Crock Pot Breakfast Casserole

Ok, so let me preface this blog post by saying that you will probably be seeing a lot of crock pot recipes from me in the near future. There are a couple of reasons for this. 1. I am currently pregnant and it is a lot easier for me to throw everything in the crock pot in the morning and let it cook. 2. I love my crock pot. It really does make my life easier!

So, I found this recipe a couple months back on Pinterest and knew it was something that I wanted to try. I couldn’t bring myself to get up early in the morning to put this in the crock-pot to have it ready for an actual breakfast or even a brunch, though. It is a good thing that my husband and I are both big fans of brinner (breakfast for dinner).

Here is the link for the original recipe: http://www.alattewithotta.com/2010/11/crock-pott-recipe-egg-brunch-casserole.html. As always, check both my blog and the original blog as I made some changes to the recipe as I made it.

After a couple of days of saying I was going to make this, I finally made this last night. It was very good and definitely a recipe that I will keep around. This meal would be great to put on after a late night or when you know you will need a good breakfast in the morning (before visitors travel home, etc.)

I am taking this time to apologize that there are not any pictures. I promise I will get better at that. There are pictures on the original link, though. J

Crock Pot Brunch Casserole

Ingredients:

*6-8 strips of bacon
*1 onion peeled and chopped (My onions had actually gone bad by the time I made this recipe so I used onion powder instead. It worked out well and it was good because my husband doesn’t like slimy onions anyways.)
*1 clove garlic, peeled and minced ( I used the jar minced garlic for this recipe for the sheer fact that I had it already and didn’t feel like dealing with fresh garlic.)
*1 red bell pepper, seeded and chopped
*1 green bell pepper, seeded and chopped
*1 (2 lb.) bag of frozen hash browns
*12 eggs
*1 ½ cups shredded cheese (I used the Mexican blend of cheese for this recipe, but think it would also be great with cheddar.)
*1 cup whole milk

Directions:

1. Spray crock pot with non-stick cooking spray.
2. Cook bacon until crisp. Let bacon cook and then chop into ½ inch pieces. Set aside. (I actually cooked the bacon the night before so that I wouldn’t be worrying about it in the morning.)
3. Saute onion, garlic, and bell pepper for 5 minutes.
4. Place 1/3 of the frozen hash browns into the bottom of the crock pot. Add 1/3 bacon, 1/3 onion and bell pepper mixture, and 1/3 cheese.
5. Repeat step 4 until you have used up all your ingredients. (3 times for those of you counting.)
6. In a large bowl mix eggs, milk, and any seasonings you have decided to add in.
7. Pour egg mixture over ingredients in the crock pot, cover and turn on low.
8. Cook entire casserole on low for 8-10 hours.

What did I think about this recipe?

I really liked this recipe. I was worried about it at first because I am not a huge fan of breakfast casseroles or omelets, but this turned out to be a great meal!

I paired this up with some buttered toast and thought it was a well-rounded meal.

My husband wound up putting more cheese on the top of his serving because the potato to cheese ratio for him was not to his liking. I could see how this meal could use a little more cheese, but I like potatoes so I was ok with how the meal tasted.

I would add more meat into this meal the next time I make it. While there was a lot of bacon in here, it didn’t seem to be even for every bite or two that you got. I would also like to add that in talking to my husband about what could have been done better, we decided it might be better to cook the bacon while the rest of the mixture is in the crockpot and just throw the bacon on once the egg, potato, bell pepper, and cheese mixture is done. The bacon tends to lose its flavor when it has been in the crock pot all day.

All in all, I would recommend this recipe to just about anyone as it was easy and made a great meal. The only thing that I advise is that if you want to make this for breakfast know that you will have to start the crock pot in the middle of the night!