I love breakfast casseroles and breakfast tacos. It’s about time I figured out how to combine them both, right? And, after a three-day weekend, where cooking was plentiful, a few new recipes have emerged, one of which is this Breakfast Taco Casserole.
You can prep this the night before and bake it in the morning, or assemble the ingredients and bake it all at the same time. Add a salad to it and call it brunch, lunch, or dinner, as it’s too good to confine to just breakfast.
I made this one with spicy Italian sausage, but feel free to use whatever ground sausage you prefer. Chorizo would be delicious, as would another milder sausage. Like many recipes, they are always open to interpretation. And, I was shopping at a small town grocery store with limited options, proving that this is also a great recipe to make if you have a kitchen on vacation.
Speaking of sausage, I do think the sausage makes a difference, as I have made this without any as well. So, if you are a vegetarian, I would use a vegetable-based crumbled sausage as a substitute, instead of simply leaving it out.
Look at those layers!
Breakfast Taco Casserole
Ingredients
- Olive oil spray
- 1 cup zucchini, chopped
- 1/2 cup poblano peppers, chopped (approx. one poblano pepper)
- 1 cup sweet onion, chopped (approx. 1/2 of a regular sized onion)
- 1 ear of corn, cut off the cob (or a cup of frozen corn)
- 1 14.5 oz can black beans
- 2 garlic cloves, diced
- 1 lb spicy breakfast sausage (or chorizo, mild breakfast sausage, Italian sausage, even ground beef!)
- 12 eggs
- 1/3 cup half and half
- 10 8-inch corn tortillas (I prefer white corn tortillas for this recipe; and the size doesn't really matter. Just make sure to cover the bottom of the pan and do an equal size layer for the second layer!)
- 4 tbsp taco seasoning (Use store-bought, or make your own using this recipe and this homemade recipe is SO GOOD.)
- 3 cups Mexican blend shredded cheese
Garnish
- Cilantro
- Pico de gallo
- Fresh jalapeno, thinly sliced
- Sour cream
- Chopped green onions
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
- Sauté all chopped vegetables (onion, poblano peppers, corn, and zucchini) in a large pan with olive oil and 2 tbsp of taco seasoning. (If your taco seasoning does not have salt, add 1/2 tsp of salt to the mixture.)
- In a separate pan (or you can cook one at a time in the same pan), thoroughly cook your sausage.
- Open and drain your black beans.
- Combine sausage, vegetables, and black beans into one large mixture.
- Cut 8 corn tortillas in half.
- Spray your 9x13 pan with olive oil spray.
- Place a layer of tortillas across the bottom. It's okay if they overlap a bit.
- Take 1/2 the veggie/meat/bean mixture and layer on top of the corn tortillas and then add 1/2 the cheese across the top.
- Add another layer of corn tortillas and repeat.
- Crack all eggs into a large bowl with the half and half and the remaining 2 tbsp of taco seasoning and stir until well blended. (If your taco seasoning does not have salt, add 1/2 tsp of salt to the mixture.)
- Pour egg mixture evenly across the layered tortillas in the 9x13 dish.
- Cook in the oven for 45-50 minutes at 425 degrees F, covered in foil.
- Remove foil and cook for another 10 minutes, or until you can poke a toothpick into the center to test — it's done cooking when it comes out clean.
- Let rest for 10 minutes on a cool oven eye or cooling rack.
- Garnish as you like using pico, fresh cilantro, chopped avocado, sour cream (works best out of a squeeze bottle), and/or thin slices of jalapeno peppers.
- Cut into 12 pieces and serve!
Notes
Nutrition
RELATED: The Perfect Mexican Vegetable Side
Sauté your veggies until soft. Feel free to add other vegetables (mushrooms, peppers, and carrots come to mind as good options), but do keep the overall volume the same.
Cook the vegetables with taco seasoning until soft. From here, you’ll be adding the cooked sausage and black beans to make one big mixture.
Create three layers with tortillas, vegetable mix, sausage, black beans, and shredded cheese.
RELATED: Homemade Mexican Seasoning (so much better than store bought!)
Remove from the oven after approximately 50 minutes and remove the foil. Then, cook for another 10 minutes until completely cooked through (check with a toothpick in the middle).
Now, make that casserole pretty! Add pico, fresh cilantro, and green onion (as seen here) or go all out with avocado, fresh jalapeno, and sour cream! If you are going to use sour cream, use a squeeze bottle, or add to a ziplock bag and clip the corner to squeeze out in thin lines across the top.
By letting the casserole sit for 10 minutes after cooking, you’ll be able to cut it into 12 pieces that come out easily and showcase all the layers!
Time to eat!
For more delicious recipes and restaurant recommendations, visit our Food & Dining archives!