You will have a hard time believing this Vegan Breakfast Casserole doesn’t contain eggs, dairy or meat! Hash browns, vegetables, vegan bacon, dairy free cheese and a simple vegan egg mixture are layered in a casserole dish and baked to perfection. Make ahead option!
Ideal for serving a crowd first thing in the morning, this casserole is filling and easy to prepare. You can even get it ready the night before, then in the morning all you have to do is pop it in the oven!
It’s also a great meal prep breakfast, since it makes a lot and will last you all week. The leftovers save well and reheat perfectly.
For a vegan brunch feast, serve the casserole alongside Vegan French Toast, Vegan Apple Fritters, Best Ever Vegan Waffles, Simple Vegan Pancakes, Vegan Crepes or Southern Style Vegan Buttermilk Biscuits!
How to make breakfast casserole
This is simply an overview with photos, for the complete recipe, scroll down to the recipe card.
- Preheat the oven to 350℉ and lightly grease a 9×13 inch casserole dish. Spread the frozen hash browns in the dish, then place in the oven to thaw while the oven preheats, about 10 minutes. Remove once no longer frozen, and set aside.
- Chop your vegan bacon into small pieces and sprinkle over the hash browns. I used Benevolent Bacon, but you could use store bought or homemade tempeh bacon, chorizo, or sausage.
- Now layer on all the vegetables – onion, red bell pepper and chopped spinach.
- Sprinkle on half of the vegan cheese shreds, if using. May omit the cheese if you like, but it adds a nice melty layer to the casserole.
- In a blender, blend all the vegan “egg” ingredients, then pour over the casserole dish, evenly.
- Sprinkle the rest of the cheese on top, then place in the oven and bake, uncovered for 55-60 minutes, until the “eggs” are firm and cooked through.
Make ahead option
You can prepare this casserole the night before, then pop it in the oven in the morning!
Place the frozen hash browns in the bottom of the casserole dish (no need to thaw with the make ahead option). Layer everything else on, then cover and refrigerate overnight.
In the morning, preheat the oven to 350℉ and bake, uncovered, for 65-75 minutes until the “eggs” are firm and the casserole is hot. It will take a bit longer since it will be cold to start with.
Serving suggestions
This vegan breakfast casserole is hearty enough on it’s own, but is great with a few avocado slices, hot sauce and/or fresh salsa.
Serve with fresh fruit, toast, fruit salad and plenty of hot coffee or tea.
More make ahead vegan breakfasts
Vegan Breakfast Casserole
Ingredients
- 20 ounces shredded frozen hash browns
- 1 package vegan bacon* see notes for options
- 1/4 cup diced onion
- 1 red bell pepper, seeded and diced
- 3 cups chopped baby spinach
- 2 cups vegan shredded cheese, cheddar style optional
Vegan "egg" mixture
- (2) 12.3-ounce packages silken firm or extra-firm tofu
- 1 cup white rice flour
- 1/4 cup cornstarch
- 1/2 cup nutritional yeast
- 1/2 teaspoon turmeric
- 1 teaspoon kala namak
- 1 teaspoon salt
- few shakes black pepper
- 1 1/2 cups water
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350℉ and lightly grease a 9×13 inch baking pan. Spread the frozen hash browns into the casserole dish and place in the oven to thaw while the oven preheats, about 10 minutes. Remove the hash browns once they are no longer frozen.
- Chop your vegan bacon (or sausage/chorizo) into small pieces, then sprinkle on top of the hash browns, followed by the onion, red bell pepper, spinach and 1 cup of the vegan cheese, if using.
- Drain any water from the tofu packages. In a blender, add the tofu and the rest of the vegan "egg" ingredients and blend until smooth. Pour the "eggs" over the top of the casserole.
- Sprinkle the remaining cup of cheese on top and bake, uncovered, for 55-60 minutes, until the "eggs" are firm. Serve with hot sauce, avocado slices and sprinkle with parsley, if desired. Enjoy!
- Make ahead: To prepare the casserole the night before, simply place the frozen hash browns in the casserole dish (no need to thaw). Continue with layering everything in the dish, then cover and place in the refrigerator overnight. In the morning, preheat the oven to 350℉, then bake uncovered for 65-75 minutes, until hot and the "eggs" are cooked.
Notes
- I used Benevolent Bacon, but you could use another store bought vegan bacon, breakfast sausage or chorizo. Alternatively, make a batch of tempeh bacon or sausage crumbles.
- Mori-nu firm or extra-firm tofu is best here. If you can’t find it and want to use regular firm tofu, it will likely work but you may need to add more water if the egg mixture is too thick.
- You might be able to substitute arrowroot for cornstarch if needed, but I haven’t tested it.
- Kala namak, otherwise known as black salt, is necessary for making the “eggs” taste egg-like, so don’t leave it out unless you have to.
Nora thank you for another great recipe! Do you think this could be made ahead of time and then kept warm in a crockpot to serve?
Yes, that would work. Thank you!
I made this for my friends and I at a beach weekend getaway. Everyone loved it. The leftovers kept well for breakfast the next day. I used soy milk and omitted the vegan cheese (to be safe) to make it nut free for a friend with an allergy. Ahead of preparing the recipe I was able to find Kala namak at my local indian grocery store. $1.29 for a good sized bag! I will be making this again, thanks so much for the recipe.
Hi Jill. You are welcome! Your weekend getaway sounds fun! Thanks for sharing your terrific feedback on the casserole recipe! I’m glad everyone loved it!
I love this recipe! My only issue the first time was the hash browns didn’t get as crispy as I like them. I put them in for the 10 minutes as suggested but might do longer next time. Will make again & add even more veggies.
I’m thrilled you loved the casserole! It is definitely has some flexibility to it for baking time and using various veggies! Thanks for your positive feedback and review!
If you use just egg, add a bit of flour to it- it will firm up better like a frittata type texture.
How much flour?
Would the Just Egg product work in this recipe (instead of using the tofu)?
I’m sure you could, but you would need a few bottles of it. I’m not sure quite how much, I’d just guestimate, maybe 2 or 3. ? It’s a pretty forgiving recipe. You would probably also have to cook it longer. I love Just Egg!
I’ve made a different breakfast casserole with JUST egg and the bake time is the same. I think 2 bottles would work here because they’re 12oz each.
Can I use an 8×11 pan & if so, how long to cook the egg casserole? Thanks
I think that will be too small to fit it all unfortunately! I’m not sure it will work, but it will take longer, perhaps an extra 15 minutes, if it all fits.
Thank you. If I decide to use the smaller dish, I’ll let you know if it works. Appreciate the quick response.
Will a 15 cup dish hold this recipe?
You are welcome!
I made this for company, assembled the night before. It was delicious and was complimented by all guests who are NOT vegan. I used plant-based sausage crumbles instead of bacon. Next time, I’d thin the “egg” mixture and pour it on in two layers so it permeated the whole thing instead of just sat on top. Also, I’d add finely diced jalapenos to kick it up a notch, even for kids. I sprinkled smoked paprika on top.
Thanks for sharing your wonderful review and comments! The added jalapeños sound amazing!
Can this recipe – particularly the egg portion – be made ahead of time? I was hoping to have the egg prepared the day before so I can just throw it together in the morning.
Thanks! Can’t wait to try this!
Yes, if you check out the last instruction, I actually explain that you can totally prep this the night before, no problem. Thanks, hope you enjoy!
Could you use regular firm or extra firm tofu instead of silken tofu for the egg mixture?
Oh, I just saw that you mentioned options for tofu in the recipe notes! Sorry!
No worries! 🙂
Hi Nora,I would love to make this, but I cant get cornstarch from anywhere, is there something I could use instead of cornstarch
Christine
I haven’t tried it, but arrowroot or tapioca starch may work okay.
I made this tonight and it was so good!!! Thank you for this recipe! I didn’t have rice flour, so I just threw a cup of white rice in my vitamix and in 30 seconds I had rice flour!
Will definitely be making this recipe often!
I’m really glad you liked the casserole, Kristin! Thank you for taking your time to share your wonderful review!
Loved this! Tried using 2 bottles of just egg and found we needed to cook for longer. They were still mostly liquid. We ended up mixing it all up and total needed about 20 extra minutes. Not sure if we could have done it in less time if we mixed it up from the beginning and then again in the middle. Overall great recipe though and we loved the taste!
Good to know, Megan! Thanks for sharing your experience using Just Egg.
I was very pleasantly surprised with the results. I had to sub rice flour with regular all purpose flower, but it was still excellent.
Thanks for the inspiration!
Glad you loved the casserole, Janice! Thank you and Happy Valentine’s Day!
Hello Nora. Love your recipes. Looking forward to make this one soon. Have you try it with chickpeas flour?
I haven’t tried it, no. Thank you so much!
This breakfast casserole tastes incredible and is so easy to make! I used Trader Joe’s soy chorizo and Miyoko’s shredded cheddar, but the cheddar didn’t melt. Nora, which vegan cheese do you think melts the best?
I’m so glad you enjoyed it! Daiya cutting board shreds melt very well, though I know some people don’t love that brand. Violife usually melts well for me. I haven’t used Miyoko’s shredded cheese before. Hope that helps!
Thanks, Nora. Do you have any tips for getting the hash browns to crisp up? Could I pre-fry them in vegan butter before assembling and baking the casserole?
I’m not sure, that might work?
I lightly pre-fried the hash browns, and it definitely elevates the recipe! I’ve made this casserole several times, and I’m still trying to figure out how best to cook the tofu egg mixture. Every time I serve the casserole fresh from the oven, the egg comes out soft. It only firms up after being in the fridge overnight. Do I need to let the casserole sit on the counter for longer after it comes out of the oven?
Pre-frying the hashbrowns is such a great idea! Try making the egg with extra firm tofu next time (assuming that isn’t what you were originally using), as it should have an easier time firming up than silken tofu. Otherwise, you can bake the casserole for slightly longer or let it rest for 15-20 minutes after it comes out of the oven. Hope that helps!
Love all your recipes! Do you think a different type of hash brown like frozen diced would work? Or broken up frozen hash brown patties? I live in eastern Canada and for some reason frozen shredded hash browns don’t exist over here.
I think it would work fine with frozen, thawed diced hash browns, or hash brown patties. Or you could shred your own potatoes, but that seems like a lot of work to me. 🙂 Hope that helps!
About this recipe…..it’s a good thing I live alone so I don’t have to share this. I needed to use up the cauliflower on hand so it made a nice addition to this dish. It’s pretty tasty on toast. I originally baked it for 55 minutes but it needed a little more time so I bumped it to 65 minutes.
I’m glad you like the casserole! Thank you for taking your time to share your comments!
Super…može se dodati svašta. Hvala od ♥️.
I haven’t tried this. It sounds good and I have tried many of your recipes and loved them. I have 2 daughters that cannot eat any rice products since it makes them sick. If anyone tries this with as different flour, please post how it turned out.
Thanks, Lorna. You could probably try it with another flour and see how it goes, OR you could use Just Egg instead of my homemade egg mixture. I think you would want to to use two bottles, and I’m sure it would work well. Hope that helps!
Hi Nora! I absolutely love your recipes! I haven’t tried this yet but could I substitute Just Egg for the egg part of the casserole?
I’m sure you could, but you would need a few bottles of it, I’m not sure quite how much, I’d just guestimate, maybe 2 or 3. 🙂 It’s a pretty forgiving recipe. I love Just Egg!
I have used Just Egg several times and it works great! I use two bottles.
Hi! Do we need to cook the “bacon” first so get it to be crisp?
I did not cook the benevolent bacon I used, and I wouldn’t pre-cook store bought tempeh bacon either. I would pre-cook my homemade tempeh bacon though, as well as frozen store bought vegan sausages. Hope that helps!
Does it have to be white rice flour? Thanks!
Once I tried using regular all purpose flour and I did not like the results. It was kind of doughy. Brown rice flour would probably work okay, and maybe another flour, but I haven’t tested them all to know for sure.