This Cheesy Tater Tot Breakfast Bake is simply irresistible! This tater tot casserole is make-ahead easy and tastes scrumptious! Satisfying and delish…a must try dish. Great breakfast-for-dinner, too!
I consider winter runners to be a teensy bit crazy.
We’re talking Minnesota winter; I always wear these genius running pants, quadruple layers, and a ski mask. So I can go running alongside the snow plowed roads, potentially taking a hard hit on the bum. (In front of all the drivers who will undoubtedly gasp and stare when I trip.)
Doesn’t sound like a party.
So it shocked even me when I decided to get my trusty running sneakers on pavement in January. A bit of crazy somehow seeped into my brain. I was/am needing a break from my love-hate relationship with the dreadmill at home. There’s only so many reruns of Master Chef that can keep me going.
Granted, my January runs have been in unexpectedly fantastic weather (everything is relative)… 20-30F is awesome for us this time of year.
Guess there’s a first for everything. Like tater tots in my breakfast.
Hello, Tater Tot Breakfast Casserole.
We’ve all seen or heard of the tater tot casserole. I’ve eaten a couple of them that sent me back for more.
But I never would have put them into my breakfast. Until I did.
I had worked with hash brown breakfast bakes and graduated to using hash brown patties. Naturally, my next step was tater tots.
One bite and I gave a woot woot to no one in particular. This tater tot casserole is so good, you’ll brag to yourself while eating.
My peeps and I were ridiculously smitten by this breakfast casserole.
Of course The Littles would love anything crowned with crispy tater tots. But Hubby and I (and every single grown-up we’ve ever encountered) are all just as eager to devour this breakfast of champions. The entire pan vanishes every single time.
This Cheesy Tater Tot Breakfast Bake is teeming with all our AM faves: breakfast sausage, bacon, cheese, eggs, and potatoes.
All layered in one irresistible breakfast casserole.
The best part, as always in my book, is the ease of this dish. With just a handful of simple ingredients, it’s perfect for weekends, holidays, and even breakfast-for-dinner.
If you’re not a morning person, I hear you with big elephant ears.
This tater tot casserole can easily be assembled the night before and popped into the oven the next morning for a hearty meal everyone loves waking up to.
Enjoy!
PrintCheesy Tater Tot Breakfast Bake
This Cheesy Tater Tot Breakfast Bake is super easy, can be prepped the night before, and incredibly delicious! Kids and grownups alike will devour this. Sure to be a family favorite.
- Prep Time: 15 mins
- Cook Time: 45 mins
- Total Time: 1 hour
- Yield: makes one 9x13 dish
- Category: breakfast, brunch
Ingredients
- 4 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled
- 1 lb ground breakfast sausage, no casings
- 2 1/2 cups sharp cheddar cheese, shredded, divided
- 2 cups whole milk
- 2 extra large eggs or 3 large eggs
- 1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
- 1/2 tsp onion powder
- pinch of table salt (1/8 tsp)
- 2 lbs frozen tater tots
- 3 TB freshly chopped parsley for garnish
Instructions
- In a very large skillet, cook sausage on medium high heat, breaking up the meat and browning it. Once cooked through, drain and layer onto the bottom of a 9×13 inch baking pan. Evenly sprinkle 2 cups of the cheese over cooked sausage.
- In a large bowl, hand-whisk together the milk, eggs, pepper, onion powder, and salt. Once mixed, pour evenly over the cheese and sausage in baking dish. Layer top with frozen tater tots. If not baking right away, cover tightly with foil and chill in fridge until the next morning.
- When ready to bake, set oven to 350F with rack on lower middle position. Once oven reaches 350F, place uncovered casserole in oven for about 35 minutes. Top with additional 1/2 cup cheese, cooked/crumbled bacon, and bake another 5-10 minutes or until sides are bubbling and top is golden brown. Garnish with chopped parsley, let rest at room temp 10 minutes, and serve.
Source: Chew Out Loud
Kitchen Essentials:
Best breakfast bakes ever:
1. Hash Brown Tomato Breakfast Bake. Unashamedly wonderful. Especially with the addition of tomatoes and spinach. It’s one of our best breakfast bakes ever.
2. English Muffin Breakfast Casserole. Can’t go wrong with English muffins, eggs, sausage, and bacon. It’s a crowd pleaser.
3. Enchilada Breakfast Bake. Get a bit of spicy on with this Tex Mex version of breakfast! It’s 120% addictive, and you’ll likely be asked for the recipe. Or you’ll be nominated to make it often.
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Craving all of the cheesy comforting flavour of this tater tot casserole now. I can’t think of a more delicious breakfast to have really!
Totally, Thalia! 🙂 🙂 🙂
Sorry I don’t know how to add my own comment. I have someone who is allergic to eggs, do you think this would be good without the eggs or would it be too runny? Thanks!
Megan, I suspect this recipe wouldn’t turn out the same without the eggs. The eggs are a key component to the end result. Not sure if you would be able to use egg substitute?
2 cups milk seems excessive
I thought the same thing.. but I made it this morning just as the directions stated and it turned out great!
Yay, so great to hear it, Lakin! 🙂 Thanks for taking the time to let us know you guys liked it!
2 cups was way too much for us. The casserole was a bit too runny. I will have to cut back quite a bit when I make this again. The flavors were good though. Thanks!
I don’t know HOW yours was so runny, EXCEPT did you cut into it as soon as you took it out of the oven?? You have to let it “set” for about 10-15 minutes when you make casseroles like this!! I just made it and it’s a HIT!! I ended up using 2 lbs of sausage, about 3 1/2 cups of cheese, and 5 slices of bacon, the rest same as the recipe!! And it’s PERFECT!
Oh sorry, I also used 5 large eggs too!! Lol
What is tater tots? , as we havent that in South Africa.
Alida, here is a link for what tater tots are:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tater_Tots
If you have hash browns or hash brown patties, that will also work. 🙂
Do you think it would cook slowly overnight in a crockpot?
Brandi, I’ve thought about trying that myself; would have to play with the cook time to ensure it doesn’t overcook, though. Would love to hear how it goes for you if you do try it! I have to say I love the crispy browned top from a baked oven, though 🙂
This was a HUGE hit with my family! Smelled so good while baking….and it was so delicious! I would NOT do this in slow cooker, as the crispness that the oven provides is one of the great parts of this casserole. My only changes I’d make would be to add more sausage…and a bit more bacon..and my son suggested that sliced mushrooms would be good. 🙂 But overall, this was top-notch (and so easy)!
Michelle, YAY, so glad you hear you guys loved this! I wouldn’t do it in a slow cooker either, as crispness of the top is awesome 🙂 Oooh, bacon and mushrooms sound fab to me! Thanks for coming over today…Happy New Year! 🙂
Couldn’t post an original comment so tagging on. I’m looking for a breakfast casserole that I can cook in the oven at a low temp for about 1 1/2 hours. If you were going to try this, what temp would you think (starting with a cold casserole made the night before)? I’m pondering 275.
This Cheesy Tater Tot Breakfast Bake, looks so good. Could you please
E-mail me this recipe. I have no way to print this.
[email protected]. Thank You again.
Screen shot it or take a picture
This sounds great for a weekend breakfast! Just to confirm the recipe, only 2 eggs and 2 cups milk?
Yes, that is correct, Stephanie! 🙂 I did modify to 2 XL eggs or 3 large… keeping a lower profile of eggs allows the taters to really crisp up and brown nicely. (When there are too many eggs, the taters will soak up all the eggs.) Enjoy and thanks for coming over today.
I keep thinking about the number of eggs, too. Since this is a casserole, 2 or 3 eggs just doesn’t sound like enough if you’re serving this as the main dish for a bunch of people. What if you reduced the amount of milk to a cup or 1/2 cup?
Hi 🙂 I know, lots of tater casseroles list 7-9 eggs. You can certainly up the eggs if you prefer your tater bake more eggy. This casserole is more on the potato/cheese side, with a lighter egg/milk base. It allows the potatoes to crisp up nicely, rather than soak up all the egg batter. I wouldn’t reduce the amount of milk, though. Just up the eggs if you prefer a more eggy base. Hope you enjoy this as much as we do. Thanks for coming over 🙂
I agree add a few eggs and I use tater crowns on top which are thin tater tots for a more quiche like feel. Your milk to egv ratio is up to you. I have seen as high as 12 but the more egg i would use a s350 temp and broil the top or switch to 450 for a nice crust.
Making this for Easter morning!
Yay, Mary! So fun to see you here 🙂
omg these recipes are amazing! I have a large family (four kids) and what a great find !
Can this be reheated in the microwave? I’m bringing it to a work breakfast potluck tomorrow and I want to make sure it doesn’t dry out. Thank you
Samantha, it’s preferred to reheat with foil cover on in the oven, but if that is not possible, then yes, you can reheat it in the microwave. The taters will likely lose some crunch, but the rest of it will still be delish 🙂
I just made this for breakfast this morning and wanted to leave my feedback – overall was good, and using tator tots instead of the usual potatoes was a nice touch. I also liked how crispy the tots were since they were on top of the egg mixture. However, the egg mixture needs to be worked on. I would recommend reducing the amount of milk used since the bottom of the pan was very soggy and too creamy for our taste. We used 3 large eggs and a cup of milk and felt that even a cup of milk was too much.
Thank you, JC! Glad you liked it! The casserole could be baked on a bit lower position to help the bottom bake firmly. Since many people email to say the recipe turned out well for them, my suggestion would be for others to first try the recipe as written, and make changes only if necessary the second time around 🙂 thanks again for your thoughts, JC. So glad you are here 🙂
This sounds yummy but I wanted to know if there was a way to either eliminate or substitute the sausage. I am not a big fan of it.
Hi, Bri! Yes, you can omit the sausage and sub with your preferred meat – crumbled/cooked bacon, diced ham, etc. If you want to keep it meatless, just add another veggie such as diced peppers. Have fun with it and enjoy 🙂 Thanks for being here today!
Should i cover while baking?
Jarah, no, you don’t want to cover it while baking, as you want the tater tots to crisp up 🙂 Enjoy and thanks for being here today!
If you prepare this the night before, do you still put the frozen tater tots on before refrigerating over night?
Katie, yes, you still put the frozen taters on and cover to chill. They should still crisp up nicely on upper-middle rack in oven in the morning. Of course, you can also pre-assemble the casserole without the taters and just layer the frozen taters on right before baking, too. Enjoy 🙂
I wanted to make this prior to guests coming over. If I am making it a week prior to, what would you suggest to make then freeze or bake the whole thing then freeze? Thanks!
Hi, Amy! I totally get wanting to make things way ahead of time before guests arrive…I’m the same way! However, I can’t say that I’d recommend making this a whole week ahead of time; I haven’t tried freezing it myself, so I can’t say what would happen 🙂 My main concern is that the texture would change. You could absolutely make it 1-2 nights ahead and just keep it covered and chilled in the fridge, and take out to bake when ready. Enjoy, and hope you guys love it! 🙂
This is comfort food at its best. My boyfriend (who had just gotten off of a physically demanding work shift) devoured almost the entire pan all by himself! So yeah, I think this is a keeper. I did a few tweaks to suit my tastes:
1. Didn’t use quite as much cheese as the recipe called for. Still turned out great.
2. Used 6 beaten eggs plus one cup of milk. Also still turned out great.
3. At the end of the bake time, I put the dish under a hot broiler and let the tots get a nice deep golden brown. This made them wonderfully crispy. Keep a close eye on them if you do this – it doesn’t take long.
Also, I used pre-cooked packaged bacon pieces from the store (not the crunchy fake “bacon bits,” but the actual real bacon pieces.) Worked just fine.
Awesome recipe!
Laura, love the tweaks, and so glad you guys liked this dish! 🙂
My family liked this recipe I followed it exactly and next time would probably use 1 1/2 lb of sausage instead of a pound. This would be great to take to a potluck brunch or funeral, etc.
So glad you guys liked this, Lisa! 🙂 Thank you for taking the time to come over and let us know…we appreciate it! And yeah, this dish is a definite hit at potlucks 🙂
How many people would you say this serves?
Ashley, I’d say it can serve anywhere from 10-20, depending on how large your slices are. Hope you guys love this as much as we do 🙂
I’m trying out the cheesy tater tot bake for brunch this morning. I can’t wait to tell you how I liked it! It sounds and looks delicious!
So, I tried this out today. It was great. I just had to bake it for 20 minutes longer. But, it was a hit!
Yay, so glad to hear it, Betty! Thanks for coming over today to let us know 🙂
Made this for Christmas breakfast today and it was a huge hit! Everyone loved it! Will definitely be a Christmas morning tradition! Thanks!
SO happy to hear it, Jen! Glad you found a new breakfast tradition with this! 🙂 Thanks for coming over to let us know…have a great new year, and hope you’ll stop by often 🙂
I discovered this recipe on Pinterest recently and I just had to make it. I made it for dinner tonight and my family and I LOVED it. This was so good that my 10 year old daughter asked me to make it again soon. So simple and easy to make, yet it’s so delicious. Thanks for the great recipe.
Sweet! So happy to hear it, Neeli 🙂 thanks for coming over and letting us know you guys loved it. I’m with you…if my ten year old approves, I’m all in 😉
Thanks for the recipe! This was my first time making a casserole. It was awesome! I made it for our monthly Church social and it was all gone in 15 minutes! I did add 1 extra egg because I wanted to have a egg taste. I baked it for 45 minutes before adding the cheese and bacon and then baked it for 18 minutes (because I forgot to set the timer lol). Even with the added baking time it came out great and everyone loved it. Thanks so much 🙂
Yay! So great to hear it, Kimberly! Glad everyone loved it 🙂 Hope you keep coming back and finding recipes you like. Happy spring! 🙂
Made this recipe, per instructions exactly, and ended up with a 1″ pool of uncooked egg/milk (could be dangerous) in the bottom of the pan, as well as tater tots that were quite cool in the center, not hot. I used a 7×11 glass pan. If you cook this, use a 9×13 pan so the tater tots are only one layer thick and the heat has a better chance to cook the eggs thoroughly. I also recommend hot Italian sausage to amp up the flavor – the flavor of regular breakfast sausage gets lost. I’ll try this recipe again with these adjustments, but I just want people to be safe with uncooked eggs!
A few people questioned the egg to milk ratio in the comments, which I thought sounded a bit off too, so I cooked this today using 5 eggs instead of 3 but it still hadn’t set after the cooking time. Put it back in for another 15 minutes and I was still left with runny milk under the potatoes and ended up throwing the whole thing out. I’d cut down the milk or up the eggs drastically (or both). Bit disappointing!
My guys love Tater Tot Casserole so I figured that Breakfast TTC would be a hit and I was right. I read through all the comments and also was a bit leery of the 2 cups of milk and only 3 eggs as my usual breakfast casserole is all eggs with no milk at all. With that said, I used 4 eggs and 1 1/2 cups milk (which was actually 1 cup of 1/2 &1/2 and 1/2 cup 1% milk. Figured that would make it more like the whole milk the recipe calls for. My usual recipe takes closer to an hour to cook so planned for the longer time. I used the 1lb of hot breakfast sausage and added about 3/4 lb of cooked bacon pieces to make it meatier for the men in my family. It took about 50+ minutes to cook, set up beautifully and the tots were crispy on the top. Everyone loved it and I would definitely make again!
Super awesome, Doni! Thanks so much for taking the time to come over and let us know how much you enjoyed this! The men in my fam love bacon, too, so I’m right there with ya! 🙂
I’ve made this twice now and everyone loves it. I, too, added a fourth egg because it just didn’t seem like enough. I also added three spring onions chopped up after I added the egg mixture. Adds a great flavor. I think I will leave off the bacon next time. I love bacon but it doesn’t really add anything to the recipe in my opinion. I prefer just the sausage.
How would you go about making this vegetarian?
Annette, if not full-on vegan, and depending on whether you can do dairy, you can leave the recipe as is and go meatless. If you can’t do dairy/eggs, there are now other options for vegetarians like almond milk, etc. I’ve never tried it that way, so I can’t speak to the results, but if you do try it, let me know how it turns out!
Our go to easy peasy meal, it is amazing, and, as skeptical as I was about the recipe, it turns out PERFECT exactly as is. Thank you so much for this!
Made this today for my tater tot loving husband for Father’s Day. Turned out great, we loved it. I did make a few minor tweaks (both intentionally and out of laziness)
-cut the amount of milk to 1 1/2 cups based on others recommendations. It cooked thoroughly and not runny at all.
-used 2% instead of whole milk because that’s what I had on hand.
-too lazy to move my oven racks, so I cooked on the middle rack for the first 35 min and the lower rack for the last 15 min,
-added half a diced onion to the sausage while it cooked for more flavor.
Thanks for the recipe, it’ll be a keeper for us!
So glad you guys loved it, Heidi! Thanks for writing in today…happy summer! 🙂
Can this be made 24 hours ahead of baking?
Dara, I think you can prep it 24 hours ahead and just keep it chilled airtight. Enjoy and happy brunching! 🙂
I made this for my office breakfast club and this was another big hit (I made your hash brown casserole earlier this year and the boys were left drooling). I will say that I extended the initial cooking time another 10 minutes because it still looked soggy on the bottom (likely due to the size of my pan) but otherwise turned out great. Thanks for a delicious breakfast – I am the hit of the office!
Yay, Cristina! So happy to hear it! 🙂 Thanks for coming over and letting us know!
Amazed at all the skeptics throwing shade on this perfect recipe. We’ve made this twice with no adjustments and it’s turned out perfectly each time. It tastes so rich and egg-y that the first time it was served to me I was blown away when I learned how few eggs are actually in it. The fact that it uses fewer eggs isn’t a health compromise – it’s what gives it the perfect light and fluffy texture. As with any casserole the exact cooking time is going to be influenced by the size of your pan, position in the oven, etc. so if it seems runny cook it longer and it will set right up! Just don’t leave the pan too close to the edge of the counter if you have a hungry puppy, as we learned the hard way this morning.
Thanks, Andy! So glad you guys enjoy this 🙂 And I’m right there with ya with the hungry puppy 😉
I made this for my work breakfast potluck…. This was an absolute winner!!! They gobbled up this casserole in no time at all.
I cooked it for 30 minutes on the middle rack. It was still VERY runny so moved it to the bottom rack for another 30 minutes and it cooked perfectly. After taking the casserole out and packing it up, I realized i forgot to put the cheese and bacon on during the last 10 minutes. I quickly put the cheese and bacon on and broiled it quickly for, at most, 2 minutes.
Yay, Lisa! Sounds great 🙂 Thanks for coming over today!
Hi – not a sausage person, if I just want to use bacon only, how much more do you suggest to add, double what’s called for? looks delicious!
Yes, Alicia, you can double the amount of bacon (or more, as you wish!) to replace the sausage. Enjoy, and have a wonderful holiday season 🙂
I made this for Christmas morning breakfast and it was DELICIOUS!! I made it about 24 hours ahead of time and it turned out super great. I kind of liked how not eggy it was and it gave the cheese/meat/potatoes a chance to shine. I thought the amount of milk would be too much, but it really wasn’t and I’m glad I trusted the recipe. I will make this again for breakfast any day of the week! Yum!
Yay, Autumn, so glad you guys loved this 🙂
I have to say, I have never made one of these before so I didn’t question any of your ingredients or the amounts. This turned out FANTASTIC. It was super simple and I almost already had all the ingredients at home. I made this for Christmas morning and we have decided it will become a Christmas morning tradition because we loved it so much! Thank you for sharing this recipe!
Just wanted to say that this is the only recipe I go to for this casserole. The egg/milk ratio is PERFECT (even though it seems wrong, lol). Love it, thanks!
Made this almost exactly as the recipe said (only used dried parsley and extra cheese and bacon on top 😉 and OMG it was fab-ulicious! My husband wanted to eat the whole pan in one sitting LOL. I’ll definitely be making this again! Thanks for sharing such a great recipe. You rock!
You’re so welcome, Heather. Happy that you guys enjoyed it! 🙂
Can you use and have you ever tried using Crispy Crowns (basically, just flat round Tater Tots) instead of Tater Tots. Would the difference in the thickness of the potatoes make any difference?
This is what I used because my husband picked up the wrong one by accident! It turned out delicious! We all loved it!
I have made this recipe twice – both to excellent reviews from my coworkers. It is the first dish completely eaten. Very easy and tastes sooo good. Thanks
Awesome job, Beth! So happy to hear it 🙂
Yum! This is the epitome of comfort food here!!
Made this the day before Easter and it was fantastic! 2lb of tots was too much for my dish so probably used about 1.5 lbs. Also I didn’t have whole milk so used 1.5 c 2% and 0.5 c heavy cream. Cooked it a bit longer (closer to 45 mins before adding cheese and bacon and another 20 mins after) and it came out perfect. Thanks!
This looks really quick, easy and good. Too bad you didn’t include nutritional values.
This recipe is amazing! I substituted vegetarian sausage and chopped onions for the sausag, omitted the bacon and took it to the office for Bosses day breakfast. It was a hit! I use sausage seasoning with my vegetarian sausage so it was really flavorful. It sat in the fridge overnight and I threw it in the oven in the morning. I will make this again and again. Thanks for sharing!
So happy everyone liked it, Lara! 🙂
Has anyone had success with making ahead and freezing? Cooked or uncooked before freezing? We make this dish regularly for family and friends as it is amazing. I am currently pregnant with our 3rd and looking to stock the freezer.
Hi! Is there a benefit to layering the ingredients? Or could you just mix the cheese and sausage right in with the tater tots? Thank you!
I’m guessing it would work fine if you perfer to mix it up 🙂 Enjoy and happy cooking, Kristen! 🙂
I’d definitely recommend layering the tots on top because they crisp up beautifully that way.
Made recipe as is and it was a hit – definitely be sure to let the casserole sit after taking out of the oven. Did add a little more sausage as my pan was a little larger.
Made this for Christmas potluck at my work and it was a hit! Planning to now make it for Christmas morning…it was so handy assembling it the night before and just throwing it into the oven in the morning! I did have to cook mine for an additional 15 minutes but my oven is always a bit off anyway and I added a 3rd extra large egg. It was delicious!!!!
Love that you guys loved it! Thanks for coming over, Amy! 🙂
I’ve been making this dish for a couple of years now for special occasions. Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years breakfasts. Opening Day for MLB season. It’s always a hit. I’ve made it exactly as the recipe calls for and haven’t had any issues. I usually do 3 XL/Jumbo eggs and keep the milk ratio to 2 cups. Never runny, always comes out perfect.
Any insight into the nutritional values?
After reading through tons of comments/reviews on this recipe I decided to try it out for a breakfast potluck at work. I felt confident enough to tweak it based on my own preference. I used a bit more cheese, 4 large eggs, reduced-fat milk, replaced the onion powder for chopped onions, and chopped about 12 slices of bacon instead of 4. Even with all of this, the dish came out great so I would say as long as you bake it long enough, there’s no wrong way to really do it. This was a total hit at work and without a doubt will be a hit at home!
Hi there! If I wanted to make this a bit more hearty, could I use 2 lbs sausage instead? And, could I add a chopped bell pepper to the sausage?
Absolutely! Hope you love this. Enjoy! 🙂
I add two lbs sausage & some sautéed garlic and green onion. I also double the bacon and throw a little of it on top of the sausage. I think it makes a big difference in a good way!
quick question,
when you’re baking are you leaving it covered and baking? or do you take the foil off and let it bake?
How far in advance could you prep the dish and still have it turn out well?