This amazing Mexican breakfast casserole recipe is loaded up with the most flavorful ingredients, it’s naturally gluten-free (and can also be made vegetarian), it’s easy to make ahead the day beforehand, and most of all, it’s just ridiculously delicious!
You guys, I have made a lot of breakfast casserole recipes in my life. But I’ve gotta say — this one is my hands-down favorite to date.
Meet the most AMAZING Mexican breakfast casserole! ♡
It’s basically a breakfast-y version of my favorite enchilada casserole, piled high with the most flavorful, healthy-yet-hearty, guaranteed-sure-to-please-a-crowd ingredients a breakfast casserole could ask for. We’re talkin’ lots of zesty sausage (or chorizo or vegan sausage), a few quickly-sautéed veggies, lots of protein-packed eggs, shredded Mexi cheese, your choice of red or green salsa, soft corn tortillas (or crumbled tortilla chips), and of course, loads of fresh garnishes on top. Because when it comes to casserole toppings, you know that I’m always on Team More-Is-More.
The other huge bonus about this breakfast casserole recipe?! It’s surprisingly quick and easy to make. Just sauté your sausage and veggies, layer up all of your ingredients in a baking dish, cover, cook, and enjoy. Also, if you don’t want to wake up extra-early to make breakfast (who does?!), this casserole can easily be prepped up to one day in advance, so that all you have to do is wake up and pop it in the oven before breakfast.
I’m telling you — this one is a total winner and is sure to get your day off to the most delicious start. So round up your ingredients and let’s do this.
Mexican Breakfast Casserole Ingredients:
Alright, let’s talk ingredients! To make this easy breakfast casserole recipe, you will need the following:
- Sausage: Whatever kind you prefer — good-quality Mexican chorizo, breakfast sausage, Italian sausage, vegan sausage (this one’s my fave), or whatever you love best. Or if you don’t want to make a sausage breakfast casserole, you could opt instead to make a breakfast casserole with bacon or chicken. Or just omit the meat entirely.
- Veggies: Just a diced onion, poblano (or green bell) pepper, garlic, and corn.
- Salsa: I used a jar of green salsa for the photos here, which I loved. But any kind of store-bought or homemade red or green salsa should work great!
- Beans: One can of black or pinto beans.
- Seasonings: Just a bit of ground cumin, salt and pepper for extra flavor.
- Eggs: Yep, a dozen! Plus a little milk (any kind) mixed in to make them nice and creamy.
- Tortillas: I would recommend using soft corn tortillas. But you could also sub in flour tortillas or crumbled corn tortilla chips. Or if you want to go a totally different route, you could sub in a few cups of shredded potatoes in their place to make a hashbrown breakfast casserole.
- Cheese: I recommend taking the easy route and just buying a shredded Mexican-blend cheese (or PepperJack or even just cheddar).
- Toppings: Finally, I recommend adding on as many fresh toppings as possible! Some of my favorites include diced avocado, diced red onion, chopped fresh cilantro, diced green onion, sliced fresh jalapeños, and/or crumbled cotija cheese.
How To Make A Breakfast Casserole:
To make this Mexican breakfast casserole, simply:
- Sauté the sausage and veggies. Brown the sausage, then sauté the veggies until softened.
- Stir in the rest of the sausage mixture. Add in the salsa, beans, corn, cumin, salt, cooked sausage, and stir until combined.
- Prep the egg mixture. In a separate bowl, whisk together the eggs and milk until combined.
- Layer, layer, layer! In a greased 9 x 13-inch baking dish, evenly layer:
- Half of the tortillas, half of the sausage mixture, half of the egg mixture, half of the shredded cheese.
- Then repeat with the second half of the tortillas, half of the sausage mixture, half of the egg mixture, half of the shredded cheese.
- Bake. Cover with foil and bake for 45-50 minutes or so, until the center of the casserole is cooked through and no longer jiggly. Transfer to a wire baking rack and let cool for 10 minutes.
- Serve. Then sprinkle on lots of your favorite toppings, slice, serve and enjoy!
(See full detailed cooking instructions below.)
Make-Ahead Breakfast Casserole Instructions:
As I mentioned above, this recipe works well as an overnight breakfast casserole recipe too! To prep your casserole ahead of time, complete steps 1-4 listed above. Then cover the (unbaked) casserole with foil and refrigerate for up to 24 hours. Once you’re ready to bake the casserole, remove it from the fridge and let it warm up to room temperature for ideally at least 30 minutes. Then bake as directed.
Freezer Breakfast Casserole Instructions:
If you would like to freeze the casserole, complete steps 1-4 listed above. Then place a layer of plastic wrap directly on top of the the casserole, so that covers the whole surface area. Cover the top of the baking dish securely with foil. Then freeze for up to 3 months. Once you’re ready to bake the casserole, allow it to thaw in the refrigerator overnight. Then remove it from the fridge and let it warm up to room temperature for ideally at least 30 minutes. Then bake as directed.
Possible Variations:
The options for customizing this breakfast egg casserole are endless! For example, feel free to:
- Make it vegetarian: Either use vegetarian/vegan sausage or sauté an 8-ounce carton of baby bella mushrooms to add in place of the sausage.
- Make it spicier. Feel free to either use a spicier salsa, add a diced jalapeño or serrano chile to the veggie sauté, or add a few shakes of hot sauce to the veggie sauté to give this casserole more of a kick.
- Make it smokier: Add a diced chipotle chili and a teaspoon of adobo sauce (or 1 teaspoon chipotle chili powder) to the sausage mixture for a smokier breakfast casserole.
- Make it healthier. If you would like to make a more healthy breakfast casserole, I recommend using part-skim cheese and either ground chicken sausage or vegan sausage.
- Use hash browns: If you would like to make this more of a breakfast potato casserole, feel free to sub in a few cups of shredded hash browns in place of the tortillas. You can either use store-bought frozen hash browns (which you would need to thaw before adding to the casserole). Or you could shred a few potatoes with a grater by hand.
More Breakfast Casserole Recipes:
Interested in more easy breakfast casserole recipes? Here are a few of my faves:
Description
This amazing Mexican breakfast casserole recipe is loaded up with the most flavorful ingredients, it’s naturally gluten-free (and can also be made vegetarian), it’s easy to make ahead the day beforehand, and most of all, it’s just ridiculously delicious!
Scale
Ingredients
- 1.25 pounds ground sausage* or Mexican chorizo
- 1 small white onion, peeled and diced
- 1 poblano or green bell pepper, cored and diced
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 (15-ounce) jar red or green salsa (approx. 2 cups)
- 1 (15-ounce) can black or pinto beans, rinsed and drained
- 2/3 cup whole-kernel corn, frozen or canned
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 12 large eggs
- 1/3 cup milk
- 8 corn tortillas, halved
- 3 cups shredded Mexican-blend cheese
- optional toppings: diced avocado, diced red onion, chopped fresh cilantro, diced green onion, sliced fresh jalapeños, and/or crumbled cotija cheese
Instructions
- Heat oven to 400°F. Lightly mist a 9 x 13-inch baking dish with cooking spray; set aside.
- Cook the sausage in a large sauté pan over medium-high heat until browned, crumbling the sausage as it cooks. Use a slotted spoon to transfer the sausage to a clean plate, reserving a tablespoon or so of grease in the sauté pan. (Or if there is no grease remaining, add a tablespoon of oil to the pan.)
- Add the onion and pepper and sauté for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until softened. Add the garlic and sauté for 1-2 minutes more, stirring occasionally, until fragrant.
- Add in the salsa, beans, corn, cumin, salt, cooked sausage, and stir until the mixture is completely combined. Remove pan from the heat, and set aside.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the eggs and milk until evenly combined; set aside.
- Alright, time to layer up all of the ingredients! Layer half of the tortillas in an even layer in the bottom of the baking dish. Then top evenly with half of the sausage mixture, half of the egg mixture, and half of the cheese. Repeat with another layer of tortillas, sausage mixture, egg mixture and cheese.
- Cover the dish with foil and bake for 45-50 minutes*, or until the center of the casserole is cooked through and no longer jiggly (or when a toothpick inserted in the center of the casserole comes out clean).
- Transfer baking dish to a wire cooling rack and let cool for 10 minutes. Then sprinkle with your desired toppings, slice and serve warm!
Notes
*Sausage: Any good-quality ground sausage would work great here! You could use breakfast sausage, Italian sausage, Mexican chorizo, or whatever you have on hand. Pork, beef, chicken or vegan sausage would all be great!
*Cheesy Topping: If you want the cheese on top of the casserole to be a bit crispier, just uncover the casserole during the final 10 minutes of cooking.
