casserole Archives · Jess in the Kitchen

Easy Breakfast Tortilla Bake

I believe so many great recipes get created out of necessity or the cleaning of the fridge. A cook looks through the pantry, sees the ingredients they have on hand and simply create. Or perhaps they have a recipe in mind, but forgot to pick up an item or two so they create on the fly. This breakfast tortilla bake is a product of both of these. I couldn’t believe just how good it turned out!

Most breakfast bakes make huge cake pans worth of food. Too much for most families unless you are cooking for a huge crowd. The recipes I have also often start with crescent rolls. I don’t mind them, but sometimes I struggle with getting it cooked all the way through. The crescent rolls can also make the bake a little heavy. The tortillas in this bake help lighten it up a little.

We are a family of four and this was perfect for us with guests of another family four. It cooked up quick, had just a few dirty dishes, and everyone cleaned their plates. Hey, and notice that I snuck a few vegetables in too (you wouldn’t expect anything less from me, would you?!). Let’s get cooking!

Your Ingredients for a Breakfast Tortilla Bake

4 round flour tortillas (10 inches)
1 pound ground breakfast sausage
1 ½ tablespoon olive oil
½ cup diced onion
1 cup diced sweet peppers (any color)
½ cup diced button mushrooms
1 teaspoon minced garlic
½ teaspoon pepper
3 cups frozen shredded hash browns
8 eggs
¼ cup milk
¼ teaspoon each of: pepper, salt, onion powder, paprika
1 ½ cups shredded cheese
3 green onions, thinly sliced

Your Steps to Breakfast Tortilla Bake

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a shallow 2 ½ quart casserole dish with 2 of the flour tortillas. Add ½ tablespoon olive oil to a deep saute pan. Heat over medium-high heat. Once hot, add breakfast sausage. Break apart and brown until just cooked. Remove from the pan, but leave the oil.

Add diced peppers, onions, and garlic. Cook over medium heat until softened, about 6 minutes. While the peppers are cooking, thaw the hash browns in the microwave on the defrost setting. Add hashbrowns to softened peppers and onions. Cook for 5-10 minutes, until they are cooked through and hot, but not browned.

Remove peppers and hash browns from the pan. If enough oil remains, great. If not, add ½-1 more tablespoons of oil to grease the pan for the eggs. Whisk eggs, milk and pepper, salt, onion powder, and paprika. Add to a hot pan and scramble the eggs. Cook until JUST cooked through. Leave them with more moisture than not. Remove from the pan.

Layer sausage, hash browns and peppers, and eggs in the casserole dish. Add ½-¾ cup cheese. Top with remaining tortillas. Layer sausage, hash browns and peppers, and eggs once more. Top with remaining cheese and sliced green onions.

Bake, uncovered, for 35-40 minutes, until cheese is melted. Serve it up!

Looking for some other breakfast inspiration? Check out my cooking or baking page by clicking the buttons below:

Cooking

Baking

Easy Breakfast Tortilla Bake

Breakfast sausage, hash browns, eggs, and tortillas form the base of this simple breakfast bake perfect for a few weekend guests or a large family!

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Prep Time 30

Cook Time 35

Course Breakfast

Cuisine American

Servings people

Ingredients

4 round flour tortillas 10 inches
1 pound ground breakfast sausage
1 ½ tablespoon olive oil
1 cup diced sweet peppers any color
½ cup diced onion
½ cup diced button mushrooms
1 teaspoon minced garlic
½ teaspoon pepper
3 cups frozen shredded hash browns
8 eggs
¼ cup milk
¼ teaspoon each of: pepper salt, onion powder, paprika
1 ½ cups shredded cheese
3 green onions thinly sliced

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a shallow 2 ½ quart casserole dish with 2 of the flour tortillas.
Add ½ tablespoon olive oil to a deep saute pan. Heat over medium-high heat. Once hot, add breakfast sausage. Break apart and brown until just cooked. Remove from the pan, but leave the oil.
Add diced peppers, onions, and garlic. Cook over medium heat until softened, about 6 minutes.
While the peppers are cooking, thaw the hash browns in the microwave on the defrost setting. Add hash browns to softened peppers and onions. Cook for 5-10 minutes, until they are cooked through and hot, but not browned.
Remove peppers and hash browns from the pan. If enough oil remains, great. If not, add ½-1 more tablespoons of oil to grease the pan for the eggs. Whisk eggs, milk and pepper, salt, onion powder, and paprika. Add to the hot pan and scramble the eggs. Cook until JUST cooked through. Leave them with more moisture than not. Remove from the pan.
Layer sausage, hash browns and peppers, and eggs in the casserole dish. Add ½-¾ cup cheese. Top with remaining tortillas. Layer sausage, hash browns and peppers, and eggs once more. Top with remaining cheese and sliced green onions.
Bake, uncovered, for 35-40 minutes, until cheese is melted.

Keyword bake, breakfast bake, breakfast casserole, casserole

Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

June 2, 2021June 4, 2021

JessLeave a comment

Fiesta-Role Black Bean and Sweet Potato Hash

I don’t know about you, but after Thanksgiving, I found myself looking at about 17 pounds of leftover turkey. Our little family of four did Thanksgiving on our own, but my husband couldn’t find a turkey breast when he did the shopping, so he of course came home with a 20 pound bird. Life, right? A few days later, I was inspired to play with the white meat and try some different recipes. From that inspiration, I created a delightful Mexican casserole. But the name? I wasn’t sure. For now, we shall enjoy a play on words and call it “Fiesta-role Sweet Potato and Black Bean Hash”.

I loved the simplicity of this recipe with my cooked, leftover turkey. And truly, if you wanted to go vegetarian, the cooked turkey or chicken could be left out and it would still be delicious. I didn’t have to plan ahead as I had some homemade enchilada sauce in the freezer and everything else were “on hand” ingredients at our home. Don’t get me wrong, sweet potatoes haven’t always been on hand, but man, I have fallen hard for them since COVID hit. If you have only ever eaten them at Thanksgiving, covered in all the sweet goodness, I recommend giving them a try roasted or as fries. They are dang good.

Ready to get cooking and having an “I’ll have seconds or thirds” kind of meal? The kind you think you’ll have all sorts of leftovers, but then the family devours it? Let’s do it!

Your Ingredients

½ tablespoon olive oil
1 cup diced sweet potato
½ cup diced onion
1 15 ounce can diced tomatoes, undrained
1 15 ounce can low sodium black beans, rinsed and drained
2 cups diced cooked chicken or turkey
1 4 ounce can of diced green chiles
½ cup enchilada sauce
2 cups cooked long grain brown rice
2 cups shredded cheese (I used a taco blend. Cheddar would be great too!)
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon chili powder
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon pepper

Your Steps to Sweet Potato and Black Bean Hash

If you don’t have cooked rice on hand, begin with cooking rice according to directions on package. Rice is a great side dish you can customize throughout the week, so may I recommend cooking extra and storing it in the fridge for later meals? 🙂

While rice is cooking, add olive oil to a large skillet, heating over medium-high heat. Once hot, add sweet potato and onion. Cook for 5-8 minutes over medium heat until they begin to soften. Remove from heat. Stir in diced tomatoes, black beans, cooked chicken or turkey, green chiles, enchilada sauce, rice, cumin, chili powder, salt and pepper. Mix well. Spoon into a 9×13 casserole dish. Cover with cheese. Bake at 375 degrees for 30-35 minutes, until the cheese is melty and perfect. Serve on its own or with all the taco fixings like sour cream, shredded lettuce, and green onions.

onions and sweet potatoes — Dice up the sweet potatoes!

Looking for other Dinner Inspiration? Check out my cooking page below!

Cooking

Tools of the Trade

A kitchen isn’t complete with a few pieces of Pyrex!

I adore flexible cutting boards of all kinds. In fact, they are essentially all I use!

While I am generally a wooden spoon kinda gal, I am starting to love my silicone spatulas when I cooking. Give them a try!

Fiesta-role Black Bean and Sweet Potato Hash

Leftover roast chicken or turkey? Feeling some Mexican? Throw together this delicious black bean and sweet potato hash for a different take on casserole!

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Prep Time 20

Cook Time 35

Course Main Course

Cuisine Mexican

Servings

Ingredients

½ tablespoon olive oil
1 cup diced sweet potato
½ cup diced onion
1 15 ounce can diced tomatoes undrained
1 15 ounce can low sodium black beans rinsed and drained
2 cups diced cooked chicken or turkey
1 4 ounce can of diced green chiles
½ cup enchilada sauce
2 cups cooked long grain brown rice
2 cups shredded cheese I used a taco blend. Cheddar would be great too!
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon chili powder
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon pepper

Instructions

If you don’t have cooked rice on hand, begin with cooking rice according to directions on the package. Set aside until ready to mix in with the remaining ingredients.
While rice is cooking, add olive oil to a large skillet, heating over medium-high heat.
Once hot, add sweet potato and onion. Cook for 5-8 minutes over medium heat until they begin to soften.
Remove from heat. Stir in diced tomatoes, black beans, cooked chicken or turkey, green chiles, enchilada sauce, rice, cumin, chili powder, salt and pepper. Mix well.
Spoon into a 9×13 casserole dish. Cover with cheese.
Bake at 375 degrees for 30-35 minutes, until the cheese is melty and perfect.
Serve on its own or with all the taco fixings like sour cream, shredded lettuce, and green onions.

Keyword black beans, casserole, Mexican, sweet potato

Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

December 9, 2020September 12, 2021

JessLeave a comment

Stuffed Pepper Bake

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I’ll be honest, I don’t love green peppers. I think I can count on one hand how many vegetables I don’t like, but green peppers would be on that list. However, I keep trying them and cooking with them because I am certain that with enough tries, I will grow to love them. (As an aside, my sister feels the same way about tomatoes. But she would say, “You’re a grown adult. It’s okay. You don’t HAVE to like them.”)

That being said, one recipe I do enjoy them in is stuffed peppers. I know, it doesn’t make a whole lot of sense, I just don’t ask questions. Let’s be honest, stuffed peppers seem like a lot of work and you have these predetermined servings, which isn’t awesome for the kiddos I am trying to feed at my home as well. This “I want to like green peppers” and “I need to feed my children” line of thought inspired this recipe: Stuffed Pepper Bake.

Reasons I love It

It’s a 30-40 minute prep kind of recipe! Clearly, I love cooking and providing homemade meals for my family. But head cooks in the households will agree, it’s getting a little old during our “safer at home order.” We have our staple recipes that are seeing a lot of use. Yes, I want to try new things, but we only shop once a week. I decided to through this recipe together for dinner around 1 pm on a weeknight; there was no “pre-prep.” Heck, the meat wasn’t even thawed yet! So it came together quick, I had everything on hand, and my family loved it.

It’s got intense, wonderful flavor! If you follow me, you know I am all about some standard spices: salt, pepper, oregano, rosemary and ALL the garlic. This stuffed pepper bake takes it up a notch. Our families’ tastebuds danced for joy as we ate it for the first time.

Finally, I just love a good dish baked in a casserole pan. Maybe it’s the midwestern in me, but a casserole (let’s be real, I fancy it up with the word bake) has comfort written all over it. Not to mention, casseroles are classic “prep on Sunday, eat on a weeknight.” Gotta love that life!

Okay, enough talk, let’s get to cooking that Stuffed Pepper Bake!

Your Ingredients

1 cup brown rice
2 cups water
¼ teaspoon of the following: salt, pepper, garlic powder
1 pound ground Italian sausage (if you know me, I’ll be using ground Italian seasoned venison)
2 cups diced green pepper (about 1 large)
1 cup diced onion (I used red)
½ tablespoon minced garlic
1 ½ cup diced tomatoes
½ teaspoon of the following: pepper, salt, cumin chili powder
Pinch of red pepper flakes
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Your Steps

Begin by cooking the brown rice according to the directions on the package. For me, that looked like combining the water, brown rice, and salt, pepper, and garlic powder. Bring the mixture to a boil, lower to a simmer, and cook for 30-40 minutes, until al dente.

Meanwhile, heat a large frying pan to medium high heat and brown sausage (If you are using a lean protein, feel free to add a little oil before heating up the pan. Cook until just browned. Remove from pan and set aside for the time being. Keeping the pan on the medium-high heat, add green pepper, onions, and minced garlic. Cook for 5-8 minutes, until just softened. Stir in remaining spices and diced tomatoes. Keeping at medium high heat, cook for an additional 3-5 minutes.

After the vegetables are done cooking, stir in cooked rice and browned sausage until well mixed. If your pan is big enough, do it there. If not, grab yourself a bowl and get mixing. Spread the rice, sausage, and vegetable mixture into a greased 9×13 casserole dish. Finally, top with shredded cheese. Bake for 15-20 minutes at 400 degrees. You may want to allow it to cool 5 minutes before serving, and here’s to hoping you get leftovers. My husband went back for seconds; and then thirds! Stuffed Pepper Bake: A quick, flavorful, good for you meal made from scratch. My kind of cooking!

Other hints and tips

I used fresh tomatoes that I diced because I had them on hand. Make this even easier by using canned diced tomatoes. If possible, I would use salt free, but everyone has their own tastes. Also, I would drain them about half way prior to adding them.

I am 100% guilty of using pre shredded cheese often. Let me tell you as a True Wisconsin girl, block cheese that is shredded right before cooking is SO MUCH BETTER. If you have it on hand, I would go that route for sure.

I love my Italian venison sausage. I don’t have it on Jess in the Kitchen here yet, but I can give you some info about how we do it: We grind our own venison. Additionally, we purchase a fattier cut of pork, which we hand grind as well. Those two get mixed 50/50 with an Italian Sausage seasoning mix that I mix up. I have used this recipe for a guide. Then we freeze it in 1 pound packages. Perfect for pasta and all our favorite Italian dishes!

Looking to find some other dishes for dinner? Click here!

Stuffed Pepper Bake

All the flavor of stuffed peppers without all the work. A quick to put together and healthy take on the classic in a casserole dish!

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Prep Time 40

Cook Time 15

Course Main Course

Cuisine American

Servings

Ingredients

1 cup brown rice
2 cups water
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon pepper
¼ teaspoon garlic powder
1 pound ground Italian sausage
2 cups diced green pepper about 1 large
1 cup diced onion I used red
½ tablespoon minced garlic
1 ½ cup diced tomatoes
½ teaspoon pepper
½ teaspoon cumin
½ teaspoon chili powder
Pinch of red pepper flakes
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Instructions

Combine rice, water, and salt, pepper, and garlic powder. Bring to boil and then lower to a simmer. Simmer for 35-45 minutes, until al dente. Set aside.
Heat large frying pan over medium-high heat. Brown sausage (using some olive oil if using a lean protein). Cook until just browned. Remove from pan.
Keeping the pan on medium-high heat, heat olive oil. Add green pepper, onions, and minced garlic. Cook 5-8 minutes.
Stir in remaining spices and diced tomatoes. Cook an additional 3-5 minutes, until all vegetables are soft.
Combine rice, browned meat and vegetables. Spread into a greased 9×13 casserole dish. Top with shredded cheese.
Bake for 15-20 minutes at 400° F, until cheese is melted.

Keyword bake, casserole, dinner, stuffed peppers

Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

June 1, 2020January 16, 2021

JessLeave a comment

Venison and Wild Rice Casserole

Being a northern Wisconsin family, it may come as no surprise that a primary protein source at our house is venison. We harvest 2-4 deer a year between the gun and bow season and butcher them ourselves. Using our Kitchen Aid mixture, we grind upwards of 60 pounds of venison a year, which we use instead of ground beef or turkey 90% of the time. I’m always looking for new ways to use it, and this was a fun recipe to develop from scratch. This venison and wild rice casserole has a feel of tater tot hot dish (I’m close to the Minnesota border, don’t ya know?) with a true from scratch taste. It’s going to become a go to for comfort food, I’ll tell you that!

The ingredients FOr Venison and Wild Rice Casserole

1 pound ground venison, seasoned with salt, pepper, and garlic
5 cups cooked rice, I did a mixture of wild and long grain
1 ¼ cup onion (1 large), diced
1 ¼ cup celery (6 stalks), diced
2 cups carrots, diced
1 cup mushrooms, diced
2 cups broccoli, diced
Olive oil
4 cloves garlic, minced
½ teaspoon pepper
½ teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons sage
2 teaspoons thyme
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons flour
1 cup milk
1 cup chicken stock

Your Steps

If you don’t have cooked rice, start there. I wanted both wild and long grain, so I got enough water boiling for both, and started the wild rice 10 minutes prior to adding the long grain as it takes longer to cook. Follow the directions on the back of the package. I cooked 1 cup of dry wild rice and 1 cup long grain rice which resulted in lots of leftover rice for another meal later down the road. I added a little chicken broth base (I love Orrington Farms) and pepper to just season the water a little.

Meanwhile, dice all of your veggies. I love all the color they bring together. Heat a large kettle (I used my Dutch oven) with ½ to 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Add the veggies, garlic, salt, pepper, sage, and thyme, cooking on a medium heat until the carrots are just tender, about 15 minutes. Remove the veggies from the kettle, putting them in a large bowl. In your same pan (The less dishes, the better, right?), cook the ground venison (or hamburger or turkey) until no longer red. Stir into the bowl of vegetables along with your cooked rice.

In your kettle, melt the butter under medium heat. Stir in flour and continue to stir until you have a beautiful golden brown color. To this, add milk, ⅓ of a cup at a time, whisking until well combined and thickened. Repeat with the chicken stock. (I again added some pepper here to taste, but it certainly isn’t needed). Stir this cream mixture over the vegetables, venison, and rice mixture.

I try to avoid “cream of…” soups, and this was my first attempt at a healthier substitute. I’m in love.

Spread your delicious casserole mixture into a greased casserole dish and bake uncovered for 20 minutes at 425 degrees. I actually prepped mine in the morning, stuck it in the refrigerator, and baked it in the evening. Since it was cold, I baked it covered for 15 minutes and then gave it an additional 15-20 minutes without a cover. It was perfectly crispy on the top and creamy in the middle. A wonderful comfort food.