Happy healthy New Years! To start off the year, I’m sharing this delicious healthy slow cooker crockpot breakfast casserole recipe that is fantastic to make anytime friends are coming over, or for meal prep breakfasts!
Something I have always struggled with is having a healthy breakfast in the mornings. It usually takes too long to cook up something and so I end up eating whatever is around – sometimes not the healthiest.
What do your mornings look like? For me, it’s something bordering insanity, a race against the clock if you will. I wake up, get baby Ben fed/changed/etc., and then have to get out the door.
I’m trying to eat healthier, so I want to be mindful of what I’m starting my day off with.
After all, they say breakfast is the most important meal of the day, right?
The beauty of this recipe is that it uses al fresco chicken breakfast sausage which has 70% less fat than pork sausage and is gluten free! The al fresco chicken breakfast sausage is super flavorful, and really brings all the flavors of this breakfast casserole together.
One of the things I absolutely love about this healthy breakfast casserole is that it can be made in a variety of ways.
- It can be made as an overnight casserole – meaning you make it overnight and have it cook in the slow cooker while you sleep and then have it ready to enjoy in the morning
- The casserole can be assembled the night before, and then baked in the morning
- The casserole can be made into individual mini casseroles
This healthy breakfast casserole is fantastic for meal prepping. You make one casserole and then enjoy it all week long. I like to make this on a Sunday when I’m prepping for the week ahead.
Whichever way you make it, this slow cooker healthy breakfast casserole is packed with veggies and deliciousness, and makes for one delicious breakfast recipe.
Other recipes you might enjoy:
- Power Greens and Potato Breakfast Casserole
- 5 Ingredient Breakfast Sandwiches
- Meal Prep Breakfast: Miso Butter & Egg Toast
Healthy Slow Cooker Breakfast Casserole Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 dozen large eggs
- 1/2 cup milk I use skim
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
- 1/2 package total of 1 lb frozen diced hash brown potatoes (you could sub with finely chopped sweet potatoes)
- [2 packages 8 count each al fresco breakfast chicken sausages - country style]
- 2 red bell peppers diced/cut into 1 inch cubes
- 1 green bell pepper diced/cut into 1 inch cubes
- 1/2 an onion finely diced (I used a red onion, but a yellow or white onion would work as well)
- 2 cups baby spinach chopped
- 1 cup shredded cheddar Jack cheese optional
- 2 tablespoons parsley finely chopped for topping (optional)
Instructions
- In a large bowl whisk together the eggs, milk, salt and garlic salt.
- Chop and cut all ingredients. I cut the chicken breakfast sausage from frozen - so it goes into the casserole frozen, no pre cooking required.
- If making the breakfast casserole in a slow cooker/crock pot: spray the slow cooker with cooking spray, then put frozen potatoes and cut up chicken breakfast sausage at the bottom of the slow cooker/crockpot, then put diced bell peppers, onion and baby spinach on top. Pour whisked eggs on top and a few times so that everything is mixed. If using cheese, sprinkle cheese on top. Put lid on, and cook for 6-8 hours on low (until temperature reaches 160°F in center and egg mixture is set) If making this overnight I just let it cook for 8 hours. This can also be made in 2 1/2-3 hours on high. Before serving, sprinkle parsley on.
- If making the breakfast casserole in individual ramekins: spray the inside of the ramekins with cooking spray and then add all ingredients except the cheese and parsley to the bowl with the eggs (add the potatoes, chicken breakfast sausage, bell peppers, onion and spinach into the bowl) and stir, then spoon into individual ramekins 3/4 of the way up, and sprinkle cheese on top. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes, then remove from oven, sprinkle parsley on and enjoy.
- If making the breakfast casserole in the oven: spray a 9 x 13 casserole dish with cooking spray. Add all ingredients except the cheese and parsley to the bowl with the eggs (add the potatoes, chicken breakfast sausage, bell peppers, onion and spinach into the bowl) and stir Pour half the mixture into the prepared baking dish, sprinkle with 1/2 cup of the cheese, then pour the remaining mixture into the baking dish and top with remaining cheese, cover with aluminum foil. Bake at 350 covered for 40 minutes. Uncover; bake an additional 15 minutes, or until a knife inserted in center comes out clean. Sprinkle on parsley and let stand 5 minutes before serving.
Nutrition
Jackie says
I have the crockpot brand slow cooker. I used onion, celery, tomatoes, milk, frozen hash browns, 12 eggs, and cooked ground turkey. I cooked it on low for 3 hours and it was already done! If I had left it there overnight, I feel like it would’ve burned. :/
Sweetphi says
Oh my goodness, 3 hours on low and it was done? That’s so incredible, if I would have it on 3 hrs low it would be a soupy mess lol, goes to show you different everyone’s crockpots are. Thank you for the note.
Jackie says
Haha you’re welcome. I think I always have trouble with my crockpot- I feel like it cooks everything way too quickly 😱. It’s the nonstick one
Ann says
Great recipe! I used Ripple, not milk, plus used regular spinach, not baby spinach and regular pork sausages, not chicken. I baked it in a dutch oven at 190 overnight (about 7 1/2 hrs) for a breakfast potluck and it was a hit.
Sweetphi says
So happy to hear that you liked it, and I love hearing the modifications you made, thank you for sharing!!
Barbara Quijada says
Do you think leaving out the sausage to make it vegetarian change cooking time or final consistency?
Sweetphi says
I’ve made this for my vegetarian sister without the sausage and it turns out just as great! I just throw in a few more veggies (like mushrooms!)
Amber says
Can this be made without potatoes?
Sweetphi says
Yes, I’d just say you might want to reduce the cooking time a little.
Danielle Brzezinski says
We made it in the crock pot and it ended up very mushy and a lot of liquid in the bottom. Is there a reason for this ? I don’t think I missed anything In The recipe.
Sweetphi says
That’s so odd that it was mushy and liquidy at the bottom. I’ve honestly never had that happen (and I’ve made this casserole multiple times)…if anything, it can tend to dry out. So I’d like to help trouble shoot to see what happened. What comes to mind is to ask how much liquid you used or to ask if you used anything different than the recipe? I use frozen potatoes and frozen sausage for the recipe, but fresh veggies. Did you use frozen veggies or any different veggies? Did you cook it on low or high? And for how many hours?
Thanks again, hope we can figure out where the liquid came from, because this is such a yummy recipe, and I want it to work for you!
Amanda says
You should change the recipe to state frozen sausage or to precook. Made this for a potluck today and sausage is still raw. After 3 1/2 hours on high. Everyone is running to microwave to make sure sausage is cooked.
Sweetphi says
Thank you for the comment, I’ll definitely add that to the recipe – when I make this I always use frozen chicken breakfast sausages, but I just assumed people would know that that means frozen cooked breakfast sausage, so thank you for sharing. I’ll update it right away!
Cat says
Probably liquid from the frozen items
Danielle Brothers says
Hello! I made this recipe and it was WAY too salty. Also the onions were still crunchy. Wah, wah. I assembled the casserole in a 9×13 pan the night before and put it in the oven in the morning
If I were to make this again, I would ONLY add the 1/2 teaspoon garlic salt and omit the 1 teaspoon salt entirely. I had scaled it down to 1/2 teaspoon of each, and it was STILL too salty! I would also saute the onion before adding it to the casserole so it can soften up.
This recipe is a great jumping off point, but I wanted to add this feedback. I can tell it would be DELICIOUS with the changes I described. Thank you for the recipe.
Sweetphi says
Thank you for the comment and feedback, I’m so surprised to hear that about it being salty though, I guess it’s personal preference perhaps, because 1 teaspoon salt for all those veggies (especially potatoes) normally doesn’t make it salty.
This maybe could have something to do with the scaled down version you made? Thanks for the feedback though, I do like the idea of sautéing thing onion before adding it, I think that would be a great modification 🙂
Cat says
You could use garlic powder and sea salt instead of garlic salt and regular salt, which should help reduce the saltiness
Gabby says
Hi there! : ) Have you ever doubled this recipe before? I’m thinking of using this for a potluck and would like to make more of it in my crockpot. My guess is that it will be fine and just require a little more time to cook (which is great because the potluck is a 9am brunch, and I think it should be done cooking overnight by then without having sat for several hours past being done.)
If you have doubled this and have a better idea of how long it took on low, then I would very much appreciate hearing about it : )
Thanks so much!
Sweetphi says
Yes this can be doubled if you have a large enough slow cooker
sharee says
I would like to know where you can purchase those dishes
Sweetphi says
Those mini casserole dishes are amazing – I ended up buying 2 sets for the holidays when I have guests over, here is a link for them! You can also use ramekins 🙂
Nancy says
Do you have any idea how many Smartpoints (from weight watchers) this might be?
Sweetphi says
Sorry, I do not!
Jen says
I substituted frozen cauliflower for the hash browns and used turkey sausage because I had a hard time finding the chicken sausage. When I calculated the recipe I did on the app it came out to 3 pts per serving, but I still need to figure out the right cook time because without hashbrowns it cooks faster.
Sweetphi says
That’s so great that you tried it with frozen cauliflower and that it was only 3 pts per serving! I’d love to hear your cooktime after you’ve tried it
Emily Shepperd says
What cook time did you end up using?