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Savory 5 Ingredient Bratwurst Breakfast Casserole

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This 5 Ingredient Bratwurst Breakfast Casserole turns your leftovers into a simple, delicious, and convenient breakfast that’s sure to fill those tummies and get everyone off to a great start in the day!

You can whip it up in no time and it’s insanely easy to customize with your favorite breakfast flavors. (Not to mention, to use up the extras in your fridge!)

What’s to Love About This Breakfast Casserole Recipe

  • This savory breakfast casserole is a great option for making a quick and easy breakfast that helps to make use of leftovers in the refrigerator. As prices of everything continue to go up it is always a good idea to take a look at ways you can reduce food waste and stretch your monthly food budget. 
  • It’s a great way to get more protein in your breakfast meals.
  • Another great thing about this casserole is that you can mix it up and place it in the refrigerator the night before, making it even easier to whip up your breakfast in the morning.
  • Simply toss it into your preheated oven and go about your morning routine.
A top down view of the sausage and egg casserole. There are two plates above the dish with forks.

Groceries Needed

  • Leftover cooked bratwurst: If you had a meal of brats the night before, use up one or two of the remaining ones you have on hand, OR, cook up a few extras to use the next morning for this breakfast meal. If you have other kinds of sausages on hand, feel free to use that instead.
  • Cheddar: I like to use sharp cheddar for this casserole, but feel free to use what you have on hand. If it melts well, and you like the flavor, it’s a great cheese to use in this recipe.
  • Cubed bread: Leave the crusts on if you want.
  • Diced Sweet Pepper: I like red or orange peppers because I find them the sweetest, but use your favorite that you have in your fridge.
  • Eggs

Pantry Items

  • Salt
  • Pepper
  • Garlic powder
  • *Italian seasoning (Optional)

EAZYTIP: Remember, ingredients like salt, pepper, garlic powder, and oil don’t count towards the ingredient list because most people have these items in the pantry.

How to Make It 

  • For this savory sausage bake, I just sliced up the leftover cooked Brats to begin with. You can use so many different protein options for this casserole. Look below for more suggestions!
  • Mix your seasonings in with your eggs. You can always add more to taste later when you serve it.
  • Toss the meat, bread, and vegetables together in your casserole dish.
  • Pour the seasoned egg mixture over top of your casserole.
  • Cover and refrigerate until you are ready to cook or let rest for 15 minutes so some of the egg can be absorbed by the bread.
  • Bake at 350 degrees for 30 to 40 minutes. Your casserole is done when a fork comes out clean after poking it.

Suggestions for Putting a Twist on the Dish

There are a lot of great ways to put a twist on this breakfast casserole! Adding different flavors by changing out ingredients according to what you have hanging around in your refrigerator.

A fun way to add different flavors is by adding classic toppings for brats to your casserole or serving them as a side for your individual serving. Things like onions (sweet, regular or even green onions), can add a new flavor and texture component to the dish.

In place of bread, you can use leftover diced potatoes or even parsnips. This is a great way to make use of leftover Potatoes O’Brien, or hashbrowns.

Add a kick of heat by sprinkling dry chili flakes, or even diced jalapeno if you like things on the spicier side.

You can use other types of bread as well like garlic bread, brioche, or even thinking outside the box, and using leftover extra rolls like these 4 Ingredient Garlic Knots would be ideal so you can be sure that nothing goes to waste.

You can use all kinds of things in place of the meat in this recipe. From ground sausage, diced smoked sausage, leftover ham, or even leftover regular (or turkey) bacon would add different flavor profiles that would be crazy delicious.

A corner section of the breakfast bake in a white casserole dish.

A great way to level up this sausage bake is to use different cheeses because well, you know, cheese just makes everything better. This will work well with nearly any cheese that melts well, that you have on hand.

Lastly, I make this bratwurst bake for breakfast, lunch, AND dinner sometimes, so don’t feel you’re limited to just serving it for the first meal of the day. If you want to serve it for lunch, try adding a nice side salad along with it, or think about adding a side of steamed vegetables and you would make this a super healthy and filling dinner.

What Can I Serve this With?

 Like other casseroles, this breakfast is pretty inclusive and doesn’t need much to make it a meal. Try dressing it up with some fresh fruit and a glass of orange juice. 

Storing leftover breakfast casserole

You can store your leftover breakfast casserole in an air-tight container in your refrigerator. Be sure to not overheat when you reheat your casserole because you can overheat the eggs and dry them out.

A piece of the sausage bake, covered in melted cheddar, on a white plate with green parsley on top.
Yield: 4 - 6 portions

5 Ingredient Bratwurst Breakfast Casserole

The Bratwurst Breakfast Bake with only 5 Ingredients in a white and blue baking dish.

Only 5 ingredients is needed for this scrumptious, savory breakfast casserole. Easily made the night before, it's perfect for lazy weekend brunches!

Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 35 minutes
Total Time 45 minutes

Ingredients

  • 2-3 cooked bratwurst sausages, sliced in 1/4" slices
  • 8 cups diced bread, (medium to large cubes)
  • 1 sweet bell pepper, red or orange, diced
  • 1 1/2 cups of cheddar, sharp, shredded
  • 6 Eggs, beaten
  • 1 tsp Italian seasoning (optional)
  • as desired, salt, pepper and garlic.

Instructions

Place the cubed bread in the bottom of a 9x7, 8x8, or 9x9 baking dish.
Sprinkle the sausage, peppers, and 1/2 cup of cheese over the bread.
In a bowl, combine the eggs, and Italian seasoning if using, salt, pepper, and garlic.
Evenly pour the egg mixture over top of the other ingredients in the baking dish.
Let it sit for 15 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350 degrees Farenheight.

When the oven comes to temperature, sprinkle the remaining cheese over top of the casserole and bake for 30-35 minutes. Let rest for 5 minutes before serving.
Enjoy!

Notes

If the mixture seems overly dry after adding the eggs, feel free to add another 1-2 eggs. Sometimes, depending on the size of the bread cubes and how dry they a6re, they can absorb more moisture than other times.

Nutrition Information

Yield

6

Serving Size

1

Amount Per Serving Calories 532Total Fat 32gSaturated Fat 13gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 16gCholesterol 255mgSodium 1083mgCarbohydrates 34gFiber 2gSugar 6gProtein 26g

All nutritional information is based on third party calculations and is only an estimate. Each recipe and nutritional value will vary depending on the brands used, measuring methods and portion sizes per household.

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2 Comments

    1. Hi Joan! They don’t have to be but you certainly can toast them if you’d like. If the bread is stale or even slightly dried, that’s fine too. But you can use regular bread. I probably wouldn’t use freshly baked bread though as it might be too soft. I hope you enjoy the dish!