One of my fondest memories from childhood was when my entire family – grandparents, parents, aunts and uncles, cousins – would get together for the holidays, circle around my grandparents’ big dining room table, and feast. Sure, we had all the usual suspects for Thanksgiving, Christmas or Easter dinner, but my favorite meal was actually the one that came before it, when my grandmother would make us all a big breakfast to launch off a day of … well, of feasting.
At the center of that breakfast spread was my very favorite dish of all – her sausage-egg breakfast casserole. Oh, how I loved it! All the comforts of home packed into one heaping casserole.
Now, I’ve reconfigured this sausage-egg casserole recipe into a plant-based version that contains no eggs and no dairy. And after several trial runs, it is now officially ready for prime time! Baguette slices soak up the Just Egg and milk mixture, and the sausage crumbles hold their own in the middle. And now with so many great cheddar shred options available, you can’t go wrong with nondairy cheese as a topping!
The recipe is below!
VEGAN SAUSAGE-EGG BREAKFAST CASSEROLE
Serves 4-6
What you’ll need:
½ baguette loaf, sliced
6-8 plant-based breakfast sausage patties (Gardein works well for this), chopped
1 bottle Just Egg (or your favorite egg replacer)
1 ½ cups unsweetened soy milk
2 cups vegan cheddar shreds (I use Violife)
Salt and pepper to taste
Preheat oven to 325.
In a large bowl or measuring cup, combine the Just Egg, soy milk, salt and pepper and set aside.
First, roughly tear each baguette slice into two pieces and scatter them at the bottom of a 9×11-inch baking pan.
Atop the bread, scatter the chopped sausage patties, making sure they’re distributed evenly. Next, pour the egg-milk mix atop the bread and sausage, again ensuring an even pour across the dish.
Top the casserole with cheddar cheese shreds.
Pop the casserole into the oven at 325 for about 45 minutes. After the time is up, check to make sure the casserole has set properly; if it’s not completely firm, put it back in and bump the temperature up to 350 for another 10-15 minutes.
Slice into squares, serve with all the fixins (Grits? Hash browns? The world is yours!) and enjoy!
:)