This sausage and crescent roll breakfast casserole is easy to make and satisfying comfort food your whole family will love to start the morning with. It is one of the quickest and most fool-proof of breakfast casseroles you will find.
The easy breakfast casserole features crescent roll dough, sausage, egg and cheese. The crescent rolls puff up a little and absorb some of the egg mixture during baking, creating a soft buttery crust base. The cheese and sausage nestle in too, for a fabulous medley. A classic breakfast combination that is super simple to put together, but the results are amazing!
How to Make a Sausage Crescent Roll Breakfast Casserole
Let's make the crescent roll casserole! Making a breakfast casserole with crescent rolls is super easy. Here I have easy to follow step-by-step instructions for the breakfast bake complete with pictures. If you are a more experienced cook, you may prefer to jump down to the printable recipe card.
The casserole recipe makes 8 servings.
Prep Time: 10 mins Cook Time: 45 mins (5-10 mins frying sausage, 35-40 mins baking time)
Ingredients you will need for the crescent roll casserole:
- 1 pound ground pork sausage
- 8 ounce can refrigerated crescent rolls
- 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese (While I prefer sharp cheddar cheese, Monterey Jack, Colby jack, or even mozzarella cheese are also great choices)
- 8 large eggs
- 1 cup milk
- kosher salt and black pepper to taste ( I added a ¼ teaspoon of each)
- ¼ teaspoon garlic powder (optional)
- cooking spray to coat baking dish
Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Coat the interior of a 9x13 ceramic or glass baking dish with cooking spray and set aside. Make sure to get the inside of the entire casserole dish well.
Put a large skillet over medium high heat. Once the pan is hot, add sausage. Break up the meat while you cook sausage, until you have crumbled sausage. Dump the cooked sausage into a colander over a grease bowl to drain off excess fat.
Unroll crescent roll dough and use it to cover the bottom of the baking dish. Pinch the seams dividing the crescent rolls to seal and tuck edges in the corners.
Dump the cooked and drained sausage onto the crescent roll dough and spread out evenly.
Sprinkle most of the shredded cheese over the sausage and crescent rolls. Reserve a little for the top, or just put it all in if you prefer.
Add eggs, milk to a large bowl.
Add garlic powder and salt and pepper into the mixing bowl as well, then whisk until smooth.
Pour the egg mixture over the top of the casserole evenly.
If you reserved some, sprinkle on the remaining cheese.
Bake for 35-40 minutes in preheated oven, until golden brown at the edges and a knife inserted in the center of the casserole indicates it is cooked through.
Allow the baked casserole to cool for a few minutes before cutting, this will allow the higher puffed areas to level out.
Slice and serve with your favorite breakfast sides and toppings.
Variations on the Casserole
This versatile breakfast bake can easily be adjusted to your preferences or a special occasion.
- For Christmas Brunch, add red and green peppers in with your sausage while cooking. The colors of the bell pepper add seasonal flare to the casserole.
- The easy breakfast casserole is also a great way to use up leftover holiday ham. Simply chop up the ham into small pieces and spread it over the crescent dough in place of the sausage.
- Use chicken or turkey sausage for a little healthier version.
- Make it vegetarian, buy using plant based sausage crumbles or a mix of sautéed vegetables that commonly go in omelets.
- Crispy crumbled bacon is a great addition to the breakfast casserole. Add the cooked bacon on top with final layer of cheese or into the meat layer.
- Kick up the heat by adding crushed red pepper flakes, ground cayenne pepper, or sliced pickled jalapenos to the sausage while cooking. If you prefer to add heat to the egg mixture, I recommend using hot sauce or cayenne.
- Make an extra creamy version of the crescent breakfast casserole by using half and half or heavy cream in place of the milk in the recipe. Another option would be to melt an 8 ounce block of cream cheese into the cooked sausage, before layering it onto the crescent rolls dough.
- Use breakfast links, if you prefer pan fry breakfast sausage links and lay them out in rows on top of the crescent rolls. Keep in mind you will need quite a few breakfast sausage links to do this.
- If you want sausage, but a healtheir option try meatless or chicken sausage in the casserole.
- Try one of the newer flavors of crescent rolls currently on the market in this recipe. The hawaiian sweet roll variety is reported to be delicious in this casserole.
Serving
Serve the crescent roll breakfast casserole warm. It is delicious just as it is, but adding some sides, toppings or condiments can really make it a special breakfast or brunch.
Sides
Just a few of the sides that will complement this breakfast crescent roll casserole are home fries, english muffins, everything bagels, fresh fruit, bacon, ham steaks, or oatmeal waffles.
Toppings
This crescent roll breakfast bake goes well with a wide array of toppings and condiments, both sweet and savory. Try it with a drizzle of maple syrup or honey. Ketchup or a splash of hot sauce would suit others. I like thinly sliced green onions and a dollop of sour cream with mine.
Overnight Crescent Roll Breakfast Casserole
The crescent roll casserole will works beautifully as an overnight casserole and is a great way to prep for a holiday brunch. Simply cover the unbaked casserole snugly with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator overnight. Since you are starting from cold, it make just take a few short minutes longer for the breakfast casserole to bake.
I hope you enjoy this easy breakfast casserole with buttery crescent rolls and sausage. It is such a breakfast classic.
Crescent Roll Breakfast Casserole Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 pound ground pork sausage
- 8 ounce can refrigerated crescent rolls
- 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese Monterey Jack or mozzarella cheese are also great choices
- 8 large eggs
- 1 cup milk
- kosher salt and black pepper to taste I added a ¼ teaspoon salt and ¼ teaspoon pepper
- ¼ teaspoon garlic powder optional
- cooking spray to coat baking dish
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Coat the interior of a 9x13 baking dish with nonstick cooking spray and set aside.
- Put a large skillet over medium high heat. Once the pan is hot, add sausage. Break up the meat while you cook sausage, until you have crumbled sausage. Dump the cooked sausage into a colander over a grease bowl to drain.
- Pop open your package of crescent roll dough. Roll out the crescent dough and use it to cover the bottom of the baking dish. Pinch the seams to seal and tuck edges in the corners.
- Dump the cooked and drained sausage onto the crescent roll dough and spread out evenly.
- Sprinkle most of the shredded cheese over the sausage and crescent rolls. Reserve a little for the top, or just put it all in if you prefer.
- Add eggs, milk to a large bowl. Add garlic powder and salt and pepper, then whisk until smooth.
- Pour the egg mixture over the top of the casserole evenly.
- If you reserved some, sprinkle on the remaining cheese.
- Bake for 35-40 minutes, until golden brown at the edges and a knife inserted in the center of the casserole indicates it is cooked through.
- Allow the casserole to cool for a few minutes before cutting, this will allow the higher puffed areas to level out.
- Slice and serve with your favorite breakfast sides and toppings.
Ellie says
We enjoyed this breakfast casserole more than the hash brown one I made in the past. I will make it again.