 minutes. Be sure to rotate the pan halfway through baking to ensure even cooking.

After the 30 minutes are up, sprinkle with the remaining 1 cup of cheese and the finely chopped bacon pieces over the tots and return the casserole back to the oven for 10 more minutes.

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

I sprinkled this with a little chopped fresh parsley and finely sliced green onions.

Serve with ketchup or hot sauce.

Make Ahead Instructions:

If making this the night before, stop right before adding the tater tots. The tots should stay frozen up until you’re ready to bake. The morning of pull the baking dish out of the fridge while the oven preheats. Top with the tater tots and follow the remaining recipe instructions. Since coming straight out of the fridge, it may need a little extra time in the oven for the eggs to set, so bake the 30 minutes and if not set, bake in additional 5 minute increments until set, then proceed with the remaining recipe.

Enjoy! And if you give this Tater Tot Breakfast Casserole recipe a try, let me know! Snap a photo and tag me on twitter or instagram!