Made with vegan products such as JUST Egg, breakfast sausage and cheese, this vegan tater tot breakfast casserole is a twist on an old classic and is perfect for your special breakfast or brunch.
A reader emailed me and asked if I wouldn’t mind looking at her family’s favorite breakfast casserole and making a vegan version. Absolutely!
I’m always up for the special challenge of veganizing family favorites. With the plethora of new vegan and plant-based products available, I believe that we don’t need to give up any of our well-loved food.
This recipe uses JUST Egg, vegan breakfast sausage, and vegan cheese shreds. And thank goodness we have those options now!
For more special family favorites made possible with vegan products:
- Plant-Based Hash Brown Breakfast Casserole
- Vegan Egg Scramble with JUST Egg
- Vegan Stuffed Mushrooms
- Classic Breakfast Casserole
- Easy Mini Calzone Pizza Dippers
Table of contents
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Ingredients needed to make this vegan tater tot breakfast casserole:
- For the bottom (sausage) layer:
- vegan breakfast sausage of choice
- onion
- mushrooms
- vegetable oil
- For the egg mixture:
- JUST Egg – I use two full bottles
- vegan cheese shreds
- red bell pepper
- nutritional yeast
- corn starch
- chives
- black salt -Kala Namak, see below
And then of course you’ll need tater tots, a little salt and pepper, and extra chives for garnish.
How to make tater tot breakfast casserole:
The sausage mixture:
You will start with the bottom sausage layer. Use your favorite vegan breakfast sausage. The recipe calls for 14 ounces because that seems to be the standard size for vegan sausage packages. If your package is 16 ounces, that’s fine too. Go ahead and use the whole thing.
Sauté the onions and mushrooms for a few minutes until they start to soften. Then add the vegan breakfast sausage.
I find it helpful to cut it up in small pieces before adding to the sauté pan. Then I continue to break into smaller pieces as it is browning.
You’ll continue cooking until the sausage is nice and browned. This will take about 7-10 minutes.
The sausage pieces will be nice and crispy, the onions softened, and the mushrooms cooked and “shriveled” small.
Turn the sausage mixture into a prepared 9×13 baking dish. Even though the sausage mixture contains oil, you will need to prepare the casserole dish, paying special attention to the sides of the pan so that the JUST Egg mixture doesn’t stick. I use cooking spray.
If there is a bunch of oil left over in the sauté pan, sop it up with paper towels. I did not have any in my pan, but if you do have oil, do not add it to the casserole dish.
Set aside now while you prepare the egg mixture.
The egg mixture:
Start by chopping up the red bell pepper into small pieces. There is no need to sauté the bell pepper ahead of time. It cooks perfectly in the oven in the casserole.
Add all of the ingredients including the chopped bell pepper, two JUST Egg bottles, black salt, vegan cheese, cornstarch, nutritional yeast, and chives to a medium-sized mixing bowl.
Whisk together well until everything is mixed and there are no lumps of cornstarch.
Pour over the the sausage mixture and spread out evenly. Now it’s time for tater tots!
I buy a two pound package of tater tots. You won’t use the whole package – but I call that a win. Tots for a random afternoon snack anyone?
In fact, I use exactly 72 tater tots which is about 3/4ths of the two pound package. I place them nice and evenly to look pretty.
You don’t need to thaw the tater tots ahead of time. Just add them frozen and they will cook with the casserole.
Put in the preheated 375° oven uncovered and cook for about 45 minutes.
You will know it’s cooked when the top is nicely browned and the egg mixture is mostly solid. It might be slightly jiggly when you first take it out of the oven, but should not be runny. At all!
Sprinkle a few chives on top and add a little salt and pepper if desire. Allow to cool for about seven minutes before cutting into it.
A few FAQs:
Black salt or Kala Namak is actually a sulphur-tasting salt that helps to add a more eggy flavor to our dish. You might find it at Indian Markets or on Amazon.
JUST Egg does not contain any animal products. I have read that to get FDA approval, there was a requirement that it be tested on animals. The ingredients that go into it were already determined to be safe and so it was just a formality. I appreciate that JUST has given us a product that closely resembles eggs – but without eggs. Let your conscience be your guide on this one. But truth be told, a lot of vegan products probably contain ingredients that at one point have been tested. You can learn more in this article by Thrillist.
The cornstarch will help the egg part of the casserole hold together better. It’s not egg after all…
Read the ingredients on the package and see. I don’t buy tater tots that say “natural flavors” added. I have no problem finding a package without.
Serving suggestions:
Serve with a side of fruit and you’ll be set! If this dish is served for brunch or lunch, consider a green salad with a citrus dressing or my Very Berry Salad with Raspberry Vinaigrette or my Pasta Salad with a Dijon Vinaigrette.
Do you know what is really fabulous drizzled on top of this breakfast casserole? My Creamy Vegan Sriracha Sauce! It’s the bomb! Really:)
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Tater Tot Breakfast Casserole (Vegan)
Ingredients
Sausage Mixture
- 1 small onion chopped
- 8 ounces mushrooms washed and chopped
- 2 Tablespoons vegetable oil
- 14 ounces vegan breakfast sausage
Egg Mixture
- 1 medium red bell pepper diced
- 2 12 ounce bottles JUST Egg
- ½ cup vegan cheese shreds
- 2 Tablespoons nutritional yeast
- 2 Tablespoons corn starch
- 2 Tablespoons chives
- ¼ teaspoon black salt see notes
Finishing
- 72 tater tots see notes
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 375° and spray a 9×13 casserole dish with vegetable oil.
Sauage Mixture
- Start by chopping the onions and mushroooms.
- Swirl a little vegetagle oil in a saute pan and get it hot. Add the onions and mushrooms to get them started . Suate for about three minutes or unil they be begin to soften and wilt.
- While the mushrooms and onions are getting started, you can cut/chop up the vegan sausage. It will be easier to brown in the pan if it is already in small pieces.
- Add the cut vegan sausage to the pan and continue stir and cook until the sausage has browned – about 5-7 minutes. I contine to cut and break up the sausage into smaller peices as I am stirring.
- Once the sausage has fully cooked and is nice and crispy and brown, spoon it evenly into the prepared 9×13 casserole dish. Set aside.
Egg Mixture
- Dice the red bell pepper and add to a medium-sized mixing bowl. There is no need to pre-cook the bell pepper.
- To the mixing bowl, add the two containers of JUST Egg, vegan cheese shreds, nutritional yeast, corn starch, chives, and black salt.
- Mix and whisk the ingredients well so that there are no lumps or cornstarch.
- Pour the egg mixuture over the top of the cooked sausage mixture.
Finishing and baking
- Place the tater tots on top of the egg mixture in the casserole dish. I press down slightly so that they are almost half-way submerges. I find that 72 tater tots in the perfect number of tots to cover the top.
- Cook uncovered in a 375° for about 45 minutes or until the tops of the tater tots are golden brown and the egg mixture has mostly solidified. If might look a little soft and slightly jiggly when you first take it out of the oven , but it should not be runny.
- Allow to sit and cool for about 7-10 minutes before cutting.
- Garnish with more chives and add a lttle salt and pepper to taste. This tater tot casserole dish is super delicous with a little creamy sriracha suace on top. (See Notes.)
Notes
- The nutrition information is mainly for amusement (and because it’s required). The truth is, there is not a standard for vegan products which makes it impossible to be 100% accurate. Please know that I tried though.
- This makes a large potion that serves 12. I think it would be pretty easy to half though.
- The flavor outcome will depend on the vegan sausage you use. Some is quite mild while others are more flavorful.
- Black salt or Kala Namak isn’t actually salt like we know it and isn’t really black in color but more of a gray/pink color. It has a sulphur like taste that will make this recipe taste more authentic. If you don’t have black salt, don’t let it keep you from making this recipe. Just promise that you’ll quick go buy some for next time! You can find it in an Indian Market or, I get mine on Amazon.
- I have found that 72 is the perfect number of tots for a 9×13 pan. I buy a two pound package only use about three-fourths of the package. That’s okay, more for later!
- If you have time to make this Creamy Sriracha Sauce, it is simply divine drizzled on top!
Amazing! Thanks
My son is visiting and I made this for him. Five stars!
Awesome! Thanks for letting me know!
This was DELICIOUS! I made it on Easter morning and my parents were over. They are NOT vegan. They loved it and thought that it was real egg. They are usually not a fan of the vegan food I make, but they asked for the recipe for this. I did swap the Just Egg for 2 packages of tofu because that was what I had. I used the Beyond spicy breakfast sausage and I mixed the tofu mixture in with the sausage mixture because I was afraid they wouldn’t blend like the Just Egg would have. Turned out perfect! Thank you!
This casserole looks amazing!
I am allergic to peppers and wondering what might be a good substitute for them?
Hoping to make my own sausage this weekend and will definitely make this.
Many thanks for sharing this recipe
I’m making it this weekend. I actually switched to cauliflower tots now, but I do love tater tots, too. So I think I’ll make it half and half :-). It looks sooooooooo good!
Just made this for brunch. OMG it’s so good!! Thank you for a vegan version of this recipe! Delicious!
Does this freeze?
Can I make this a night before refrigerate and bake in the morning?
I made this while pregnant and froze it as a post-partum meal and it was perfect! Satisfying, filling, and so tasty 🙂
So disappointed I couldn’t give this recipe 11.5 stars as it is easy to make, tastes delicious and feeds a lot or in my case “weekly meal prep!”
I made this for Christmas brunch and it was totally devoted by the vegans and meat eaters alike. It was so good!