Feeding your family in the morning has never been easier! This Instant-Pot Breakfast Casserole With Sausage will satisfy everyone, and you don’t even have to turn on your oven.
It seems like I find a new use for my Instant Pot every day. My Instant Pot model can sous vide a steak, make yogurt, and process my canned vegetables. It can bake me a cake (even though it turns out a little more on the steamed side), and I often use it to cook frozen-solid meat when I’ve forgotten to pull it out of the freezer. In the summer, I’d much rather use the Instant Pot than heat up my kitchen with the oven.
Last week, I used my Instant Pot to make a breakfast casserole, and it turned out so delicious. It was surprising because I thought the eggs would end up watery, seeing as the Instant Pot is essentially steaming the pan, but they were not watery. In fact, everything was perfectly set. Best of all, the Instant Pot pretty much cooks everything quicker than an oven can, so I barely had to wait for my breakfast casserole to be cooked and ready to eat.
This Instant Pot breakfast casserole recipe includes sausage, which makes it so delicious! Pork sausage is a magical ingredient, especially at breakfast, and there are so many tasty breakfast sausage options out there these days. If you’ve never thought about baking in your Instant Pot, this is a good recipe to test the waters—it’s a crowd-pleaser, contains few ingredients, and is simple to throw together.
Is This Instant-Pot Breakfast Casserole With Sausage Healthy?
This casserole is full of protein, thanks to the eggs, sausage, and cheese. The pork sausage contains lots of vitamins and minerals, like potassium, iron, and B vitamins. Eggs are good sources of choline and vitamin D and contain healthy fats.
All that being said, pork sausage and cheese are high in saturated fat and sodium, there’s barely any fiber in this dish, and this is not a low-calorie recipe. If you’re cutting back on saturated fat or counting calories, you may want to eat this dish in moderation. Or, you could use a leaner type of sausage, such as chicken or turkey sausage, and use low-fat cheddar cheese. Consider adding some fiber with a handful of baby spinach or chopped broccoli.
As written, this recipe is suitable for keto and gluten-free diets. You can make it vegetarian-friendly by using vegan sausage instead of pork, and you can make a dairy-free version by using non-dairy cheese.
Add Colors And Flavors To Your Casserole
Breakfast casserole can be a build-your-own type of dish, because pretty much anything you add to it is going to taste delicious. Here are a few of my favorite breakfast casserole additions.
- Swap sausage for ham: If you don’t want the overwhelming flavor of sausage, consider adding some chopped ham. Ham is still a fatty meat, and it’s high in sodium, but it is a slightly subtler flavor compared to sausage.
- Add vegetables: This recipe lacks vegetables, so add some chopped onions, bell peppers (or hot peppers!), green onions, spinach, mushrooms, or anything else you have on hand.
- Mix in some spices: Virtually every egg dish I make includes some spice. I like to add crushed red pepper, cayenne pepper, white pepper, or my favorite hot sauce to the mixture.
- Add some potatoes: If you aren’t restricting carbs, add a pre-cooked handful of any of these: tater tots, shredded hash brown potatoes, cubed potatoes, or chopped French fries.
How Do I Store Leftovers?
This casserole is best stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. You can freeze it for up to 3 months in freezer-safe Ziploc bags, but note that the texture might change a little bit once it’s thawed out. Thaw in the fridge overnight before reheating in the oven, microwave, or air fryer.
Serving Suggestions
This breakfast casserole can be an all-inclusive first meal of the day, but it can also play well with other breakfast dishes in a brunch spread. In that scenario, I’d serve this casserole with French Toast, Air-Fryer Breakfast Potatoes, French Crêpes, fresh Yogurt Parfaits, and mimosas for everyone.
Ingredients
- 1 pound ground pork sausage of your choice
- 4 large eggs
- ⅔ cup reduced-sodium chicken broth
- ⅔ cup shredded cheddar cheese (2 1/2 ounces)
Instructions
- Set your Instant Pot to "sauté" and cook the sausage, breaking it up as it cooks, until it's no longer pink inside, about 5 minutes.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the eggs, chicken broth, and cheese. Once the sausage is cooked, combine it with the egg mixture. Remove the sausage drippings from the Instant Pot liner and rinse it, if desired.
- Generously spray a 7-inch metal cake pan with cooking spray. Pour the egg mixture into it.
- Place a trivet into your Instant Pot and pour in 1 cup of water. Carefully place the filled cake pan into the Instant Pot.
- Put the lid on the Instant Pot, set the valve to "sealing," and cook on manual high pressure for 28 minutes, until the eggs are set. Release the pressure manually when the timer goes off. If there is a layer of fat on top of the eggs when you open the Instant Pot, blot it off with a paper towel.
- After the pressure is released, let the dish sit in the Instant Pot for 10 minutes, then gently remove the pan.
- Slice and serve.
Nutrition Info:
Nutrition information are estimates only and may vary based on the specific brands, ingredients, and portion sizes you use. This data is provided for informational purposes only.
Delicious and easy. Used it for a church breakfast and it was a hit!
This is GREAT to read Cole! Thanks a lot for letting me know
Is it quick release?
This is my second time making this! My son and husband are huge fans of this recipe! Thank you!!!
Glad to hear you all enjoyed this recipe! Thanks for reading.