Tater Tot Breakfast Casserole is an easy recipe with 15 minutes of prep time and bakes to golden hot in just 45 minutes. Put this dish together a day ahead for relaxed weekends, special occasions, or for the holidays.
Decorate the top in a pretty striped or diagonal pattern with cheese and tater tots. There are many ways to customize the flavors in this recipe too. Add in different breakfast meats like sausage, bacon, ham, cheeses, and even veggies to make it just the way you want. It will be an absolute hit in your home, with those brown and bubbly edges...
PRO TIP: Get creative and decorate the top with tater tots and cheese. Try a pretty diagonal design or long rows just for the fun of it. Doesn't this look amazing?
Easy Tater Tot Breakfast Casserole Recipe
These are the basic ingredients you will need, but there are so many ways to create your own version of this recipe and use things you have on hand or prefer!
- Frozen Tater Tots
- Eggs or Liquid Eggs (Egg Beaters)
- Milk
- Can Rotel
- Bulk Sausage (in the tube package)
- Monterey Jack Cheese
- Black Pepper
- Garlic Powder
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
- On the stovetop, brown 1 pound of crumbled sausage in a large skillet and set aside.
- Spray a 9 x 13-inch baking dish with non-stick spray, and break the 4 cups of tater tots into a crumbled layer on the bottom of the dish. Reserve 2 cups of tater tots for the top layer to decorate.
- Sprinkle browned sausage all over the top of the crumbled tater tots layer.
- Next, add 2 cups of grated cheese on top of the tots and sausage, and reserve 1 cup of cheese for the top of the casserole.
- In a large bowl, whisk eggs, milk, a can of Rotel, black pepper, and garlic powder.
- Pour mix over the tots, sausage, and cheese layer. Place the last 2 cups of tater tots on top with the remaining cup of grated cheese and decorate in a pretty pattern. Add extra cheese if desired.
- Bake 45-50 minutes until brown and bubbly.
More Breakfast Casserole Ideas
The best part of this casserole is that you can mix n' match ingredients based on what you have in your kitchen. Make this Tater Tot Casserole your very own with...
Different Cheeses
- Goat Cheese
- Pepper Jack Cheese
- Sharp Cheddar Cheese
- Mozzarella
- Colby Cheese
- Swiss Cheese
Adding More Veggies!
- Browned Mushrooms
- Caramelized Onions
- Green Onions
- Red Bell Peppers, Green, or Yellow Bell peppers
- Fresh Chives
- Fresh or Thawed Spinach
- Broccoli
- Sauteed Tomatoes
Adding Different Cooked Meats
- Grilled Flank Steak or Tri-Tip
- Browned Hamburger Meat
- Chopped Smoked Ham
- Cooked Breakfast Sausage
- Cooked Crumbled Bacon
- Turkey Bacon
- Rotisserie Chicken
- Roast Diced Chicken
- Leftover Pizza - chopped up (you read that right, try it OMG!)
Breakfast Casserole Top Tips
- It's the perfect "lazy dish." Keep this dish in your recipe box for the times when you need an easy dish, like weekends, and holidays. Put this dish together, and tuck in the refrigerator, then pull it out and bake it in the morning!
- Family and friends will love it. Trust me, everyone is going to be asking you for this casserole recipe. And with all the flavor ideas, create a version everyone will love in your family, my favorite is the pizza twist! Either chop up leftover pizza and put it in this casserole or use pepperoni, cheeses, and veggies for a pizza flavor.
- Leftovers. Any leftovers reheat so easily, and you can freeze individual servings in freezer bags or airtight containers for later. Just thaw and reheat in the microwave or oven.
- Frozen Tater Tots. Keep a bag in your freezer for this recipe, then use up things you have on hand in the fridge like cheeses, sausage, bacon, ham, and veggies.
- Kids REALLY love it. Tater tots for breakfast? Their eyes will light up when you serve this dish. Kids-at-heart will feel the same way.
Tater Tot FAQ
Did you know that tater tots originated in Ontario, Oregon in 1953? They were created by the founders of Ore-Ida when trying to come up with a creative (and profitable!) method to use up leftover cut-up potatoes. They finally figured out that chopping up the leftovers, adding seasoning and flour, and creating "tots" was the best thing to do.
Here is the funniest part of the tater tot story... at first, Ore-Ida offered them so cheap that no one bought them. People thought that such an inexpensive product was worthless. When Ore-Ida RAISED the price, people went crazy for them! These days, Americans consume 70 MILLION pounds of tater tots a year.
Some names for tater tots in other countries:
Potato Gems
Potato Pom-Poms
Spud Puppies
Squirt Browns
It's a name (and dish) that originated in Minnesota, and it's also a tater tot casserole. A tater tot hotdish contains ingredients like cream of mushroom soup, green beans, and cheddar cheese. Yum! I haven't tried a version of this hot dish for dinner yet, but it's on my to-make list.
And receive a free guide on How To Build A Charcuterie Board as our thank you!
More Brunch and Breakfast Recipes
What else goes with a baked breakfast casserole for a brunch party? Well for starters, have a nice fruit salad, hot coffee, juice, and mimosas or bloody marys. Have some good hot Sauce or Salsa for people to spice up their slice of breakfast casserole. And here are some other ideas!
A popular Christmas breakfast idea everyone loves a top reader favorite...Baked Parmesan Hash Browns. They are baked in a muffin tin with golden crisp edges and no stovetop mess.
When hosting a brunch party, some of my go-to make-ahead brunch recipes are Mini Brie and Bacon Quiche made in a muffin tin, easy and so good fresh from the oven.
Hand-dip Pancake Muffins into warm syrup for a fast breakfast recipe or brunch party idea. The fun part is to top them with blueberries, raspberries, mini chocolate chips, and more. Take your Sunday brunch and football game day parties to the next level with a big batch of your own homemade Spicy Bloody Mary Mix, and set up the ultimate bloody mary bar...
Need something light and healthy for breakfast or a light selection to go with your hearty brunch? Whip up one of these healthy recipes: Avocado Toast, or try one of these 5 Breakfast Egg Muffins Recipes for you to try, and it's so simple to make individual muffins for everyone in your family for weekday breakfast.
Pink Grapefruit Detox Smoothies are great to start the day with beautiful Breakfast Yogurt Parfaits or a classic Boiled Egg.
Tater Tot Breakfast Casserole Recipe
Equipment
Ingredients
- 32 oz bag unfrozen tater tots approx 6 cups, reserve 2 cups to decorate top of casserole
- 8 eggs or liquid eggs - Egg Beaters
- ½ cup milk
- 10 oz. can Rotel drained
- 1 lb crumbled sausage cooked
- 3 cups Monterey jack cheese grated
- ½ teaspoon pepper
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
- On the stovetop, brown 1 pound of crumbled sausage in a large skillet and set aside.
- Spray a 9 x 13-inch baking dish with non-stick spray, and break the 4 cups of tater tots into a crumbled layer on the bottom of the dish. Reserve 2 cups of tater tots for the top layer to decorate.
- Sprinkle browned sausage all over the top of the crumbled tater tots layer.
- Next, add 2 cups of grated cheese on top of the tots and sausage, and reserve 1 cup of cheese for the top of the casserole.
- In a large bowl, whisk eggs, milk, can of Rotel, black pepper, and garlic powder.
- Pour mix over the tots, sausage, and cheese layer. Place last 2 cups of tater tots on top with the remaining cup of grated cheese and decorate in a pretty pattern. Add extra cheese if desired.
- Bake 45-50 minutes until brown and bubbly.
Notes
Use Different Cheeses
- Goat Cheese
- Pepper Jack Cheese
- Sharp Cheddar Cheese
- Mozzarella
- Colby Cheese
- Swiss Cheese
Add Veggies!
- Browned Mushrooms
- Caramelized Onions
- Green Onions
- Red Bell Peppers, Green, or Yellow Bell peppers
- Fresh Chives
- Fresh or Thawed Spinach
- Broccoli
- Sauteed Tomatoes
Add Meats - Leftovers or Freshly Cooked
- Grilled Flank Steak or Tri-Tip
- Browned Hamburger Meat
- Chopped Smoked Ham
- Breakfast Sausage
- Crumbled Bacon
- Turkey Bacon
- Rotisserie Chicken
- Roast Diced Chicken
- Leftover Pizza - chopped up (you read that right, try it OMG!)
Has anyone made this ahead of time and then froze it?
Not that I know of...you would need to defrost it for at least a couple days in the fridge before baking because it's a huge casserole dish. It should work just fine as I freeze eggs and tater tots. I wouldn't add the cheese on top until right before baking, let us know if you test it out and how it goes Andrea!
Hello are potato croquettes the same as Tata tots?
They are similar but not exactly the same thing. In the United States tater tots are very common and easy to find. Potato croquettes should work fine in this recipe!
I usually make breakfast casserole with bread. I love this gluten-free option.
This pleased a whole house full of fussy guests. Whenever I need a recipe for a special occasion Lisa's site is my go-to!
Thank you so much Karen! Glad you made the recipe and loved it, easy and everyone is happy...thanks for your great comment and for letting everyone know it was a hit!
"An easy 15-minute recipe to make ahead ..." --- You are speaking my language Lisa! Plus, my boys LOVE this dish and I suspect they wouldn't mind if I snuck it in at dinner every now and again. Looking forward to trying some of those variations!
Oh my goodness these are heaven for breakfast!! Super simple to make and absolutely delicious!! I'll be making this dish this weekend for the second time!