Make-Ahead Overnight Tater Tot Breakfast Casserole
This make-ahead overnight tater tot breakfast casserole is loaded with tater tots, sausage, eggs, veggies and cheese. It is a delicious, hearty, make-ahead breakfast!
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ This was a big hit Christmas morning but will definitely be added to my year round rotation. I loved the how the tater tots turned into soft potatoes. So tasty!! Thanks Mel! -Michelle
Why You’ll Love This Breakfast Casserole
There is so much to love about this popular overnight breakfast casserole. I’ve detailed a few of the merits below:
- It is assembled 12-18 hours before you need to bake it, so it makes a perfect make-ahead breakfast option.
- However, it can also be baked right away. The tater tots don’t soften quite as much when baking right away, but many people have made it that way (including myself), and it works great.
- The make-ahead option means it is a perfect holiday breakfast or for when you are hosting company that doesn’t require you to wake up at 4 a.m. to get breakfast on the table.
- It is delicious for breakfast OR dinner.
Ingredients You’ll Need
Also included in the ingredient details below are several easy substitutions.
- Breakfast sausage: Sausage is our favorite meat to use in this casserole, but other meats can easily be substituted or added, like chopped ham or cooked bacon. The casserole can also be made meatless.
- Bell peppers + onions: These two ingredients cook with the sausage. The vegetables are adaptable. Sub other veggies in or out, based on taste preferences or what you have on hand.
- Eggs: The recipe calls for six large eggs. You can add more eggs (up to 10) for a higher egg-to-potato ratio (if doing so, the casserole will need to bake quite a bit longer).
- Milk + Sour cream: These ingredients are blended with the eggs and add a creamy texture to the filling.
- Tater tots: You’ll need a 24-ounce bag of tater tots for this recipe. They don’t need to be thawed first.
- Shredded cheese: I prefer using a combination of Monterey Jack and cheddar.
For serving: this breakfast casserole is delicious served with salsa and sour cream on top, and it can also be garnished with chopped green onions and chives after baking.
How to Make Overnight Tater Tot Breakfast Casserole
- Scatter the tater tots in a single layer in the bottom of a 9X13-inch pan. It’s ok if there’s a few gaps and holes. No one is going to notice you’re carefully arranged pattern after it all bakes, so just toss them in.
- Cook the sausage, peppers and onions in a skillet. Drain the grease.
- Whisk or blend together the eggs, milk, sour cream, salt and pepper until smooth.
- Sprinkle the sausage and veggies over the tater tots.
- Sprinkle cheese evenly across the top.
- Pour the egg mixture over all the other ingredients.
- Cover the dish with lightly greased foil and refrigerate (overnight, up to 18 hours).
- Bake and serve warm.
A Favorite Breakfast
This egg and tater tot casserole has been a breakfast staple for us for almost ten years. It appears nearly every Christmas morning, and several of my kids request it on their birthdays, too.
It is filling and hearty and ever so delicious. We often enjoy it for dinner, too!
I love how easy it is to make and how adaptable it is! I throw it together using inspiration (and what’s available in the fridge!) as my guide. Every single variation has been devoured with nary a complaint. This is definitely a tried-and-true keeper of a recipe!
Make-Ahead Overnight Tater Tot Breakfast Casserole
Ingredients
- 12 to 16 ounces breakfast sausage (see note)
- 1 cup small diced bell peppers, any color
- ½ cup small diced onion
- 6 large eggs (see note)
- 1 cup milk
- ½ cup sour cream
- ½ teaspoon salt
- Pinch of black pepper
- 24 ounces (about 6 cups) frozen tater tots
- 1 cup (114 g) grated cheddar cheese
- 1 cup (114 g) grated Monterey Jack cheese
- Chopped green onion or chives, for garnish (optional)
- Sour cream and salsa, for serving (optional)
Instructions
- In a large skillet over medium heat, cook the sausage, peppers and onions, crumbling the sausage into small pieces as it cooks, until it is no longer pink and cooked through and the veggies are tender. Drain the grease (you can let the sausage/veggies hang out in the skillet for a minute or remove them to a plate).
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, sour cream, salt and pepper until smooth.
- Lightly grease a 9X13-inch baking pan. Place the tater tots in a single layer across the bottom of the pan. (Use only as many tater tots as will fit in a single layer).
- Sprinkle sausage over the tater tots followed by the veggies. Sprinkle cheese evenly across the top.
- Pour the egg mixture evenly over and across the top. Cover the dish with lightly greased foil and refrigerate (overnight, up to 18 hours). OR you can bake it right away. The tater tots won’t break down quite as much, but it is still delicious.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Bake covered for 25 minutes. Uncover and bake 20-25 minutes longer until golden, bubbly, and set. Add additional time, as needed, until the center of the casserole is no longer runny. Sprinkle with green onions or chives, if using. Serve warm.
Notes
Recommended Products
Recipe Source: from Mel’s Kitchen Cafe
Instead of the sour cream, could I use Greek yogurt? Love the casserole! Made it for Christmas morning!
Yes, I think so
Has anyone made this two days ahead?
I was wondering if I could leave out the sour cream? I’m not a fan of it or what does the sour cream add to the dish? Could you recommend a substitute?
You could try leaving it out and increasing the milk a bit or adding a bit of cream cheese?
Can I substitute hash browns for the tater tots?
You could definitely try! I haven’t tried that, but I think it stands a good chance of working
We loved this!
Can I freeze this? Would you before baking or after?
I recommend baking and then freezing (otherwise it might take on a soggier texture).
Can you make it ahead and freeze it?
Yes
If you freeze it, how long would you cook it? Would you thaw it in the fridge the day before?
I would thaw before baking, if possible. It will bake more evenly that way and much more quickly.
Thanks for another great recipe. We all gobbled it up!
I love making this casserole for the purpose of making breakfast burritos. I wrap the burritos in some plastic wrap, put them in a gallon ziploc and toss them into the freezer. Then I have a quick breakfast burrito option for my family on a busy school morning! I’ll put a couple burritos in the fridge the night before to defrost then I just give it a quick zap in the microwave when we’re ready to eat them.
This weekend we had a big family breakfast before taking our daughter back to college. I couldn’t find my go-to tater tot breakfast casserole. Such a bummer…BUT, I searched your recipes and saw this one. I now have a new go-to. 🙂 It was easy to put together the morning of and it baked beautifully. The sour cream gave the middle a creaminess that I loved. Another winner!
Question: can I partially bake it one night and then finish baking it the next morning? I have a timing situation for a brunch I’m hosting and wanted to get some advice/guidance on this. My thought was to assemble it and bake it for 30 minutes then cover it tightly with foil and put it in the refrigerator overnight. Then the next morning put it back in the oven for another 30 minutes uncovered. What are your thoughts about this idea? Thank you!
Hmmm, that’s a good question…I worry the eggs might have a funny texture (or even concerns about food safety/temperatures) by pre cooking, not knowing if the eggs will cook all the way. I think you could bake it all the way and just warm it up the morning of?
Our go-to make ahead breakfast!
I love breakfast casseroles… and this one, by far, is my favorite! It’s good plain, but using sausage as the meat and adding homemade “Cafe Rio” dressing and avocado is our families favorite method.
I made this for my daughter’s graduation brunch. I made with Ranch dip instead of sour cream because that’s what I had in the fridge. It was delish! Everyone loved it!
I’ve made this several times and it’s always a hit. I like to use red bell pepper, jalapeño, red onion, and add chopped cilantro. I like to use heavy cream instead of milk just to make the eggs a little fluffier.
Just wanted to report that I didn’t have enough tots to fill the dish so I mixed it with frozen French fries and it was still great! Haha
Love this recipe! So tasty. I used the ten egg suggestion and was baking it right after making it, and doing it that way required a lot more time. I finally did the overnight method and I still needed to cook it longer than stated but much less than when I cook it without letting it sit overnight. I followed the recipe as written.
I can’t say that this was my favorite egg bake. I used breakfast sausage which lost its flavor when baked so I mostly tasted the fried taste of the tater tots. I am not a lover of hash browns so maybe this was not the egg bake for me. Once I added Salsa verde and sour cream as a topping it really added some zip.
I made this with breakfast sausage but I don’t think the spice was strong enough. The fried taste of the tater tots sort of overwhelmed it as well. It needs salsa & sour cream on top to really hit the mark. So if you have people who don’t like Mexican flavors for breakfast another egg bake might be better sited for them.
I made this for Christmas morning using ham & bacon — my family LOVED it!! It’s so easy & convenient to make ahead, I’m sure this will be making an appearance at family get-togethers on a regular basis. Thanks so much for the great receipes, Mel! Keep them coming!
I made this for Christmas morning using ham & bacon — my family LOVED it!! It’s so easy & convenient to make ahead, I’m sure this will be making an appearance at family get-togethers on a regular basis. Thanks so much for the great receipes, Mel! Keep them coming!
This was a great casserole to serve for breakfast ( and we’re looking forward to having the leftovers!). Easy to follow directions and very delicious!
As someone who doesn’t really enjoy eggs or casseroles I actually loved this. This recipe is more than the sum of its parts and my husband said it was one his top ten fave things I’ve ever made (and I cook a LOT). Amazing, easy recipe that is going in our regular rotation! Thanks, Mel. Only you could get me to eats eggs and casserole!
family loved this recipe
Hi Mel! I am wanting to make this for a “Breakfast for Lunch” potluck at work. Do you think it would work to assemble it the night before and then cook in the slow cooker in the morning for a few hours before lunch? Thanks!
I haven’t tried that, but I think it should work!
3 hours on high was perfect!
Great recipe, adaptable to any meat/cheese combo. I have used sausage, ham, even chorizo. Always delish!
This is our new favorite egg casserole! We love baking it and eating some as a casserole and then stuffing tortillas with some to make breakfast burritos which we normally freeze.
Made this for a marching band breakfast and got rave reviews. Made 8x the recipe in 4 catering pans. It took longer to bake, of course, but turned out perfectly.
Such a popular and useful idea to adapt a delicious recipe.
I love this recipe! It is tasty and filling for a crowd. I also like to make it for one serving of breakfast for the kids and then I use the leftovers to make breakfast burritos for the freezer. I just wrap a couple of spoonfuls into my favorite tortilla, fold it up, then wrap it in plastic wrap. I put all the individually wrapped burritos into a gallon size ziploc bag and toss them in the freezer. Then I can take them out as needed to heat up in the microwave. It helps me get a warm, filling breakfast into my kids on a busy school morning!
Oh, and living in New Mexico, I always swap out the peppers for diced, roasted green chiles from Hatch! Mmmmm….
I served this at a family reunion this past weekend. It was a huge hit with everyone! I made one pan with sausage, onions and peppers, one with bacon, onions and peppers, and one with sausage and onions (no peppers). All three pans got devoured and peeled were raving. 🙂 The vote with our crowd was for the one without peppers, but all three were delicious. We served them with salsa, sour cream and guacamole. Yum! Thanks again for another great one, Mel!
Could you freeze this somehow before cooking?
I have frozen it in individual portions after baking. Then the night before take out and thaw. The next morning I take it out and warm it in the oven for about 20 minutes. Wrapped in aluminum foil. Works great.
This has become one of our go-to recipes! I would recommend seasoned tater tots (Hy-Vee calls them Potato Puffs) – I also increase eggs to 10 and add veggies to feed more people.
This is a family favorite, I love the tater tot base and the egg mixture, I make two Southwestern versions – one with breakfast sausage and 14oz green chilies (drained). Most recently, I’ve been using chorizo sausage and that’s been a huge hit! Thanks for another winner!
This is my all time favorite egg bake. I always increase the eggs to 10, and add extra veggies. Thanks for a great recipe!
This was a hit with adults and kids! I made it for Christmas day brunch and served it with cinnamon rolls and fruit. We aren’t big breakfast sausage fans, so I diced up a ham steak and sautéed it with the peppers/onions. I used one yellow pepper and half an onion, and next time I’ll add another pepper because the flavor is great! Added diced green onion on top for a little freshness. I’ll definitely make this again!
Soooo delicious!!! I make this for Christmas morning and any other holiday that I want something quick and simple but delicious. So so tasty! I add 8 eggs and it’s perfect. Thank you Mel! Whenever someone asks if I have a good recipe I always say, “let’s see what my girlfriend Mel has” You’re the best!
This is definitely one of our favorites here. I’ve switched to baking this in my cupcake pan to speed up the baking. This makes it much more doable on school mornings!
Great – Great recipe! It is now in my forever recipe file! Mine took 1.5 hours to cook but I did not soak them overnight – didn’t have time. Next time I will try the overnight version. Hubby raved and raved how GREAT it was! Thank you a keeper for sure!
We’ve been making this ever since the recipe came out and we love it. It’s so versatile! We’ve tried it with both tater tots and with frozen hashbrowns, and both are great. We’ve chilled overnight, but usually aren’t that prepared, and it works fine going right into the oven. We love it with a can of diced chiles. Works with all kinds of cheeses. We’ve even used some leftover, chewy bits of (almost inedible) ham and it rehydrated them a little and cooked up great. Sometimes we’ve added extra eggs to stretch it a bit. And we rarely have sour cream on hand, so whisk in plain yogurt. That works too! Seriously, delicious and versatile. It’s in the oven right now for breakfast for dinner, so the whole family is excited. It’s a winner. Thanks Mel!!
My kids said this was the BEST egg casserole I have ever made! The tots really sealed the deal for us. Thank you!
Would it be possible to freeze this meal?
Yes, it freezes great!
Can you make this and freeze to bake later?
By the way, your recipes are awesome! 🙂
Hi Renee, I haven’t frozen it to bake later, but it’s definitely worth a try!
Hi! Did you try freezing this? Im wondering the same thing. Thanks!
Do you have the nutritional info on this recipe, generally speaking. I know it will vary based on the meats and tots, cheeses. But I just need a general idea for my points 🙂
Do you have the nutrition facts for this recipe…specifically the carbs and fat?
Hi Heather, I don’t have that information currently, but I am adding the nutrition info to all my recipes in the next few months.
I’m cooking for a crowd. If I were to stick two 9×13 dishes in my oven at one time, would I need to adjust the time and temperature?
I don’t think so! Should be able to cook for the same time/temp.
Dear Mel,
You were right,,, this is, hands down, the best breakfast casserole I have served to overnight guests! (And I have made many overnight breakfast casserole recipes over the years.) And I have made many of “My Girl Mel” recipes over the years as well.
You never disappoint! Thank you!
I hope all is well with you and your family.
Warm Regards, Nancy
Made this for supper tonight. We had some mushrooms that needed using so I sautéed them first then mixed with the rest of ingredients. We made half a recipe( just 2 of us), and baked in a 8×8 dish. Came out great!
Alexia Potato Puff’s are amazing…they have rosemary in them…Delicious!!
I was going to suggest the same! There are no tater tots like them!
I made this for national tater tot day. My family loved it! I did use bacon instead of sausage tho just because I really don’t like sausage. And I added broccoli chopped very small. Super delicious!
I’ve been scrolling the comments forever trying to find someone to answer this:
Can I bake it (before a trip) then reheat the whole thing in oven while there? I don’t want to have to bake it that long or worry about the ingredients sloshing around in the car unbaked. I know it’s probably possible but I’m wondering if the tots will crisp up when reheated this way. I know reheating this in microwave is not crispy but perhaps in oven it would be?
I haven’t tried that, Amy, so I can’t say for sure, but I think it should work. My biggest concern is that if it’s been cooked and then reheated, it might dry out a bit. I’d cover with foil while reheating.
Have you made this at all before?
We adore this recipe, but “crispy” does not define this recipe in any way
The tater tots absorb all the moisture from the liquid and the eggs and become like a soft absorbent potato layer. They are not crispy tater tots in any way shape or form.
So if you were worried about preserving that aspect of it, don’t, because it didn’t exist in the original format anyhow