Tater Tot Breakfast Casserole comes together easily and reimagines the eggs, sausage, and tater breakfast as a wonderful breakfast hot dish. You get all the heartiness of a sausage, egg, and hash browns breakfast, but in a form that is perfect for a crowd.

Tater Tot Breakfast Casserole Recipe

I think most people don’t really think about casseroles when they consider their breakfast options. Perhaps the closest they come is something like a frittata like my asparagus and sausage frittata.

But it’s time to open up the possibilities of what’s for breakfast without losing touch with what makes breakfast so good in the first place.

Tater Tot Hotdish is a Midwest staple, and this breakfast version is going to become one if I have anything to do with it.

Use up those EGGS with these recipes!

Why use tater tots and not hash browns?

I prefer tater tots for breakfast casseroles myself, not only because I grew up in the land of tater tot hot dish, but also because they are easier to use, crisp up really well, and taste amazing too. Plus – super easy. Typically we keep dehydrated hash browns in the house since those are the kind that crisp up the best on the Blackstone, and frozen tots are easier for this application than re-hydrating and cooking a full batch of browns would be.

More great BREAKFAST RECIPES here!

What kind of cheese should you use?

I think cheddar cheese works great with the tater tots. It also melts nicely and works in the sauce. You can use a variety of cheeses, or toss in whatever you have on hand though. Soft cheese like goat cheese or cream cheese works just as well as any grated hard cheese. Feel free to experiment a bit!

The cheese not only helps create the flavorful casserole sauce but can also be used to grate over the top of the casserole too. For that reason, you may also want to use a cheese that is easily grated such as cheddar, mozzarella, or even swiss.

How about some Blueberry Muffins to go with this?

What type of sausage works best in breakfast casserole?

Any brand of breakfast sausage works, pork, turkey, or chicken. If you want to make your own sausage mixture from scratch, try out this recipe. 

If you don’t happen to have sausage handy, then you can use bacon, but don’t overdo the bacon since it is a lot saltier than sausage.

Try our Homemade Raspberry Muffins, too!

Variations and Substitutions

These days you don’t have to be cornered into one option only for the tater tots. In the frozen section of your local market, you’ll find a variety of potato-free tots. Sweet potato and cauliflower tots are widely available and these will work just as well as regular potato tots.

Also, if you are vegetarian or just looking to cut back on meat, then you can cut in cubes of eggplant or jicama instead of using sausage. Make sure to season vigorously because the herbs and spices in sausage add a lot of seasoning.

How to store leftover tater tot breakfast casserole

You can store tater tot hot dish in the fridge for 3-4 days. It will be even better when you reheat it.

It can also be stored in the freezer if you keep it in a sealed container. In the freezer, you can go up to a few months as long as the container lid is very secure so you can ward off freezer burn.

Can this be made on the Traeger?

YESSSS. And again for those of you in the back. This would be a perfect recipe to throw on the grill! Smoke + breakfast hotdish is a perfect match. 

See all of my Traeger Recipes here!

What should you serve with this tater tot breakfast hot dish?

Since the tater tot breakfast casserole is essentially a multi-course breakfast wrapped up into one delicious dish, you really don’t have to think too much about side dishes. This casserole is a real winner when it comes to brunch.

If you intend to make it a brunch bonanza, then you definitely might want to consider serving it with a few of my other breakfast dishes too.

• Homemade pancake mix – You can make a few batches of this so you have it handy for whenever you want pancakes.
• Homemade eggs benedict – making your own hollandaise sauce isn’t that tough and when you have real hollandaise instead of the packaged stuff there is such a huge world of difference!
• Smoked salmon scrambled eggs – I love the way smoked salmon makes regular old scrambled eggs something special. This is easy to make and goes great with every breakfast dish you can imagine.