Hashbrown Egg Bake is a simple breakfast or brunch casserole recipe made by layering hash browns, ham cubes, eggs and cheese together to create one unified dish of deliciousness.
This Ham and Cheese Hashbrown Egg Casserole is perfect for the weekend brunch, holiday season, potlucks, whenever you need to serve a crowd, or when you want lots of leftovers! 🙂
Hashbrown Egg Breakfast Casserole
I love this Hashbrown Egg Bake for holidays and special occasions. It’s basically a casserole/larger version of my Hash Brown Egg Cups.
We make this hashbrown breakfast casserole for Christmas and Easter mornings, brunch for friends and families, or whenever we have a lot of people in the house and need a quick and delicious breakfast fix.
It is fluffy, cheesy and loaded with so much flavor. Ham pieces are embedded in the layers of cheese and egg custard, and the hashbrown potato part is soft and just the right amount to balance out the richness.
Hashbrown egg bake is so much more than the sum of its parts – the combination of flavors and texture is comforting and oh-so-satisfying.
Here’s why we love this delicious and simple hashbrown egg bake recipe:
- Only 8 simple ingredients – using only 8 pantry friendly ingredients, but loaded with incredible flavors! Every ingredient plays a crucial role in making this happen.
- Minimal prep time – takes ~10-15 minutes to put everything together, the rest of the time the oven does the work!
- Feeds a lot of people – this is such a great dish to make for potlucks or when you are feeding a large crowd. It makes around 10-12 servings.
- Reheats well in the microwave – makes for a quick and delicious breakfast, even for busy mornings. Simply pop into the microwave and enjoy!
- Easy to customize – other ingredients can be added to it if you want to clear out the fridge or switch things up!
Ingredients
This hashbrown egg bake recipe calls for only 8 simple pantry-friendly ingredients:
- shredded hash browns – I buy ready shredded refrigerated hash browns for this. If you are using frozen hash browns, they will need to be thawed ahead of time. Alternatively, you can also shred raw potatoes – this will of course take a lot more work and effort.
- ham – cubed ham or ham steak works great. This recipe is also a great way to use up leftover holiday ham! Simply cut ham into small cubes and use them!
- shredded cheese – cheddar, Colby, Colby jack, mozzarella, Swiss, or any soft mild cheeses are great options.
- milk – I used 2% milk but feel free to use 1% or fat free milk if you prefer.
- eggs
- garlic powder – this helps to bring some fantastic flavors to your hash brown layer.
- onion powder – this also brings great flavor to your hash browns
- salt – a little pinch of salt is needed to really open up the flavors in the egg bake
How to make Hashbrown Egg Casserole
Make this simple, no fuss hashbrownegg casserole in under 15 minutes before transferring it to the oven!
Step 1: Make Egg Mixture
Bring together the ingredients for the egg mixture for your hashbrown egg bake.
In a large mixing bowl, whisk together eggs, milk, garlic powder, onion powder, and salt.
Step 2: Layer the Casserole
Generously grease a rectangular 9’x13′ casserole dish to prevent ham egg cheese and potato casserole from sticking to the sides.
Then we will layer it starting with the hashbrown layer at the base.
Layer 1: Hashbrown
Place shredded hashbrown in the bottom of the casserole dish making sure to cover the entire dish. Hashbrown can overlap and pile on top of each other.
Layer 2: Ham
Sprinkle ham cubes on top of hashbrown, making sure to evenly distribute the meat.
Layer 3: Cheese
Cheese is next! Yum!
Layer 4: Egg Mixture
Lastly, pour the egg mixture over the top of your potato, ham and cheese layers.
When pouring, I find that it helps to pour the egg mixture all over everything in a zigzag motion to help with the spreading.
Smush the layers down slightly so that egg custard will come in contact with all three layers of our hashbrown egg casserole.
As the cheese melts, the cheesy goodness will not only be at the top, but it will be incorporated into the egg layer as well.
Step 3: Baking
Bring that hashbrown egg casserole into the oven to bake!
Bake for 40-45 minutes at 350℉. .
When it is done, the tops of the sliced ham and potato casserole will brown slightly, and the egg bake should be springy in texture.
You can insert a toothpick to test for doneness. Toothpick should come out clean if it is fully cooked.
Step 4: Serve!
And that’s it! The fruits of our labor!
Give your hashbrown egg bake a few minutes to cool and solidify, then slice the egg casserole using a knife, and use a spatula to serve.
When served, hashbrowns should be soft, cheesy and slightly crispy on the top. It should have a lot of flavors from the garlic, onion, salt as well as the ham.
The egg should be fluffy and cheesy, soaking up the salty flavors from the ham.
Enjoy this simple and absolutely delightful hash brown egg bake! I love how quickly and easily it comes together, and have been thoroughly enjoying the leftovers for breakfast the next few days.
Tips and Tricks
A few things to take note of when making this hashbrown egg bake recipe:
- Grease the dish: make sure to generously grease the casserole dish for easy removal.
- Use good quality ham: ham provides the flavor that will be soaked into the rest of the casserole, so using good-tasting ham will make a big difference
- Defrost frozen hashbrowns: if hash browns are frozen, let them sit in room temperature or defrost in the microwave to avoid bringing in too much moisture into the casserole. Remember to pat dry to remove excess moisture as well.
- Scrape the sides: To prevent casserole from sticking to the sides, as soon as you remove the casserole from the oven, lightly lift and round the sides with a spatula.
Variations and Additions
Hashbrown egg bake is extremely versatile and can be customized in so many ways. Here are some of my favorite add-ons and variations:
- Veggies: spinach, kale, diced bell peppers, mushroom
- Proteins: bacon, sausage, cooked shredded chicken. Any protein used needs to be fully cooked before baking.
- Other additions: tater tots (instead of hashbrowns), fresh chopped herbs.
Reheating and Storage
Hashbrown ham and cheese casserole makes the best leftovers as well!
To store, simply store leftovers in air tight containers in refrigerator. They should last for up to 5 days.
I recommend reheating in the microwave in room temperature for 1-2 minutes until it is completely warm.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes! Cut potatoes into small pieces or you can even shred them.
There’s no need to cover hashbrown egg casserole while baking.
The casserole is done baking when the top turns golden brown and it is springy to touch. You can also insert a toothpick to check for doneness – toothpick should be clean when hashbrown egg bake is fully done.
Yes, this hashbrown egg bake can be made in advance and refrigerated or frozen until ready to bake. Make sure it is fully defrosted before baking.
ENJOYED THIS RECIPE? Let us know how it was by leaving a rating and review below! 🤍
More Breakfast and Brunch Recipes
- Cream Cheese French Toast Casserole
- Baked Apple Oatmeal
- Biscuit and Gravy Casserole
- Pancake Casserole
- Brown Butter Banana Bread
Hashbrown Egg Casserole
Equipment
Ingredients
- 20 oz shredded hashbrowns thawed
- 2 cups ham cubed
- 2 cups cheddar cheese shredded
- 8 eggs
- 1 cup milk
- 2 tsp garlic powder
- 2 tsp onion powder
- 2 tsp salt
- cooking oil
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350℉.
- In a medium sized mixing bowl, add eggs, milk, garlic powder, onion powder, and salt. Whisk to combine.
- Generously grease a 9×13 casserole dish with cooking oil.
- Place hashbrowns in the bottom of the casserole dish making sure to cover the entire dish.
- Sprinkle ham over the the hashbrowns making sure to evenly distribute the meat
- Next, layer the cheese.
- Lastly, pour the egg mixture over the top. Pour in a zigzag fashion to help spread all of the egg mixture over the bottom layers.
- Bake 40-45 minutes or until cooked through.
- Once fully cooked, remove from oven and immediately scrape the sides to separate the casserole from the sides of the dish.
- Serve and enjoy!
I made this last night and it was so good. We do breakfast for any meal around our house and this really hit the spot.
That’s great, Michael! So glad to hear that! Thank you for sharing!