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This hashbrown breakfast casserole is one of my family’s favorite breakfast recipes, so good that we often eat it for dinner! Made with shredded hashbrowns, a creamy sauce, perfectly seasoned breakfast sausage, and fluffy eggs, it’s great for meal preps and holiday breakfasts, especially if you’ll be feeding a crowd. Naturally Whole30, paleo, low carb, dairy free, and gluten free.
🍳 What Makes This Recipe So Good
- This hashbrown breakfast casserole is actually inspired by a basic hashbrown and sausage casserole I’ve been making for something like 15 years now. It uses a lot of the same ingredients, but here I really focused on the extra-creamy eggs and the dairy-free sauce. The result? A more nutritious, more filling casserole that’s pure Whole30 breakfast perfection.
- Thanks to the aforementioned eggs and sauce, this baby is dreamily rich and creamy. Seriously, there’s nothing dry or rubbery or dense about this casserole. And it doesn’t include any dairy (not even cheese!) to do it!
- The flavors are SO GOOD. When I made this hashbrown breakfast casserole the first time, we ate it for dinner, and my husband finished… wait for it… An entire half of the dish. Whoa. While not a serving size I’d necessarily recommend, it just goes to show how delish this breakfast is!
- Using pre-shredded frozen hashbrowns make this a super easy breakfast to meal prep on a Sunday so you can eat it throughout the week. I’m always up for anything that makes weekday mornings a little easier! It’s also great for those holiday mornings. Prep it the night before, wake up and pop it in the oven, and by the time the gifts are unwrapped, breakfast is ready!
- As it’s written, this hashbrown casserole recipe is naturally Whole30-compatible, paleo-friendly, dairy free, gluten free, and even low carb. If you need it to be nut-free, you can easily replace the cashew cream with unsweetened full-fat coconut milk or coconut cream.
👩🏼🍳 Chef’s Tips
- Frozen hashbrowns are the easiest to use here, and you can typically find Whole30-compatible frozen hashbrowns pretty easily. If you’d rather make your own hashbrowns, you’ll need a couple of large Russet potatoes and a box grater or food processor. Peel the potatoes completely, then shred them on the grater or in the food processor (you may need to chop them into large chunks first). Soak the shredded potatoes in a bowl of cold water for at least 5 minutes to remove excess starch. After that, rinse them well, then wrap the shredded potatoes in paper towels. Squeeze out as much of the excess moisture as you possibly can, then proceed with the recipe as written.
- Because of the sauce we use in this hashbrown breakfast casserole, the tried-and-true knife trick won’t really work. You’re welcome to try it if you want, but a knife inserted into the center of the casserole won’t come out clean, so it’s not a good indicator of doneness. Instead, you’ll want to pay attention to the surface of the dish. The casserole will be noticeably firm on top when it’s fully cooked.
- There’s a decent bit of moisture in the dish, and the hashbrowns are going in the pan uncooked. That means they won’t turn out crispy like they would if you cooked them by themselves on the stove or in the air fryer. To combat that, make sure to drain your hashbrowns really well. Defrost frozen hashbrowns in the fridge, then squeeze out as much moisture as you can with paper towels before you put them in the baking dish. Same with freshly shredded potatoes. Soak them, rinse them, and dry them before you cook them. That’ll help prevent a soggy, mushy hashbrown casserole.
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Hashbrown Breakfast Casserole with Eggs and Sausage (Whole30, Dairy Free, Gluten Free)
Filling and flavorful, this hashbrown breakfast casserole is great for breakfast, dinner, meal prep, and holidays. Naturally Whole30, paleo, low carb, dairy free, and gluten free.
servings
Equipment
- 2-cup measuring cup optional, only if making cashew cream
- high-speed blender optional, only if making cashew cream
- 9×13 baking dish or other 3-quart baking dish
- neutral cooking spray or refined coconut oil
- Paper towels
- Large cast-iron skillet or similar large heavy skillet
- Large wooden spoon or spatula
- medium mixing bowl
- whisk
- Knife
Ingredients
For the Cashew Cream (Optional, See Notes)
- ¾ cup raw cashews
- 1 ¼ cups hot water more or less as needed to fill cup
For the Breakfast Casserole
- 1 16-ounce bag shredded hashbrowns see Notes
- 1 pound Whole30-compliant ground breakfast sausage store-bought or make your own
- 2 tablespoons arrowroot powder or cassava flour, or tapioca flour
- prepared cashew cream made from above recipe, divided; see Notes
- freshly cracked black pepper to taste
- 6 large eggs at room temperature
- 6-8 green onions finely chopped, divided
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon onion powder
- ½ teaspoon salt more or less to taste
Instructions
For the Cashew Cream (Optional, See Notes)
- Add ¾ cup raw cashews to 2-cup measuring cup. Pour 1 ¼ cups hot water into measuring cup, filling remainder of cup and covering cashews completely.
- Set cup aside and let cashews soak in hot water at least 15 minutes. Prepare for casserole and cook sausage while cashews soak.
- When cashews have softened, transfer cashews and water to high-speed blender. Blend until mixture is completely smooth.
For the Breakfast Casserole
- Preheat oven to 350° Fahrenheit. Spray baking dish with neutral cooking spray, or grease baking dish with refined coconut oil. Set baking dish aside.
- Place 2 to 3 layers of paper towels on counter. Drain all liquid from 1 16-ounce bag shredded hashbrowns then transfer hashbrowns to paper towels. Cover hashbrowns with additional paper towels and squeeze as much liquid out of hashbrowns as possible. Repeat with fresh paper towels as needed until excess moisture has been removed. Set hashbrowns aside.
- Add 1 pound Whole30-compliant ground breakfast sausage to large skillet and heat pan over medium-high heat. Cook sausage, stirring frequently to break into small pieces, until sausage is browned and crumbled, approximately 5 minutes.
- If soaked cashews have not yet been blended into cashew cream, blend cashews now, then set aside.
- Sprinkle 2 tablespoons arrowroot powder evenly over browned sausage. Stir well until sausage crumbles are fully coated in arrowroot powder.
- Pour 1 ½ cups of prepared cashew cream into skillet and stir to incorporate. Reserve remaining cashew cream for later.
- Cook sausage and cashew cream, stirring frequently, until mixture thickens and begins to boil, approximately 3 to 5 minutes. Sprinkle plenty of freshly cracked black pepper over mixture and stir to incorporate, then reduce heat under skillet to low and let mixture simmer.
- While mixture simmers, add 6 large eggs, remaining cashew cream, ½ teaspoon garlic powder, ½ teaspoon onion powder, ½ teaspoon salt, and one third of chopped green onions to medium mixing bowl. Whisk well until ingredients are fully incorporate, then set bowl aside.
- Spread hashbrowns evenly across bottom of baking dish, covering bottom completely. Sprinkle salt over hashbrowns to taste, then evenly sprinkle one third of chopped green onions over top of hashbrown layer.
- Spread entire sausage mixture evenly over top of hashbrowns and green onions, making sure to cover hashbrowns completely.
- Top sausage mixture with entire egg mixture, making sure to distribute egg mixture evenly across casserole dish.
- Place baking dish in preheated oven. Bake casserole 40 to 50 minutes or until surface of casserole is firm and eggs are cooked.
- When casserole is ready, carefully remove baking dish from oven and sprinkle remaining third of chopped green onions evenly over top of casserole. Set baking dish aside and let casserole rest 3 to 5 minutes, then cut casserole into equally-sized squares and serve warm.
Video
- Cashew Cream: You can use one 13.5-ounce can of unsweetened coconut milk or unsweetened coconut cream instead of making cashew cream. Use 1 ½ cups (12 ounces) coconut milk/cream in the sausage cream sauce and the remainder (1 ½ ounces) in the eggs. Whisk coconut milk/cream before using.
- Hashbrowns: Be sure your hashbrowns are Whole30-compatible and don’t have dextrose or other incompatible ingredients added. You’re welcome to shred your own hashbrowns from whole potatoes if you’d rather – read more about making your own hashbrowns in the Chef’s Tips section above. If you’re using frozen hashbrowns, defrost them in the fridge overnight before assembling the casserole.
Approximate Information for One Serving
Serving Size: 1servingCalories: 384calProtein: 15gFat: 30gSaturated Fat: 16gTrans Fat: 0.1gCholesterol: 180mgSodium: 579mgPotassium: 589mgTotal Carbs: 14gFiber: 2gSugar: 2gNet Carbs: 12gVitamin A: 335IUVitamin C: 3mgCalcium: 42mgIron: 2mg
Nutrition Disclaimers
Number of total servings shown is approximate. Actual number of servings will depend on your preferred portion sizes.
Nutritional values shown are general guidelines and reflect information for 1 serving using the ingredients listed, not including any optional ingredients. Actual macros may vary slightly depending on specific brands and types of ingredients used.
To determine the weight of one serving, prepare the recipe as instructed. Weigh the finished recipe, then divide the weight of the finished recipe (not including the weight of the container the food is in) by the desired number of servings. Result will be the weight of one serving.
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This looked great, but the coconut milk flavor overpowers everything. Not enjoying it. I would rather taste sausage, hashbrown,and egg. Next time I will just use more eggs and eat another source of fat on the side.
If you’re sensitive to the taste of coconut milk I would definitely recommend substituting cashew cream for it as mentioned in other comments!
Wow! I made this yesterday for my husband who is allergic to dairy and pork (used hot turkey sausage). He was so pleased! I was worried about using coconut milk because it tends to have a strong flavor, which I do like in other recipes, but I was glad the other flavors stood out enough to cover that up. Didn’t have arrowroot powder on hand and he is also allergic to corn so I couldn’t reach for the cornstarch, but I used 4 T of white rice flour and that did the trick. Frozen hashbrowns worked great, I let them sit on the counter about an hour before using them and baked for 50 mins in a ceramic casserole dish – not sure of the size, smaller than 9×13. We recently gave up dairy here and have been craving something creamy so this hit the spot. Thanks so much!
Can you use an egg substitute with it instead of whole eggs?
You could use egg beaters or something like that but i would not think a vegan egg substitute would work
I used Tapioca flour and it was just fine. Super easy and delicious.
Is it possible to leave out the arrowroot flour? I live in a rural area and don’t have access to any ‘out of the ordinary’ ingredients at all. My local grocery store only has regular flour and cornstarch, but I’m on a Whole30 so can’t use either as a substitute. If this won’t work without a thickener I’ll have to try one of your other recipes instead. 🙂
Thanks in advance!
What you MIGHT be able to do is simply reduce the amount of coconut milk needed. I’d highly recommend you grab some arrowroot, though; Amazon and Thrive are great for this! Not sure if reducing will work as well but it’s worth a shot if you can’t order 🙂
It worked! I reduced the amount of coconut milk by about a quarter and gave it an extra 10 minutes to bake. Its delicious, and think it would be even better with the arrowroot. Thanks for the recipe and the advice!
can you taste the coconut in this? I really struggle with the coconut flavor.
I personally don’t find there to be much coconut flavor in this dish. If you’re really sensitive to it, though, you might want to swap it out for cashew cream!
This is soooooo yummy! I added some frozen spinach give it more veg. (In the layer right above the potatoes). But really – I was surprised by how good this was. YUM!
Great idea! And so glad you liked it Whitney 🙂
Can I use a gluten free baking powder instead of arrowroot powder?
That’s not a substitution I would make, but maybe corn starch (if you’re not Whole30 or paleo) instead! People have also had good luck with tapioca starch.
Would you still use the same amount of tapioca starch if making that substitution?
This was amazing! I just used what I had on hand (shredded fresh potatoes, a little leftover taco meat), three in some cilantro and it was so good! Agree- definitely kid approved in our house too!
What a creative take! I love that. I might just have to make that a new recipe 😀
Have you ever baked this a day ahead and reheated it? If so, HOW did you reheat it? What do you recommend? Thanks!
Absolutely! We eat it over several days when we make it. We typically reheat in the microwave but if you were to reheat the entire thing, I’d slightly underbake it the first time and then heat it in a 300ºF oven for maybe 20 minutes, covered with foil, until hot.