Cheesy Sausage, Spinach, and Tater Tot Breakfast Casserole

Welcome to the second annual brunch week hosted by Terri of Love and Confections and Susan of The Girl In The Little Red Kitchen! All week, we’ll  be celebrating the scrumptious, lazy morning, savory & sweet goodness that is brunch. We have 32 bloggers bringing you their best brunch game, including this wonderful Cheesy Sausage, Spinach, and Tater Tot Breakfast Casserole.

I’m sure it’s pretty apparent to all of you by now that we run quite a classy establishment here in the Neighborfood kitchen. I mean, nothing says elegance like tater tots. Amiright??

Wait…what’s that you say? Tater tots are the food of second grade cafeteria lunches?!

Well, that’s disappointing. Because in my world, tots are for adults: two fully grown, bill paying, own-laundry-doing adults.

We just so happen to love the crispy browned goodness of the humble tater tot. The glories of the tot are not lost on our adult palate. I appreciate the finely textured potato, uniform rotund shape, and slight crunch of the exterior. Even years into adulthood, the wonders of the simple, comforting tater tot casserole have yet to cease.

I love tots so much, I couldn’t bear to see them relegated to mushy side dish for frozen chicken tenders any longer. These bite-sized potato cuties deserve to take center stage. And why should they only be for dinner? Breakfast seems a perfectly reasonable home for a potato bite, wouldn’t you say?

And indeed it is. Today is the beginning of Brunch Week 2014, and I simply couldn’t resist kicking it off with this tater tot laden breakfast casserole.

As breakfast casseroles go, this one is pretty standard. It’s got the basics– egg, cheese, a vegetable, and a breakfast meat–and it’s ridiculously easy to throw together. You can even whip it up the night before, refrigerate, and bake in the morning. For this version I went with sausage, spinach, and cheddar cheese, but you could really fancy it up with bell peppers, mushrooms, and gruyere.

They key here is the tots. They’re lined up on top of the casserole towards the end of the bake time then baked until warmed through. Just a few extra minutes under the broiler puts them over the edge into crispy, browned perfection. The finished product is a complete breakfast in one slice.

Show the tater tots some love this year, and let them have a starring role on your brunch table. It may prompt a few giggles, but I promise no one will be laughing when they try this one dish breakfast wonder.

Now, about the Brunch Week festivities. I am thrilled to be joining over 30 bloggers for a week full of all your brunch favorites. We’ve got pancakes and parfaits, egg skillets and mimosas, donuts, scones, and almost everything in between. You can follow the hashtag #BrunchWeek to catch all the late breakfast happenings throughout the week.

Sausage and Spinach Breakfast Tater Tot Casserole

As breakfast casseroles go, this one is pretty standard. It’s got the basics– egg, cheese, a vegetable, and a breakfast meat–and it’s ridiculously easy to throw together.

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Prep Time: 10 minutes mins

Cook Time: 45 minutes mins

Total Time: 55 minutes mins

Servings: 8

Calories: 533kcal

Ingredients

 

1x2x3x

• 1 lb. ground pork sausage
• 1 yellow onion (chopped fine)
• 4 cups baby spinach
• 10 eggs
• 1 1/2 cups milk
• 1 teaspoon heaping Kosher salt
• Black pepper
• 1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
• 3/4 bag frozen tater tots

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Grease a 9 x 13 inch baking dish.
• In a large skillet over medium heat, fry the ground sausage and onion together until no pink remains. Drain off any excess fat. Add the spinach to the skillet and stir until wilted, about 2-3 minutes. Remove from heat and pour into the baking dish.
• Meanwhile, whisk together the eggs, milk, and salt until well combined. Sprinkle with fresh ground black pepper. Pour the egg mixture over the sausage and stir to combine. Sprinkle with cheddar cheese. *At this point, you can cover and refrigerate overnight.
• Bake the mixture for 30 minutes then remove and increase the heat to 425 degrees. Line the top of the casserole dish with tater tots, return to the oven, and bake an additional 10-12 minutes, or until tater tots are heated through. I like to turn the broiler on for a few minutes at the very end to make sure the tater tots get nice and crispy. Serve warm.

Notes

• You can get fancy and line the tots up like in my photo for very neat slices - or just dump them on in a single layer! It all tastes great.

Course Breakfast

Cuisine American

Keyword breakfast casserole, sausage breakfast casserole, tater tot casserole

Nutrition

Calories: 533kcal | Carbohydrates: 27g | Protein: 24g | Fat: 37g | Saturated Fat: 13g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 6g | Monounsaturated Fat: 14g | Trans Fat: 0.1g | Cholesterol: 272mg | Sodium: 1281mg | Potassium: 626mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 3g | Vitamin A: 2036IU | Vitamin C: 11mg | Calcium: 272mg | Iron: 2mg

Did You Make This Recipe?Leave a review, Mention @NeighborFoodie, or tag #neighborfoodies!

Disclaimer: California Walnuts, Bob’s Red Mill, Oxo, Dixie Crystals, Whole Foods Market Doctor Phillips, Grimmway Farms, Woot Froot, Vidalia Onion, Baloian Farms, Stemilt and Bonne Maman are providing the prizes free of charge.  I have received product related to these brands to use for #Brunchweek. All opinions stated are my own.

Beverages:

• Frozen Peach Bellini from Love and Confections
• Raspberry Tequila Sunrise from The Spiffy Cookie
• Mango Mimosa from My Catholic Kitchen
• Pineapple Peach Mimosa from Big Bear’s Wife
• Rosemary-Orange Mocktail from The Kitchen Prep

Brunch Eggs:

• Caramelized Onion Tart from Hungry Couple
• Polenta Cakes with Crab & Eggs from Foxes Love Lemons
• Loaded Veggie Frittata with Sweet Potato and Hatch Chile from The Little Ferraro Kitchen
• Mexican Omelete with Plantain, Avocado and Mango Hash from Take A Bite Out of Boca
• Veggie and Scalloped Potato Frittata from Hip Foodie Mom
• Apple and Sweet Potato Egg Muffin Cups from Cupcakes & Kale Chips
• Frittata Muffins from Jane’s Adventures in Dining

Main Brunch Dishes:

• Muscat-Glazed Lamb Lollipops with Roasted Grapes from Culinary Adventures with Camilla
• Spinach & Mushroom Quiche from Real Housemoms
• Paleo & Chicken Waffles from Quarter Life (Crisis) Cuisine

Brunch Breads and Sides:

• Dutch Baby with Roasted Strawberries from The Girl In The Little Red Kitchen
• Strawberry Mascarpone Stuffed French Toast from That Skinny Chick Can Bake
• Strawberry Lemon Crepes from Food Faith Fitness
• Carrot Cake Steel Cut Oatmeal from It’s Yummi!
• Banana Bacon Pancakes from Eat Your Heart Out
• Raspberry Oatmeal Pancakes from Healthy.Delicious.
• Mexican Chocolate French Toast with Spiced Blackberry Syrup from Cooking in Stilettos
• Brown Butter Peanut Butter Doughnuts with Mixed Berry Jelly Icing from Sarcastic Cooking
• Baked Chocolate Hazelnut Donuts from {i love} My Disorganized Life
• Banana Coconut Milk Pancakes from Chocolate Moosey
• Pumpernickel Bagels from Jen’s Favorite Cookies

Brunch Fruit and Vegetables:

• Honeycrisp and & Carrot Waldorf from The Vintage Cook
• Hazelnut Crepes with Rum Peaches from Savvy Eats

Brunch Desserts:

• Greek Yogurt Chocolate Cake from Roxana’s Home Baking
• Simple Oatmeal Cookie Jam Bars from Chelsea’s Messy Apron