This Italian breakfast casserole is packed with goodies! Sausage, sun dried tomatoes, peppers, onions, garlic, spices, and a creamy egg mixture! It’s Paleo and Whole30 compliant, great to make ahead, and family approved.
You needed another breakfast casserole in your life I’m guessing, right?!
A good breakfast casserole is one thing you just can’t have enough of, in my opinion, so, I’ll just answer that one for you with “yes”.
After making my spinach artichoke breakfast casserole I started craving something with a “pizza” flavor.
Now, if you’re doing the Whole30, rest assured that this isn’t pizza at all, but rather an egg bake packed with goodies like veggies, sugar-free sausage, sun dried tomatoes, garlic, onions, and spices.
I always begin my breakfast casseroles with a delicious “crust” layer. For this one, we’re using butternut squash!
I typically use sweet potatoes, but, butternut squash works just as well and give this casserole a bit of extra flare, I think.
Butternut also happens to be in season, so it’s the perfect base for a yummy dish like this one.
I’ve seen people make lasagna with butternut squash, so think of this casserole along the lines of that, except it involves less prep.
While the butternut squash crust roasts in the oven, you make the filling on the stovetop. It’s a mixture of veggies, sausage, and seasonings and cooks relatively quickly.
If you can’t find Whole30 compliant sausage (sugar free) you can always purchase my favorite from U.S. Wellness Meats. I’ve been obsessed with this sausage for 5 years, time flies!
It’s actually a pork breakfast sausage, so it’s perfect for this recipe.
Once the filling is cooked and the crust is roasted, it’s time to whisk the egg mixture. I always use a combination of pasture raised eggs and organic coconut milk as the base.
Then we add in the seasonings, including nutritional yeast which provides a bit of “cheesy” flavor. No worries – it’s dairy-free and Whole30 compliant.
I also made sure to use a good Italian seasoning blend – my favorite right now is the Primal Palate Amore blend! As long as you check ingredients, you can use any Italian blend you like.
Once the egg mixture is whisked, you assemble the casserole and bake!
This is a great one to make ahead of time. It will keep in the refrigerator for up to 5 days, which makes it the perfect grab ‘n go breakfast, but you can also freeze it!
If you decide to freeze the casserole, do so after baking, wrap it tightly and reheat in the oven, covered with aluminum foil to avoid browning the top.
I hope you’re ready for a breakfast casserole this tasty! Grab an apron and that butternut and let’s make this!
Italian Breakfast Casserole {Paleo, Whole30}
Italian Breakfast Casserole {Paleo, Whole30}
This Italian breakfast casserole is packed with goodies! Sausage, sun dried tomatoes, peppers, onions, garlic, spices, and a creamy egg mixture! It's Paleo and Whole30 compliant, great to make ahead, and family approved.
Ingredients
- 1 butternut squash long part only, peeled and sliced into 1/4” rounds*
- 1 Tbsp coconut oil for greasing baking dish and squash, sea salt for roasting
- 1 Tbsp coconut oil for cooking sausage and veggies
- 1 lb pork sausage casings removed if necessary, no added sugar
- 1 red bell pepper diced
- 1 onion medium, diced
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- Pinch crushed red pepper
- 3 oz sun dried tomatoes (Whole30 compliant) chopped, (about 3/4 cup packed), soften first by soaking if too hard
- 2 tsp Italian seasoning blend
- 12 large eggs
- 1/2 cup coconut milk full fat
- 1/2 tsp fine grain sea salt
- 1/8 tsp black pepper
- 3 Tbsp nutritional yeast optional, for flavor
- Parsley minced, for garnish
Instructions
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Preheat your oven to 425 F and grease a 9x13" casserole dish with coconut oil.
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Toss the butternut squash rounds with coconut oil and sea salt to taste (generous pinch for me) and arrange, (overlapping since they will shrink after roasting) over the bottom of your casserole dish, and along the sides if desired.
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Place the casserole dish with the butternut in the preheated oven and roast until softened - overcooking will lead to mushy squash.
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Meanwhile, heat a large skillet over med heat, add a tsp of coconut oil, crumble sausage into skillet, and sprinkle with crushed red pepper. Cook, breaking up lumps, until browned, then remove to a plate and set aside.
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Add another tsp coconut oil to skillet, then add the peppers and onions. Cook until just softened, then add the garlic and cook another 30 seconds.
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Once garlic is soft, add sun dried tomatoes and cooked sausage to heat through, then remove skillet from heat.
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In a large bowl or measuring cup, whisk together the eggs, coconut milk, Italian seasoning, salt, pepper, and nutritional yeast (if using), until very smooth.
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To assemble casserole, arrange the sausage veggie mixture over the cooked butternut crust, leaving excess grease/water in the skillet.
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Pour the egg mixture over the top evenly, then bake in the preheated oven for 22-25 minutes or until egg mixture is set in the center and begins to puff up. Don’t allow it to overcook or turn brown!
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Garnish with parsley or other fresh herbs before serving. Allow casserole to sit for 10 minutes before slicing and serving. You can also refrigerate or freeze to reheat at a later point. Enjoy!
Recipe Notes
*You can also use 2 large peeled sweet potatoes, sliced into thin rounds for the bottom layer of the casserole.
Nutrition
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Want More Paleo and Whole30 Breakfast Recipes? Try One Of These!
Spinach Artichoke Breakfast Casserole
Sweet Potato Hash with Sausage and Eggs
Sweet Potato Apple Breakfast Bake
Butternut Squash Hash with Apples and Bacon
Sweet Potato Hash with Kale and Bacon
This may be my favorite breakfast casserole yet!! Cannot wait to make this and then have leftovers all week! 🙂
About how long do you cook the butternut squash? And do you mean to only use the long part of the squash that doesn’t have the seeds?
Excellent flavor and very filling–perfect way to start the day!
Great Recipe!!! I just tried it for the first time, i added some olives to mine. It was soo good.
This looks magnificent!! I need to try this and keep a pre-made batch in the freezer for when family stays with us. Thank you!
This is excellent! Not one of your recipes has been a disappointment! So good.
This has been a staple from the moment this recipe showed up in my inbox. It’s breakfast for every single LSU home game tailgate and every offseason weekend get together. We love it…thank you!
This is a weekly breakfast for my husband and I! We love the flavor that the sun dried tomatoes add! I use sweet potatoes for the base and it gives it such great flavor. Thanks for this amazing recipe!
Was just referred to this site by my daughter, found this recipe and made it yesterday. One of the best breakfast casseroles I have ever made. It was packed FULL of flavor. The taste was so fresh. And it actually had some sweetness to it that made it so interesting. I wasn’t able to find a good quality pork sausage the day I went shopping so substituted ground pork that I added several herbs and spices to so it would taste like sausage. And I did add more butternut squash than the recipe called for because I love it. I think that is what made it so sweet. Anyway, my taste buds were dancing!!!
This is one of the few recipes that I make over and over again. It takes a bit of time to put together, but it makes an easy breakfast for my large family for several days and it’s so flavorful! Sweet potatoes in a breakfast casserole are good, but butternut squash is fabulous!
I already left a review and couldn’t figure out how to edit it so I’m just adding something. I change this up a little each time I make it. This time I added about 1 1/2 cups of chopped kale that had been sautéed in the pan first and then I topped the whole casserole off with sliced heirloom tomatoes. Also used plant-based sausage instead since I am cutting back on meat. Then I drizzled a little organic citrus chipotle vinaigrette with NO SUGAR on top. best casserole I’ve ever eaten!!!
Just threw this in the oven as a halved recipe and can’t wait to enjoy it this week. As a single person, I’m grateful this can be frozen to enjoy later as I get very tired of eating the same thing every day. 🙏
Easy to make, delishious to eat. Yum yum.
Also wondering about how long to roast the squash.
Great looking recipe!
How long do you roast the squash? A recipe for roasted squash alone says 20 minutes at 425, but would that be too long since these go back in the oven again?
Absolutely DELICIOUS!! I used sweet potatoes as my base instead of butternut squash. This turned out perfectly and could not be better. Thank you for the recipe!!
I have this baking in the oven right now. I ended up using what I had on hand. I used shredded red potatoes as a base. I also used mushrooms. Then I used sun dried tomatoes in oil. I used part of that oil when I was cooking the veggies. And then topped it off with kalamata olives. I believe this might be my favorite breakfast casserole. I love Italian dishes and breakfast. Combine the two and I’m in heaven.
The best brunch recipe ever. Sundried tomato and sausage do good. Butternut squash crust was perfect! Easter brunch was delicious
Delicious
I am stupid addicted to this recipe and make it every single week for the last month 😳 i love it!
This casserole so so delicious and easy to make! My family agrees it’s a keeper.
Can this be prepped one day and then baked the next day?