Crockpot Breakfast Tater Tot Casserole

This crockpot breakfast tater tot casserole is a one-dish recipe that includes an entire breakfast menu in one! Crispy tater tots, savory sausage, eggs, and gooey cheese, come together in this customizable casserole. Everything gets added to the crock pot and then it’s hands-free until it’s time to sit down and eat!

Make it for a lazy Sunday breakfast or serve it at your next brunch – everyone is going to love this breakfast version of the classic tater tot casserole comfort food!

Slow Cooker Breakfast Tater Tot Casserole

When I was growing up my family ate tater tot casserole all the time – the kind you eat for dinner! My mom even just sent a picture the other day of her and my dad eating it for dinner by themselves.

There’s just something about tater tot casserole where the flavors all combine together that screams nostalgia and comfort food all together. It’s kind of like my sausage breakfast casserole with bread – everything mixed together just feels right!

Today’s recipe is a twist on that because it’s a breakfast tater tot casserole instead of a dinner one, and let me tell you – it’s delicious! People have been eating breakfast hashes forever and this is pretty much a breakfast hash, all cooked in the crockpot to make it as easy as possible!

We enjoy it year-round, whether it’s for Christmas morning breakfast, or Sunday morning brunch idea. We pop it in the crockpot, head to church, and it’s ready when we get back!

The ingredients in our slow cooker tater tot casserole are going to be similar to any other breakfast casserole you might see other than the tater tots, which are unique to tater tot casserole, and a delicious alternative to normal potatoes!

• Breakfast sausage – make sure you’re getting breakfast sausage that’s already seasoned (it’ll be called breakfast sausage), you don’t want just ground pork or you’ll lose a lot of flavor in this recipe.
• Frozen tater tots – no need to thaw them first. Toss them in straight from frozen.
• Milk and half and half – while you technically could just use all half and half, I prefer the combination of the milk and half and half together so it’s not too thick and creamy. But if you don’t have milk, you could just use all half and half. Another alternative is to use heavy cream if you don’t have either of the above, but it will be much heavier.
• Cajun seasoning – if you don’t have this in your spice rack already, you can get it at Walmart or any other grocery store!
• Cheese – I like to use both shredded cheddar cheese and pepper jack cheese. Freshly grate your own cheese from a block, if possible. It’s better tasting and melts easier. I prefer sharp cheddar cheese but you can also use mild if you prefer!
• Parsley – fresh, chopped parsley for garnish. If you don’t have it, it’s not a big deal but don’t substitute dried parsley, it’s not the same.

Making this tater tot casserole is simple. If you can brown sausage, you can make this casserole. Everything else is just dump and turn on the slow cooker!

1 – brown the sausage

Start by cooking the sausage in a medium to large skillet on medium-high heat until browned then remove from the skillet.

2 – add ingredients to the crockpot

Prepare the slow cooker by spraying the bottom and sides of the pan with nonstick cooking spray or alternately you could use a slow cooker liner for easy cleanup!

Split the tater tots in half and one half of them in a single layer on the bottom of the slow cooker. Once the tater tots are down, add the cooker sausage on top of the tater tots.

Add the eggs, milk , half and half, cajun seasoning, and half of each cheese into a medium bowl and whisk until all the ingredients are fully combined.

Pour the whisked egg mixture over the cooked sausage in the crockpot. Top the egg mixture with the rest of the tater tots.

3 – cook the Tater Tot Breakfast casserole

Put the lid over the crockpot and cook on a low temperature for 4 hours. Or 2-3 hours on high if you want to cook the casserole quicker.

Thirty minutes before the casserole is finished, check to make sure there is no liquid left in the crockpot. If there is, let it keep cooking for another 15-30 minutes.

Once the liquid is gone, remove the lid and add the rest of the cheese to the top of the casserole. Put the lid back on and let tater tot casserole continue cooking for the final 30 minutes, letting that cheese all melt!

4 – finish and serve the breakfast casserole

Once the cheese has all melted, remove the lid from the crockpot and add some chopped parsley on top to garnish. You can also sprinkle a little salt and black pepper to taste!

Serve immediately or let the crockpot keep it warm until you’re ready to serve. If you had the crockpot on high, turn the temperature down to low to keep warm.

I love eating this with a little white sausage gravy on top and some fruit salad on the side!

Scoop any leftovers out of the crockpot and place them in an airtight container and store in the refrigerator for up to five days. I love storing leftovers in glass oven-safe containers in the fridge that I can just pop in the oven to reheat!

My favorite way to reheat leftovers is to place them into an oven-safe container and place in a cold oven. Then turn your oven on to 350 degrees and let the food warm up with the oven. It warms everything up gradually rather than over-cooking the food – you’ll get nice warm and gooey breakfast tater tot casserole all over again!

While I like to cook it in the crockpot for convenience, if you want to speed up the process you can definitely cook it in the oven instead.

1. Brown your sausage as directed.
2. Place a layer of tater tots on the bottom of a greased 9×13 baking dish (a standard casserole dish), just like you would in the slow cooker. Then top with the sausage.
3. Make the egg and milk mixture as the recipe instructions then pour on top of the sausage.
4. Add the final layer of tater tots on top then Bake at 375 degrees to 40-45 minutes or until the top is golden brown.
5. Add the remaining cheese to the top and cook for another five minutes until the cheese is all melted – then serve!

Recipe FAQs

Once you’ve had a breakfast casserole, there’s no going back! These are some of my favorite casserole type breakfast recipes! There are a handful of breakfast casserole recipes and others that are similar to casseroles!

• Ham breakfast casserole – this delicious ham and egg casserole tastes kind of like an omelet but much easier!
• Breakfast rolls – these bacon, egg, and cheese rolls combine everything into one little grab and go breakfast snack!
• Breakfast muffins – egg muffins with bacon and hash browns are like little mini casseroles made in a muffin tin!
• French toast casserole – this casserole is like a combination of French toast and bread pudding and oh so delicious!
• Cinnamon coffee cake – while not a casserole, this breakfast cake is still a popular one for parties!