Here’s a recipe for a dish that I’ve been making versions of throughout many holiday seasons for various groups of family and friends. But it’s not just a holiday dish; it’s good anytime. It’s hearty — good for fueling a day of skiing, snowboarding, a hike through our gorgeous mountains, or Santa Fe’s favorite pursuit, power shopping.
Most breakfast casseroles use bread as their base, but I like to switch that out for hash browns, a slight twist but still familiar to all. That also made it work for my gluten-free sister. The dish is relatively inexpensive for the number of people it feeds, and the ingredients are ones that are easy to keep on hand.
This versatile recipe can be assembled a night or day ahead, or shortly before cooking it. Leftovers warm up easily in a microwave. You could replace the bacon with a bulk breakfast sausage or chorizo, or just leave out the meat, and add a couple of tablespoons of olive oil for sautéing the onion and potatoes. Mix in some chopped spinach if you like. Customize the recipe as it works for you.
Green Chile-Hash Brown Breakfast Casserole recipe
Serves 8
Ingredients
6 slices thick-cut bacon, chopped
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 medium onion, chopped
20-ounce package frozen shredded hash brown potatoes
6 extra-large eggs
1/2 cup whole or 2% milk
½ cup sour cream or plain yogurt
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup chopped roasted and peeled New Mexican green chile
1 cup (about 4 ounces) grated mild or medium Cheddar or Monterey Jack
Directions
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Grease a 9-by-13 baking dish with butter or oil.
Fry the bacon in a large heavy skillet over medium heat until brown and crisp. Remove bacon from skillet with a slotted spoon, and reserve it. Add butter to skillet. When melted, stir in onion and sauté for a couple of minutes, until it begins to soften. Stir in hash browns and cook for about 5 minutes. Scrape up from the bottom and pat back down several times, until potatoes have turned golden in spots. Remove from the heat and let cool briefly.
In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs with the milk, sour cream, and salt. Stir in the green chile, half of the cheese, the potato mixture, and the cooked bacon. When well combined, pour into the prepared baking dish and smooth the top. Scatter the rest of the cheese over the casserole.
Bake until golden brown and puffed. A knife inserted in the center should come out clean. Serve the casserole warm cut into squares and plated, or simply scooped from the dish. Enjoy!
How about some hot chocolate to go with your breakfast casserole? Find recipes here!
Four-time James Beard Foundation Book Award-winning author Cheryl Alters Jamison is the host of Heating It Up on KTRC and is now the “queen of culinary content” for SantaFe.com. Find new stories about the Santa Fe food scene each week on SantaFe.com.
