Host an Easy Holiday Brunch with My Classic Breakfast Casserole

This is a sponsored post on behalf of Starbucks Coffee Company. All opinions, ideas, and photos are 100% my own. #starbucksdiscoveries #ad

Confession time: I love brunch, and, if it were possible or if it wouldn’t cause me to gain 40 pounds, would brunch every single day. Brunch just has an upper hand on all other meals. I mean, there is bacon, which should be enough, but I will also follow it up with donuts, pancakes, cinnamon rolls, mimosas and coffee. Drinking my coffee is a highlight of my day. So all in all, brunch is the best.

And, it is because of this strong belief that there are a lot of brunch posts on this blog (Cinnamon Roll Casserole, Sausage and Biscuit Casserole, and Lemon Blueberry Scones to name only a few). You’re welcome. 😉

With the holidays upon us this week, I wanted to share with you all a really easy Holiday Brunch which doesn’t take much time to put together. In fact, most of the items I offered at my own brunch were store bought. You might call this cheating, but really this is practical. We do not have to do it all, so I made my Classic Breakfast Casserole which is super easy to customize for your family’s taste AND can be made ahead of time and bought the rest.

Tip 1: When planning a brunch (or any meal really), try to offer a variety of options in as few items as you can. For example, for those that might not want carbs or are trying to be healthy, I made sure to offer yogurt with a little fruit. However, for those that are indulging because it’s the holidays, I included donuts with Christmas sprinkles. (Or maybe they were just for me. No one will ever know.)

Tip 2: Most of our friends are coffee drinkers, but I didn’t want to stand at my Keurig all morning making one cup at a time. I want to be mingling and laughing with friends, which is why I love serving  Starbucks Discoveries Iced Café Favorites™ Holiday Flavors. They have everyday flavors offered in the grocery store for all year round, but I went with holiday favorites of mine – Gingerbread Latte and Peppermint Mocha! These festive drinks are made with brewed Starbucks espresso from 100 perfect arabica beans, reduced fat milk, and natural flavors and can be easily picked up at your local grocery store.

It’s only the holiday season for a short time, so I need to enjoy these as much as possible while I can. Starbucks Discoveries Iced Café Favorites™ Gingerbread Latte is definitely my favorite and the overall crowd pleaser. It’s like drinking Christmas!

And I want you all to enjoy the Starbucks Discoveries Iced Café Favorites™ Holiday Flavors too and Starbucks is helping me do this. One of you will win a Coupon Prize Pack to try these drinks yourself – valued around $20! I will be choosing the winner on January 1st as a New Year’s Day treat, so make sure to enter NOW for a chance to win.
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Now, to the recipe. Here is why I love this Classic Breakfast Casserole: You can throw almost anything into this casserole and it will taste delicious. For this Holiday Brunch, I added Hot Italian Sausage (not super spicy with everything else in it, but it adds a lot of flavor), red bell pepper, corn, and cheese to the base of potatoes and egg. It was more of a Fiesta version of the recipe. Normally I would have also added black beans, but people can be weird about beans. I also really love adding spinach, tomatoes and mushrooms to this mix. The options are endless!

Print

Classic Breakfast Casserole

Prep Time

20 mins

Cook Time

45 mins

Total Time

1 hr 5 mins

 

This Classic Breakfast Casserole is so easy to customize! Add whatever ingredients your family loves and even prepare ahead of time for an easy morning routine!

Course: Breakfast

Author: Maggie @ The Love Nerds

Ingredients

• 1 lb Italian sausage I prefer hot, but mild works too
• 1 red bell pepper diced
• 1 can fresh corn
• 8 eggs
• 1/3 cup milk
• 2 cloves garlic minced
• 1 20 ounce bag frozen hash browns, thawed
• 2 cups shredded cheese mexican blend or mozzarella cheese suggested
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly-ground black pepper
• Suggested Ingredients: mushrooms spinach, tomatoes, bacon, green onions

Instructions

1. Heat oven to 375 degrees F.
2. Add the sausage to a medium pan and cook thoroughly. Crumble the sausage as you cook it and drain/pat dry when finished.
3. Combine the sausage, red pepper, corn, garlic and black pepper in a large bowl. Then, add the hashbrowns and 1 1/2 cups of cheese (reserve 1/2 cup for topping). Stir to combine.
4. In a separate bowl, whisk together the eggs and milk until combined. Then add to the hashbrown mixture and stir to combine.
5. Spray a large casserole dish with non-stick spray and pour the mixture into it. Top with remaining 1/2 cup of shredded cheese.
6. Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 30 minutes. Then remove the aluminum foil and bake for an additional 10-15 minutes.
7. Remove and let the casserole rest for 5 minutes.

Are you hosting a holiday brunch? What are your favorite items to serve? 

This is a sponsored post on behalf of Starbucks Coffee Company. All opinions, ideas, and photos are 100% my own.