This overnight tater tot casserole is packed with flavor and super easy to make. Make it the night before a holiday or busy morning and wake up to a cooked breakfast that's both hearty and filling.
Recipe: $13.18 | Per Serving: $1.10 | Servings: 12
This casserole is a breakfast dish that delivers both taste and convenience. It's the perfect choice for those mornings when you want to treat your family to a hearty and satisfying breakfast without the morning rush.
What makes this casserole special is the combination of tater tots, eggs, cheese, and flavorful breakfast sausage and bacon, all blended together and left to meld overnight. It's an Easy Comfort Food Casserole, that's perfect for adding to your list of Christmas Breakfast Ideas.
In the morning, simply pop it in the oven, and within an hour, you'll have a golden, bubbly, and satisfying meal. Whether you're serving a crowd or just want an easy morning meal, the overnight breakfast casserole is a fantastic choice.
For other convenient breakfast ideas make sure to check out my Cinnabon Clone Cinnamon Rolls, Sheet Pan French Toast Breakfast, and Cinnamon Roll Monkey Bread.
Jump to:
🍯 Why This Recipe Works
- Simple, yet delicious. You're going to love this easy tater tot breakfast casserole because it's such a simple recipe for even those most hectic of mornings.
- Great for holidays. Perfect for any occasion, including holidays. Some of the biggest traffic boosts to this recipe happen around Christmas, which tells me that I'm not the only person who enjoys simple mornings, haha.
- Customizable. This egg bake with tater tots is always a nice idea, and it's even nicer when you realize that you can customize it to suit your own tastes. Change up the meats, veggies, cheeses, seasonings, etc. Take some inspiration from my Crustless Veggie Quiche, there are a lot of add-in ideas!
🥘 Ingredients
Ingredient Notes:
Bell Pepper- You can use any colored bell peppers you want, but for a festive touch, you can stick with red and green.
Cheeses- We use a blend of Monterey Jack Cheese and Cheddar Cheese.
Frozen Tater Tots- This is the base of the recipe, and these tots, once cooked, will feel more like hashbrowns, giving us a filling serving and one full of our breakfast favorites.
Green Onions- For added color and flavor, you can add some green onions to your breakfast casserole.
For specific ingredients and measurements, please see the recipe card below.
🧾 Substitutions
Tater Tots: You can use regular tater tots, tater tot coins, or hashbrown sticks interchangeably in this recipe. They will all cook up the same once thawed.
Homemade Frozen Hashbrowns: While not tested, Homemade Frozen Hashbrowns should work well in this recipe, similar to our Easy Hashbrown Casserole.
🔪 Instructions for Overnight Tater Tot Breakfast Casserole
Step 1: Grease a 9x13 baking dish and then set it aside.
Step 2: Brown the sausage, onions, and bell pepper in a skillet on the stove (Image 1). Make sure to crumble the sausage into smaller pieces as you go.
Step 3: Set the mixture aside and return your pan to the stove. Cook your bacon and then chop it into small bits, draining grease as needed. Add to meat mixture.
Step 4: Add your eggs to a large mixing bowl (Image 2).
Step 5: Add in the milk, ½ cup of each cheese, and sour cream (Image 3).
Step 6: Whisk to combine. Add in seasonings.
Step 7: Add in the cooked meat and veggies once cooled and stir to combine (Image 4).
Step 8: At the bottom of your baking dish, arrange the frozen tater tots into an even layer on the bottom (Image 5).
Step 9: Pour your egg mixture over the top (Image 6).
Step 10: Sprinkle the remaining cheeses on top (Image 7). Cover the baking dish and place it into the fridge overnight. When ready to cook in the morning, let the pan sit on the counter as the oven preheats to 350 degrees F.
Step 11: Sprinkle the green onions on if desired. Bake covered with foil for 30 minutes. Remove the foil and cook for an additional 30 minutes (Image 8).
Step 12: Let cool for 10 minutes before slicing and serving.
Top with salsa if desired.
🍴 Recipe Tips
- Same-Day Preparation- If you prefer to make this overnight breakfast casserole with tater tots on the same day instead of the night before, you can do so with a few adjustments.
- Thawing Tater Tots- To expedite the process, thaw the tater tots by laying them in a single layer in the baking dish while preheating the oven. Alternatively, cook them according to the package instructions before adding them to the casserole.
- Extended Baking Time- Keep in mind that if you skip pre-cooking or thawing the tater tots, it will prolong the baking time. The additional moisture released during thawing can increase the overall baking time needed to reach the safe internal temperature of 165°F for the eggs.
👩🏻🍳 Storage
You can store your leftover casserole in the fridge (well-covered) for up to 3 or 4 days. Reheat before serving.
💭 Recipe FAQs
Yes, if desired you can simply omit the meat in this casserole for a meatless variation. It will still taste great!
Yes, it can be frozen for up to 3 months in an airtight container. Note that eggs seem to dry out or change texture slightly when they're frozen and reheated so it may not taste as great as when the casserole is served fresh.
You can reheat a single serving of casserole on a microwave safe plate for about 1.5-2 minutes in the microwave. Larger servings may take a little longer. For multiple servings, place the casserole in the oven and allow it to reheat for about 10 minutes at 350F.
❤️ More Delicious Breakfast Recipes
If you tried this Overnight Tater Tot Breakfast Casserole, please leave a ⭐️ star rating and share your feedback in the 📝 comments section below. I would truly appreciate it!
📖 Recipe
Overnight Tater Tot Breakfast Casserole
Ingredients
- 16 ounces ground pork sausage ($2.97)
- 1 cup onion, diced ($0.90)
- 1 bell pepper, diced (any color) ($0.86)
- 1 cup bacon, cooked and chopped ($0.89)
- 1 cup milk (or half and half or heavy cream) ($0.20)
- 1 cup Monterey Jack cheese, shredded ($0.99)
- 1 cup Cheddar cheese, shredded ($0.99)
- ½ cup sour cream ($0.50)
- 8 large eggs, beaten ($1.20)
- ½ teaspoon salt ($0.01)
- ⅛ teaspoon ground black pepper ($0.01)
- ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper ($0.02)
- 6 cups tater tots, frozen (24 ounces) ($3.42)
- ¼ cup green onions, chopped ($0.22)
- salsa for serving *optional
Instructions
- Grease a 9x13 baking dish. Set aside.
- In a skillet on the stove, brown your sausage with onions and bell peppers. Make sure to crumble sausage into smaller pieces as you go.
- Set mixture aside and return pan to stove. Cook bacon and chop into small bits, draining grease as needed.
- In a bowl, whisk together the milk, ½ cup of each cheese, sour cream, and eggs until well combined. Stir in seasonings.
- Add in the cooked meats and veggies once cooled. Stir to combine.
- In the bottom of a baking dish, arrange your frozen tater tots into an even layer.
- Pour the egg and meat mixture over the top of the tater tots.
- Sprinkle the remaining cheese over the top.
- Cover the baking dish and place in the fridge overnight.
- When ready to cook, let the pan sit on the counter as the oven preheats to 350 degrees F.
- Sprinkle on green onions if desired. Bake covered in foil for 30 minutes and then remove the foil and continue cooking uncovered for 30 more minutes.
- Let cool for 10 minutes before slicing and serving. Top with salsa if desired.
Notes
- Cooking time may vary, especially if tots didn't thaw overnight. Check with an instant-read thermometer after the recommended baking time. Continue checking every 15 minutes until the internal temperature reaches at least 165°F.
- Need it today? Lay out tater tots on a baking sheet for faster thawing while preparing other ingredients.
- If still frozen, bake tots per package instructions, then cool before using.
- Choose from tater tots, tater tot coins, hashbrown sticks, or similar.
- Store covered leftovers in the fridge for up to 3-4 days. Reheat before serving.
Kim B. says
This was incredible! I love that it was so easy to make and didn't take long the next morning either. I used a mix of green and red bell peppers because it's what I had on hand and it totally gave me Christmas vibes. I have to remember this for Christmas morning, it's going to be so much fun waking up to a hot meal without prepping so early in the morning. Thank you so much for sharing this recipe! I'm so glad I found it!