There are approximately as many breakfast casserole recipes on the Internet as there are cat videos. Okay… maybe not. Actually it’s not even close. According to Google, six million breakfast casserole recipes versus 167 million cat videos. Even though it’s impossible, I feel like I’ve seen every cat video and tried every breakfast casserole recipe. But even still, I felt like this potato breakfast pie was worth posting.
It has the perfect ratio of ingredients and ends up being perfectly crispy where it should be but still soft and tender on the inner parts. I hesitate to call a recipe perfect because I think things can always be improved, but this one is pretty darn close. I can’t think of anything I would easily change.
Given how delicious it is, this recipe also isn’t finicky and doesn’t have a lot of ingredients and spices. It’s basic stuff stirred together in a bowl and baked. One important step, as you can see, is to line the baking dish with parchment paper so you can literally lift the pie out and peel back the layers. YUM.
Potato Breakfast Pie with Bacon and Kale
Ingredients
- 1 pound bacon, chopped
- 1 pound hash browns
- 2 tablespoons bacon grease
- 1 small bunch kale, chopped
- 1 large leek, chopped
- 2 cups grated cheddar cheese
- 6 large eggs
- ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes
- Salt and pepper
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Chop bacon and add it to a large skillet over medium-low heat. Cook bacon until the fat is rendered out and the bacon is nice and crispy, maybe 10 minutes.
- Wash kale and leek well. Cut off any thick stems of the kale and chop into slivers. Half leek and chop it up into coins. When bacon is done, remove it from the skillet and drain off bacon grease, leaving 2 tablespoons in the skillet (you can eyeball it). Add kale and leeks and cook for 3-4 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.
- In a medium bowl, stir together packaged hash browns (or you can grate fresh potatoes, rinse them and dry them well), bacon, kale mixture, cheddar, eggs, and red pepper flakes.
- Line a 2 qt baking dish (or an 8×8 baking dish) with parchment paper. Spoon in the pie mixture and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
- Bake breakfast pie for about an hour until the pie is very crispy around the edges. Remove and let cool for 5 minutes.
- Carefully lift the breakfast pie out of the dish and peel back the parchment paper. Slice and serve!
Nutrition
Did you make this recipe?
Potato Breakfast Pie
This recipe starts with bacon. I started thinking that a full pound of bacon would be too much, but after it renders down into crispy little bites, it’s the perfect amount. More would definitely be overkill in my opinion and less would leave you hunting and pecking for it in the pie.
Render the bacon in a large skillet over medium-low heat. After about 10 minutes, it should be nice and crispy. Then you can remove the bacon and pour off most the bacon grease. Leave a few tablespoons though so we can cook the leeks and kale!
The only tip with the veggies is to make sure you chop them into thin shreds. This way they kind of almost dissolve into the final breakfast pie. Season them with salt and pepper as they cook.
Now toss everything together in a bowl! Bacon, hash browns, kale, and cheese. You can either use packaged hash browns or you can peel and shred a pound of fresh ones. Just be sure to rinse them and dry them well if you use fresh ones.
Stir in the eggs and transfer it to a baking dish lined with parchment paper. It already looks good!
Bake the breakfast pie at 350 degrees F. for about hour until it’s crispy and delicious around the edges. Honestly, it’d be pretty hard to overcook this. I think you could bake it for an extra 20 minutes or so if you wanted it very crispy and it would be fine!
Need faster potatoes? Try these Waffle Maker Hash Browns!
Once the potato breakfast pie cools for a few minutes, you can literally lift it out of the baking dish, peel back the parchment, slice it and serve it!
If you happen to have leftovers, you can store them in the fridge or you can also wrap it tightly and the pie freezes beautifully for a few months.
Sorry to add to the huge list of breakfast casseroles on the Internet, but you all needed this one. Trust me.
RK
This looks amazing….can’t wait to try it! Did you use frozen shredded hash browns? If so, do you defrost them before using in the recipe? In the picture they look thawed but wanted to confirm :)
Nick
I used the shredded hash browns that are in the dairy section… they are thawed already. You could use frozen but I’d definitely thaw them first! It’s a great recipe. :)
Felicity
I was going to ask if you could use shredded potatoes as I’ve never seen the frozen kind here, but you answered my question :-) This looks delicious & better than the many others I’ve seen online. Thanks Nick!!!
Mio
How can something so simple look so tasty? Love your images Nick.
Allie
How far in advance could I assemble before baking? Could I do it the night before and bake in the morning? Thanks!
Nick
I think that would definitely work fine Allie. Good luck!
Rachel
If I wanted to freeze this dish should I do so before or after baking? And what size pan exactly did you use? Thank you! Love you’ blog and looking forward to trying some of your recipes!
Nick
Hey Rachel! I would probably bake it and then freeze it so when you thaw it you really just have to warm it through but the potatoes are cooked and everything. I used a 2 1/2 qt baking dish but you could also fit it in an 8×8 baking dish. :) Good luck!