Biscuit Eggs Sausage and Cheese Breakfast Casserole

Every year I spend New Year’s Day watching the Rose Parade on TV if I’m in the US. Last year I was in Japan, but I was back to my tradition this January 2, 2017 (they moved it because they don’t ever hold it on Sundays traditionally). There was even a memorable year I was in Los Angeles and my sister (attending USC Law School at the time, now this year celebrating her first New Year’s as a mother to a 3 month daughter) even helped arrange my mom and other sister to get seats and watch it in person. It was incredible being able to see all the breathtaking details of the flowers, though I did miss a bit of the announcer highlights they narrate on TV.

This year to accompany the bottle of sparkling that I cheered the parade on with as I watch, I also prepared this incredible Biscuit Eggs Sausage and Cheddar Breakfast Casserole. You can prepare everything for this Biscuits Breakfast Casserole the day before and then just pop it in the oven, which is perfect for a non morning person or after a long night up. I like how this casserole basically puts all of breakfast – like a breakfast that would have Biscuits and Sausage Gravy as one item, and Cheesy Egg on the side, all together in every bite.

You’ve probably seen this recipe as it’s very popular and had been on the Internet, with thousands of raves on various recipe sites that have a version of this, and if course Pinterest and a Tasty video you may have seen on Facebook.

The changes I made were to specifically use Tillamook Sharp Cheddar and more of it, keeping some to top the entire casserole. I also made a little extra sausage that I set aside and had as part of the gravy. and used some of the leftover meat juices from cooking the sausage to make the gravy instead of just butter to imbue more sausage flavor. The recipe says to use pepper to taste and I recommend being very generous with the pepper.

For other variations I also recommend mixing up the cheeses such as combining cheddar with mozzarella for more gooeyness or pepper jack for a tiny kick. For more spice mix in spicy sausage or chorizo instead of sausage, or add hot sauce to your eggs or slice up some jalapeño and serve with salsa and sour cream. For more color to your dish visually, chop and add in some green or red bell peppers, or other veggies. For ease you could also use gravy mix  and/or  pre-cooked sausage instead.

Ingredients:

• 1 16 ounce can of refrigerated biscuit dough
• 1 pound ground pork breakfast sausage
• 1 1/2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese, divided
• 6 eggs
• 1/2 cup milk
• salt and ground black pepper to taste
• ~2 1/4 cups of Gravy – make a white sauce like in the video, or make your own, from a mix, or make it with leftover sausage drippings and the following (this is for a single batch: you might want to double it and serve the second half as a side to pour on the casserole when serving).
  • Optionally purchase a little extra sausage and mix it into your gravy –  even just a few tablespoons helps.
  • 4 Tablespoons butter OR 3 tablespoons and 1 tablespoon of saved grease from cooking the sausage (= 1 -1 substitution of meat drippings for butter)
  • 4 Tablespoons of flour
  • 2 cups milk
  • salt & pepper to taste

Directions:

1. In a pan over medium high heat, cook the sausage until browned, adding any seasonings and salt and pepper to taste. When cooked, separate the sausage from the sausage juices in the pan but save the leftover liquid to make gravy later.
2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
3. In a bowl, whisk the 6 eggs, 1/2 cup milk, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper (you can add more or less to taste). Set aside.
4. Now to make the gravy. Make it with a packet, or your own recipe, or in my version
   • In the same pan you cooked the sausage, or if not large enough a saucepan, on medium to low heat, melt the 3 tablespoons butter with the sausage drippings (or alternately another 2 tablespoons butter instead of drippings, or all drippings and no butter). After the butter is completely melted, add in 4 tablespoons of flour.
   • When the butter and flour are whisked until smooth (don’t let the roux brown if you prefer a whiter looking gravy vs a browned one), turn the heat to medium high and slowly pour in 2 cups of milk, about 1/4 cup at a time and whisking all the while. Adding too much milk at once will make it hard to break down the lumps and create a smooth gravy.
   • Bring everything to a boil, continually stirring, until thickened to a creamy consistency and add salt and pepper to taste –  I’m very generous with the pepper.
     
   • Optionally I like to add a pinch of cayenne. And as I mentioned, you can also additionally add sausage to the gravy here too in addition to the amount in the casserole’s sausage layer.
5. Cut each biscuit from the biscuit tube into smaller pieces. Grease a 9 x 13 inch baking dish. In the baking dish, scatter the biscuits pieces.
   
6. Scatter over all the biscuits the 1 pound cooked sausage, 1 cup of shredded cheese, then pour in the egg mixture. If making this the evening before, stop here and cover and refrigerate for the next morning.
   
7. When ready to cook, pour on the gravy and sprinkle atop the remaining 1/2 cup Cheddar cheese over your Biscuits Breakfast casserole. Cover and bake at 350°F for 30-45 min, until egg is fluffy underneath the cheese and gravy,  and cheese is bubbling.
   
8. Let rest for 15 minutes to solidify a bit underneath the gravy before serving.
    

What are your holiday morning traditions, if any? Do you watch the Rose Parade or any parades? Do you have a New Year’s tradition?